Jocelynn Drake - Dawnbreaker

“He’s one of the few among us that can sense the naturi. I’m not going on without him,” I said calmly.

“He’s a hunter,” the nightwalker sneered. His jean-clad legs were braced wide apart, as if he was about to pounce on Danaus.

“And at the moment he holds more value to me than you and your petulant whining. If you’re anxious to move, take another and scout ahead.” The vampire glared at me a couple of seconds before he motioned for another to accompany him up the path.

Kneeling before the hunter, I found that he was blinking rapidly, desperately trying to stay conscious against the crowding darkness. He would pass out soon if I didn’t do something. I could now command the powers of both the earth and soul, but I lacked the ability to heal the human body. However, I did have a few other tricks up my sleeve. Not any that he would like, though.

I moved so I was directly in front of him with his knees on either side of my hips. He tried to shift and put some more distance between us, but I put a hand on his shoulder, holding him still.

“I can help you,” I murmured, trying to keep my voice soft and reassuring. “But you have to trust me.”

Danaus’s frown deepened and his eyes narrowed. I think he would have told me to go to hell if he could, but instead he drew another ragged and fractured breath. He was running out of time.

Placing my left hand against the side of his face, I pressed my thumb against his temple. I captured his left wrist with my free hand and placed it against my side so he was grasping my rib cage. I held his hand there because I knew he would try to pull away when he figured out what I planned to do.

Closing my eyes, I relaxed the tension from my shoulders and mentally reached out with my mind. I let my thoughts brush slightly against Danaus’s as a warning. He jerked away from me, digging his heels into the dirt as he tried to desperately push away, but I held tight to him.

“No,” he rasped.

Relax, Danaus. I didn’t use my voice, but sent the words drifting through his mind. If he hadn’t been so weak already, I would never have been able to do this. When we had spoken telepathically in the past, it was sending a quick scattering of words across to each other. Our presence within each other’s minds was at an absolute minimum, in an effort to give the other person a little privacy. At the worst, we received a flash of emotion from one another, but little else. But now was different. I was there within in his mind.

Get out of my head! He was livid, but over that was fear. His fear of me and what I was doing was so thick it felt like I was slogging through a Florida marsh. Neither one of us had dared venture so deep, to places where we could hear thoughts and walk through old memories and deeply hidden secrets.

You have to let me help you .

Get out! I could feel the walls being thrown up around me as he tried to erect defensive barriers. He was using all of his strength to fight me, and left nothing behind to continue the healing process. I was only making matters worse.

Biting back a curse, I forced myself deeper into his mind, tearing down his walls. Before he could scramble to fight me, I slowed his thoughts, sending a thick fog across his mind.

Calm. Be at peace. Think only of healing, The words entered his brain as a whisper. He was trying to relax, but the burning in his lungs was growing.

Mira. My name came softly, weak and so fragile. He was reaching out, fearful and in pain. Can’t breathe.

You don’t need to. I’m breathing for you. As I sent the thought through his mind, I drew in a long, deep breath. His hand gripped my side tighter for a moment and then he relaxed. It was all a lie, an illusion that I was weaving for his mind. I couldn’t breathe for him, but at the moment he believed I could and his panic waned, letting his body complete the healing process. The fear and panic subsided and all of his energy was redirected from trying to protect himself from me and the other nightwalkers toward healing the wound in his throat.

For a brief period of time I created an illusion of safety for him to mentally curl up in. At the same time, I opened the door to my own mind and powers, trying to push what energy I could into his body. I wasn’t sure the energy would flow this way, but I had to try. I was willing to give him every ounce of energy I could spare, so his body could heal before he finally suffocated.

We stayed like that for another ten seconds. I sent soft, calming thoughts rippling through his brain with each deep breath I drew. But his thoughts were growing dimmer as the lack of oxygen was steadily stealing his consciousness. When I knew I could wait no longer, I released my mental hold on him.

Breathe, Danaus.

His first harsh breath shattered the pristine silence of the night. With both of his hands grasping my sides, he pulled me forward so he could lean his forehead against my sternum. My body had become his anchor to reality, and he was clutching me tight enough to create bruises.

I stopped breathing and absently ran my right hand over his hair, smoothing it as his own breathing slowly evened out.

Bitch.

I stumbled over that last thought as I pulled free of his mind.

“It was good for me too,” I said in a husky voice before threading my fingers through his hair and pressing a kiss to the top of his head. I sat on my heels as his hands slid from my sides. He rested against the side of the mountain, tilting his head back so he could breathe more easily.

I could understand Danaus’s fears, but I’d never tried to force my way into his memories, his secrets, until now, when I had controlled him, forcing him to believe in an illusion that could have killed him. His anger began to ebb, but his fear was still a tangible thing between us. In his moment of weakness I was able to enter his mind, which I would not have been able to do under normal circumstances. What’s more, the direct path we had cut between our two minds was now stronger than ever. We could easily slip into each other’s thoughts now, something I knew that neither of us wanted.

But for a brief moment in time it didn’t matter. Tonight he would once again wield me like a sword in his hand. I might have briefly raped his mind, but I would repay that slight as his slave. We two were bound: vampire and hunter; monster and demon.

“We have to go,” Danaus whispered.

“Soon. Catch your breath. Jabari would be sorely disappointed if you didn’t make it to the ruins alive.” The hunter drew in a deep breath, filling his lungs. He winced against the pain, but he was breathing again.

“Where’s Stefan?” Danaus asked in a rough voice, pushing to his feet. I remained sitting another moment as I located the other pack of vampires. They were easy to spot, considering that they were currently fighting a group of naturi. The energy and violence in the air was building.

“They’ve just passed through the Main Gate. Let’s move. We’re almost to the top,” I said, springing to my feet.

We continued up the mountain in silence. Tension coiled in my stomach as I waited for the next roadblock, the next horde of naturi waiting to take my head off. We needed to punch through and finally crest the hike into the clouds. We needed to finally end this game.

A halt was called when we came to a final turn in the road. The two nightwalkers I had sent ahead stood with their backs pressed to the mountainside. The whiner was nearly doubled over, his arms crossed tightly over this stomach.

“What happened?” I demanded. The Browning was in my left hand, while my right hand was wrapped around the hilt of the sword. My legs were spread as I scanned the area, waiting for the next attack.