Chapter 5

FIVE

He found himself floating… in the same way that he did whenever he drifted outside his body while meditating.

Ashrael had knocked him out cold.

He tried to force himself to wake up, but his body wouldn't cooperate.

And then, he detected a familiar tendril of presence.

It was her.

Undoubtedly.

But there was something different about her.

She didn't exude reckless confidence anymore. And she no longer radiated that so-very-human innocence he'd found so terribly amusing—and refreshing.

Instead, he sensed her despair, and it was laced with fear and anger. Her emotions were projected so powerfully that if not for his strict discipline and control, he would have become overwhelmed.

How was he able to feel her emotions so clearly? It bothered him a little because he hardly experienced emotions of his own. He'd learned to suppress those things a long time ago.

Still, he was no stranger to dark feelings.

Anger, terror, despair…

He'd felt these things thousands of times—from the ones that had died at his hands.

For a moment, he forgot his indignation at being knocked out cold and allowed himself to be suspended in the void. He emptied his mind of useless thoughts and focused on the problem in front of him.

Her.

It was obvious that the human was in some sort of trouble. She was unguided and naive, but she possessed an impressive amount of raw Talent.

For her to be able to infiltrate his consciousness so easily… she must be nearby. And yet, she could only do it when he was in this state—between wakefulness and dreams.

Should he go to her?

Should he intervene?

What could he do, anyway?

A lot, probably.

He was sure that Tarak and Ashrael would want to know about an undiscovered human female who possessed no small measure of the Talent. He could convince them to mobilize their considerable resources to go and seize her.

Very well.

First, he needed to find out where she was.

If she was in acute danger, he would have to do something about it.

But what could he do?

There was one possibility, but he'd never tried it before. He wasn't even sure he could do it.

Only if necessary.

It would require her absolute surrender.

He followed the thread of her distress, and this time it was easy because, in their first meeting, they'd formed a tenuous psychic bond. Now, it was as if her presence was like a powerful magnetic field, drawing him toward her with irresistible force.

Not possible.

How could a mere human hold such sway over him?

She couldn't influence him like that.

No. He chose to go to her.

Now that he was free from his Mistress's clutches, his first act would be to seek out this human and determine whether she was in trouble.

Besides, she seemed convinced that he was just a figment of her imagination. The very notion was insulting.

How presumptuous of her.

He was almost looking forward to the moment when they'd meet face-to-face; when she would finally understand that he was, in fact, very real.