Chapter 27

TWENTY-SEVEN

She was wired.

Restless.

Filled with heat and yearning, Jade clung to the sound of his mindvoice.

She couldn't believe it. She could actually talk to this man across hundreds of meters… maybe even further than that.

I want to see how far you can go.

She didn't know whether it was a challenge or a taunt. Maybe both.

She could never have predicted that he'd be so free with her, almost mischievous.

And now, he was saying he could teach her how to sleep in an instant? He was so certain of it, too.

Yeah, right. Cocky bastard.

She was looking forward to proving him wrong.

Besides, he had no idea how much he was to blame for her current state.

I can feel your skepticism, you know.

Startled, she pulled the sheets around her body, instinctively curling her knees up to her chest. Are you reading my thoughts, Dragek?

As much as it would make my existence easier, I can't do that. But I can feel your ka'qui .

How is that any different?

His soft chuckle reverberated through her. It's very different. I can't tell what you're thinking, but I can feel your emotions to some extent. You need to work on suppressing that aura of yours. You're like a beacon.

I don't know how to do that yet. Heat entered her cheeks. Does that mean others with the… Talent can sense what I'm feeling? In fact, the notion was mildly horrifying.

Likely. But I doubt they'd care much, and they're more likely to intentionally ignore you.

She hoped to hell he was right because their secret little conversation was in danger of getting out of hand.

Jade, listen to me.

What?

I'm going to teach you how to catch a wave.

A wave?

When we sleep, our consciousness exists in a place between worlds. Even those without the Talent will go there. There's power in sleep.

Well, I wish I could harness some of that power because sleep doesn't seem to be very fond of me.

Nonsense. You just aren't in sync with your power. You've been trying to do too much with too little knowledge. Let me teach you, Jade.

His words were filled with tempting promises. She tried to tell herself not to be fooled—that he might have his own less-than-savory reasons for doing this—but desperation swayed her in the other direction.

She was overflowing with this pent-up tension; this terrible itch she couldn't scratch.

If she didn't do something, anything…

She would break.

Damn you, Dragek. It's all your fault.

What? He asked, and there was almost a certain mock-innocence in his voice; she couldn't tell if he was being serious or not.

Whatever it is you think can help me get to sleep… just show me.

Very well.

Suddenly, she felt a softness all around her. It was warm and fuzzy, tingling across her skin, buffeting her so she felt weightless.

What are you doing?

Trying to show you what it feels like.

What on Earth are you talking about?

The void that exists between all worlds. That's where your consciousness exists when you sleep.

A shudder of anticipation coursed through her. Dragek was talking about something far beyond her imagination. Since meeting him, she'd realized the laws of reality were different from what she'd always believed.

Very different.

There was an entire Universe she didn't know about.

Even simple things like sleep…

You've been avoiding it because you're scared to stumble into the dreams of strangers. That's why you struggle to fall asleep. You're afraid, and fear is incompatible with restfulness of the soul.

Jade thought about the times she'd tried to fall asleep. Her racing mind and pounding heart would keep her awake for hours, and she'd be doubly cursed with the knowledge that she'd feel like shit the next day.

It was a strange kind of torture.

Dragek's analysis of her troubles was surprisingly accurate. She'd seen some terrible things in people's dreams. The human mind could hold incredible darkness.

I can't tell you how to feel for the void, Jade. It isn't a thing that can be described in words. You can only try and understand what I'm showing you. Don't analyze it. Just feel it.

She still couldn't understand what he was talking about, so she just closed her eyes and allowed the floating sensation to spread. After a while, it felt like she was floating on a body of water, neither warm nor cold, and dense enough to support her weight without any need for effort.

She was floating, and there were waves. Tiny, gentle waves, almost indistinguishable at first. But as she lowered her barriers, they became more and more pronounced.

It wasn't an unpleasant feeling.

Her limbs relaxed. For the first time in longer than she could remember, all of the tension flowed out of her body.

What did you just do?

Shared a little of my consciousness with you.

How?

I don't know. I just could, so I did.

Are you always this spontaneous?

I don't know.

Huh. I don't know why I should trust anything you're telling me. After witnessing firsthand what he was capable of, she was surprised to see this side of him. It was as if he didn't have a care in the Universe; he was nonchalant and free, almost playful.

It was the last thing she could have expected from an alien warrior who was so very adept at violence.

Because I'm right. Everything in the Universe has a frequency. To easily enter the void between worlds —what you call sleep —you must be able to feel the oscillations and ride them.

Jade sighed. Why is that so much harder than you make it sound?

It really isn't. You just have to accept it.

Easy for you to say. You've probably been doing this for a very long time. It isn't natural for me. It goes against everything I've ever known.

Then it's time to shed your old ways and beliefs, isn't it? None of that will be of use to you anymore. Just let go.

Jade saw a glimmer of light in the distance. He was right, of course, but she couldn't ever forget who she was and where she'd come from. There were people on Earth who were important to her—family and friends—and no matter what happened and how she changed, she would go back there someday.

Hopefully soon.

But Dragek was right.

She had to let go of all that mind-debris. It was of no use to her now.

There's no reason to be afraid. I won't let you drift into someone else's dreams.

Have you done that before?

No.

Then how do you know you can do it?

I just do.

Bit sure of yourself, aren't you?

No. I just know I wouldn't let you go to anyone else.

Oh. She didn't mean to speak it aloud—in her head—but she did so anyway. It didn't help that Dragek's voice had turned slightly possessive, and the feeling of floating up and down on the waves of the frequency of the void or whatever was so… natural.

Am I asleep?

They'd been talking. She'd become distracted—by him— and had forgotten all about her trouble with falling asleep.

And now, she was.

She drifted on the waves, more accustomed to the feeling now and rather enjoying it. She looked up into the dark cathedral of her thoughts and saw inky blackness sprinkled with a small constellation of stars.

Just like the Universe all around them.

She really was dreaming, but she felt more conscious and aware than ever before.

Her body felt light and limber.

Her senses were sharper than ever.

She felt… powerful.

Where are you now, Dragek? She called out with her mindvoice. Every time she tried, it became easier.

But there was no answer, only silence.

So she had no choice but to follow the slow current of her flowing consciousness until she saw something in the distance.

It looked like…

An island?

There at the edge, on a crescent-shaped sliver of silvery beach, stood a figure.

And even though he was far away, she instinctively knew it was him .

Only… he looked different , somehow.

Anticipation shot through her, fuelled by a sense of urgency. Suddenly, she wanted to be there—to see him.

To understand him, know him…

Have him.

Since that fated moment in a dusty, disused mine, something had grown between them. It started off as desperation, became necessity, then turned into familiarity, and now…

There was something more.

She didn't understand it at all, but what choice did she have except to follow it?

Thud.

And just like that, her bare feet landed in the softest, finest white sand.

She looked up and saw his face, and his expression was the softest she'd ever seen.

She never could have imagined he was capable of an expression like that, but in this place, anything was possible.