Empowering: The Balance Bringer (The Balance Bringer Chronicles Book 3) by Debra Kristi

Author:Debra Kristi [Kristi, Debra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ghost Girl Publishing LLC
Published: 2019-09-17T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

“I. Can’t. Breathe.” My fingers dig at his skin, clutching and clawing at his arm, and my legs swing searching for purchase. “Dohlan. Dohlan, please.” I gasp. “I’m. Sorry.”

Kaia’s dark influence has slipped away, and I am me, once more. An angry, frustrated, humiliated, hurting-in-every-possible-way me. Messed up Ana.

Using the back of his free hand, he wipes the blood from his mouth. He studies me from beneath heavy brows. I’m curious as to what it is he sees when he looks at me. A deranged version of the girl he’s been pursuing since Jeremy’s death, or the Kaia he once knew and loved?

Was it always Kaia he was after? Using me to get to her? I swallow hard.

Lack of oxygen must be clearing my foggy head, because I now recognize how foolish I have been. Giving Kaia even the slightest ounce of control. Allowing her to kiss Dohlan, beat Dohlan. What is her damage?

It was ridiculous to believe I had become strong enough, powerful enough, to take on Dohlan, much less best him. He had been holding back earlier, and now I have been reminded how powerless I am against him.

My struggle ceases.

His face softens, and he lowers me to the ground, loosening his hold.

“Thank you.” I cough.

His eyes tighten, and with clear deliberation, he releases his grip upon my neck. Moves his hand to the curve of my nape, the tender spot beneath my jaw. As if hooked, he draws my face to his, his breath sweet and intoxicating. I close my eyes.

“Ana, my lovely Ana,” he whispers at my ear. “What a twist of fate we have here.”

A smile stretches my lips, and it’s the start of Kaia’s attempted return to control. She is drawn by the closeness of him and her desire for him. I jerk back and slam him away.

He topples backward. Kaia lunges for him, and I lose my balance, stumble, fall on top of him. I refuse to let her have her way. A scuffle ensues with a roll and spin, and I land flat on my back, heaving, and pinned yet again. This time, his arm presses across my chest like an iron bar.

He leers over me, and yet I can hardly distinguish him against the force of the torrential downpour. It clobbers us, cripples us, slices into us like little pellets from a BB gun.

“This is not you.” He readjusts his weight. “It is my role to be ruthless, not yours. You are meant to lead this kingdom out of darkness, not make darkness your accomplice. Own it. Control it, my love.”

I struggle beneath his weight, and his pressure increases. I bare my teeth.

The other inside of me wants to scream, I am the darkness, but I hold her tongue. I’m unsure of that part of me is Kaia or my hidden feral beast.

“You’re not making it easy to do the right thing.”

“Then don’t. Don’t do the right thing,” Kaia’s darkness retorts.

“Stupid girl. I am trying to help you.” He rolls off me and stands.

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