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Back Salvaged Save as PDF
Chapters (53)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise for
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. EPILOGUE
  51. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  52. About the Author
  53. What’s next onyour reading list?

Is that you saying that? Are you even you anymore? No idea original to your mind but to ours. You know this; you know our desires are intertwined.

“Not always.” Edison sighed and cleaned his glasses on his thermal crew shirt, then set them back in place. “Not now.”

I know you’re plotting against us, baby, I know you like her; we like her, too. Mother knows what you’re up to.

“Yeah?” He felt crazy speaking to himself this way, but if he didn’t, if he only talked back to the voices in his head, it made it easier for them to swirl together. A thought could be his and then seamlessly become something else, tainted and ripped from his control. “If I’m plotting against you, then try and stop me.”

Oh, we will. We are.

A hand like a vise clamped down on his shoulder. Edison leapt to his feet, throwing his right arm out for balance and slamming it against the clear barrier. He kept his balance, but his attacker had the upper hand. Of course he didn’t have to look. Piero peeled away from the darkness as if he were part of the shadows. He wasted no time, shoving Edison back against the shield and then reaching for his head, Piero’s huge hand closing over Edison’s face before cracking his head back against the barrier again and again. Something snapped. There was a crackle like the breaking of thick ice.

No. The shield will hold. It can’t break, it can’t . . .

Edison lashed out with both hands, landing one blow, but it was a weak one. There was no coming back from this ambush. He couldn’t see, couldn’t think, not with Piero’s giant hand smothering him and blocking his eyes. Their connection returned with a vengeance, pure, obliterating emotion rolling off Piero. Edison gasped, hearing his glasses click softly as they landed on the floor.

Rage. Frustration. Elation.

His chest felt giddy, as if that excitement in Piero had nested itself effortlessly in his body. Then he was flying or tumbling, jerked away from the barrier, his thoughts a jumble as he fought off the other man’s emotions. More than the disorienting blows to the head, those unfiltered feelings left him reeling and confused.

There was a soft sound behind him and then laughter, but there was no telling if it was his voice or another’s.

26

Shattered. Shattering. She opened her eyes, the world black and blue, glowing, glowing so brightly as if fused to a dream. A fluorescent smiling skull glittered in the dark outside the chamber, hovering there before she recognized the springy mane of hair and the powerful frame attached to it. Piero. She opened her mouth to scream out a warning but nothing happened.

Nothing happened and everything happened.