"There was a human in the cave," I started, surprised by how composed I sounded in comparison to the way I felt. He didn't respond but I could see his posture straighten as I continued, thinking aloud, "A human in Asher's secret burrow." My words ended in something like a hiss and I was caught off guard by the course my thoughts had taken. "Why is there a dead human in Asher's hidden chambers?"
I was staring directly into Anvil's eyes as he responded, "Well now, that's a loaded question." I forced the flames to remain in my fists as I waited. He cleared his throat and then began, "Do you prefer to know why there was a human present, or why she no longer lives?"
I felt my eyes widen at the question and he explained. "I assume you will only make it through one narrative or the other." When the flames bit at my forearms, he was speaking again. "Then I choose before you receive neither. It is that Asher means to persist in his design to strengthen his line. A disgrace it is, an abomination."
I watched the disgust on his face with confusion. He wasn't making any sense, none of it made any sense. Where were all of these humans coming from, why would anyone want them, what-And then Anvil's words sunk in. They swirled hideously through my mind as the familiar, biting pain returned, the sharp ringing a background noise to the repulsive concept. Strengthen his line. I started to feel faint so I forced myself to look at Anvil as I questioned him to find focus. "He means to breed with the humans."
He nodded once.
And just as my mind formed the notion because he knows, the blackness overtook me. But even in my dreams, my mind refused to accept the idea that Asher knew I could reach inside the mind of a human. So my dreams focused on other things, small details that seemed insignificant.
When I finally opened my eyes, I was staring into Chevelle's deep blue eyes and I smiled sleepily at him as I spoke my first thought aloud. "... like your mother's."
The expression on his face clued me in that my dreams had not been insignificant at all. How had I remembered his mother's eyes? I tried to recall more of her but couldn't bring her face through the haze to see it clearly.
"Frey?" Chevelle's words brought me back. He was so close, and he was asking if it was me... or her, the old me.
I didn't speak, I merely leaned forward, knowing what would happen if he thought it was her. But I'd been wrong, I'd underestimated him. He grabbed me roughly and pulled me onto his lap while his face was only inches from mine. I could feel his breath on me, coming faster as his eyes came up to meet mine again. My name slipped through his lips in a low moan as they joined my own, his hands tightened on me and somehow we had gotten even closer, my legs straddling his as he sat on the bed. His touch was overwhelming, consuming. When I finally recognized the sound of the others approaching the door, my breath caught and I was surprised to find that I was lying on my back, Chevelle over me, his dark eyes nearly black. He didn't take them off me as his hand flew back toward the door, barring them from entry before his mouth returned to my lips and then urgently traced the line of my jaw, past my ear, down, his kiss opening on the skin of my neck and...
"Frey!" the demanding voice at the door called, but I couldn't find enough interest to take in whose it was. They were insistent, trying to enter the room while my hands frantically searched for the skin beneath Chevelle's shirt. And then, suddenly, he was pulling me from the bed. It was not the touch he had been using and I protested, but something they'd said must have convinced him, must have been important enough. I stared at him, breathless, as he composed himself and released the hold on the door. It flew open instantly.
Ruby and Grey rushed in, and then stopped short. They must have thought something had been wrong, though I couldn't bring myself imagine what at that precise moment. Their eyes went from Chevelle to me and lingered just a moment before Chevelle interjected, "What is it?"
Ruby was apparently speechless, as Grey was the one who started to explain. "We have word that Brahn has been located."
Chevelle released a long breath and then nodded. "We leave at dawn."
"How do we split?" Ruby asked, evidently recovered.
Chevelle turned to me, expectant, and I stared back at him blankly. "Frey?" he demanded.
"What?" I asked, baffled.
And then, the look of sheer disbelief on his face clued me in. He had thought I was her, thought my memories returned, because I had led him to believe so. And I'd just revealed my deception with one word. My face flushed and he remained watching me only a moment before turning back to Ruby and Grey.
"We should meet with the others," Chevelle said briskly as he walked from the room without glancing back at me.
I crumpled onto the bed as if I'd deflated when the breath I'd been holding finally let go. And then I heard Ruby approaching and I sat back up just in time to see Grey stop her. "Go ahead, I'll walk with Frey," he said and her eyes met his in a silent challenge.
I was on my feet, stepping between them with the intention of speaking up, but when I'd gotten close enough to Ruby I could almost feel the heat radiating off her and I found myself stepping right past them and through the door in no less than a hurry. Grey laughed quietly as he followed pace behind me. I didn't look back to see Ruby.