crept from the room.
When she checked on him an hour later, she made it to the chair beside her desk, and he did not seem to rouse, though his breathing changed. She did not venture closer, fearing he’d wake, but instead settled in her comfortable chair.
She closed her eyes to meditate. She was attuned to dreamers and so knew that her appearance had roused him, but not quite to consciousness. She had been wise not to draw any closer. She felt the moment when he relaxed back into slumber and exactly when his first dream began.
From her meditative state Jessie released her astralself from her body, freeing her spirit to seek the wolf. Vicinity did ease in location and she found him quickly, surprising even herself. Her entrance to his dream caused barely a ripple, and has much more gentle than with most of her human clients.
She found herself standing beneath the shelter of the wide branches of a huge pine, which hid her in shadows. Jessie looked out on a sunny grotto, surrounded by evergreens on three sides and a rocky cliff face on the fourth. For some reason the area radiated power, like a holy place. There before her, below the altar of rock, stood a woman with long dark hair pulled back at her nape. She wore a loose cotton dress that flowed over her ripe body, revealing herself to be at the final stages of a pregnancy. From the look of her, she would deliver very soon. Beside the expectant mother stood a giant of a man, dressed like Paul Bunyan in red flannel and dark blue jeans. His earthy aura marked him as a Skinwalker, while the woman cast a bright golden light that said unmistakably she was one of Jessie’s people.
The Seer and the Healer.
Here were the two Nicholas had told her about. So they did exist, and they glowed with life. Somehow Nicholas had managed to contact his friends, but would they remember his visit upon waking?
Jessie always did, but it was her gift to speak to the living in dreams. Her grandmother had the gift of contacting the dead. Thus far, Jessie had been unable to reach anyone who had crossed to the Spirit Road.
But where was Nicholas? She knew this place and these people could not exist here without him. TheHealer glanced about and found the large gray wolf, standing so still he was nearly imperceptible among the trees.
He approached them from the opposite direction. The large man saw him first, or rather smelled him, his nose twitching as he turned.
Silly mistake to approach a Skinwalker from downwind…or was it a mistake? Somehow she doubted it.
The woman followed the direction of her mate’s gaze and her arms went up in surprise as a smile blossomed on her face. “Nicholas!”
The wolf paused, sat and curled his tail around his paws.
She moved slowly, but with grace. “Transform this instant so I can give you a hug.”
He did.
Jessie gasped at what she saw. He stood tall and strong, without a hint of the cracked ribs that had rounded his shoulders. His thick black hair curled about his face was not bloody or swollen. No stitches crossed his nose and cheek.
His face took her breath away, for it was too beautiful to be believed. Such a face should be illegal, she thought at the sight of his strong jaw and cleft chin, his mouth now only the punctuation to compelling eyes and elegant nose.
His appearance made her stomach drop, her heart hammer painfully in her chest and her skin flushed as blood rushed through dilating blood vessels. He hadnot even looked at her and she wanted him. Never in her life had she experienced such a visceral reaction to a man. Her breathing came in gasps as she realized in that instant that he was more dangerous than she ever thought, because her reaction gave him power over her.
“What news?” asked the woman, drawing back from the gentle hug.
The man gave his welcome by thumping Nick on the shoulder with enough force to knock him momentarily off balance, which he gracefully regained an instant later. She knew such a blow should have
When she checked on him an hour later, she made it to the chair beside her desk, and he did not seem to rouse, though his breathing changed. She did not venture closer, fearing he’d wake, but instead settled in her comfortable chair.
She closed her eyes to meditate. She was attuned to dreamers and so knew that her appearance had roused him, but not quite to consciousness. She had been wise not to draw any closer. She felt the moment when he relaxed back into slumber and exactly when his first dream began.
From her meditative state Jessie released her astralself from her body, freeing her spirit to seek the wolf. Vicinity did ease in location and she found him quickly, surprising even herself. Her entrance to his dream caused barely a ripple, and has much more gentle than with most of her human clients.
She found herself standing beneath the shelter of the wide branches of a huge pine, which hid her in shadows. Jessie looked out on a sunny grotto, surrounded by evergreens on three sides and a rocky cliff face on the fourth. For some reason the area radiated power, like a holy place. There before her, below the altar of rock, stood a woman with long dark hair pulled back at her nape. She wore a loose cotton dress that flowed over her ripe body, revealing herself to be at the final stages of a pregnancy. From the look of her, she would deliver very soon. Beside the expectant mother stood a giant of a man, dressed like Paul Bunyan in red flannel and dark blue jeans. His earthy aura marked him as a Skinwalker, while the woman cast a bright golden light that said unmistakably she was one of Jessie’s people.
The Seer and the Healer.
Here were the two Nicholas had told her about. So they did exist, and they glowed with life. Somehow Nicholas had managed to contact his friends, but would they remember his visit upon waking?
Jessie always did, but it was her gift to speak to the living in dreams. Her grandmother had the gift of contacting the dead. Thus far, Jessie had been unable to reach anyone who had crossed to the Spirit Road.
But where was Nicholas? She knew this place and these people could not exist here without him. TheHealer glanced about and found the large gray wolf, standing so still he was nearly imperceptible among the trees.
He approached them from the opposite direction. The large man saw him first, or rather smelled him, his nose twitching as he turned.
Silly mistake to approach a Skinwalker from downwind…or was it a mistake? Somehow she doubted it.
The woman followed the direction of her mate’s gaze and her arms went up in surprise as a smile blossomed on her face. “Nicholas!”
The wolf paused, sat and curled his tail around his paws.
She moved slowly, but with grace. “Transform this instant so I can give you a hug.”
He did.
Jessie gasped at what she saw. He stood tall and strong, without a hint of the cracked ribs that had rounded his shoulders. His thick black hair curled about his face was not bloody or swollen. No stitches crossed his nose and cheek.
His face took her breath away, for it was too beautiful to be believed. Such a face should be illegal, she thought at the sight of his strong jaw and cleft chin, his mouth now only the punctuation to compelling eyes and elegant nose.
His appearance made her stomach drop, her heart hammer painfully in her chest and her skin flushed as blood rushed through dilating blood vessels. He hadnot even looked at her and she wanted him. Never in her life had she experienced such a visceral reaction to a man. Her breathing came in gasps as she realized in that instant that he was more dangerous than she ever thought, because her reaction gave him power over her.
“What news?” asked the woman, drawing back from the gentle hug.
The man gave his welcome by thumping Nick on the shoulder with enough force to knock him momentarily off balance, which he gracefully regained an instant later. She knew such a blow should have
Similar Books
