I’d find a way to break the link. If I didn’t, it wouldn’t matter anyway. Because I’d be dead. Either way, Luciana wouldn’t be getting what she wanted.

The stiff sheets crinkled as I lay back against my single pillow. “I’ll be okay. It’s just a few bad dreams.” We didn’t have total ESP, but we knew each other well. Ridiculously well. We finished each other’s sentences, knew when the other was hurt, and definitely couldn’t lie to each other. It never worked.

“Whatever she made you say in your oath, it’s obviously much stronger than what’s standard. We’re working on breaking ours—hell, Shane’s is already broken just by the force of his counter-oath—but yours… It isn’t normal. She shouldn’t be able to do this to you, and it’s scaring me.” He paused. “You have to break this oath before it kills you.”

I rolled my eyes, trying to act as exasperated as possible. “I’m not going to die.” I tried to make it sound like a ridiculous idea, but my brother was always too smart for his own good.

Raphael shifted just enough to look down at me. His black hair was sticking up at odd angles, which meant he’d been asleep. He always knew when I was having a bad dream. Our twindar was strong, no matter what else was going on.

“Your skin is pale and the bags under your eyes have gotten darker every day. You’re losing weight. She’s sucking you dry. Don’t think I haven’t noticed.”

I suppressed another eye roll. “I wouldn’t dare call you anything but observant.”

“Don’t get sarcastic with me. This is serious.”

“I know.” If anything, I was more aware of that fact than he was.

“She’s using your oath for more than she should. The bitch will bleed you dry if we don’t stop her.”

Please, Raphael, tell me something I’m not fully aware of.

I looked into his eyes. They were the same dark brown, almost black, as mine and nearly the same shape. Mine were a little more round, giving me an innocent look. The kind of look that no longer fit me. “I know better than you what Luciana is capable of doing.” I’d even betrayed my own cousin’s trust trying to stop her.

“I think you should consider this trip to Peru. Putting some distance between you could weaken her hold.”

I shrugged. “I’m not convinced that distance will help.”

“It can’t hurt, that’s for sure.”

“Raphael…”

“Cloud…”

I couldn’t help the little smile that came out at his nickname for me. He used to make fun of mom with it. She hated when people called me Claw-dia. She’d say, “Cloud-ia. Like a cloud.” I didn’t really care how people pronounced my name. There were bigger things in life to worry about.

“And what about Mathieu?”

I groaned. “What about Matt?” He hated being called Matt. It was petty, but I refused to call him anything else.

“He’s been calling my cell.”

The guy was such a jerk.