A Beautiful Torment

45. Breaking Point

My stomach twisted.

Vomit rose in my throat and I scrambled across the bathroom floor, barely making it to the toilet in time before my dinner spilled out my mouth. When I was done, I slumped back against the bathtub, a layer of sweat clinging to my skin. I'd never felt so sick in my entire life. Every time Wyatt died, the symptoms grew stronger and more painful. How long would it be before it killed me to bring him back? Would I even succeed in dragging him back?

My eyes fluttered shut. My arms, heavy with exhaustion, hung limply at my sides. I could barely muster up enough energy to remain upright.

"Here."

My eyes flicked back up as Sophia pressed a glass to my lips. Her face was carefully blank, but I could feel her concern in the gentle way she tilted the glass, allowing the water to trickle into my mouth.

I swallowed painfully, my head rocking back against the tub.

Sophia's head tilted and she glanced at the door, a small pucker appearing between her brows.

She can hear what's going on downstairs, I realized.

Maera's face appeared in my mind, the soft look on her face as she embraced Nikolas. Demons might not have been capable of love, but she'd definitely been fond of him. How was he taking the news? Was he in shock, like the rest of us?

My head whirled as the events of the last hour rose in my mind. Once Torment had gotten the name from me, he had strode out the door without so much as a glance at Wyatt's body, slumped against the back wall. Draper's guards had come a few minutes later to retrieve the creature's body – with me still inside – and brought it to another room in the house. It had looked like a small infirmary; four military-style cots lined the right side of the room, along with a host of weird-looking medical equipment.

I remembered the shock that shot through me when I spotted the body lying on the furthest cot. My body. Nikolas had been standing over it – me – with a tense expression on his face, like he was concentrating extremely hard on something.

"What are you doing?!" I'd demanded, in her voice.

"She's been reaped," Nikolas had explained without looking up. "I'm controlling your brain function so your body doesn't shut down and believe you're dead."

Surprise – and a healthy amount of fear – had squeezed at my chest. The guards forced me to lie back on the bed next to my body, their strong hands gripping my shoulders, holding me in place.

When the hot, sultry feeling had bloomed at the back of my neck, I felt almost relieved.

- Relax, Nikolas had coaxed as he entered my head. I'm going to bring you back. Try to follow me, if you can.

What had followed next was a weird, dragging sensation. It felt like I was having an out-of-body experience, like I was slowly starting to lift right out of myself, but there was an elastic flavour to the movement. I imagined that if I pushed too hard or jerked too fast, I would snap right back into the body I was currently possessing.

Weird, I'd thought. I'm actually full-on possessing a body right now.

- Easy, Nikolas had murmured mentally – and then I was out.

I remembered knowing that I should feel surprised, shocked, even amazed – but there was no emotional response, and no body to react to those emotions. No limbs to move, no blood to pump, no eyes to blink. I simply floated. I imagined moving toward Nikolas, and then I was there, directed entirely by my thoughts. An incorporeal thing, invisible and intangible.