The beeping sound was all Sienna was aware of at first. Then came the quiet whoosh of fresh air into her lungs, and the pinch in her arm where a cold liquid pushed into her veins.

The men!

The beeping sound grew so loud and fast that it ripped Sienna out of the fuzzy haze.

“Sienna? Sweetheart, you gotta calm down.”

Jace. Jace was here? God, he was going to get himself killed. Why hadn’t he just stayed away like she’d asked him to? Then the men wouldn’t have been able to hurt him. The force she’d felt—it had been so powerful it was as though her entire chest was being ripped open. Somehow she’d managed to wrestle it under control and use that power to throw the men against a wall. They’d come out of nowhere, circling her from behind, and before she’d known it, she was down. She’d fought hard, kicking and screaming, but they’d still gotten her on the floor. Sienna knew that if they held her there, she was as good as dead. She had to escape them. At the thought, the pressure began building in her chest, rising up like a raging volcano and erupting out. The shock wave had turned the bed over and thrown the TV against the door. That’s when the door had broken open and Jace had burst in. Everything got kind of fuzzy after that. She’d been holding the men, but the force bubbling inside her was too strong for her to contain. She’d started to wobble on her feet and one man almost got loose. She distinctly remembered a sort of crackling sound, a sound that got louder and louder until her brain felt like it was popping like popcorn.

“Sienna? Can you hear me? You’re okay.” Her eyes fluttered open. Jace was sitting in a hospital armchair a few feet away. He was holding her hand, but his shoulders were hunched. When his gaze met hers, it was as if his whole body relaxed. “My God,” he said. “You scared me half to death.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine, Goddamn it!” His eyes grew heated, with anger or lust she couldn’t tell. “Sienna, those men were going to kill you. If I hadn’t been there—”

“Then you wouldn’t have been at risk, too!”

His jaw tightened, but the heat didn’t leave his eyes. “When are you going to figure out that I care about you, that you matter?” He shook his head. “God, what happened in there?”

Sienna looked away, refusing to meet his gaze. If she did, then it would all be over. She wanted so badly to just fall into his arms, to let him hold her for just a moment. But she couldn’t. The afternoon had proved that. “I just can’t.”

He huffed out a breath. “Sienna—”

“Well, hello there.” The voice startled her. Sienna looked up to see an older man in a white coat enter the room. “I see you’re awake.” He shone a light into her eyes, making her wince. “How are you feeling?”

She shrugged. “A little sore, but I’ll live.” Jace rolled his eyes. She ignored him and turned back to the doctor. “When can I leave?”

“Well,” the doctor said, pulling out a chair and sitting on the other side of the bed. Jace clearly wasn’t moving from where he was anytime soon. “We’re not exactly sure what happened. Your scans came back clear, and other than a little high blood pressure, the tests didn’t find anything to worry about.”

“So I can go home then?”

The doctor looked back down at the tablet he was holding, flicking through what she assumed were her case notes. “It couldn’t hurt you to rest up a bit, you know. Are you sure you don’t want to stay overnight, get that stress down a little?”

“No.”

He raised his eyebrows in surprise, before looking over at Jace. “And you’ll be around to keep an eye on her?”

Sienna opened her mouth to protest, but Jace beat her to it. “You can count on that, Doc.” He glared at her. “I’m not going anywhere.”

He smiled. “Ahh, young love. My wife fought me all the way, too, son. She was worth it. Don’t let this one get away.”

Jace chuckled. Sienna let out a huff, but she didn’t say anything. If it got her out of here faster, she’d let the doctor think she was going to let Jace hang around. The doctor stood and then headed to the door. “I’ll have a nurse bring in your discharge papers, as well as a prescription for some pain killers. You took quite a knock to the head there.” He paused, halfway out the door. “Oh, and your friends are here to see you. One of them, Emily, I think, said not to worry about your man here. They’d come in anyway.” Sienna’s mouth dropped open, but before she could respond, the doctor had already left the room.

“What happened in that room?” Jace asked. “You can tell me the truth.”

Sienna pulled herself up to a sitting position and swung her legs over the bed. Her head spun and she felt all bubbly, like everything in the world was as light as air, including herself.

“Whoa. Don’t faint on me again. Not sure my heart could take that.” Jace moved swiftly and Sienna felt his touch behind her knees and on her shoulders. He gently guided her back down and the room stopped spinning again. She closed her eyes and groaned, but he just lightly stroked the back of her hand. Apart from when the doctor had been in the room, he hadn’t stopped touching her the entire time. She liked it, a little too much.

Damn him, why was he making this so difficult? She felt so guilty even considering talking to him. He could still walk away and live his life; white picket fence, a couple of kids, and a wife. A normal wife. Not one with a contract on her head and clearly some totally insane psychic powers. She’d flipped the bed, for fuck’s sake! Who knew what the ones hunting her—hunting them—were capable of.

Another knock at the door interrupted her chain of thought, making her jump. Jace never let go of her hand. The nurse was there, carrying papers, a plastic bag holding her soiled clothes, and a pair of fresh scrubs. She held them out. “Your clothes are pretty much ruined, hon. I thought you might want something comfortable to wear home.”

“Thank you,” Sienna whispered. Why were people being so damn nice? Wetness welled in the corner of her eyes, but she forced it away. Now if she could just get Jace to leave, before she discovered whomever was waiting for her out in the lobby. The nurse and Jace helped her to sit up and this time the room stood still. Jace turned his back while the nurse helped her out of the hospital gown and into the scrubs. As soon as Sienna was dressed, the nurse fetched a wheelchair. Jace put his arm under hers for support and Sienna stood. She was shaky at first, but she managed to get into the chair. Jace stepped behind her and took the handles. “I can push it out.”

The nurse smiled. “Perfect. I’ll just grab your medication and meet you out in the lobby. Your friends are waiting for you there.”

What? No. She couldn’t let Jace meet them. He said he could handle anything, but there was no way that was true. Behind her, the bed started to shake and rattle. Sienna’s chest grew tight. It was hard to breathe.

Suddenly Jace was in front of her, kneeling so that he could look her directly in the eyes. “Hey,” he took her hands in his again. “It’s okay. How about you lay off that for a little, just until we know if it’s safe or not?” Sienna gaped at him, completely lost for words. “Besides,” Jace continued, as if everything were just fine and dandy. “Apparently your friend Emily wants to meet me.” He smiled and kissed the back of her hand. “It’ll all be okay, Sienna. I promise.” Eyes wide, she kept quiet. Jace stroked her cheek and then stood behind her again, pushing the chair out of the room and down the hall. The entire way, Sienna’s head swam. What the hell was she going to tell him?

They’d barely cleared the lobby’s doors when a small, blonde figure came flying toward them. “Sienna!” Lainey said. “We were so worried. Are you okay?”

“She’s fine.” Jace grinned at her. “But she collapsed doing something totally freaky.”

Sienna looked past Lainey. The lobby was nearly full, with every couple she’d met the other night standing and waiting for her. Her eyes filled with tears again, and this time she couldn’t stop them. Having so many people care about her. For the first time since finding her mom on the floor, Sienna felt loved again, almost happy. She reached forward and touched Lainey’s hand. “I’ll be okay. Thank you, though.” She looked over again at the small crowd. “How did you find me?”

“Oh, Emily had a premonition of you being rushed to the hospital.” Lainey looked over at Jace. “Nice driving, by the way.”

“Umm, thanks.” Well. He hadn’t run screaming. That was a start.

“I hope you killed them.” Keila’s bitter response was a comfort this time.

“Unfortunately not,” Sienna responded. “At least, I don’t think so.” She turned to Jace, who was remarkably still standing there. Still not screaming.

“I called the police on the way,” he said. “And Babe, stop looking like you’re going to pass out all over again. You’re still not getting rid of me, no matter how freaky you think this is getting.”

That time, Sienna felt the blood drain from her face. “Nope, he can’t,” Payton called across the room. “I guess he just gets you.” She chuckled. “That’s pretty much how it is with all of us.”

“I found folders,” she said. Fuck, if this was going to happen, then she needed to get it out. Show her entire hand. If he was still there at the end, when he truly understood just what kind of fire he was playing with, well, then, she was too weak to argue with him—for today at least. At her words, Keila looked like she might join her in fainting. “What?”

“At my mom’s. They were hidden away and really, really old. I haven’t gone through them yet, but—” Sienna faulted at the weight of Jace’s hand. He rested it on her shoulder, squeezing lightly, his touch warm. “My mom knew something. The way she talked, the stories she told me growing up. I don’t know what it is, but it’s definitely something. Something she hid from me.”

Payton stepped forward. “I think we need to see what’s inside those files—all of us. Find out what your mom knew about the hunters.”

Sienna shivered. At Payton’s words, she was suddenly back inside the house, this time watching them slash her mom apart. They held her down while they crushed her fingers with a hammer. The energy was so raw, so strong, and her head was popping again. She had to wrap it up, contain it. She forced herself to contain the thoughts, pulling them out of the wave and into a protective bubble. “Sienna? Don’t shut me out.” At Jace’s words, Sienna’s eyes flew open and the bubble flew from her grasp, enveloping Jace. Memories and visions flooded her mind. Her and her mom together, singing, drawing pictures when she was young. Then hiding, cooking, or just lying on the couch and watching TV together. It happened over years and in an instant all at once. The bubble grew stronger, thicker, until the thoughts were taking physical form, whirling past and sucking her in. She was in a million places, seeing everything at once. Her mind shredded like the shards of glass from the coffee table surrounding her mother’s body. She was getting lost in it.

“Open your eyes, Sienna. It’s not real.” Payton’s voice pushed inside her mind, echoing past the whirling tornado of memories.

She gasped. “I can’t!”

“Yes, you can. Otherwise you’re going to hurt Jace.”

Jace!

Her eyes flew open and she gulped in huge lungfuls of air. “Where is he? God, is he okay?”

Payton gestured over to the visitor armchairs, where Jace was sitting, looking tired and little beat up, but in one piece. “Good thing the guys are strong. They dragged the big lug over there when he collapsed next to you.”

Collapsed? What? Jace looked up, still smiling at her, but grimacing slightly when he shifted in the seat. “Hell of a way to finally tell me your story, Love.”

Crap.