Dark Angel; The Chosen; Soulmate (62 page)

I'll explain later,
she told him, feeling numb.
I just found out—that it's not safe to feed here.

Then she cut the telepathic link short. She was afraid he'd sense too much of what was going on inside her.

She stood with her arms wrapped around herself, staring between the trees. Then she glanced at the skinhead, who was still huddled in the sword fern.

There was one last thing she had to do with him.

Ignoring his wild flinching, she stretched out her hand. Touched him, once, on the forehead with an extended finger. A gentle, precise contact.

“Remember… nothing,” she said. “Now go.”

She felt the power flow out of her, wrapping itself around the skinhead's brain, changing its chemistry, rearranging his thoughts. It was something she was very good at.

The skinhead's eyes went blank. Jez didn't watch him as he began to crawl away.

All she could think of now was getting to Uncle Bracken. He would answer her questions; he would explain. He would prove to her that none of it was true.

He'd make everything all right.

L.J. Smith is the
New York Times
bestselling author of
The Vampire Diaries
and has written more than twenty-five books for young adults. She lives in the Bay Area of California, where she enjoys reading, hiking, traveling, and communing with her cat Suzie. Her favorite place is a cabin in Point Reyes National Seashore. Come visit her at www.ljanesmith.net, where she has lots of free stories for downloading.