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Through the fog in his mind, Liam could tell Thea was taking him back to Lithus. He didn’t know where Gina was. Thea’s grip on his wrist felt like an icy manacle as they sped back the way he had come.
“Let us savour this reunion, dear Liam,” she smirked back at him, where he dangled in her wake.
His control had shattered when she appeared. She sent her sickly-sweet Mesmer tangling through his brain to stop him from drowning, and he had let her. Rage jostled terror inside him, but he could not resist her. Would not, until he had air in his lungs.
But this differed from his experience with Gina. Thea’s presence in his brain was lighter and sharper, then deeper and heavier, weaving him in and out of conscious awareness. She was toying with him.
She could see what he wanted, and showed him delights of victory and riches, then horror and ruin, his emotions tumbling over the roller coaster of elation and despair, without losing awareness of the fact that he was far out at sea, and under her control.
“My clan will welcome me back when they see I have brought all their enemies to them. Hunter, who we all know is far more powerful than I, who forced me to help destroy our people on the sands of your village. Liam, who conspired with him to do so, and joined him in controlling me.” She laughed. “And your father, Liam. Your father, thrown in for good measure, bringing an end to your despicable bloodline. That Hunter has led him to our city is proof of his treachery, should any doubt. We will avenge ourselves at last for what we lost. And I shall avenge myself for all.”
Her laughter echoed through his brain as she tasted his horror at her words. His father, here? Then he felt her check her pace for an instant, and veer off their trajectory.
“What is this?” she mused.
Now Liam could hear an engine through the water. More than one? If his father wasn’t alone, maybe they could still come out of this?
Thea’s laughter rippled through his mind again, ricocheting around as if in a cavern. “Yes, Liam, keep hope alive! It makes the disappointment so much sweeter.”
The engines roared louder as they drew near, and Thea slowed enough for Liam to turn his head to look. His heart leapt. His father’s launch! And an IRB. Ethan? And then he saw them, streaming up toward the boats from below; dozens of people with murder on their faces.
