SEVENTEEN

SIXTEEN

NO. NO. NO.

Connor caught me as I started for the steps. "You can"t go down there."

I fought to shake him off, not bothering to be gentle. "We can"t leave them there."

Connor"s grip didn"t budge. "What will we do if he catches us too? There will be no one to save them then."

His words pierced my blind panic. He was right.

I couldn"t lose my head. We had to be smart. Nathan and Makoto were counting on us.

I took a deep breath and then another. "Okay, you"re right."

He didn"t release me, though his grip wasn"t as tight. "Can you get a hold of Liam?"

"He wasn"t answering earlier, but I"ll try again."

Connor glanced at my apartment door. "We should go back inside. There are powerful wards on your apartment that will make it difficult to use his shadow trick to step inside. They"ll offer some protection."

Wards? I didn"t know anything about wards.

Perhaps Inara and Lowen were responsible. If so, I owed them big after this.

With one last lingering look at the spot where Nathan and Makoto had been swallowed by the shadow ball, I followed Connor inside. I shut the door and threw the lock, adding the deadbolt for good measure.

Next, I grabbed my phone from the pocket I"d shoved it in when I tore out of my bedroom.

I paced the floor in front of my couch as I waited for Liam to pick up, Connor watching me. The phone rang, over and over again.

No answer. Again.

I ended the call, then hit redial.

Why wasn't he answering?

By the third time I hit redial, I had to concede that something had gone wrong with Callie. When the phone turned over to voice mail, I left a message.

"Something has happened. Call me as soon as you get this." I hesitated. There was a very real possibility I wasn"t going to make it out of here. I didn"t want those to be the last words I said to him. "Liam—I love you. Try not to forget that, whatever happens."

I hit end call, telling Connor. "I don"t want to talk about what I just said."

If I didn"t think about it, maybe I could pretend I hadn"t used such sappy words in a life or death situation.

"I wasn"t going to say anything," Connor assured me. A second passed. "But if I did, I"d say I was glad Liam had someone like you. He doesn"t care for many, but I can tell you"re different."

"I thought I said not to say anything." I stopped pacing to face him.

As much as I pretended irritation, his assurance made me feel slightly better.

It didn't take long for worry to set back in. Daybreak wasn"t far off. With it, I"d be defenseless. Connor would be on his own then and our enemies weren"t hampered by the sun.

Whatever wards my home had, I somehow doubted they"d last the hours until night fell.

A pounding at my door made me jump and stop in mid stride.

Connor and I traded a look.

Awful nice of our enemy to announce his presence with a knock.

"I know you're in there," a woman called unexpectedly. "I'm not going away until you answer."

I frowned at the door, the voice familiar. Where had I heard it before?

It took only a second for the memory to come back again. The woman from the station, the one I thought I'd seen at the bar. Pelt—first name still unknown.

What was she doing here? And why?

I lifted my eyebrows at Connor. He shook his head. He had no idea either.

Not good.

"I can stay here all night."

I leaned one knee against the couch, moving the curtain so I could see the landing of my staircase.

Sure enough, it was Pelt.

"What the hell is she doing here?" I muttered.

Connor peered over my shoulder. "This is an interesting turn of events."

I straightened. "You mean suspicious."

Connor twitched a shoulder. "That too."

"I thought Thomas already compelled the people you'd missed to forget about me?" That was certainly what he'd said when he'd confronted us in my apartment. Even made it a point to comment on how Connor had missed two people.

"That was my understanding as well," Connor said slowly.

"Then why is she here?"

He shrugged. "Maybe Thomas missed her."

Not likely. Our sire didn't make mistakes like that. The first thing he would have done after taking care of those in the station would be to track down the witness.

I bent to stash my gun under a pillow before heading for the door.

"You"re going to open it?" he asked with surprise.

"There"s a very dangerous spook running around who just made two enforcers disappear. I can"t leave her out there with him."

She was human. She wouldn't survive the type of games the Fae played. Sometimes, being honorable was a really big pain in the ass.

Not to mention if she"d told anyone where she was going and then disappeared immediately after, I"d be the first suspect the cops looked at.

That was the last thing I needed. I was pretty confident I could bluff one cop, but a dozen? Unlikely. Thomas would have to get involved then, and there was no guarantee he would leave everyone breathing at the end.

I paused, checking the peep hole one last time, not really surprised to find she was still the woman I'd met at the station. The few steps it had taken to reach the door hadn't magically changed her identity.

I dropped into my magic sight, looking for any indication this was a glamor. Nothing.

I yanked open the door when she was in mid knock, nearly getting a fist to the face for my troubles.

Pelt glared at me as if nearly getting punched was my fault.

"Do you know what time it is?" I demanded.

I didn"t wait for her response, looking past her to search for a sign Don was still out there. All I saw were streetlamps and shadows, along with a car I recognized. It was the same make and model as the car that had been sitting outside the Gargoyle the other night. The one Liam said he'd have someone look into.

It made me think I hadn't been imagining things when I saw Pelt at the club.

"What do you want?" I asked, a sinking feeling in my stomach.

Was she stalking me? Why?

No, no, I told myself, trying to rein in my fully justified paranoia. Just because there was a whole other group of spooks looking to kidnap me for some reason didn't mean the entire universe was out to get me—only a good chunk of it.

Any uncertainty my brusqueness had caused disappeared.

"I had a few questions about what I saw when you went into the warehouse the other night."

I stared at her for a beat. "You"re kidding."

Someone really should have made sure she couldn"t remember enough to have questions. I sent an accusing glare at the offspring of the someone in question. Connor raised his hands, unconcerned.

I shook my head, looking back at Pelt and noting the stiffness around her eyes and mouth.

She didn"t like my response. Good.

There were limits to decent behavior. Boundaries.

What made her think this was remotely okay?

It wasn't, and the vaguely tense look in her eyes told me she knew that.

I allowed myself to relax, leaning against the door frame as I studied her while considering my options. I could slam the door in her face—and probably should—but that wouldn't give me any new, useful information. It certainly wouldn't tell me why she was running around with memories that should have already been wiped.

Pelt took out a notepad, flipping through it until she reached a page with a list of questions.

"No," I said, abruptly coming to a decision. Even if I'd wanted to figure out the mystery that was Pelt, this wasn't the time or place. I needed to get her away from here. I could always track her down later to learn what I wanted.

"What do you mean ‘no'?" She arched an imperious eyebrow at me.

My smile was mocking. She'd have to work a lot harder than that to coerce my cooperation. I"d faced down much more intimidating people than her both as a vampire and human. Compared to them, her posturing was cute.

Pointless, but cute.

"How hard is a two-letter word to understand? It means I'm not answering your questions."

"You have to," she blustered.

My head tilted. "I don't have to do anything I don't want to."

She snapped her notepad close, her eyes cold and steely. "I'm not giving you a choice. You're going to answer my questions."

Ah, look at her trying to play hard ball with me.

"I'm actually not," I told her. "You see, knocking on my door in the early hours of the morning, that's called harassment."

Truthfully, I had no idea if it actually was, but it sounded good. Intimidating even.

Hopefully, it would work. If not, I was going to be forced to ask Connor to put the whammy on her. I didn"t want to do that yet. She was annoying, overly aggressive, but she was still human.

If possible, I'd like to win her cooperation through logic, not compulsion.

"It"s actually not," Pelt corrected.

"Oh? You think so? How about stalking then?"

Pelt flinched.

My answering smirk wasn't very nice. "Yeah, I know you followed me to the club. Not to mention sitting outside my friend's house in your car for several hours. What would a judge say when I show them the video evidence?"

Pelt struggled to keep her eyes on mine.

I nodded slowly. "Yeah, we have you on camera in both the club and outside their house. Still think I don't have a case?"

I wasn't sure about either of those statements, but she didn't need to know that. All she needed was to believe that I was serious.

"I don't know why you're being so hostile. It's not like I woke you up," Pelt argued, pointing at my clothes.

"I fell asleep on the couch," I lied through my teeth.

"With your shoes on?"

"I was very tired."

She made a sound that didn"t hide her skepticism.

"I also don"t have to explain myself to you."

It was one thing for me to lie. It was another for her to question me on it. She was the one at my door, intruding on my early morning hours.

"If that"s all." I started to close the door in her face, hoping she"d take the hint and leave.

Her open palm slapped against it. "It"s not."

I kept pressure up for another moment, tempted to force the issue. For a human, she was incredibly stubborn. Was this what it was like for Liam when he had to deal with me?

"Get your hand off my door," I ordered, pulling the tone of voice I"d heard Thomas use on more than one unpleasant occasion. A tone that was haughty, cultured, and refined. It had the effect of making the recipient feel small and insignificant.

Pelt didn't budge, her lips flattening into a mutinous line. "Funny thing, I went back to the station last night. No one remembers you. Not picking you up from the warehouse or why they released you when you were clearly trespassing. It's like it never even happened."

Well, shit.

She really was stalking me.

Connor approached, hovering outside her line of sight. His gaze remained locked on my face, the threat of his presence enough to tell me I was running out of leeway. Something was going to need to be done about Pelt. Soon.

"Then there's Thomas Bennet and Liam Quinn," Pelt said, her eyes never leaving mine.

All thought of hurrying this along disappeared as I stopped trying to shut the door in her face.

"As far as I can tell, neither of them exists. No birthdates, no paper trail of their lives to this point. Yet they own numerous properties around the city." Small dimples appeared on Pelt's cheeks seeming to say "gotcha". "Despite that, no one seems to remember having met either one."

Connor stepped into view, wiping that look off her face.

I put a hand on his chest, stopping him. We needed to know what else she knew and whether she"d told anybody or written it down.

"Are you following me?" I asked calmly.

For her to know those names, it meant she"d done her research.

I didn"t like that. I didn"t like it at all.

Unaware her life hung in the balance, Pelt said, "I"ll take that as confirmation of your relationship, then."

There was a sense of disconnection as I studied her, my thoughts and feelings far away.

Belatedly, it occurred to me that she was a hunter. One of those rare humans with knowledge of spooks. According to Brax, they had been spotted in Columbus recently.

Possible, but why fixate on me? I had no history of causing trouble.

Hell, as a vampire I was considered something of a vegan.

No, she was too confident and not nearly scared enough. If she was truly a hunter, she would have been more on guard. She wouldn"t be so cavalier about facing down one of my kind.

Vampires had a habit of making bloody examples of hunters. Only a hunter missing a few brain cells would confront me in this fashion.

Perhaps the answer was simpler. Maybe she read too many mystery books and was unable to resist looking deeper when anything suspicious crossed her path.

Hell, she could even be one of those rare individuals who was sensitive to the paranormal. If so, her locking onto me would make a lot of sense.

If that was the case, then she would feel like there was something off about me but wouldn't be able to put her finger on what. It was a hop, jump, and skip from there to assuming I was involved with something nefarious.

"Are you aware that trespassing on federal lands after hours is a crime?" she continued.

I didn"t respond, still studying her the way a predator would.

She reached for the phone in her pocket, withdrawing it. She unlocked the device, clicking into her apps before holding it up to me.

A photo of my poor car, dent and all, was on full display.

The composition was surprisingly good, I thought distantly. She wasn't half bad as a photographer.

Her gaze flicked from Connor to me. "This car was found near High Banks earlier this evening. I know it's yours. I've seen you driving it. Would you care to explain how it got there?"

I took the phone from her.

This was proof of her stalking habits. I wasn't paranoid, after all. She really was digging up dirt on me. Following me. Acting so far outside the parameters of acceptable behavior that it was no longer funny.

"My car was damaged. A friend gave me a ride," I said finally.

She took the phone from me, stuffing it in her back pocket.

"Now?" Connor asked.

"Yeah." The word felt like it was torn from my middle, but I couldn"t allow her to go back to her life with what she knew. Connor needed to compel her. If he couldn"t, or if any memory remained, we"d have to take her to Thomas to decide how to deal with her.

Connor stepped forward as I spotted blackness spreading across the night sky directly behind Pelt. It blotted out the stars.

Oh shit.

"There's no use pretending ignorance. You're going to tell me what I want to know," she was saying, completely unaware of the danger behind her.

Connor made a sound like a startled cat, his gaze on the same spot as me. Right now, the blot was too small to be a threat, but that would change.

I tugged Connor back to my side of the door frame.

"You need to leave," I blurted.

She glanced over her shoulder, looking for what had caught my attention. Seeing nothing, she gave a slight shake of her head as she turned back to me.

"I'm not going anywhere until I have answers."

The darkness spread further, deepening to an oily black, at once infinite and vast.

A foot clad in an expensive Italian loafer stepped out of it, a leg and body draped in an expensive suit following. A red scarf flapped in an invisible wind as Don balanced on the stair railing.

"Too late," I whispered.

Always too late.

Even under the shade of that umbrella, I caught the edge of his smile and the sharp teeth contained within.

"What?" Pelt started to turn.

I lunged for her, grabbing her arm. I ignored the way she grabbed at the pocket of her jacket as I yanked her into the apartment and safety.

She stumbled past me as I slammed the door closed, flicking all the locks.

"It"s not going to keep him," I told Connor.

Nothing would; not for long.

"Uh, Aileen," Connor said.

"You're going to regret that," Pelt snarled. "Kidnapping me isn't going to stop what I've set in motion."

"Uh huh," I said, only half listening.

I put my eye against the peep hole. Don jauntily stepped off the railing, landing in front of my door with a small flourish of his umbrella. He straightened his suit before stepping forward.

This was bad. Very, very bad.

Where the hell were Nathan and Makoto? What had he done with them?

"We need to go."

And I needed my gun. Right now, it was a security blanket I had every intention of embracing.

I took a step in the direction of my couch, stopping abruptly at the sight of a gun"s muzzle pointed directly at my face.

Behind the gun, Pelt's face was pale and scared.

"This is what I was trying to tell you," Connor whispered, his hands up.

"Hands up," she barked.

The gun was steady, not even a slight shake betraying the fear I could smell wafting off her.

Slowly, I did what she said. "We don"t have time for this. Can"t you compel her?"

"I already tried. She"s quite resistant. Without taking blood, it will be difficult."

Pelt flinched but didn"t hesitate, jerking her gun at us. "Get on your knees; hands on your head."

"I know you"re scared, but the danger is out there. Not in here," I tried in a soothing voice.

"Like I believe that. You did something to those cops—I don't know what—but it made them forget. There's something very wrong with you two, and I'm going to find out what." The gun didn"t waver as she stepped forward. "I won"t repeat myself. On your knees, hands on your head."

Connor moved to follow as I wavered, very tempted to take the bullet.

Vampires healed fast, even baby ones like me. Chances were, she wouldn"t aim for the head. She"d go for my torso since it was a bigger target. Same way I would have.

As long as she didn"t obliterate my heart, I"d survive. It"d hurt, but I"d live.

On the other hand, if she shot me, I was pretty sure Connor would tear out her throat. Also, wounded, I"d have much less chance of fending off Don, even with Connor helping.

There was also still the small question of whether she was a hunter. If she was, there could very well be silver nitrate in that gun.

I was too young to survive long with that poison in my veins.

"Pretty vampire, open the door," Don crooned, his voice echoing in my apartment as if he was already inside.

The gun jerked and steadied before I could do more than tense.

"What was that?" White showed around Pelt"s eyes.

"The danger I was talking about," I said slowly.

She flinched as something scratched at the door.

"Your gun isn"t going to be much help," I said gently.

"We need to go," Connor added from his position on the ground. "Now."

Pelt shook her head. "No, you're doing this. You're making me see things that aren't there. They said you would, but I didn't believe them. I thought they were crazy, but it's all true."

"What is?" I asked.

Pelt shook her head, focusing on me again. "On your knees."

"This is a mistake," I warned.

Her finger tensed on the trigger. "Do it or I"ll shoot you."

Left with no choice, I slowly lowered myself to my knees.

"Connor, can you do it?" I asked.

If he could disarm her before she shot me, I was willing to take the chance.

"My chances would be about fifty-fifty."

Not great odds.

My gaze caught hers in one last attempt. Power flooded me. "You don"t want to do this."

Her eyes went hard. "I"ll decide what I do and don"t want to do."

Thin tendrils of black smoke whispered from under my door and wafted along its edges. The smoke poured faster as Pelt crossed the room. She bent to yank Connor"s hands behind him, using a pair zip ties to bind his hands before doing the same to me.

"This is a mistake," Connor warned.

"Shut up," she snarled.

By now my door had all but disappeared under the dark smoke.

"What the hell is that?" she demanded, her focus swinging between me and the door.

"I told you I wasn"t the danger you should be worried about," I snarled.

I pulled experimentally against the zip ties, grimacing when the bit into my skin.

My lips barely move as I spoke under my breath, so low I could barely hear. "Get ready."

My ears caught the sound of plastic breaking. Connor wiggled, hiding his suddenly free hands.

"This is some sort of trick." Pelt advanced on me. "I want you to stop it right now."

"This isn't me," I said.

Not that I blamed her. I wouldn"t want to accept this either if I was her.

The human mind didn"t like the unexplainable and would always reach for the most plausible solution, no matter how ridiculous. Contrary to popular belief, humans are hardwired to explain away the things that went bump in the night. It"s why the supernatural world has been able to coexist with them for so long.

Simply put, humans didn"t want to see the monsters keeping company right beside them.

"You did." Beads of sweat popped up on Pelt"s forehead.

Panic in a person holding a gun was never good.

"Let"s stay calm," I urged.

The gun swung toward me.

"Aileen?" Connor asked.

"You"re the reason for this. They said it"ll all go away once you"re gone."

My mouth popped open. "Who said that?"

Pelt didn't answer, instead nodding to herself as the bizarre thoughts she had seemed to click into place.

"Go for it," I told Connor, edging back.

Her gaze lifted to mine, intent resolution there.

This was going to hurt.

Connor sprang to his feet as a loud explosion ripped through my apartment.

A hard force punched me in the shoulder. Instinct and luck had me ducking the next two shots.

Connor grabbed her around the waist in the next second, hurling her into the wall.

I fought to stay aware as numbness washed over my shoulder.

Connor"s face appeared above mine in the next second. "Aileen."

"I"m okay," I got out.

It just hurt really bad.

For all the things that I"d lived through, I"d never been shot. I"d have to remember to avoid this experience in the future. It wasn't one I enjoyed.

Relief filled Connor"s eyes, seconds before his gaze went blank and he crumpled to the ground next to me. Callie stood over us, her snakes a writhing nimbus around her head.

I yanked my hands apart, breaking the zip ties and reaching for Connor. My fingers brushed against the back of his neck, touching twin puncture marks. Immediately my skin started to itch before growing numb. One of her snakes had bitten him, I realized.

"We meet again," she said pleasantly.

"Connor," I whispered, dread draining the warmth from my hands. Fate had only now brought him into my life. I wasn"t ready for him to be gone yet.

Callie waved a hand at him. "He"s not dead, simply in a deep sleep. He"ll wake up in a day or two. I promise."

I stared at her, barely breathing.

"We should go," Callie informed me.

"You"re not going anywhere," Pelt growled from behind her, gun raised.

Callie"s snakes snapped and bit at the air as Pelt carefully kept out of reach. Callie looked at her over her shoulder and smiled.

Pelt gasped, her hand jerking. She gurgled, her throat working but all that came out was a muffled moan. Terror filled her features.

Callie petted her snakes, calming them. "Shh, my lovelies. You"ve done your job."

The snakes settled down, their movements not quite so frantic. A few flicked their tongue out, touching Callie"s cheeks and hands in tiny snake kisses.

"You really should have listened to Aileen when she told you to leave," Callie said, preoccupied with tending to her snakes. She made a tsking sound. "Shooting an unarmed woman in her own home. A bound one, no less. And you call me the monster."

I pulled Connor close to me, scooting away from Callie and her new victim. It was like watching a massive car accident. You wanted to look away but you couldn"t.

Pelt"s skin lost all color and warmth as she slowly petrified. Pelt quivered, fighting to escape, but unable. The gun trembled in her hand, now nothing more than a paperweight.

Callie looked on dispassionately, still petting her snakes.

Another gurgle came from Pelt.

Callie shook her head at the woman. "It"s no use begging. You must learn your lesson."

The dark smoke that had retreated at the sound of the gunshot redoubled its efforts. It ate away my door in seconds. From its depths, Don stepped into the apartment, coming up short at the sight of the medusa.

"I had hoped to beat you to her," he said with a disappointed sigh.

She beamed at him. "You should have used the window then. The locks were easy to force and the wards weaker there."

"What did you do with Nathan and Makoto?" I asked. I didn"t want their attention but I needed to know.

Speaking was more difficult than I"d thought it would be. My words came out reedy and thin, a bubble of blood on my lips. I was pretty sure the bullet nicked a lung.

If I remembered my first aid training, that meant my lungs were likely filling with blood.

If I"d been human, I would need immediate medical attention.

Don's frown held a rebuke for Callie. "She"s damaged."

"That"s what happens when you play games," Callie pointed out. "If you hadn"t decided to be a showman, she would be in one piece."

He made a grumpy sound.

I didn"t move, focusing instead on trying to direct my energy toward healing the damage done to my body. It wasn"t easy.

I moved my fingers to Connor"s throat. The slow thud of his heart beat made that tight feeling in my stomach loosen. Callie hadn"t been lying. He was still alive.

"Finish with the human and let"s go." he said, already strolling toward me.

"No!" I lunged forward, grabbing the medusa"s ankle.

Don froze.

Callie"s attention swiveled toward me, surprise in her face.

"Don"t kill her." I forced the word, "Please," through numb lips.

Callie crouched, bringing her face close to mine. Dozens of snakes tasted the air in front of me, a few of their tongues flicking against my skin.

"She would have killed you." Callie seemed more curious than angry.

My grip tightened before I forced myself to relax. "Not her fault. She was scared."

Callie"s smile was sad. "Aren"t they all?"

There was a story behind her smile, one I didn"t have time to delve into.

"She"s not a threat to you," I pressed.

Don shuffled forward, his posture almost protective. Callie"s gaze flicked to him and away in dismissal.

"Mercy from your line; how unexpected." Callie"s gaze swept over the trail of blood I"d left across my living room floor before returning to me. She brushed a piece of hair from my forehead, her expression sympathetic.

The breath she exhaled was weary. "You"ll find humans undeserving of such consideration."

"I was human once." Maybe I could appeal to the sympathy she seemed to have for me. I didn"t know why she cared, but I planned to take advantage of it if I could.

She set a hand on my cheek, her thumb sliding across my cheekbone. Her eyes flicked between mine, her snakes rearing back to stare at me too.

Callie gave me a pained smile. "Oh, my darling. You were never that."

My mind went quiet as everything in me stilled.

"What are you talking about?" I asked through numb lips.

Callie didn"t answer. She straightened, her attention landing on Pelt.

I was losing her.

"What do you mean I wasn"t human?" I demanded again.

Don hovered next to me, the tentacles uncurling and flexing around his head.

"Your father. He was one of the Scattered," Don said.

I shook my head.

No.

My father's name was Bryan Volsk. Maybe not the best of men since he"d walked away when I was a baby and never come back, but he"d been human.

"Surely you must have suspected," Don said, sounding puzzled.

My head kept shaking, denial a hard rock in my throat. Under it was the fear that he might be right.

Callie snapped her fingers at us. "She"s going to be stubborn. Take her to the others while I finish up here."

Don sighed. "Don"t dawdle. The rest are already impatient."

She waved her hand in agreement.

A pained whimper came from Pelt, all she could manage as gray crept into her face. A single tear rolled down a cheek that had already turned hard and smooth. She wasn't dead yet, but it wouldn't be long. Once the petrification reached her heart and lungs, it'd be over. As a human there was no way to survive that.

"No," I crawled forward. I couldn"t fail. Not again.

Pelt's breath slowed, shuddering from lungs that no longer wanted to work right.

I snapped.

I lunged forward, striking with the accuracy of a snake. I buried my fangs in Callie's upper thigh, near the femoral artery.

Victory filled me. Blood hit my tongue, richer and more powerful than anything I"d ever tasted.

Blazing, white hot fury surged through my veins. Agonizing pain followed by volcanic fire.

Twin curses came from around me. My eyes were open but I was blind.

A strong finger swept along my lips, detaching my fangs from the flesh they were buried in.

My body hit the ground hard, already convulsing.

"Silly girl, you should know better than to bite someone like me." Callie"s voice betrayed her upset.

Don"s tentacles wrapped around my legs and arms, tight bands of unbreakable steel as they held me still.

"This isn"t good," he observed, unnecessarily.

Callie hissed.

"Don"t get angry with me," he instructed. "I will break your snake"s neck. You"re the one who delayed our return."

Numbing cold replaced the fire. My body bent nearly in half. A scream ripped from me.

"Oh no." Callie sounded horrified.

Don cursed.

"She"s petrifying," Callie whispered. "How is this possible?"

"Likely the blood she consumed," Don said in a grim voice. "We need to get her home, or it won"t matter how much of Brin she has in her. She"ll be dead."

I felt myself being lifted, but I couldn"t move. Not even my eyes.

"Breathe, Aileen. Just breathe," Don instructed.