Chapter Twenty-Three

Fred

"We should sit down," Elio said and led me over to a sofa so grey it more or less blended in with the cavern so much that I didn't notice it until he pointed it out.

There was a lot I wanted to say to Elio, but I kept my mouth shut as we sat down. It felt as if we were set upon some sisyphean task to prove we were true-mates. For a second, I considered heading out of the Star Room and right back to the Medwin 2. Maybe Elio's word was enough. Maybe that would have to be enough for me. For the first time since I laid eyes on him I knew without a doubt I wanted him to be telling the truth. I wanted us to be more than some witchcraft brewed up in a bottle. His atoms called out to mine and I didn't let go of his hand as Tritus walked back into the room with something hidden in his fist.

The guide flashed Elio a questioning look as if even he wondered if we should actually go through with this. My mate gave a grave nod and I opened my mouth before Tritus could explain anything.

"How are these memories gathered and stored?" I asked, part curiosity and part to buy time to gather up my nerve.

"The guides are always in the Star Room because our ancestors visit here," Tritus said and Elio's grip on my hand tightened to a vice grip like he feared I might actually burst through the wall to escape what was coming.

"Will sh---"

"No," Tritus shook his head before I even got the question out of my mouth. "Lotus doesn't have her star with her. Also, since her star is here currently, either she hasn't been reborn yet or she's been born outside of our knowledge and reach."

"I bet if we were connected to all the other places, she'd get her star and remember to come back here," Elio said and I sank back against the sofa.

"I understand this is a difficult time for you," Tritus said, flashing both of us a gentle grin. "As to the how memories are stored, we are of course dragons. So, it's in food. You're lucky as the guide who was on duty all those nights ago when Elio came here from the Other World made the memories into a lovely batch of caramels. So, he ate one when he came of age, but there are more left. This one is for you." He held out his fist and flipped it palm side up. His fingers unfolded to reveal a perfect cube of caramel.

"Don't worry," he grinned. "I washed my hands before taking it out of the jar."

"Thanks," I managed a laugh, despite the fire ball brewing up in the back of my throat.

"Do not start a fire in here," Elio's dragon chimed into my thoughts. "Smoke damage is nothing to play around with."

I took the candy from Tritus's palm and shoved it into my mouth. A more cautious dragon may have at least sniffed it first, but it couldn't do anything to me that random ‘candy' hadn't during my hardest clubbing days. Elio's eyes turned into saucers as the sweet caramel melted into my mouth. The edges of the room softened, faded, and disappeared altogether. My vision greyed, then blackened, then it was gone.

"I thought it would take more than that to get him to eat it," Elio said.

My heart skipped a beat and lodged up into my throat just behind the growing fireball. My vision was gone, but my ears still worked.

"I didn't," Tritus said. "He wants to know."

"I want him to know ---"

Their voices faded away and the sunlight burnt the back of my head. Sunlight? In the cave?

"Freddie," Lotus's voice reached my ears and wrapped around me.

Maybe it wasn't so bad to die like this – to be poisoned by a guy masquerading as my mate. Maybe it wasn't bad at all if her voice was the last thing my dying brain hallucinated.

"Freddie," Lotus said again. "Open your eyes!"

Her laughter spread over me like a warm blanket. Dead men didn't open their eyes of course. They were sealed shut and covered with---

"Open your eyes!" Her voice was still amused, but insistent.

"Dead."

"You're not dead. I'm dead. He's dead. You're not," Lotus said.

"How are you here?" I sat up rubbing my eyes.

"You're here," Lotus said, pointing down at the grass.

She was as beautiful as ever. Whatever Vulpine Degenerative disease took from her; the Other World returned with interest. I reached out for her, half expecting my hand to pass through her flesh. She was solid. My Lotus was solid! I stood and pulled her into my arms. She laughed and nuzzled against my chest.

"There's someone I need you to meet," Lotus said. "Someone I knew a long time ago back when I was a dragon."

"If one of the glitter bunnies snuck in and gave me something while I was asle---"

"Don't worry. Duke and Teddy are guarding you well, Fred. You're not high. You're not dead. You're just conked out," Lotus said. "But I was a dragon before. Which makes so much sense. Also, it makes sense that I wanted to be an adorable little fox for a while. Anyway. We don't know how long we have to get this done. So you better meet ---" She said his name but my brain didn't wrap around it.

I almost asked her to repeat it, but she practically shoved the guy whose face was murky in my memory against me. Elio! His scent wrapped around me as it had that first day when I stepped off the Medwin 2. He had known Lotus. I wasn't conked out – I was --- I was tripping on caramel?

"Elio!" I said the name, but the sound didn't come out of my mouth.

The trip apparently wasn't interactive. I lost track of time both back then and on the candy trip. The three of us talked the universe in circles in more words and thoughts that my waking mind would ever be able to process. Then he was one of us. It was as if Elio's memory of how we actually made that work couldn't be stored or my brain couldn't make it work. But Elio smelled like us and we smelled a bit more like him. His thoughts flowed through me and through Lotus adding him in like a new line on a circuit breaker. He'd told the truth, but that didn't get either of us any closer to having Lotus back.

"I love you, sleepyhead," Lotus whispered as the memory faded and sleep – real, solid sleep overtook me.