He rained kisses over the top of her head and stroked one hand down the length of her hair while he held her tight against him. “There’s no reason for you to be sorry.”

“I can’t save any of them.”

He swallowed hard. “They’re already dead, Tansy. Long dead before you ever touch the object that holds the violent energy. They’re gone and no one can save them. All we can do is to try to stop their killers from murdering again.”

“Frog tied her just below the surface of the water so she could see freedom, but couldn’t reach it. There were several people, like a colony of them tied down just like that. I saw a cylinder, like an air tank, and there was a logo on it, only it wasn’t me seeing the actual logo. It was him, Frog, he was whistling as he prepared an air tank, grinding the logo from the side of the tank.” She pressed her face closer to him, trying to crawl inside of him to escape her own mind.

Kadan stroked her hair several times in an attempt to soothe her. “How did you access Frog when you were handling Blade’s piece?”

Tansy’s voice receded, her mind clouding even with Kadan firmly in it. “The puppet master was thinking about him when he carved Blade’s piece. He doesn’t like Blade, but has a certain empathy for Frog.” Her voice trailed off and she began to rub at her arms. “I have to get it off of me.” She began to struggle, trying to wriggle away from him, rubbing harder at her arms. “Oh God. I have to get it off of me.”

Kadan held her at arm’s length, inspecting her as she writhed away from him. She fought in earnest, tearing at her skin, scrubbing at her br**sts and belly, scratching and rubbing frantically.

“Help me. Why aren’t you helping me? Hurry. Get it off of me.” A sob welled up in her voice. She choked.

“Tansy, you’re safe,” he repeated. “There’s nothing on you.”

She erupted into violence, punching and kicking, trying to shred her clothes, tearing long scratches in her arms. He caught both wrists in one hand and pinned them together while she fought like a wildcat. He used the weight of his body, not wanting to risk hurting her, but she was gone again, her eyes sliding from awareness to opaque. Once again calmness receded a little to let fear slide in. He didn’t want her anywhere near the puppet master in her condition.

“Tansy, look at me.” He used his most commanding, his most compelling voice. For a moment she went still, her gaze locking with his. “What’s all over you?”

“Blood.” The one word was chilling.

His heart nearly stopped. He could hear the voices in her head screaming, the victims pleading, the sound of their sobs. Over the top of the dead came the taunting laughter of the murderers, so many of them, their vile sickness spreading like a cancer.

She began to squirm again, her breath coming in ragged gasps, tears welling up. “Why won’t you help me? I didn’t do this.” She flung her head back and forth in denial.

“No, baby, you didn’t,” he agreed softly and stood up in one easy motion, flinging her over his shoulder, her head draping down his back. He took her through to the bathroom, his face grim, a vise gripping his heart. As soon as he had the water temperature right, he stood her struggling body on the floor and began to strip her.

Tansy tore at her clothes, desperate to remove the thick coating on her skin and hair. It was under her fingernails and in her eyes. She ripped at the material of her clothes, never wanting to see them again. In the shower, the moment he placed the washcloth in her hand, she began to scrub, hot tears pouring down her face, mingling with the water raining down on her. She was so cold, her body shivering uncontrollably, her teeth chattering until she was afraid they’d chip or shatter. She reached for the hot water tap, but Kadan’s hand caught her wrist.

You’ll burn yourself. It’s gone now, Tansy. You’re clean.

There he was. In her mind, protecting her. The relief was overwhelming. I couldn’t find you. I thought you . . . She trailed off, unsure where she was or what she was doing. She was so confused she reached for him again, not understanding what was happening to her.

I’m right here, Tansy. His voice was calm, mesmerizing, soft and low, filling her mind with warmth. He seemed an anchor, very steady and strong when she was so confused.

Tansy became aware of the water pouring down on her. Of her na**d body hurting, of her hand scrubbing at her skin, causing abrasions, nearly taking off the top layer. Startled, frightened, feeling disoriented, she knew this had happened before. She’d stood in a shower, tearing the skin from her body. Her parents had wrapped her in blankets and taken her to a hospital, where she’d spent weeks locked up for her own protection. She was lost again, trapped inside her own mind with such evil beings the world would never comprehend their behavior, and they would never let her go.

No! Damn you, no! Kadan dragged her into his arms, holding her tight. You aren’t lost. You aren’t with them. You’re here. With me. Look at me, Tansy. He caught her shoulders, shaking her gently, staring down into her eyes, determined to bring her back to him. “Look at me now.” His fingers bit deep enough to cause pain, to override the trance and drag her back to reality.

Tansy knew she was reeling back and forth between her hypnotic state and actual time. She concentrated on the bite of pain in her shoulders. She felt each individual finger digging into her flesh, nearly to the bone. Recognizing Kadan’s touch brought her a little more into the present. She grabbed at that, at his warmth and the solidness of him.

“Look at me.”

She heard that note distinctly—the edge to his voice, the absolute authority and command that often annoyed her, yet now was her lifeline. She obeyed him, because one always obeyed Kadan when he used that tone. She struggled to look beyond the veil coating her eyes, the one that imprisoned her in her own mind, so that she could comply with Kadan’s demand. It took strength and determination, but she managed to raise her gaze to his.

Immediately his eyes locked with hers. Kadan’s eyes blazing with sheer force. Her breath hitched in her lungs and she choked, but didn’t look away. The water poured down on her. She could feel the heat and sting of it on her raw skin. Vapor curled around them, and it was real, from the water temperature and not in her mind. He stood there, a warrior of old, fully clothed and soaking wet, his blue eyes so dark they were midnight blue, his mouth set in grim lines, his fingers still digging into her shoulders, connecting her with reality.

“Are you back with me, baby?”

His voice. She wanted to melt into a little puddle at his feet the moment she heard that soft, velvet voice caress her, stroke her body, slip inside her to wrap around every cold spot and warm her. She didn’t dare speak. If she continued crying, she’d never stop, and speaking would bring another flood of tears. She knew what had happened. She couldn’t hide it from him. She’d been standing on the brink of madness and he’d pulled her back from the edge.

She nearly crumbled, humiliated and ashamed, wanting to tear her gaze from his, but he refused to release her, stepping forward to close the gap between them, still looking down at her, still commanding her gaze. One hand slid up her shoulder to the nape of her neck, sliding around her throat to tip up her chin with his thumb.

“Say it, Tansy. Say you’re with me.”

She swallowed, knowing he felt the movement in the palm of his hand. “I’m with you.”

“You’re mine. You belong here, with me. Say it.”

She touched her tongue to her lips. They stood there, water pouring around them, her clothes torn and strewn on the floor, her skin practically scrubbed off, her mind damaged almost beyond repair, and he wanted . . .

His hand closed tighter around her throat. He gave her a small shake. “Say it.”

“I belong here, with you.” She wanted to belong with him, but he was so strong and she was so falling apart. Her mind was shattered, the pieces scattered everywhere. She had the mad desire to look around for them, but his gaze continued to command hers, refusing to allow her look away from him.

“Who do you belong to, Tansy? I want you to say that you’re mine. Say it out loud so that you know it. So that you believe it. I’m not letting you go. I refuse absolutely to give you up. Not to someone else, not to your parents and certainly not to a bunch of murderers. Who do you belong to?”

She was lost in his strength. Lost in his eyes. “You. I belong to you.” She barely whispered the words, her throat clogging.

He still held her gaze, refusing to release her. “And who do I belong to?”

She blinked. Warmth poured into her. She was aware of him filling her mind, pushing out every ugly thing that had been there. He was there, slamming the door closed on the voices, building a brick wall across it. Kadan. Of course. She felt a ghost of a smile, of hope. “Me. You’re mine and you belong to me.”

He crushed her to him, so tight it drove the breath from her, nearly cracking her ribs, but she only wrapped her arms around him and held on. He buried his face in the soft hollow of her shoulder, and it was impossible to tell if the water from the shower soaked into her skin or if his face was wet with tears. He didn’t move for a long time. When he did, his hands were gentle.

“Let’s get you out of here.” He reached up and turned off the water, then pulled a towel around her. “The others should be checking in soon, and I want to get a hot cup of tea into you.”

She stayed still, allowing him to rub the water very gently from her skin. He seemed to need it even more than she did, his hands sliding over her, the roughened calluses feeling good in spite of the abrasions on her arms. Her hand throbbed, and when she looked down, she saw that it was bruised and swollen, but she didn’t remember what had happened and was afraid to ask.

“I have to tell you the details or I could leave something important out.”

The towel halted movement abruptly, just below her br**sts. He looked at her, his face more grim than ever. “Fuck that, Tansy. This is ended right here.”

His crude and immediate reaction made her want to smile all the more. Inside her, where he couldn’t see, light burst through her, driving out more of the ugliness. He was like a breath of fresh air sweeping through her.

She caught his face in her hands and kissed his strong jaw, nibbled her way from his scar to the corner of his mouth and teased at his sensual lower lip, tugging with her teeth. “Why didn’t you want me this morning?” She couldn’t keep the hurt out of her voice. “Why didn’t you make love to me? Was it this? The things in my head? The damage? Or was it the fact that my father’s involved with Whitney?”

Kadan’s head came up and his eyes blazed down at her, hot and hungry, filled with burning lust and something else that made her go soft inside. “I was being nice, giving you time.”

She frowned at him. “Time for what? One moment you were lying next to me and I could hear your breathing change and feel you hard against me, and then you just rolled over like you couldn’t stand being next to me.”

“Couldn’t stand being next to you?” He echoed her, his gaze narrowing.

His hand snaked out and caught the nape of her neck, dragging her against him, mashing her br**sts against his wet chest. He fastened his mouth to hers, a brutal, almost angry kiss, devouring her, staking claim to her mouth while his hand slid possessively down the long curve of her back to her hip. He ground his body hard against hers. “Don’t f**king ever tell me I don’t want you,” he snapped, eyes blazing.

“But you . . .”

“Never doubt that I want you every minute of every day. Night and day. I’m always hungry for you.” He tossed his wet shirt aside. “If I had my way, you’d just walk around na**d waiting for me to bury myself in you.” He peeled the wet jeans down the columns of his thighs and kicked them way, and his shaft sprang out, hard and thick and so ready for her he was already leaking little pearl droplets from the broad, flared head.