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The glow in Brenda’s eyes became a red fire as the air thickened with a force that threatened to crush Destiny.
“Don’t think for a second you can lecture me on my decisions.” Brenda’s voice thundered through the van. “You are alive because I need you. But you can easily be replaced.”
Destiny squeezed herself into a ball, struggling to breathe. “At least tell me where we’re going.”
“We are not going anywhere,” the spirit snapped. “We’re creating a web.”
“Web? What does that mean?”
Brenda made a sudden hissing sound, like a snake’s scales rubbing together. Instinctively Destiny braced herself to be punished. Brenda had an unpredictable temper when she was alive, and it didn’t seem that her recent death had improved her personality.
But when nothing happened, Destiny glanced up to study the older woman’s face. Her expression was distracted, as if she was listening to a sound Destiny couldn’t hear.
“Ah.” A slow, spine-chilling smile curved Brenda’s lips. “Sometimes the prey enters the web you left behind.” Lifting her hand, the spirit snapped her fingers. “Get up here and start the van.”
Destiny blinked in confusion. “What?”
“You want your reward?” Brenda looked like the cat who’d gotten a fresh saucer of cream. Or a python who’d swallowed a rat. “It’s time to claim it.”
* * *
Peri was lying flat on her back, coated in darkness. The sort of darkness that pressed against her with a heavy sense of foreboding.
Had she been buried alive?
That’s what it felt like.
Panic gnawed at the fringes of her mind.
What had happened? The last thing she remembered was they’d been in the auction house. Oh…wait. Her heart squeezed with fear. They’d found a mummified body and tripped a snare spell. Then everything had gone black.
Had the building collapsed on top of them? That would explain the darkness. And the choking sense of dread.
The panic stopped gnawing and started consuming large chunks of her. She couldn’t breathe.
“Peri.”
It was a male voice that whispered her name, hauling her back from the edge.
“Valen,” she rasped, a shattering relief battling back her panic as she felt cool fingers skim down her cheek.
“I’m here.”
She blindly reached up, her palms landing against his smooth chest as he leaned over her. Was he naked? The realization should have been shocking, or at least baffling; why would he have stripped off his clothes? But as her fear faded, it was replaced with a floating sense of acceptance.
It was quite likely she was dying. From the crushing power of the spell. Or from internal injuries she was too weak to heal. Either way, she abruptly decided that if she was about to leave this earth and this was her mind’s way of easing her passage, she was going to take full advantage of the illusion.
Boldly exploring the chiseled muscles of his chest, Peri moaned in satisfaction. How long had she fantasized about touching him? Days? Weeks? Years?
It seemed like an eternity.
Now that she’d given herself full permission, Peri took her time to savor the satin-smooth skin and the power that hummed through his body like a nuclear reactor. Even in a dream he managed to drown her in his raw masculine energy.
It was glorious.
There was a cool rush of air before she felt Valen mold his body against her side. That’s when she realized she’d managed to lose her clothes as well.
Convenient.
