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Forcing himself to tear his gaze away from Kate and the toddler once more, he turned back to the woman.
“Isaac, can you hear me?”
“Yes,” he said, wondering why she would ask such a question when he was standing only a few feet away.
“Do you know who I am?”
He squinted, as if that would help him see her better in the morning sun. “Fiona?”
“Oh, thank God! Isaac, I need you to wake up.”
He glanced over his shoulder again, catching a glimpse of Kate. If he woke from the dream, then Kate would disappear.
“Isaac!” Fiona called again, louder this time. “Listen to me. You need to wake up. If you don’t wake up, this dream will never come true!” Her voice choked on the last word before she continued. “Please, honey, wake up,” she pleaded.
Isaac’s eyes flung open.
The pitch-black of the room disoriented him after the glorious Colorado sun. It took a moment for Isaac to come back to the present. The lantern’s battery must have died while he slept, leaving the room shrouded in complete darkness.
His arms were stiff and cramped where he held Kate; he hadn’t let her go, even in sleep. She felt so still against his chest. When the realization of what that meant registered in his exhausted brain, a new fear gripped him.
He needed to see her smile, like he had in the dream. If only the total darkness could let up, for even a moment.
“Kate?” His voice was barely audible, even to his own ears. He tried to clear his throat but choked on the dryness. Taking a deep breath and then forcing himself to swallow, he tried again. “Kate? Can you hear me, Turquoise?”
Holding her against his chest with both hands he felt for the rise and fall of her own. The panicked thump of his own heartbeat confused him. He couldn’t tell if he was feeling himself or Kate.
Bending forward, he put his ear near her mouth. When a soft puff of air hit his cheek, he huffed out a choked laugh of joy. The feel of her breathing meant they still had time. But how much?
Isaac?
He reared up at the sound of his name and scanned the room, as if expecting to suddenly be able to see in the darkness. Had he gone back to sleep? Was he hallucinating?
Closing his eyes, he tried to picture the field of wildflowers behind Kate’s house again so he could see Kate and the little boy laughing.
But behind his eyelids, there was only more blackness.
Isaac?
He heard his name again. Only this time he knew the voice hadn’t come from inside the room. It had been spoken in his head. It must be a hallucination—there was no magic in the room. Or maybe it was a vision, like Fiona from the dream.
Isaac, can you answer me?
He closed his eyes as exhaustion pulled at him. He wanted to return to the dream with Kate.
Isaac! Answer me! The voice sounded frantic now.
Afraid to hope what the voice might mean, Isaac ran his hands over Kate. The feel of her gave him the strength to reach out to the voice.
For the first time in weeks, he pulled on his magic. Even though it was faint and weak, he felt the familiar feeling inside himself.
Yes? he answered the voice.
It’s Jack. We’re coming for you.
Isaac wanted to believe the voice was real. That his mind wasn’t playing tricks on him. Tiny sparks of hope lit deep in his soul as his eyes burned with tears his body was too dry to create.
Isaac? Are you still there?
