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A mental connection. It makes sense.
I reach for Mhal, eager. "Is that why we're having problems? You don't remember what we've talked about when I'm not in the dream with you?" I search the shadows, but I still can't see his face. It just adds to my frustration. "We need to connect mentally?"
Yes. Open your mind to me and we will speak as we should.
Open my mind to him? I…don't know how to do that. I'm not psychic. "I'll…try? Let me wake up."
Not just yet. Mhal's arms go around me and then I'm dragged against warm, golden skin. Let me hold you. You have been gone for a long time.
I haven't been gone at all. I've been right next to him. I bite the words back, because I remember what he said about his mind not being clear. I don't know what he needs, but I intend on helping him get it. Someone will have the answers.
Rachel will, I realize. Rachel will have all the answers. She's already done all this.
Your friend? he asks, plucking the thought out of my head.
"Yes. She's married—mated—to one of your friends. Jurik?" I look into the shadows, searching for his face. "Do you know him?"
It does not sound familiar. I touch no mind but yours. I have been alone in the darkness for a long, long time.
That sounds terrible. I hold him close. "I'm here," I remind him. "I'm not going anywhere."
Mhal holds me against him, and in the dream, the cot is comfortable and big enough for both of us. You cannot go anywhere, he teases, because I would follow. No one will keep us from each other ever again, I promise this.
Strangely enough, it sounds nice. I have an ally. Sure, he doesn't remember me half the time, but in moments like this? I see why Rachel is so happy.
Rachel, I remind myself. When I wake up, I have to talk to Rachel.
12
JENNY
A boot plants in my side, waking me from my sleep. "Get up," says a harsh, familiar voice. "I am disappointed in you."
I jerk awake, looking around. Azar looms over me, dressed in pale, flowing garments that look twice as nice as anything ever tossed in our direction. I sit up, disoriented, and automatically push at his foot when he tries to nudge me with his shoe again. "Don't."
"Do not tell me what to do." He leans forward, glaring at me. "I ask one thing of you and you cannot even do it?"
What's he talking about? I look around, confused, searching for Mhal. When I went to sleep, he was right next to me, curled around me. I don't see him now, and when I sit up, I notice that I'm naked—and Azar has two guards with him. Shit. With a yelp, I plaster my hands over my nude body and hunch over, trying to hide my nakedness.
He looks down at me and sighs. Then, he glances back at his men and waves a finger. One steps forward and tosses me a pair of plastic bags. One has breakfast corncakes in it, and the other a blanket or a shawl of some kind. I open the bag, grateful, and throw the scrap of fabric over my body. It's thin and not very warm, but it covers things, at least. I wrap it around me like a bath towel, and then get to my feet, looking for Mhal again. Did they take him away from me?
I scan the warehouse and see him a short distance away, sitting unnaturally stiff. "Mhal?" I call out, wary. When there's no answer or even a twitch of recognition from the dragon, I race to my feet and stumble forward. The moment I can see his eyes, I realize what's happened—they're completely gray.
Azar has him again.
I have been alone in the darkness for a long, long time, Mhal had told me. My heart hurts as I gaze up at him, at how dead his expression is. "You stole his mind again," I accuse Azar, turning to look at the fort's lord. "He's not there, is he?"
"I tested to see if you had done as I asked. You have not." Lord Azar storms to my side, all swirling robes and the fresh scent of soap. "Perhaps I did not make myself clear? There is no time to waste. You need to bond him to you."
"I'm trying! I just don't know how." I gesture at the dragon in frustration. "When we talk in my dreams, he seems like he's there, but the moment I wake up, it's like I'm starting over from square one. I can't get him to talk to me."
Azar pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration. "I explained this."
"Try again." I hug the thin blanket to my chest.
He stabs a finger in the direction of the dragon. "Him." He points at me. "You." He makes a crude gesture. "Fuck. Together." A tight smile crosses his face. "You bond. Everyone's happy. Understand?"
