Birthright

Chapter Twenty Two

Jordan sat utterly motionless in the corner of the bathing chamber. She stared straight ahead and struggled against the urge to hunt for William. His face had been in shadow but the hair, the height… She knew the way he stood, his profile. How could she forget? What were the chances that a man who looked like William would show up to taunt her? She couldn’t settle, knowing he could be walking around the city.

Her heart threatened to beat out of her chest and the temperature in the room dropped. He should be dead, she thought. Her breath billowed out of her mouth in a white gust and a thin layer of ice covered the pool several feet away. She remembered the feel of his blood splash over her. She let out a strangled sound and shook her head. Was William so powerful he could come back from the grave?

She gripped fistfuls of hair to stop herself from doing a dozen things at once. She wanted to stand up and scream with fear and rage. She wanted to beat Mr. Parker to a pulp for staring at her as if she was crazy. She wanted to shake him until he believed her, but what would that prove? She needed the Ever After pill more than she needed to breathe. She rose and was halfway to her bedroom door before she forced herself to a standstill. She remembered the shock and agony in Mr. Parker’s eyes as he absorbed the tide of her power. He hadn’t returned to The Aquarium. She took a step forward. Heath and Cibrian eyed her like a ticking bomb. She took two steps back, paused.

She went back to her corner in the bathing chamber and wrapped her arms around her knees. Adrenaline rushed through her, demanding she do something, anything. She sat, wracked with indecision. Had she hurt anyone in the temple? Was she any better than William? She was capable of hurting people without meaning to. The expression on Mr. Parker’s face when he turned from her in the apple grove made her cringe and bury her face against her knees. Had she really seen William or had she conjured up an image of her worst nightmare while meditating Thishe surrounded her?

Knight hissed as he entered the frigid room. He ambled up to Jordan and stretched out beside her. She dove a hand into his fur and let his heat wash away the chill. She thought of the Ever After pill Mr. Parker carried and wished she could take it without his knowledge. She grabbed a fistful of Knight’s fur to stop the compulsion to rush to the kitchen and look for pills, anything to numb out. 

So many thoughts passed through her mind. Had she really thought she could be normal? Star couldn’t break out of her drug addiction to be a mother and Mr. Parker hadn’t cared enough to stay around. Had he known about her? He didn’t say so, but… how could he not know? Her body shook, trying to keep her power and emotions contained. She didn’t belong here. She should leave. Knight clamped his mouth around her thigh and squeezed lightly. The pain made her raise her head. The water in the bathing pool bubbled and frothed over the tiles. 

Jordan felt as if she couldn’t breathe. Her throat was scorched by smoke and fire. Jordan scrambled towards the bench where she left the necklace and reached with frantic hands for the glass pendant. Her hands closed around the small circle. She closed her eyes and focused the last of her shaky control. Instantly, her power drained away. That awful, clawing need for destruction faded, replaced with a cleansing emptiness. Relief coursed through her and she slumped to the floor with the circle clutched in her hand. The pendant filled with red liquid that looked eerily like blood. Knight nudged her with his head, concerned. 

Jordan rolled on her back and looked up at the dark skylight. If she wasn’t chosen to go into a school, Mr. Parker would let her go. He never wanted her anyway. Even as she lay there, her power slithered to life once more. Dread swamped her. It was beginning again. Today she received a small trickle of power, but it was building again into that unstoppable force that made her drown herself in pills. She could feel threads of William’s power weaving through her own, making it less hers and all his. Had he changed her power when he created the soul tie? She could see his face as he whispered, “You will never be free of me.” Jordan got to her feet. She needed air.