Imogene returned his withering look in kind. "I'm not trying to intimidate you," she said, as Alex backed off quickly in case Imogene turned her attention her way. Cai stepped in to meet her, hovering just out of arms reach like he thought she needed him. Alex swallowed hard. She didn't know what she needed right now, but Cai's concern wasn't high on the list. She looked over at Indigo, because she knew at least that Indigo was her ally.
But - Indigo didn't look quite right. She was curling in on herself, not hugely dramatically, just like she had period cramps or something. That's what it looked like; the kind of crippling cramps where you wanted to squirm painfully around on your bed moaning but you had to keep a straight face because you were at school.
It wasn't cramps - Indigo's heart was beating too fast. Shuddering really, rather than beating. Her skin felt so alive, so aware, like it was sharp. Her wrist pulsed where Razvan had gripped her. She struggled to keep herself contained - she could barely keep herself standing up straight. At least her wings hadn't made an appearance. Small mercies.
Before Indigo could straighten herself out, Imogene had drawn her arm back and smacked her across the face so hard it rang out, the sharp crack of skin on skin echoing against the high brick wall behind them. Alex screamed and grabbed onto Cai, and Indigo found herself on her hands and knees on the footpath, her face on fire, deafened by the roar of blood in her ears. Heart going shudder-thump-thumb-shudder.
Cai wrapped his arms around Alex, sparing no thought at all to how it might trigger a vision, how he hadn’t been this close to anyone for weeks, how Alex smelled and felt even better in his arms that he remembered. Later he would spare plenty of thoughts on this subject, later thoughts of her would keep creeping into his head in the midst of his worry for his family, but right now he grabbed tightly onto her, both of them backing up fast till he was behind Deirdre.
All this before Indigo could get to her feet. It wasn’t the pain so much as the shock. And her heart was going fast – well her heart had been going fast for the last hour, since she’d drained Harley – but the extra fraction of it she’d drawn from her mother before she stopped her made it go faster, faster and faster till it felt like it filled her whole chest, from throat to navel.
no subject
But - Indigo didn't look quite right. She was curling in on herself, not hugely dramatically, just like she had period cramps or something. That's what it looked like; the kind of crippling cramps where you wanted to squirm painfully around on your bed moaning but you had to keep a straight face because you were at school.
It wasn't cramps - Indigo's heart was beating too fast. Shuddering really, rather than beating. Her skin felt so alive, so aware, like it was sharp. Her wrist pulsed where Razvan had gripped her. She struggled to keep herself contained - she could barely keep herself standing up straight. At least her wings hadn't made an appearance. Small mercies.
Before Indigo could straighten herself out, Imogene had drawn her arm back and smacked her across the face so hard it rang out, the sharp crack of skin on skin echoing against the high brick wall behind them. Alex screamed and grabbed onto Cai, and Indigo found herself on her hands and knees on the footpath, her face on fire, deafened by the roar of blood in her ears. Heart going shudder-thump-thumb-shudder.
Cai wrapped his arms around Alex, sparing no thought at all to how it might trigger a vision, how he hadn’t been this close to anyone for weeks, how Alex smelled and felt even better in his arms that he remembered. Later he would spare plenty of thoughts on this subject, later thoughts of her would keep creeping into his head in the midst of his worry for his family, but right now he grabbed tightly onto her, both of them backing up fast till he was behind Deirdre.
All this before Indigo could get to her feet. It wasn’t the pain so much as the shock. And her heart was going fast – well her heart had been going fast for the last hour, since she’d drained Harley – but the extra fraction of it she’d drawn from her mother before she stopped her made it go faster, faster and faster till it felt like it filled her whole chest, from throat to navel.