Dark Awakening by Kendra Leigh Castle Page A

massive crack running the length of it now. Her pictures, framed photos of places she’d been and people she’d enjoyed, lay scattered on the floor. Glass was strewn everywhere in the hall, and a quick look behind her told her that the kitchen was worse. The force of her energy leaving her had managed to fling open some of the cupboards, and it seemed she might not have any glasses left. Or plates.
    She didn’t want to look at any more destruction.
    So she looked at Tynan, because he was the only thing here that didn’t make her feel like her heart was being ripped out of her body. He stood, tall and dark and calm, in the middle of the debris, and once again Lily felt an inexorable pull toward him, toward his strength and steadiness as she felt her own façade threatening to crumble. But Lily knew, without a doubt, that she’d have to be a complete fool to give in.
    He hadn’t saved her, Lily told herself. He’d shown up while she was saving herself. And none of this would be happening if he hadn’t been following her to begin with. Remembering that brought a welcome rush of anger to temper the confusing mix of emotions she was contending with. She pushed the memory of the look in Damien’seyes when he’d seen her tattoo into the background, where she could ponder and worry over it later. Though Tynan’s voice still whispered that unthinkable word on a loop in her mind, over and over and over…
    Assassination.
    “So these Shades are trying to kill me. I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me why.”
    “Because whoever hired them would rather see you dead than have you help the dynasty they’re trying to destroy,” Tynan said. “Damien won’t scare off so easily—he wants his money. My queen offers her protection in return for your help identifying her enemies.”
    He extended his hand, but she stayed where she was. She wanted so badly to just give in, to shift the burden of her safety onto someone else for a change. But she’d learned the hard way that the only one she could rely on for protection was herself.
    She kept her hands where they were.
    “Your queen, whoever she is, can go to hell.”
    Tynan pressed his lips together into a line of disapproval. “Don’t be a fool, Lily. You’re dead if you stay here. Let me help you,” he said.
    “Help me? You
caused
this! You said yourself you were careless. I would have been fine if you hadn’t shown up!” Lily cried, outraged that Tynan thought she was so naive, so easily mollified.
    He sighed, his shoulders sagging just a little, and Lily knew she wasn’t imagining the weariness that flashed in his strange silver eyes. It made her feel for him, when she should have felt no sympathy at all. But the depth of the exhaustion she’d glimpsed was so great, and so much more ancient than what any human could muster, thatit touched her unexpectedly. For just a moment, he had worn the look of a man who has struggled for so long that he has accepted it as a permanent state of being.
    To a certain degree, it was a state she was intimately familiar with. Still she chafed at identifying with him.
    “If you want to shout at me, Lily, go ahead,” Tynan said gruffly. “But there’s no changing what’s past. What matters is now. And the choice is either myself and the protection of the most powerful dynasty of vampires in the world, or Damien and his creative methods of putting people out of their misery.”
    His sharp features now revealed nothing but determination. And any traces of vulnerability were gone… if she hadn’t just imagined them to begin with.
    “I want you gone. I want to be left alone. Tell your queen to find somebody else.”
    “There is no one else,” Tynan replied. “Your gift is rarer now than it ever was. It took me months to find one Seer: you. And if it hadn’t been me, Lily, another would have sought you out eventually.”
    Lily looked at him, feeling hopelessness threatening to consume her. “A
Seer
? Is that what you think I