Excerpt from Daughters of Night: Possession
Gaviyn
“Carmen?
CARMEN?” I screamed at her limp body.
Shaking
her didn't seem to help. Nor did the screaming, but I couldn't very well sit
there and do nothing.
Just as
I was leaning down to kiss her, she just fell limp. It wasn't the first strange
thing that had ever happened to us, by no stretch of the imagination, but this
terrified me. I had never seen her so helpless and limp, except in her previous
incarnations.
This
is how she felt when she was dead.
I
refused to let myself think she was gone. I mentally sent out a distress call
to any vampire who could hear. With as loudly as I was screaming both mentally
and out loud, I knew someone would be there quickly. It just wasn't fast
enough.
The
door bust open, and Damien rushed over, followed by Kaiya and Rayne.
“Dad,
what happened?” Damien asked, his voice shrill and cracking as he stared at his
mother.
“I
don't know, she just fainted.”
“Vampires
don't faint,” Kaiya said, meekly.
I
snapped my head up and glared at her.
“They
do if they're half witch, and you'd know that if you knew my son at all.”
“Dad,
not now,” Damien said softly, putting a hand on my shoulder.
My
anger toward Kaiya subsided, and I turned my attention to my son.
This
isn't the time for this, Damien thought to me. Help Mom.
Of
course, he was right. As usual. He was too smart for his own good.
He
turned his attention back to Carmen, and I followed suit.
“Mom,
come on, wake up,” he whispered, his eyes rimming with pink.
“Gaviyn,”
Rayne said. “She is still with us. She's just unconscious.”
“Why
won't she wake up? What's wrong with her?” I demanded, not taking my eyes off
my mate.
“She
will wake. And until she does, and I can examine her, I honestly don't know
what-if anything-is wrong.”
“Well
of course something's wrong!” I screamed at her.
Just
then Carmen's eyelids flitted open, as if she were waking from a dream.
“Damien!”
she screamed, her eyes darting around the room, not focusing on anything.
“I'm
here, I'm here, Mom,” Damien whispered, his voice full of emotion and his eyes
dripping red tears down his cheek.
“Oh,
Goddess, Damien, it's you! It's the real you, and you're normal and...oh,
Damien!”
She sat
up quickly and pulled him into a hard hug, wrapping her arms around him and
burying her face in his neck. Damien glanced at me worriedly, and held her
back. I stroked her hair as she cried into our son's neck.
“Carmen,
honey, what happened,” I asked tenderly, still stroking her hair.
She
pulled back, her face smeared with bloody tears, her chest hitching with sobs.
With one arm, she reached out and grabbed me, pulling me into this weird family
hug. I exchanged looks with Damien, and sent my thoughts to him.
Something's
wrong with your mom, I'm going to need some time with her to calm her down.
His
thoughts came rushing back, loud and clear.
What
happened? Dad, I'm scared, what can I do to help? Why is she acting like this?
Has this ever happened before? I'm really freaking out here!
I tried
to calm him.
I
think she's going to be fine, son. Please, just go hang out with some friends
for a while so Rayne and I can make sure everything checks out. Can you and
Kaiya go tell Blair I need him immediately. And Aliena. Send them both here,
then I'll call you when you should come back.
He
nodded, and swallowed hard before disentangling himself from Carmen's grip.
“Mom,
I'll be back, I have to get Kaiya back home before her mom flips out. But I
promise, I'll be back as quick as I can.”
He
glanced at me on that last line, and I nodded. I knew he wanted to be here. I
didn't want him even more freaked out, though.
Carmen
released her grip on us both, and, embarrassed, she nodded while she wiped at
her face. Rayne handed us a box of tissues from the table.
“Carmen,
Blair will be here in a minute, but I need you to tell me right now what the
hell just happened.”
She
sniffled, and looked up at me. She was a mess, but Goddess, she was still
beautiful.
“It's
Damien. Something bad is going to happen.”
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