Free The Beckoning of Broken Things (The Beckoning Series) by Calinda B

trickle. He kissed me. When I was in a trance, he kissed me. An onslaught of energy slams through me. I steady myself against the shower stall. Calm down, Daniel.
    I’m going to kill that man. I’m going to get out of here and tear him limb from limb. No one touches you like that but me. No one!
    I gulp. Daniel…
    What?
    His response tears through my mind like a knife. Daniel, I took care of him.
    What did you do?
    I…I couldn’t help it. The energy just ripped through me, and I shoved him across the room. He fell against the wall and was knocked out cold. The raging, storming energy flooding my mind subsides. My muscles unfold into more of a relaxed stance. I didn’t realize my shoulders had been holding my ears up.
    What did they do to you? Did they lock you into isolation? Increase your drugs? Are you okay?
    Better than okay. A new friend took the fall for me. I’m worried about him, though. But the nurse in charge of me - All Smiles - that’s what I call him. All Smiles is going to find a way to keep me off the meds. He says he’s on my side.
    Good. Good. We’ll find a way to reward him. But who is this new friend?
    Oh, dear. I haven’t known Daniel that long , but I sense he’s a bit jealous of any male. I wonder if this is what happens to one of his kind when he does all that soul binding business. Anyone who even glances at me is considered a threat. He’s a friend, Daniel. You don’t get to tell me who I can make friends with, especially in a psych ward for God’s sake! You didn’t exactly consult with me when you hurled yourself into the darkness, now did you?
    I had to do it. You had been hauled away. The Numina wanted me to pay consequences for what they granted permission that I do. My father was after me. I figured it best to come here until I could devise a plan.
    Can you get out?
    I don’t know. That’s the thing. I roam the darkness, searching for a sliver, a crack…any breach. But I can’t seem to find one.
    Your father…
    My father what?
    It’s your father’s doing.
    What is?
    You being trapped down there.
    How does he know where I am? He can’t find me here.
    He can’t. He can’t enter. But he can keep you from ever leaving. I am struck by so much darkness, so much rage, I fall against the shower stall. A roar of hatred fills my head.
    He can’t do that to me ! This is my world! Mine!
    Apparently he did something to consume El Demonio’s powers. I am embraced by silence. Daniel? Did you hear what I said? Your father took El D’s powers.
    No, dulzura, he didn’t.
    Yes, he did. I was at the ether meeting last night, and they said there was some prophecy or something that someone would take El Demonio’s powers and that’s what your father did.
    No, cariño, he didn’t.
    Yes, he did Daniel. Even the Record Keeper said that.
    He didn’t.
    I freeze in place. My breathing stops. The water is trickling down my back and splashing noisily on the plastic floor. Then who did? I don’t think I want to know the answer. I hear nothing. No responsive thoughts in my head. Daniel? Who consumed El Demonio’s powers? Daniel? Daniel? Still nothing. Daniel, talk to me. Who consumed El Demonio’s powers? Tell me! I hear the faintest whisper. I can barely make out the response, but it rings in my head like someone has struck a gong.
    It was me, cariño. It was me. That’s why I threw myself into the darkness. I now possess more power than anyone has before.

Chapter 9
    I don’t have a second to process what Daniel tells me as I am whisked into my busy day by Alice. She bursts into my room, privacy being a non-necessity at this “place of healing,” raps on the bathroom door, and we are away. I am hustled to group therapy, more group therapy, Self-Expression through Music, Paint Your Way to Healing, and other dumb activities until dinnertime.
    I wander into the dining area, clear -headed for once, to mingle with all the zombies. No one ever seems to want to talk to me, though. They lower