had just
happened.
Arianna was the first to come to
her senses. The cherub launched herself to the space where Ithane had stood and
threw herself on the ground, pounding at it, sobbing for the loss of her
friend.
I looked away from her and met the
gaze of the man. He was staring directly at me, as though he saw me standing
there. The intense look on his face frightened me, but I couldn’t make myself
look away. Instead, I gave into that intensity, allowing myself to be swallowed
by the hunger in his gaze. I could feel my body start to fade away, as though
melting into his, becoming one.
A trumpet sounded, hollow and far
away. Just as the darkness started to overtake me, I could’ve sworn I saw a
rider on a white horse burst through the gate that still stood as a backdrop to
the scene of tragedy. But I couldn’t be certain. Lights flared in the gateway,
like a thousand meteors illuminating the surface, blinding me to the sight. The
sound of the trumpet faded as I slid into the darkness, welcoming it.
Chapter 8
My head felt heavy and my body
sluggish. But when I opened my eyes and found myself back in my
apartment––well, let’s just say I don’t recall ever having moved so fast in my
life. I jerked my hand back from the man’s neck, lost my balance and fell off
the edge of the bed. My hands and feet found the floor and I scrambled
backwards away from the bed, not taking my eyes from him.
Chaz dropped the rags and was at
my side by the time my back hit the wall. “Yesh, what happened? Did you get
zapped or something?”
I shook my head. “How long was I
out?”
“Out?” He sounded confused. “You
just touched him, and then fell off the bed.”
“All that in the blink of an eye?”
Literally, from the sound of it.
“All what?”
I shook my head again, not
trusting myself to talk about it yet. Pulling my feet up under me, I used the
wall for balance to get up off the floor. Chaz reached to help, but I didn’t
want him to touch me. I’m pretty certain the incident was isolated to the man
on the bed. At least I had never heard of some dream jumping from one person to
the next like a metaphysical virus. I didn’t want to take any chances until I
knew what was happening.
“Are you going to clue me into what’s
going on?”
I ignored Chaz in favor of keeping
my focus on the bed. The guy hadn’t moved through the whole thing. He had tried
to cry out a warning to me. Chaz said it all happened in a single instant. Was
he still conscious?
His breathing was ragged. I could
hear him laboring through the pain as I leaned in close. With a tentative
finger, I reached out and touched his shoulder, making brief contact before
pulling back. The incident didn’t repeat, so I put my hand to rest on his arm.
It seemed okay––no flashes of winged creatures wearing my face, no gate, and no
sunset fading to blue twilight.
My eyes were drawn to the mark on
his neck. The whole thing had been set into motion when I touched that spot. I
wasn’t about to repeat the same mistake, but I did want a better look. The
markings look so familiar––
“Don’t touch it again.”
The voice whispered close to my
ear, making me jerk back in surprise. The man’s eyes were open, the deep,
golden chocolate brown color radiating his pain.
I bent back close and hissed. “Who are you?”
“You should not have done that.”
“No shit. Now tell me something I
haven’t figured out yet. Who are you? How did you do that with my dream?”
“Dream, Yesh? What dream?”
Poor Chaz. I didn’t have answers
for him right now, not ones I wanted to give. Heck, I didn’t even have answers
for me right now.
“Ke––My name is Ke.”
I could tell that it took a lot
out of him to talk. He closed his eyes again. That nice part of me, the part
that helps people and on occasion even works to heal them, knew I should drop
it and see what I could do about fixing the guy up. But the pissed off and
irritated part of me was
happened.
Arianna was the first to come to
her senses. The cherub launched herself to the space where Ithane had stood and
threw herself on the ground, pounding at it, sobbing for the loss of her
friend.
I looked away from her and met the
gaze of the man. He was staring directly at me, as though he saw me standing
there. The intense look on his face frightened me, but I couldn’t make myself
look away. Instead, I gave into that intensity, allowing myself to be swallowed
by the hunger in his gaze. I could feel my body start to fade away, as though
melting into his, becoming one.
A trumpet sounded, hollow and far
away. Just as the darkness started to overtake me, I could’ve sworn I saw a
rider on a white horse burst through the gate that still stood as a backdrop to
the scene of tragedy. But I couldn’t be certain. Lights flared in the gateway,
like a thousand meteors illuminating the surface, blinding me to the sight. The
sound of the trumpet faded as I slid into the darkness, welcoming it.
Chapter 8
My head felt heavy and my body
sluggish. But when I opened my eyes and found myself back in my
apartment––well, let’s just say I don’t recall ever having moved so fast in my
life. I jerked my hand back from the man’s neck, lost my balance and fell off
the edge of the bed. My hands and feet found the floor and I scrambled
backwards away from the bed, not taking my eyes from him.
Chaz dropped the rags and was at
my side by the time my back hit the wall. “Yesh, what happened? Did you get
zapped or something?”
I shook my head. “How long was I
out?”
“Out?” He sounded confused. “You
just touched him, and then fell off the bed.”
“All that in the blink of an eye?”
Literally, from the sound of it.
“All what?”
I shook my head again, not
trusting myself to talk about it yet. Pulling my feet up under me, I used the
wall for balance to get up off the floor. Chaz reached to help, but I didn’t
want him to touch me. I’m pretty certain the incident was isolated to the man
on the bed. At least I had never heard of some dream jumping from one person to
the next like a metaphysical virus. I didn’t want to take any chances until I
knew what was happening.
“Are you going to clue me into what’s
going on?”
I ignored Chaz in favor of keeping
my focus on the bed. The guy hadn’t moved through the whole thing. He had tried
to cry out a warning to me. Chaz said it all happened in a single instant. Was
he still conscious?
His breathing was ragged. I could
hear him laboring through the pain as I leaned in close. With a tentative
finger, I reached out and touched his shoulder, making brief contact before
pulling back. The incident didn’t repeat, so I put my hand to rest on his arm.
It seemed okay––no flashes of winged creatures wearing my face, no gate, and no
sunset fading to blue twilight.
My eyes were drawn to the mark on
his neck. The whole thing had been set into motion when I touched that spot. I
wasn’t about to repeat the same mistake, but I did want a better look. The
markings look so familiar––
“Don’t touch it again.”
The voice whispered close to my
ear, making me jerk back in surprise. The man’s eyes were open, the deep,
golden chocolate brown color radiating his pain.
I bent back close and hissed. “Who are you?”
“You should not have done that.”
“No shit. Now tell me something I
haven’t figured out yet. Who are you? How did you do that with my dream?”
“Dream, Yesh? What dream?”
Poor Chaz. I didn’t have answers
for him right now, not ones I wanted to give. Heck, I didn’t even have answers
for me right now.
“Ke––My name is Ke.”
I could tell that it took a lot
out of him to talk. He closed his eyes again. That nice part of me, the part
that helps people and on occasion even works to heal them, knew I should drop
it and see what I could do about fixing the guy up. But the pissed off and
irritated part of me was
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