Chapter 4

She was in the most beautiful, amazing place possible to exist. She trembled and Kierlan hung onto her like he feared the place. "But this is wonderful," she whispered, touching his hand, feeling like she was magic herself.

He didn't look so certain of it. "You're human," he murmured, eyes puzzled.

"Didn't you know that?" she asked, confused.

Frustrated, he threw his hands up. "No! I thought you were just…I don't know. A vampire maybe. Cos, after all, you're beautiful, and you do have a boyfriend…who's a vampire…" his voice trailed off and her joy at being in this strange, lovely place drained away.

"What is going on?" she asked quietly, keeping her hands in her lap, seeming smaller now.

Kierlan seemed reluctant to speak.

"Please, you know what this place is?" Sarah implored anxiously, dread and guilt managing to worm their ways into her mind.

"It's…the Soulmate connection," he whispered.

Her heart fell and she shook her head frantically. "No. Absolutely not!" She stared at him in disbelief, fear. "You are not my Soulmate, Kierlan!"

"What's so bad about me?" he retorted. "Is it that I'm a witch? Or that I'm a Wild Power? I'm sorry for hitting you with witch fire. I was startled, okay? And only half awake!"

She got to her feet, backing away from him, her heart beginning to pound at the anger shining in his violet eyes, making her dizzy. "You can't even control your powers, Kierlan! You're like Susie: treat magic like barely nothing, when to me it's…everything. I don't want to be under magic's thrall."

"So you think that you're under Soulmate thrall?" he asked quietly.

"No!" she snapped. "Not unless I give in to it! And I shan't… I love Blade!"

He recoiled as though she'd struck him. "Blade," he said softly. "The vampire…boyfriend."

She nodded fiercely, lips pressed together tightly. "Yes, Kierlan. I love Blade. You can't be my Soulmate. He is."

"So he can take you here?" he waved his hand to take in all the place around them, the air scented with something so fragrant, as though walking through a meadow of flowers, warm like the sunlight was pouring down on them, tinted violet that she could see the…nothingness around them. It tried to calm her, but now that she remembered Blade so clearly… "no," she admitted. "But he…speaks to my mind. He knows everything about me. He loves me."

"Any vampire can speak to a human's mind," Kierlan told her firmly, then felt appalling shame and guilt as bewilderment showed in Sarah's perfectly brown eyes. He suddenly felt a longing to chase that emotion away, took a step closer like she was frightened animal, close enough to see the faint sparks of green in her brown eyes, how long her eyelashes were, the faint rosy blush in her cheeks. He slipped his hands around her and she stepped away, frightened. Disappointment showed in his eyes. Sadness. It hurt her, too, deeper than even her fear of hurting Blade, that ran within her.

Trembling, she reached out, touched Kierlan's hand. That magic was still there, like a cloud of butterflies had set upon him, fluttering faster when she touched his hand. She stepped closer, like those silver butterflies of magic had chased away her fears. He leaned closer, a hand's height taller than her, and let his lips graze along hers, a soft, tentative first kiss, sweet as morning dew. It wasn't her that ended the kiss. It was him.

She opened her eyes, and they were there, back in Kierlan's room, against the wall, his hand still along her side, she saw her skin was smooth and perfect again, as though there'd never been a burn. She felt as though perhaps she'd been dreaming.

With sadness, he watched Sarah flee the room, then raised a hand to touch his lips, still feeling, like a dream, his hand on her waist, her lips on his.