Katerina Grace MacAlister sat quietly at her desk, the room dim and her eyes closed as she leaned her elbows on the hard wooden surface and rested her head in her hands. Images, phrases, and random words fluttering through her open mind all in quick succession, all telling her what was going on around her not just in the building, but in a forty-mile radius. London was always busy this time of day, but what Kate was looking for would not be in evening traffic.
There. The second she found it she lost it again, the Shifter leaving her mental range. She opened up her walls further, struggling to expand her range-
A mental force, white hot and full of uncontrolled power invaded her thoughts, barreling in like a freight train and causing a pain so terrible Kate blacked out a moment. When she came to a horrible sound reached her ears, and she realized she was screaming, clutching her head. She started constructing mental walls as quickly as she could to close off her mind from the searingly painful intrusion. Finally, it was enough, and the power disappeared from her mental vision, as well as everything else but her own thoughts- well that, and the four terrified voices of her sister Seers.
Kay! Kate, I need you to get rid of the enchantment on you doorway. Let us in. Annaliese was saying, her Italian accent making her mental voice the easier to bare, but not by much.
"Stop the talking! Please, let me be." Kate sobbed, still clutching her head. The force was gone, but the pain lingered, taring apart her mind little chunks at a time.
Kate? Maria asked, timid. Can you give us the incantation, Chica? We want to help.
Forget it, Ria. She doesn't have enough mental stability. Isabelle muttered. Kate felt her attention shift to herself. Kate, does Kallen ad Kol know the incantation?
A single rational thought floated through: Yes.
Everyone withdrew from her mind, giving her the relief she needed as she sobbed brokenly. A moment later Maria, Annaliese, Isabelle and Luciana all rushed into the room, followed quickly by Kallen and Kol, her bothers/guards/annoying-overprotective-barbarians. At this point though anyone at all just put her in more anguish.
Make her sleep, Lucy. Kate heard Isabelle whisper. Luciana's eyes closed a moment before Katerina felt a wave of dizziness and fatigue wash over her. She tipped sideways, only staying awake llong enough to see Kallen rush forward to catch her before she blacked out.
YOU ARE READING
Hidden One
Teen FictionTeresa Erickson never wanted any of this- she didn't want to move to England, she didn't wand her father to get re-married, and she CERTAINLY didn't want a group of magical beings to pick her up and claim she was one of them. But she appears to have...
