chapter THIRTY-SIX
It was getting late; I was tired and hoped we could leave soon. So far, the night had been uneventful, and would even have been enjoyable were it not for the thickness of the atmosphere and little displays of power here and there. Elizabeth would throw a small spark of electricity at me, forcing me to fortify my shields to block it. My hopes crashed when I returned from the bathroom to find Vittorio and Samuel in a heated discussion with Jonah, Neal, and Elizabeth. An image in my head showed me standing next to Vittorio, my arm through his. It stopped me in my tracks when I realized that was what he wanted me to do. That was going to take some getting used to. More thoughts and images that weren’t mine filled my head. Somehow, I knew they were Vittorio’s, and I knew it was a warning that things might get ugly. My breath came fast and shallow as fear took hold of me; fear of an impending fight, and fear at Vittorio being able to invade my thoughts. Even though I knew he meant no harm by it, was trying to help even, I wasn’t sure I liked it.
“Jonah, I have no intention of trying to take control of the coven. I do not want that responsibility,” Vittorio said.
“I don’t believe you. Why would you have introduced her into all this otherwise?” Jonah said.
“A man can want a woman for the pure reason of love alone, Jonah. I know that is a foreign concept to you, but please, try to understand it. I love Elena. Simple as that. There is no hidden purpose behind our relationship.”
“How is it that you have so easily fallen in love with a woman you barely know?” Elizabeth asked.
Her power searched for me, and it stung my body. I resisted crying out in pain, and gently pushed back with my own power. The desire to slam it into her full force was strong, but I remembered what Vittorio said about rarely needing to use the full strength. Need and want were two different things, so I held back, but did put enough energy into it to hurt her.
“You little bitch,” she said, and renewed her push against me, stronger this time. I sensed I was stronger than her, but did not have as much control. This could get ugly.
I half expected Vittorio to come to my rescue, but he didn’t. If you need me, I will be here, but you must try to do this on your own, mio amore. You must show Elizabeth your strength. How the hell did I hear him so clearly in my head?
I don’t understand this, and it makes it hard to concentrate, so please be quiet. I hoped he got my message, but didn’t have time to worry about it as a million needles poked all over my body. Soon, I grew tired of the back and forth with Elizabeth. Trying to figure out what else I could do with my power to make her surrender, I remembered Vittorio telling me he threw a nurse across the room. I pushed back at her with electricity to give me a moment to concentrate, then pulled my power completely back. Focusing only on Elizabeth, I sent my power to her. She stumbled backwards. Her needles turned into knives in my body. I feared if I looked down I would be bleeding.
I closed my eyes and pictured her in the chair across the balcony, unable to move, and let my power go. When I opened my eyes, I saw what I hoped for. She was in the chair, struggling to stand. I threw the electric power at her for good measure, and she cried out in pain. This time, I did not stop. I knew it would not permanently injure her, but it must have hurt like hell.
Vittorio’s arm on my shoulder brought me back to reality. “That is enough, Elena.”
Elizabeth’s face contorted in ugly pain. Had I done that? I called my power back, frightened. What else could I do? What other horrible pain could I inflict? Success had clouded my mind, causing me to hurt Elizabeth more than was necessary. Would that happen every time?
From the looks on everyone’s faces, including Vittorio’s and Samuel’s, I knew we had won this round. But at what price?