She focused on what she could remember clearly which was the witch choir running for shelter.
This time, she shifted her focus away from the women and instead turned her attention to the room. She didn’t consider anything else, just the room. She saw the mirrors Kiara had referred to and knew they were exactly as she’d thought. When Maeve had been in this room, her back had been to the mirrors the entire time. Maeve had little doubt they were intended for viewing, but she had no idea what or who was behind them. She could only deal with what she’d actually seen and where she’d been.
As she explored the memory, she could feel Veyda’s presence behind her and off to the left, but not far. Veyda’s emotions flowed over Maeve. Fury was one of them that her ceremony had been disrupted. But there was also a sense of shock and an inability to move.
Had Maeve done that to her? Immobilized the powerful witch?
What had occurred had happened quickly, in great swathes of dark energy. But they’d come from her, not Veyda.
Maeve had somehow tapped into her killing power, but perhaps not in the way her captor had hoped. There was a strong smell as well, but it wasn’t bad. It seemed almost neutral as though the herbal-based potion she’d been given was mild by comparison. She even detected mint, of all things.
Sheba meowed.
Mint.
Was mint the key? Sheba thought so.
Maeve remembered turning around, her hand spasming with power. She’d swept a shower of golden sparks behind her, where she sensed Veyda stood. She’d wanted to destroy the woman who had brought her to the torture room. But no one was there. Even the sense of Veyda had disappeared.
But the mirror was there. Maeve could now recall that she’d shouted her rage. With another broad, powerful arc of her arm, she’d released more of the golden, destructive energy. All the mirrors had shattered. She could recall the breaking of more glass, then the strong smell of whisky. She’d destroyed a bar within the mirrored rooms.
She saw padded benches and red velvet covered winged chairs. Mirrors had lined the back wall. These had shattered as well.
As she turned back into the room, the familiar dark fog was in the very center of the space covering the large, central platform, though the victim’s scarred and wounded legs were now visible.
She ignored the woman for the present and instead felt compelled to explore the area where the witch choir had performed. At this point, the women were all gone.
She moved in the direction of the tiered seats where the choir had chanted. But she wasn’t walking. Instead, she levitated toward a doorway to her right.
She could see a hallway and more movement. She heard the sounds of gunfire behind her. She held her arm aloft and kept the power flowing. She felt a series of thuds, bullets, maybe, dropping to the wood floor.
She’d been invincible.
“I’m in the air.” She spoke aloud to Braden and brought his face into view. “I can levitate, or at least I did that night.”
That’s when she realized he looked stunned.
She glanced down at their joined arms. Her left one was glowing. She jerked away from him. “Oh, God, have I hurt you?”
He immediately grabbed her shoulders. “No. You haven’t. Look at me.”
She lifted her gaze to his eyes.
“I’m okay. Just startled, that’s all. You were … glowing.”
“I was?” Her mouth was suddenly very dry. She nodded briskly. “I need some water.”
He released her once more and she crossed to the small fridge and took out a bottle. She guzzled.
He turned toward her. “What did you see? Did you remember?”
“Almost everything this time. Mostly, my rage. I was so angry with what was happening. Kiara was right. Behind the mirrors was a viewing room. People watched the torture and the killings for pleasure. No doubt they paid a fortune for the opportunity.”
She told him everything including the fog and the sacrificial victim in the center of the space, Veyda’s presence and the dead witches. “I’m guessing Veyda had created the mist, though I don’t know why.”
She leaned her hip against the sink. She was deeply troubled. She’d always wished she could levitate. Most of the people in Five Bridges couldn’t, yet the memory was very clear on this point. She could levitate.
He moved close. “Every instinct I possess, Maeve, tells me you did exactly what you’ve remembered. You’re a woman of exceptional power. And that’s part of the reason you could be an alpha-wolf’s mate.”