“No,” I breathed.

“Ellie.” Nathaniel’s voice was calm and cool.

I shook my head, weakly at first, then furiously. “No. No!” More images flashed in my mind, but I couldn’t handle them all at once. They were tearing my brain apart. I sat up, scrambling off the bed, and my feet touched the carpet. Nathaniel moved with me, keeping himself between me and the door.

“Ellie, relax.” His voice was in my head, warm and comforting, but no. No!

“My mother!” I shrieked. “Oh, my God. Oh, my God!” My entire body shook and I covered my mouth with my hands. I dry-heaved agonizingly.

“Ellie, please!” Nathaniel cried. “Sleep, sleep!”

I ignored the voice in my head, his mind tricks. “Where’s Will?” I cried, knocking Nathaniel’s hands away when he reached for me. “Where is he? Where’s Will?”

“Stop! Ellie, stop now!” He was shouting now, giving up on controlling my mind. I was too strong for him in every way.

I shoved my hands into his chest with a burst of power, and his back hit the far wall. Bones cracked and he moaned in pain, but I didn’t watch him hit the ground. Making a dash for the bedroom door, I slid on the carpet and into the hallway wall. I screamed Will’s name as I ran down the hall, knocking over an end table and a vase and smacking into the balcony railing overlooking the living room. I screamed wordlessly as I flung myself down the stairs, slipping again at the bottom. Pushing through the pain shooting up my legs, I dragged myself to my feet and scrambled for the kitchen.

The front door burst open and I felt the warm rush of Will’s presence. “Ellie!”

I doubled back and flung around the corner toward the foyer. He was there in the open front door, his white wings spread wide as if he’d just landed, his chest heaving, out of breath. I threw myself into his arms, the only place I felt safe, the only thing I had left, and we sank to the floor as I sobbed and wailed. He whispered something to me, stroking my hair and holding me close, but I couldn’t hear him. I screamed for my mother, screamed for my family over and over until my throat and lungs burned and became useless.

I pulled away from him and struggled to my feet, wiping at my face, my legs trembling as I backed away. My tears streaked through someone else’s blood on my face. “I have to go back,” I sobbed. “I have to take care of her.”

“It’s done,” Will said, standing and reaching for me, his own hand and voice shaking. His wings lifted and spread as much as they could in the house. “Come to me. Please, Ellie. Come to me.”

“I have to take care of her!” I was so hysterical that I wasn’t sure if any of my words were even comprehensible. He grabbed my arm as I twisted away from him. I pounded my fist on his arm and he cried out but kept his grip firm. “Let me go! Let me go to her!”

He yanked me around and threw me back onto the floor as I screamed and flailed against him. He leaped over me, straddling me, pinning both my arms over my head, and the shadow of his wings blanketed us both in darkness. His power shoved me deeper into the floor, so strongly I could barely move, the countless rivulets of inky smoke spreading over me and on the floor around me until I felt like I was falling into shadows, suffocating in them. I screamed and swung my head side to side, yanking my arms down and kicking my legs, but he wouldn’t give an inch.

“Let me go!” I shrieked the words over and over until I stopped thrashing. I shuddered and lay still, breathless and voiceless from exhaustion. My lips moved, but nothing came out except for tiny whimpers.

“Ellie.” His voice was soft and cracked with pain as he pressed his forehead to mine. “Ellie, please. Stop. Please, stop.”

I went limp heavily, sobbing, my lungs and throat shredded. His grip loosened, but even though I stopped struggling against him, he didn’t release me.

“Ellie, please. Please, stop fighting me. Please, stop.”

I stared out at the desolate desert of snow and ice that covered the lake behind Nathaniel’s house. The wind blew cruelly, pitching up clouds of white powder and casting it toward the trees and the porch where I sat. I pulled the blanket wrapping my body tighter and didn’t push my hair out of my face as it whipped around my head. I barely noticed the frigid air, since I was already so cold inside.

“Ellie,” Lauren said as she slid the porch door open. “You’ve been out here long enough today. You’re going to freeze to death.”

I didn’t reply. She hesitated for a few seconds before going back in and shutting the door behind her. It wasn’t long before the door opened again and I sensed Will. I ground my teeth together to keep myself from shouting at him. He stepped slowly across the porch and knelt in front of me, resting both his hands on the sides of my chair. I glared down at him, and he only gave me a gentle gaze in return.

More memories flooded my head, and I buried my face in my hands, whimpering. “Go away,” I snarled hoarsely.

“You need to talk to me.”

I dropped my hands. “I’m telling you to go away.”

His mouth tightened in frustration for a split second. “Please, Ellie, come inside before you freeze to death.”

I snarled and spoke slowly, emphasizing each word so he knew that I was dead serious. “You framed my real father for my mother’s murder. If you don’t get the hell away from me right now, I’m going to punch your head right off your shoulders. You know better than anyone how capable I am of that.”