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She has not given birth yet, Mhal tells me. I would feel it.
I look over at my mate in surprise, but he doesn't expound on that.
The tired expression on Rachel's face deepens. "You're going to hate what I'm about to tell you, but as your friend, I feel you deserve to know. Have you seen the big bugs here? The ones that are the size of house cats?"
A chill goes up my spine. I freeze in place, thinking of the enormous bugs. Of the one that sat on the railing just the other day and watched me…as if he somehow knew I was here. As if they've been following me.
Fear returns. Fear, along with the greasy, disgusting feeling that always accompanies the dreams. The feeling of never being clean. "You've seen them?"
She sighs. "Who hasn't? They're all over the fort lately. Worst of all, I know where they're coming from, too."
"The Rift?" I ask. It's not something I've thought about before, but the moment the answer pops into my head, I know. They're coming in through the Rift. Somehow. Just like the drakoni did, the bugs are flying through and making this place their home. A mental image of Hailey's dead body returns and I shudder with horror.
"How did you know?" Rachel seems surprised.
"It was a guess." I cling to Mhal's leg, drawing strength from his silent presence. Normally his thoughts are all over mine, but he's been very quiet since Rachel arrived. "I dreamed about them, too."
Rachel immediately tenses. She touches her stomach again and leans forward. "And you're sure you're not pregnant?"
"No. Why?"
"Because I've had dreams about the Rift ever since I got pregnant." She squeezes Jurik's hand. "Gwen does, too. It's because of the babies." She scoots forward, to the edge of the chair. "What did you see in your dreams?"
I lick my lips, because they're dry as bone. "Bugs. Lots and lots of bugs. I'd wake up in my dream and I'd be in my room and they were there. They’d come in and surrounded my bed. They covered the walls, every surface. Everything. It felt like they were watching me, always. Staring at me. And they made me feel…"
"Unclean?" Rachel asks.
I nod.
She sits back again, casting a worried look over at Jurik. "I don't dream about the bugs as much as I dream about what I saw."
"What you saw?" I echo, blank. What does she mean by that?
"In the Rift." She gives me a tight, awkward smile. "Jurik and I flew up to the Rift, because I didn't believe what Azar was saying about it."
"And what did you see?" I ask, but my stomach is turning. It's like I already know her answer.
Rachel shudders. "Nothing human, or drakoni. It's something else. Something evil. I don't know how to describe it other than in vague concepts, but it's sending the bugs out. It's like they're his spies. He's sending them to scout and check things out, and that's why they make you feel so unnatural and sick. They're not from our world. Or our dimension. It's an open wound, the Rift. And you know what happens with an open wound?"
"It gets infected," I whisper.
"Yup. And right now we've got a parasite trying to move in."
Her words are chilling. I think of Bethany and her son, eating the bugs. I think of how sick just the sight of them makes me, and I imagine something else in the sky above, something creepy and evil watching us. Something that invades my dreams and watches me there, too, and I shudder.
Mhal's hand goes to the back of my neck, a protective gesture. He pulls me against him, and I go gladly, needing the comfort of his arms. I will not let anything happen to you. Just like in your dreams, I will protect you. I will always protect you.
I nod, but I'm not reassured. This feels bigger than just me or Mhal. He can protect me, of that I have no doubt. But I can't help but mentally picture the Rift, the large, pulsing, gaping wound in the sky. The one that ripped open one day and changed everything. "You think something is really going to come through?"
"I do," Rachel says. "That's why we're still in the fort. That's why we're letting Azar hold on to his dragons for now. I don't like the man—he could fall off a cliff tomorrow and I'd probably cheer—but we need him."
I make a face. "Why do we need him? You and Jurik can protect Fort Dallas. No one has to be enslaved—"
Rachel shakes her head, cutting me off before I finish. "You don't get it, Jenny. This is bigger than Fort Dallas. It's not just us. It's the world. I know this sounds crazy and stupid, but we have to make babies to save everyone."
