38. Andi

38

ANDI

" H ere you go—good as new." Andi handed Thrax his blaster and watched anxiously as he checked the weapon and nodded.

"Yeah, okay. I still don't understand why I left it at your place."

"Who knows? Maybe you had too much to drink when we were doing exotic cocktails the other night." Andi shrugged. "Anyway, can I use your fresher?" she asked, hoping to forestall any other questions on the subject.

"Huh? Oh, sure—go ahead. Don't mind the mess—I was looking fucking everywhere for this damn thing." He nodded at the blaster and stepped aside so Andi could head to the end of the hall. She nodded back and walked quickly, pretending that she really had to go.

The fresher was an ensuite one and she had to go through his bedroom or "sleeping chamber" as the Kindred called it, to get to it. Andi headed for it and breathed a sigh of relief as soon as she got past her partner. God, she really had to be more careful around the big Hybrid! Thrax was a smart guy and he clearly knew that something was up—he just didn't know what.

Andi wished she knew how much she could safely tell him without jeopardizing his mental health. She didn't want him to remember all the awful things she'd helped the priestess erase. Then again, it wasn't good for him to think he was losing his mind or his memory either. Maybe it was time for a trip back to the Sacred Grove to talk to the priestess who had done the Cleansing Ceremony. Maybe she could tell Andi exactly what she could and couldn't say.

The bedroom had a rumpled look as though everything had been pulled out of place and then put back haphazardly. Andi was about to pass through it and into the fresher, when she saw something that caught her eye.

On the bedside table was an old-fashioned pad of paper and the top sheet was covered with her partner's small, neat handwriting. Andi couldn't have said why, but she felt drawn to read it. Without questioning the impulse, she went over and picked the pad up.

"Dream Journal" was written at the top in block letters. Below it, the real writing began.

Andi stepping in front of the pain whip—healing my back, she read. Her eyes went wide and she read some more. Andi wiping away the burning plum oil and then sucking my cock and letting me come in her mouth…Andi coming to me in my room when my Thirst was bad. She let me drink from her vein and then let me suck her nipples and taste her sweet pussy…

"Hey, what are you doing?" Thrax's deep voice behind her startled her so much that she dropped the pad and jumped away from the bed.

"Nothing! I, uh, thought I saw a bug—that's all."

"What—you thought you saw a bug on my dream journal?" he growled, glaring at her. "That's some pretty private shit, you know. You can't just fucking read someone else's journal!"

"I'm sorry—I didn't see anything. Well, not much of anything, Andi assured him quickly. "I just saw my name on the paper and got curious," she added.

Thrax raised an eyebrow.

"So first you saw a bug and then you saw your name. What's going on here, Andi?"

"I could ask you the same thing!" she shot back, getting defensive. "Why are you writing…that kind of thing about me?" She nodded at the pad of paper which had landed face up on the bed.

Thrax sighed and ran a hand over his horns.

"Because I've been having these crazy, fucked-up dreams and you seem to be in all of them."

"Dreams, really? That's weird." Andi shrugged weakly. Oh God, she was in trouble now—he was having dreams about the memories she'd altered!

Her guilt must have shown on her face because Thrax narrowed his eyes and stared down at her.

"Hey, you know something about this, don't you?" he demanded, nodding at the pad. "I can tell you do—what is it?"

"Nothing—I don't know what you're talking about!" Andi exclaimed.

Thrax glared at her.

"You're lying to me! You've never lied to me before, Andi." He leaned down and looked directly into her eyes. "What are you hiding? What's going on with me and what really happened during our last mission?"

"Nothing happened!" she denied weakly.

"Then why did I have to go through a Cleansing Ceremony after it?" Thrax demanded. "I don't remember much of anything before waking up naked on my knees in the Sacred Grove with you and that priestess. What happened to my memory?"

"All right!" Andi said desperately. "I'll tell you as much as I can…but I don't know how much that will be."

"What?" Thrax frowned at her and shook his head. "What does that even mean?"

"Just sit here beside me and let's talk." Andi sat on the side of his bed, which was covered in a dark blue spread, and patted the spot beside her.

Warily, Thrax sat beside her.

"All right—talk," he growled. "What happened to me?"

Andi took a deep breath and sent up a silent prayer, please, Goddess, don't let me re-trigger him or undo any of the good the cleansing did!

Then she began to explain.