Chapter 57
Dream Continues p>
Maya was confused. She didn’t understand what was going on. But on the other hand, a part of her seem to be familiar with what was happening, like she had been here before.
How? She couldn’t tell.
She only knew that she was different, she wasn’t human, and that her thoughts weren’t hers but belong to this her self that seemed strange.
Things moved in the forest, banshees wailed, unfamiliar creatures gathered in the bushes and along the ground.
It made no sense, not for one of her kind. The night should have welcomed her-soothed her. Enfolded her in its rich blanket of peace.
The night had always belonged to her-to her kind. Information should have flooded her with each breath she took into her body, but instead her mind played tricks, saw things that couldn’t be there.
She could hear a dark symphony of voices calling to her, the sounds swelling in volume until her head pounded with moans and pitiful cries.
Bony fingers brushed at her skin, spider legs crawled over her so that she twisted left and right, flailing her arms, slapping at her chest and back, brushing vigorously in an effort to dislodge the invisible webs that seemed to stick to her skin.
She shuddered again and forced air through her lungs.
She had to be hallucinating, caught in the trap of a master socerer. If that was the case, she couldn’t call on Adam for aid until she knew if she was bait to draw them into the web as well.
She gripped her head hard and forced her mind to calm. She would remember.
Yes. She had been set up by Claire, and the Lycan King had ordered that she be put in the holding cell. Of course, how could she forget?
Once again she risked a look at her surroundings. Her stomach lurched as the brilliant colors dazzled her, hurting her head and making her sick.
The surrounding jungle held violent color, hues of vivid greens, a riot of colored flowers spilling down tree trunks along with creeper vines. Her head pounded and her eyes burned.
Drops of blood leaked like tears, trailing down her face to her surprise as she squinted to try to control the sensation of pitching and rolling as she viewed the rain forest.
Emotions poured in. She tasted fear, something she hadn’t known since she met Adam.
What was going on? Maya fought to get on top of the strange tumbling of jumbled thoughts in her mind.
She pushed hard to clear away the debris and focus on what she knew of her past. Fire burned through her insides, spreading rapidly as the something like poison worked its way through her system.
Blood ran in rivers and light faded quickly. She heard voices calling, chanting, felt some one reaching for her to try to hold her to earth.
She found herself in a shadowy realm, banshees wailing, shadows flickering and reaching. Skeletons. Dark spiked teeth. Talons. Spiders and cockroaches. Snakes hissing. The skeletons drawing closer and closer until p>
She closed her mind to her surroundings, to all shared pathways, so there was no chance anyone could be feeding her own fears. It had to be hallucination brought on by a mage.
No matter that she had stopped anything from entering her brain-something malicious was already present.
Fire ringed her, crackling flames reaching greedily toward the sky and stretching like obscene tongues toward her. Out of the conflagration, handsome men and beautiful women emerged, species reserved for the front pages of porn magazines, and they were naked.
They began to crowd around her, arms reaching, mouths open wide as they bent toward her, showing their wares. They smiled and beckoned, eyes wide, blood running down the sides of their necks-tempting-tempting.
Hunger burned. Raged. Grew into a monster. She couldn’t believe that she tasted for blood.
As she watched, the women called to her seductively, moaning and writhing as if in sexual ecstasy, their hands touching themselves suggestively.
“Take me, Maya,” one cried. “I’m yours,” another called and reached out to her.
Hunger forced her to her feet. She could already taste the rich, hot blood, was desperate to regain her equilibrium. She needed, and they would provide.
She smiled at them, her slow, seductive smile that always foreshadowed the taking of prey.
As she took a step forward, she stumbled, the knots in her stomach hardening into painful lumps. She caught herself with one hand on the ground before she fell.
The ground shifted, and she could see the women’s faces in the dirt and rotting leaves. The soil, black and lush, shifted until she was surrounded by the faces, the eyes staring accusingly.
“You killed me. Killed me.” The accusation was soft, but powerful, the mouths yawning wide as if in horror.
“You took my love, all that I had to offer, and you left me,” another cried. Find the newest release on
“You owe me your soul,” a third demanded.
She drew back with a soft hiss of denial.
“I never touched you, other than to feed p>
She straightened her shoulders and faced the women squarely.
“I live by blood and I took what you offered. I did not kill. I did not pretend to love you. I have nothing to be ashamed of. Go away and take your accusations with you. I did not betray my honor, my family, my people or my mate p>
She had many sins to answer for, but not this. Not what these sensual women with their greedy mouths, were accusing him of.
Maya snarled at them, raised her head with pride and met their cold eyes straight on. Her honor was intact.
Many things could be said of her. They could judge her in a thousand other ways and find fault, but she had never touched an innocent.
“Get away from me. You were not harmed, in fact you were under my protection. I owe you nothing, least of all my soul. Nor will I allow myself to be judged by creatures such as you.” She mentioned, turning away from them.