~ CASIMIR ~
I didn't know what had happened, but suddenly all of Maya's insistence about her power made my blood run cold.
To my physical eyes she was just there- half-crouched in fear, her face pale, lips slack, and eyes somehow both bright and glazed.
I could feel the exhaustion on her. And no wonder. Because my power-wrought senses rang with recognition.
She shuddered and I felt her body convulse inside.
She was swallowing back power, not letting it release- and it was going to consume her, soul first.
'Jesse… JESSE!' I screamed in the link, but either she'd blocked me, or she was so dazed, she didn't hear me. Because she didn't respond. Didn't even twitch in my direction. She was, I realized, completely unaware that I was there.
And that sent a spear of pain through my chest.
Without my power, Rake was blind to the energy humming in her, but even he could sense that something was wrong. Her scent was drenched in stress and pain.