Hidden Currents by Christine Feehan Page A

didn’t dare take his mind off Elle even for a moment to warn her sisters he needed to keep talking to her. He hoped they could see by his reactions that it was imperative to use every ounce of strength they had to hold the bridge.
    I’m going to keep talking to you, baby. Concentrate on my voice and forget everything else around you. You aren’t there. You’re with me.
    Jackson. The moment she whispered his name, seeking him, needing him, reaching out for strength, for hope, the energy field burned through her brain, an electric shock that had her screaming in pain.
    Jackson felt the tears on his face. “Don’t!” he pleaded with her, unaware he’d spoken aloud as well as in his mind. He even reached out for her, trying to touch her, to let her feel him. He took a breath and tried to keep himself together. Don’t talk, Elle. Don’t try to reach me. Let me just be with you this way. The bridge isn’t going to last, you know that. Your sisters are sending you love and strength and we have you now. Hold on for us. Jonas is here. Ilya, too. Matt and Aleksandr will be with us. You know we’ll come.
    He felt the stirring in his mind, knew her thoughts, although she remained silent. She didn’t want them to come. She was too afraid of Stavros. She believed he would kill them all—maybe even find and kill her sisters.
    He shook his head. You know Jonas. You know me. You’ve seen inside me, Elle. I don’t kill so easy. None of us do. Take a breath, baby, don’t look at the floor. Look out the window at the storm. We sent that to you, across the ocean, we found you and we sent you a storm.
    He felt her again and this time there was determination. She was building her strength and he held his breath knowing she was steeling herself for the crashing pain when she sent another message.
    Stavros is psychic.
    She screamed again and Jackson tasted blood in his mouth. The pain drove him down to the tiles again. A hand slid over his forehead, cooling, easing the terrible pain—easing it for both of them.
    Powerful. Has a brother.
    Each time Elle sent to him, the shocking current grew stronger. Libby gasped and jerked her hand away. They smelled the scent of burned flesh. The bridge wavered.
    “No!” Jackson implored. “For God’s sake, hold it.” Elle, stop. We’ll lose the bridge. You have to stay quiet. Keep looking out the window and just let me hold you in my arms for a few moments. Because the Drake sisters were trembling under the terrible effort. When the next storm comes, baby, be ready. We’ll be there to get you. All of us together may be able to short-circuit the energy field.
    He felt her sudden awareness of Stavros and he stayed quiet, waiting with her. Stavros wasn’t alone and fear pounded through Elle, but then he felt some of the tension slip away. She recognized the other man. A bodyguard.
     
     
     
    ELLE felt Jackson slipping away from her and she wanted to cry out, to reach for him and hold him inside her. Instead she kept her lashes down, trying to quiet the sobs escaping, trying to be as small as possible.
    “What the hell have you done to her?” Sid demanded. “If you’re going to kill her, put a bullet in her brain, don’t turn her into a vegetable.” He ripped the sheet off the bed and wrapped Elle’s body in it, kicking Drako’s leg out of his way as he removed the rope from her wrists. “She needs a doctor, Stavros. She’s bleeding from her nose and mouth and around her ears. You know what that means? A brain bleed. You said you were going to keep her, not torture her.”
    Stavros rushed to the bed as Sid put her down. Elle rolled to her side and curled up in the fetal position, trying to disappear. Everywhere they touched her hurt. Her head pounded with agony. Her ability to think, to reason, was fast slipping away.
    “Sheena,” Stavros’s voice was low, almost a caress. “Look at me, sweetness. It’s going to be all right now. I’ve forgiven you and no one will hurt you