Lying awake now, I was starting to seriously regret insisting that Alex and I didn’t sleep in the same bed here. I could be with him this very moment, curled up in his arms and talking through the day’s events. And then later...my cheeks tinged as I stared at the high, old-fashioned ceiling; I counted its cracks in the glow of the street light to take my mind off the fact that my heart was suddenly beating faster. Yes, good call on not sharing Alex’s bed, Willow. Thumbs up.

Then I stiffened.

I could hardly even describe what I’d just felt – it was like a sort of rushing past, as if I were standing beside a river and could sense the intensity of its current, ready to knock me off my feet. But it wasn’t beside me, it was inside of me, so powerful that it felt like I’d get swept away if I even dipped a toe in.

The feeling lasted only seconds; then it faded. Frowning, I closed my eyes and went deep within, searching. Nothing. I looked again to be sure, carefully exploring every corner of my mind. The weird energy was gone, if it had really been there in the first place – there was no sign of it. I shook my head at myself. Okay, psychic glitch time.

Then I became uneasily aware of my angel. Usually she waited inside me to be sought out, but now, all at once, she was just there in my mind, watching me, with her wings opening and closing.

I stared back at her, wondering what was going on. Ever since we’d bonded, her presence had always brought such a sense of love, of comfort. Now it seemed different. Edgy. My angel’s shining face was my own, but my scalp chilled as I realized: there were different thoughts than mine behind her eyes. Thoughts I couldn’t read.

That sense of rushing power, like something had been awakened.

Shaken, I withdrew and lay huddled under the covers, listening to the sounds of the others sleeping; the faint noise of traffic. I’d never been conscious of my angel having her own thoughts before – or even having thoughts at all, really; she’d always simply been me. What had just happened? And what would have occurred if I’d shifted my consciousness to hers – this radiant twin who suddenly felt like a stranger?

The idea brought a shiver of apprehension, and I hated it. I’d only barely gotten used to having this other part of me, and now suddenly it seemed so...alien. I let out a breath. Had I really just been thinking about how human I was? The irony wasn’t funny, somehow.

It took me a long time to finally fall asleep. And even when I did, I could still sense my angel, restless inside of me.