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Ben figured that if all else failed, they could try their luck at the Mirror Pond. At least see if they could look into the scenes their hearts desired, for peace of mind if nothing else.
For, the pond was a portal into other realms, Ere told him. Cloud had mentioned the same. The first time he saw his Mate, Aella, was as a dragonling looking into the Mirror Pond.
“Both,” Annie answered, keeping pace alongside the long-legged men.
She was still lost in thought, simply looking down at the ground instead of where they were headed, matching her strides with theirs.
“And you didn’t think to dive for cover when he came at you with that monstrous claw?” Ben admonished.
He tried not to nag, but that had been a close call between Merlin and Annie. He just about had a heart attack.
But he and Sai had been blown off their feet and just scrambling back upright at that point. He’d been too far to do anything to help her.
That had scared the fuck out of him.
Annie was his best friend. Ben couldn’t even contemplate if anything should happen to her. It was bad enough that Sorin suffered some unknown ill. Bad enough that Ere was out of his mind with worry.
Ben was no stranger to adventures. As a boy, he’d had many close encounters with danger and even death. But perhaps because hewasa boy, he’d had endless, unshakable faith that everything would turn out all right in the end.
Over the years since the last great battle between Ere, Sorin and Lilith, things had settled down for the most part. At least, he was far removed from the epicenter of intrigue, cold wars, and stealth battles where he lived with his extended family in the Yukon.
Perhaps the bubble of safety and being surrounded by unconditional love had softened him. Perhaps he’d grown out of his innocent faith in happy endings. Whatever it was, Ben was no longercertainabout everything and everyone.
He had doubt. He was afraid of loss.
“He wasn’t trying to hurt me,” she said, keeping her gaze on the ground.
“He was just lashing out from his own hurt. He was just trying to frighten me. To make me leave him alone.”
“We should heed him,” Ben said quickly. “He’s not in his right mind. Lesson learned.”
Annie jerked her head up at that and vehemently shook it.
“No. I’m coming back here for him. He disappeared for now, but I’ll find him again. I’ll see him again.”
Ben’s brows lifted in surprise.
“But…why?”
Annie looked away, determination etched in every line of her face.
“Because he’smine.”
It was such an outrageous statement, coming out of left field, that Ben didn’t have a ready reply. For the rest of the way down the mountain and through the gardens, the three travelers didn’t exchange words, each lost to their own thoughts.
At last, they arrived at the edge of the pond.
A lovely woman sat upon the grass nearby eating a juicy golden peach.
“Oh, hello,” Ben greeted, stopping a few feet away from her.
She didn’t get up, but she smiled sweetly up at them.
“Hello Benjamin, Annie and Sai. I hope you’ve had a good journey.”
“How do you know us?” Ben asked, immediately curious as well as suspicious.
“I know a lot of things,” the woman said in a lyrical voice, as if she were singing.
