“What are you?” she whispered, her apprehension clear in her tone.
The brothers both seemed to wince and the blue flashing their eyes had been doing stopped. They shared an intense look, and Paris acted on a hunch and pushed into their minds. Agony ripped through her at the move, and she locked her jaw against the scream that threatened to let loose.
“So we are in agreement, we tell her the truth.”
Jase’s voice sounded clear in her head, each word like the slice of a knife within her skull.
“Yeah, Ty has already declared it legal to tell mates, so yeah, we should tell her,” Rhys answered.
Parris could hold the link no more. She disconnected and fell back against her pillows gasping for air, closing her eyes against the light in the room, and fighting a wave of nausea.
She could hear movement and voices around her, but she ignored them and focused her attention on breathing through the pain. After a few moments that may have actually been hours, she cracked her eyes opened and took another deep, shaky breath. The coppery tang of blood that tinged the air had her frowning.
“Parris, can you hear me?” Dr. Carson’s tone was calm and unhurried. “I need you to open your eyes and talk to me.”
Parris pushed aside nausea and pain and opened her eyes farther. She blinked rapidly to clear her gaze and slowly brought the doctor’s face into focus.
“That’s it, come on back to us, sweetness.”
Parris turned her head slightly and caught sight of Jase and Rhys standing close to her bed on the opposite side to the doctor. They stood with mirrored expressions of concern mixed with relief, no doubt from seeing her awake.
“Parris?”
She turned back toward the doctor, thankful that the room was no longer spinning as fast as it had been moments before.
“Tell me how you feel?”
Parris sighed. “Other than a headache that could quite potentially put a hippopotamus on its ass, I’m just peachy.”
Chris grinned as he shone a small penlight into her eyes. She winced at the twinge of pain the light caused but froze at the sound of growling that echoed against the walls of her hospital room. Chris winked at her before he lifted his gaze to the two men growling—fucking growling—from the opposite side of the bed. “Ignore these two, they just don’t like the fact that you’re in pain.”
“No fucking kidding,” Rhys snarled, and there was a distinct distortion to his voice.
Again Parris found herself wondering what in the hell they were. And if Rhys and Jase were both telepathic and had powers that had their eyes changing colors, then perhaps Chris Carson did too. Melaina had told her she could trust everyone here and that they had nothing but her safety and best interests in mind, but did she know they were kinda possessed?
“You’ve had another seizure,” Chris informed her, and Parris knew it was a result of her using her powers. “You had a pretty severe nose bleed, that I figure was triggered by the blood vessel that was damaged during the seizure itself. Now, you need to make a decision, Parris. We’ve talked about this in private since I admitted you a week ago, and without any further incidents, I haven’t pushed you to let Rhys and Jase in on what is going on with you. However, this last seizure was a doozy, and without Melaina here, you are going to need the support I know these two growling knuckleheads can give you but only if you are open and truthful with each other.”
Chris looked up at stared pointedly at Rhys and Jase. “And only if all of you are open and honest with each other. That means you two bastards are going to have to man up and tell this woman what she needs to know. Now, I’m going to head out and grab some of the test results I’ve been waiting on. I will be back here in about fifteen minutes.” With that cryptic message to the room, he swept out the door.
Jase reached over and clasped her hand in his. When she met his gaze, she felt a connection within her start to pulse.
“Sweetheart, are you okay? You scared the shit out of us.”
Parris looked between him and Rhys and could read the fear they had for her clearly in their expressions. Before leaving, Melaina had told her to trust these men, and Chris had basically just said the same damn thing. Taking a breath, she opened her mouth and took a chance.
“I’m dying.”
