Was it? My gaze was drawn across the room to where Dash lay. “I care for him very much.”
“Sometimes it is hard to remember that this isn’t all a dream.”
No truer words could have been spoken. “You’re telling me. I still get that hazy feeling each time I wake up.” I had managed to polish off my plate. “Thank you for dinner. It was amazing.”
She gave me a soft smile. “The pleasure was all mine. It was nice having actual dinner conversation with someone other than myself.”
“I don’t know how entertaining I’ve been. It still doesn’t seem real seeing him lying there. People keep saying we have a calling, but how can that be if he never wakes up?”
She laid a hand over mine on the table. “Give him a reason to. You have extraordinary gifts, powers many can’t fathom, but through all that, you need to keep hope and the will to stay strong.”
I squeezed her hand. “You’re right.”
I chewed my lip and wrung my hands, wondering where Ryker was. Worry began to set in. As time stretched on, I cast anxious glances at the door, expecting a horde of guards to come bursting through.
“Maybe we should go for a walk. Get some air,” Celeste suggested, laying a hand on my shoulder.
It took me a few seconds to realize she was talking to me, but then again, who else would she be talking to? “I don’t want to leave him.”
“We won’t wander far. Come on. I insist.”
I didn’t want to leave his side, but I hadn’t stepped foot outside for days. “Okay. For a few minutes.”
The trees thickened around the marsh. Earthy scents of pine and cedar warmed the autumn night as we moved with unhurried grace. “Do you dream often of the future?” Celeste asked.
I shrugged. “The future, the past, they come in glimpses when I least want them. Lately, they seem to be getting stronger, more frequent.”
“I can’t imagine how you wield your gifts. It is hard enough with the one I’ve been given, but four…”
We wound around the marsh, branches clapping in the breeze. “It has proven to be troublesome for sure. My body has yet to sustain the use of more than one in a short time period without consequences.”
“And this worries you, as I imagine it should.”
“I really haven’t had much time to think on it, and frankly, I’d rather not dwell on it. I don’t think my brain has the capacity for any more problems.”
Celeste plucked the fluffy white cotton off the top of a plant. She held it up, letting the wind carry the seeds away like a dandelion. “You don’t strike me as someone who runs away when things get complicated.”
She was good at reading people or at least reading me. My gaze locked onto a rock across the marsh, and I tripped over my feet as a vision hit me. It was quick, just a snippet, but in it I saw hunger. Rage. Shame. Remorse. Fear. And then it was gone.
“What’s wrong?” Celeste asked. She had a hand on my shoulder, staring at me with worry.
I blinked. Ahead through the mist, a shadow moved, and I frowned. “There is something out there.” I was sure of it. “Can you feel it?”
“The mist?” she whispered.
A shiver rolled through me. “Yes and more.”
An animal that slightly resembled a deer stepped onto the murky path, its antlers a crown of silver in the moonlight. Still as a statue he stood, ears alert as if he felt the same sense of foreboding as I did. Then he turned and galloped regally through the swirl of the mist.
Celeste’s hand fell quietly to her side. “The air is full of enchantments, both dark and light.”
I scanned the white blanket draping the air, searching for a sign, but found nothing that could— Wait. A streak of green in the center of the mist, like a tiny Christmas light bulb had been dropped. I blinked, and it was gone. “Whatever is out there, it makes my skin crawl.”
“I never much paid attention, but now that you’ve mentioned it, the air does seem different today,” she said after a few moments.
My brows drew together, and I wanted nothing more than to put as much distance between the mist and us as I could. “We should head back, check on Dash. Ryker might have returned.” And if Ryker wasn’t back yet, I would make the shifty bird wish he had never laid eyes on me.
Celeste and I quickened our pace, whisking ourselves forward to the little cottage.
I had spent the last thirty minutes wearing out the floor of Celeste’s house and finally sat on the edge of the couch. Did I leave? Did I stay? Did I wait around for Ryker to show up? The questions spun like a tilt-a-whirl in my head. It didn’t take long to make myself sick.
Ryker still hadn’t shown up, and I was starting to think he never would. Had the Institute found out he was a double agent? Had Ryker lied? Was he truly working for the Institute? Would an army of guards storm Celeste’s home and take us all?
I was furious. I was scared. I was pulling my hair out. But most of all, I was worried about Dash.
I studied him, seeing dark circles under his eyes, gaunt cheekbones, and a washed out complexion. He needed to wake up now before he withered away in front of my very eyes. I couldn’t let that happen, couldn’t stand to see him so lifeless when he was anything but in my eyes.
It tore me in half, trying to decide what to do. I knew what Dash would want, but I couldn’t bring myself to leave. The pressure inside me amplified, climbing and building. Unable to keep a hold of the raw emotions shredding my soul, my power coiled inside me, wrapping around my very core. With a cry of hurt and fear, I let it go.
The cord on my control snapped, lighting up the ceiling with whitish blue lightning. My power recoiled, rushing over my skin, but there was something foreign about the feeling. A green haze misted my eyes, and I was sinking.
“You’re not going to die. I won’t let you.” I lowered my head, resting my forehead to his, and then I kissed him, needing to feel close to him, for if he didn’t wake soon, I would have to decide whether to leave or risk both our lives. The moment my lips touched his, a tingle radiated between us, warmth spreading from me to him. It filled me with such a glorious heat. “Please don’t leave me. I can’t lose you,” I whispered against his lips, swimming in the intoxicating feeling that inundated me.
I rested my head on his chest, listening to the rhythmic beats of his heart. Please. Please. Open your eyes.
Do you love me? I could have sworn I heard him say in my mind.
Wishful thinking. I squeezed my arms around him, not wanting to ever let go. Of course I love you.
Gentle fingers brushed over my hair, and my eyes popped open. I stared in amazement into luminous eyes of silver. “Freckles,” rasped a voice that sent a shiver down my spine.
I blinked. “Dash?”
“Don’t cry.” He caught a tear on my cheek with this thumb.
I shoved back a bout of fresh tears that threatened to spill at seeing him awake. “You’re okay.”
“I am now. What did you do?” he asked hoarsely.
I shook my head. “Nothing. It was Celeste who healed you.”
“Then why are your eyes green?”