Cass.
Ani.
I see them both as clearly as if they were in the room with us, their heads bent together over the blood, examining it closely.
“Doc!” Stevie cries out. I can’t see her, but I feel her presence, hear her voice, and I swear Cass does to. His head jolts upright, his eyes scanning the space.
“Cass!” I reach for him even though logically I know he’s not physically near. But seeing him there, knowing he’s alivesomewhere—and with Ani, besides—it gives me hope. “Ani!”
Again, Cass looks around, head swiveling as if he’s trying to place the sound but can’t quite make it out.
And then, just as soon as they appeared, our brothers vanish.
There’s another flash of lightning, and then the vision fades out completely, leaving me back in bed with Stevie and Kirin. We’re lying side by side now, arms and legs tangled together, all of us hot and sticky and spent.
The shock is plain on Kirin’s face.
“You were there,” Kirin says. “Both of you.”
Stevie and I nod.
“But… how?” he asks. “I thought it was just me—my Tower energy going into overdrive after we… But it was a vision.”
I nod again and tighten my hold on Stevie, brushing her shoulder with another kiss. “It’s her. It’s always her.”
In all the time I’ve known Kirin and the guys, nothing like this ever happened to us. Yeah, we’ve always been close—always had this unbreakable Arcana bond, not to mention a damn tight friendship. There were times I thought I could read their minds, or they could read mine.
But this kind of connection goes beyond all of that.
And we owe it all to our Star. She brought us together, strengthening our bond even as she changed it.
“They’re with us,” she whispers, her eyes shining with wonder. “I could feel them. Both of them. I saw the caves, and they’re together, just like I thought.”
“I think they’re trying to reach out,” I say. “It looked like they were doing a spell.”
“Cassisthe mental magicks expert,” Kirin says. “It’s a smart move.”
Stevie sits up between us, clutching the sheet against her breasts. “I think he’s trying to… to get inside my head. I can still sense him.”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“It’s hard to explain. It’s not a manipulation or anything like that. More like… like someone testing the locks, looking for a way in.”
I sit up next to her, running my hand up and down her bare back. “Makes sense. You’re the one who can dreamcast. You’ve always had an ability to sense our Arcana energy. The visions—everything started when you got here.”
“But that was…” Her brow furrows as she tries to piece it all together. “I mean, first it was Kirin’s energy—I recognized it right away and figured it was just from the intensity of what we just did. But suddenly we were there with Doc and Ani… That wasn’t just a vision or wishful thinking. It was a connection. We saw them—in real time. I just… I’m not sure how all this works.”
“It’s possible we opened the channel,” Kirin says, the nerd-boy wheels already turning behind his eyes. “Or strengthened the signal.”
“Yes, but how?” she asks.
“We got…” His cheeks darken, and he gestures awkwardly between us. “Close.”
“Realclose,” I tease.
A slow, satisfied grin spreads across her lush mouth, her blue eyes dancing with new mischief. “In that case, we should probably try again. For Doc and Ani. You know—anything to bring them home safe and sound. Doc would want us to do it, don’t you think?”
“Oh, definitely.” Kirin nods like a bobble-head. “For research purposes, of course. As a professor, he can appreciate the need to recreate the conditions of the experiment in an attempt to replicate the results.”
