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mine, even that tickling ceased. He was all I knew—all I had ever known. All I wanted.
    I pressed against him, tried to become a part of him. His arms wrapped around me, pulling me impossibly tighter against him. His mouth moved to my neck, one hand tangled in my hair, pulling my head back for better access. Chills cascaded down my body like an icy waterfall.
    I gave in. In that moment, I would have let him do anything he wanted to me—with me. My mind was mush and my body was in his control.
    And then, he stopped. His hand still tangled in my hair, he whispered hoarsely, “Not here. I want this to be special for us, Paige. Come to my home.” I saw in my mind an image of a huge, beautiful home. He sent it, my mind received it. I knew how to get there, he sent that straight to my mind, too.
    As he pulled away from me physically, his control over my mind slipped and terror engulfed me. My stomach lurched and I forced my brain to picture Johnathan in order to pierce the remaining haze surrounding my thoughts. I finally started fighting back. I drew in a breath to scream, but he was too fast. His hand clamped over my mouth. His soft voice whispered in my ear, soothing my fear, my guilt at losing myself to him.
    “Shhh. Paige. Listen. Listen to me. I can give back your sight.”
    I stopped struggling. He had my full attention.
    “It would be a simple matter of calling in a favor owed to me. All you need to do to receive this gift from me is to willingly take the other gift I offer you. Let me show you what true ecstasy is. Give me your innocence; I’ll give you your sight. You win on both accounts. Come to me tonight, after sunset. You can look upon my face as I show you pleasure like you’ve never known. Tonight.”
    He dropped his hand from my mouth and brushed his lips across mine one last time before he walked away, his footsteps fading around the corner.

tunned, I slid down the wall until I sat on the gravel covered ground. I hugged my knees to my chest. My body trembled and my mind reeled with conflicting emotions. I have no idea how long I sat there. I was afraid to try to find my way back to the mini golf course. Afraid to attempt to negotiate my way back through the building, through all the people, tables, video games.
    I was still shaking when I heard Johnathan’s frantic voice. “Paige! Paige!”
    “Here, John. I’m right here.”
    He exhaled a held breath then his feet pounded the pavement as he ran to me. “Paige, are you okay? What are you doing out here? You scared me to death!”
    I did
not
want to tell him what had just transpired. My guilt at nearly giving in overwhelmed me. The guilt increased as I realized I was seriously considering the offer the Incubus had made. I’d been offered a way to regain my sight without Johnathan’s involvement, without him putting himself in danger.
Without him getting hurt
.
    There was something wrong with that thought.
    He
would
be hurt—and though the scars from this kind of hurt wouldn’t be visible, they were much more painful and impossible to recover from. Emotional scars were like that.
    I couldn’t answer him, so I just shook my head.
    He sat next to me, put his arm around my shoulders, and pulled me to him. I held back the sobs that threatened to break free from my throat. I couldn’t let him know.
    “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep—a couple of nights of no sleep must have caught up to me. Please forgive me.” He kissed the top of my head.
    I couldn’t let him feel guilt over this. He had done nothing wrong. I spoke, hoping my voice wouldn’t give away my roiling emotions. “Don’t be silly, John. I just needed to stretch my legs. I was trying to find my way to a bathroom and I got lost, so I decided to sit here until you found me, as I knew you would.
I’m
sorry. For scaring you. I should have asked you to help me.”
    “Yes, you should have.”
    I considered how to respond. I didn’t want to lie to him anymore. “I… I