Talk about feel like death.

She looked like it, too.

Paler than normal. Circles under red brimmed eyes. Though her hair did look longer, thicker, and shinier than ever and laid in soft waves down her back.

Nevaeha eyed her neck in the mirror. She had the worse hickey she's ever seen. Guess her theory that it was all just a dream, and his body was in his bed, and she was in hers, was not completely accurate.

Guess she should have known that since she had to have stitches after the last time she dreamed walked.

There wasn't a person in town who hadn't heard Vallen's howls.

She knows because that was the first thing Everett mentioned this morning. That was right before he told her she looked like a corpse.

His look would be priceless if she showed him her neck. He might weep with thankfulness, but she wasn't crazy enough to let him see it. He'd never stop talking about it.

She pulled the collar of her shirt back up and turned away from the mirror. She'd also have to hear all about his envy, so it definitely wouldn't be worth it.

After grabbing her book off of the sink, she left the girl's bathroom behind. Thank God for short school days.

All she had to do was live through one more class.

Her great-great grandmother's portrait gave her a mocking look when she entered the classroom.

The woman had no room to talk. Even with her less than sweet looks, she'd had her share of lovers.

And since she's met her great grandfather, she knew the reason for her not so sweet looks and why she had so many lovers.

The thought of August or someone like him being her great, great ...was there another great in there?...grandfather was enough to turn her stomach.

"Class, today we are going to discuss a witch or warlock coming into their powers. Or coming into a new power."

Nevaeha laid her head on her desk with a groan.

She should have known.

She didn't know how she felt about her new powers yet. Stealing magic from others? Her grandmother wouldn't have minded it, but Nevaeha felt like a thief.

Especially after seeing how much she'd weaken Julio.

Conway told her she'd get the hang of it, and it would stop being such a high for her, but she just wished this new power of hers could be put in a drawer and forgotten about.

It makes sense why her mom had tried so hard to transfer her grandmother's magic to her. With it, she was stronger than ever. Or she could be if she abused it.

And she had no intention of doing that.

Ever.

So far, she's learned that if she didn't get too close to others than this new side of her laid dormant. Until she got a handle on it, she'd have to keep a safe distance from others.

Especially others she would leave weakened. Luckily, Vallen didn't even seem to notice her cyphering from him.

No wonder her grandmother had been attracted to powerful men.

Filching magic wasn't the only gift she'd received from her grandmother. Now she'd should also be able to open a door to the afterlife.

'Don't even think about it.'

The voice in her head was so surprising that she screeched and nearly fell out of her desk.

Every eye in the room was on her, so she smiled. "My bad. Please continue Ms. Ebna."

'Good lord, I didn't even know you were there. How long have you been there?'

Vallen didn't answer, and she didn't need him to. She could figure it out for herself. Since he'd nearly marked her. 'I usually at least feel that you are in my head. Not knowing is kind of weird.'

'Do you think I like it?'

By his tone, it was clear he didn't.

'If I don't get a handle on it soon, then I'll have the boy do some of his half-baked magic.'

'You'll get a handle on it. You always do. Is this how it is with your pack? You can always eavesdrop on their thoughts?'

'No. It's like if you are standing next to a person. You choose what you say to them and what you don't say to them. You're just broadcasting like a fucking radio."

If it was possible, she knew she'd just grown paler. 'Are you saying all of your pack can hear me?'

'Like I would allow that. None of them need to know just how crazy you are.'

'Rude. Since you are in my head and since Ms. Ebna has already lost me with this lesson, how about we talk about last night? I think_.'

'You start talking about last night and I'm going to find someone you love and eat them.'

Nevaeha gasped. 'I can't even tell you how rude that comment is. And mean. Please remember who is trespassing on who here.'

'You remember that all of it is your fault. Stay out of my dreams and stay out of my head. Do you think I wanted to hear you singing you're in the mood to fuck something up first thing this morning? Or ever?'

Now her face had to be beat red. She grimaced. 'Be glad you heard it and didn't see it.'

He had nothing to say to that.

'So, what you're saying is instead of you blocking me out, I should learn how to control it on my end? Find a way to only let you hear what I want you to hear?'

No answer.

Again, with the rude. How was she supposed to know whether he was there or not? She wondered if anyone has ever told him he's overly sensitive about some things.

'If they did, they're dead now.'

'Let me try. If I don't have it by tonight, then you can do your power play shit and boot me out.'

'Hell no. Do you know how crazy it is that you can even do this? You're not in my pack and you're not a wolf.'

'If we were mated_.'

'We aren't. Not for a lack of trying on your part.'

'That's not fair! I didn't know it would be so close to the real thing. Anyway, I'm the one who has to walk around with this giant hickey thing on my neck. It looks worse than if a vampire had gotten a hold of me.'

'I didn't have time to heal it. And if I had marked you, then you'd always carry the mark.'

'You mean your bite mark? That's barbaric, you know?'

'You weren't complaining last night.'

No, she hadn't been. Completely the opposite of complaining. She'd felt belonging. The rightness of it. Completeness of it. And don't even get her started on the pleasure that had washed over her only seconds before she woke up.

He groaned.

She sighed. 'I don't know why you're in such an ill mood. No harm, no foul. It's perfectly normal for two people who are dating to_.'

'To invade on someone's private dreams?'

'To get carried away.'

'Get out of my head!'

'I'll try, but before I do, let's talk about you introducing me to your pack. I could cook dinner. We could_.'

'Not in this fucking lifetime.'

'Think about it, Vallen. Once we are mated, they will be my pack, too.'

'Why do the fates hate me?' He cried.

'I could start helping Cato. You and I can start figuring out how we are going to stop this war from happening.'

She might not have noticed him there, but when he was gone, she damn sure noticed the loss.

She felt like she'd just lost her best friend, her mom, and her cat all over again.

Empty.

Cold.

Death held her tighter.