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I closed my eyes and cycled through a few deep breaths. Thoughts flitted in and out of my weird dream head, but nothing magical, nothing that would help at all. I folded myself over my legs to rest my forehead on the ground.

“I just want out of this damn dream,” I said on a groan.

I leaned back and looked up at the wispy gray sky.

“Fin,” I yelled. “If you can hear me, please do whatever it is you’re supposed to do. You are crammed into my shitty apartment right now for this very reason..”

Silence answered me. Outstanding.

I glanced back at Sol. Not a twitch. Maybe Fin was doing something, and it disrupted the signal as he’d said. I stood, walked over to her, and pressed my hands on top of hers and closed my eyes. I envisioned a connection between us, a way to communicate, but I didn’t feel that tell-tale tingle of magic, nor did she respond.

This dream already felt longer than any other I’d endured so far. To be fair, I got bored easily.

I turned around the clearing a few times and kept returning to Sol. But she hadn’t moved an inch. How long was I going to be stuck here? Fucking hell.

With Sol rigid as a robot, and Fin probably somewhere out there napping on my couch, I decided to speak to the only other creature in this place. I marched toward the nearest tree and pressed my hand to its rough bark. This time, it didn’t elicit any noises like it did before. I closed my eyes, drew in a deep breath, and pushed my awareness toward the tree.

Nothing happened. Should’ve seen that coming.

It wasn’t as if I had any other options, so I tried one more time. I curled my fingers into the bark of the rigid oak tree, and simply said, “Hello.”

At first, nothing happened. But then a vibration started, a deep rumble, like the tumble of boulders down a mountainside. The tree let out a long groan and seemed to stretch up toward the sky. Was that a hello? Should I keep my hand on the tree?

My hands shook as I pulled them back from the tree and hugged them to my chest. The forest had gone silent again, and the trees seemed like their normal weird selves.

What had Fin said about mage magic? He had spoken of it, as if it were a perversion of fae magic, unnatural. If that were the case, I shouldn’t be able to feel these trees, the kiss of ozone and mist on my skin. Damn it. The only thing this sending seemed to do was confuse me more. Not something I needed right now between the super-hot fae man I needed to avoid and the crazy mage man who wanted me dead.

A charmed life I led.

I headed back toward Sol, carefully stepping across the field so I didn’t trip. Not that it would matter.

“Because no one’s here to see me,” I shouted my thought aloud.

Sol sat in the same position as before, straight-backed and ethereal. She looked like a statue brought to life.

I studied her, leaning in closer, trying to catch if she was even breathing.

Her mouth flopped open. I stumbled away, almost landing on my ass again in the pine needles.

She started moving her mouth like she was speaking to someone, but no sound came out. I crouched lower so I could see her face at eye level to make out the shapes her lips formed, but I couldn't discern the words. She seemed to be speaking to someone. Her face was animated, her eyes bright and alert, and her hands waved as she spoke.

I shook my head and threw my hands up. “Sound on, Sol.”

Of course, she didn’t answer me. She continued her conversation with another person I couldn't see. Were there ghosts here? I spun around, peering through the trees, trying to catch shapes in the darkness. Nothing moved, nothing shifted. Nothing was here except me and robot Sol.

I really had nothing else to do but sit there and stare at her. So I threw myself down on the ground, folded my legs up again, and watched as she spoke. Her shoulders were relaxed and her hands flowed effortlessly, until her entire body tightened up and went rigid. Then her chin tilted haughtily, so like her brother it made me wince. It was a little disconcerting to watch fear wash over a person without being able to hear the effects of it. Whoever she spoke to, had scared her.

I narrowed my eyes, bouncing my gaze from her lips up to her eyebrows and back, hoping I could find some word or gesture that would let me know how to help her. My heart told me this wasn’t Esteban. While convincing, he never seemed to drop his air of superiority. And right now, Sol looked fragile. I didn’t think an emotion like that was something Esteban could copy.

She continued moving her lips and waving her arms again, but now her brow was tucked down, set in a determined way. Maybe she was trying to convince somebody of something.

“Sol, tell me how to help you.” I didn’t know if I was speaking to her or this weird dream place or Fin. I just hated that I couldn’t help her. And I would feel the same way for any woman.

Then her mouth turned in just the right way, so I recognized one word: watch.

A watch? Had she dropped one for me to find?

I dove for the pine needles, threading my fingers under their blanket, but nothing snagged against my hands, not even a stray pebble.


Tags: Amelia Shaw The Rover Fantasy