Paul entered the closet then, and everything inside me screamed to run, to escape the crush of his dark presence and the matching dark sensations needling my back. The static noise that always accompanied him sawed at the edges of my mind, but I forced my slayer sense to keep it back. The only nightmare I wanted to deal with right now was him.

He towered over me, so much bigger than he had been just days ago. My teeth chattered at the full-body shudder urging me away from him, but ...