I curl an arm under me for a pillow and watch the two of them sleep, wishing this could be my life.
But I don’t deserve this. The universe made that abundantly clear. I just have to protect what Zorin has so he doesn’t lose it like I did. He doesn’t deserve that kind of pain.
33: Tessi
I see him.
I see the man Zorin told me was in my dreams.
My body throbs with bruises, but it melts away when his presence enters my mind. He doesn’t speak. I study him while he studies me. His blue-black uniform and cloak are trimmed in gold, but not our kind of gold. It moves like it’s alive, like it clings to him for life. Even the fabric covering him waves the way it does in water.
I cannot sharpen much of the place we are in, but I gather enough glimpses to piece together a dark cathedral style hall with high ceilings and lots of windows. And that we are alone.
He presses a hand to his chest and releases a wave of iridescent light.
In my dream, I do the same, or I try to. I can never really tell if I do what I think I am.
An iridescent wave leaves my body. As it passes over him, I see his silhouette light up like a diamond in sunlight, casting prismatic beams into space.
A soft contact on my face tugs me back.
He tilts his head and motions for me to go.
I hope I will see him again.
My eyes are closed when the pain of my bruised body comes back to me. The world is dark, but I’m certain something touches my face. I just can’t get my arms to move.
Wake up, Tessi.
It takes enormous effort to crack open my eyelids. When I do, I don’t see the Shifter I expect.
Firelight reflects in Azrim’s eyes as he stares at the pup between us.
But the touch…the gentle sweeping motions over my forehead...
A fire crackles in the background. The air around me is warm like the furs that cover the pup and me. Radar is a loyal silhouette by my feet.
Azrim’s fingers guide hair out of my face. While my instinct is to pull back, I remember that Zorin had said he was good inside.
Those who attacked us are gone, and Azrim carried us to a cave.I remember now.
But when the pup stirs between us, I begin to wonder if Azrim is just pretending his life is whole again or if he really sees us. It was important to Zorin to bring us together, but that doesn’t mean Azrim is done mourning or healing.
He looks at me like I’ve hurt him and like I hold the answer to why the world is so cruel. Azrim tucks the furs around my shoulder, and the added warmth sends me back into a deep, dreamless sleep.
When I wake again, the first light of dusk touches the land through the cave’s opening. I feel like I’ve been thrown off of cliff. Every joint and muscle protests when I try to stretch and find a new position. As I do, memories of our arrival in the cave and teaching Azrim to feed Rhysan come back to me.
Azrim’s fingers continue gliding over my cheek. “Tessi?”
Even his quiet voice is a deep growl that summons my gaze despite my wariness of his emotional state and his capability to shred so many enemies while I couldn’t even kill one.
“I cleaned your wounds,” he says.
“Thanks.”
He fumbles for a moment like he doesn’t now how to ask what’s on his mind.
I rub the pup’s head and check to ensure he’s still comfortable. “Not my first Myndrous encounter. But I guess you know that now.”
