You know me, he vowed. You’ll see.
I didn’t understand, but an inferno blazed all around me, making me hot and cold at the same time. Shivers racked me from head to toe, my lips parting on another one of those silent screams.
And then we were outside, our hand rising into the sky to script out a word I already knew was meant to be written.
“Alqisian,” I whispered at the same time as the male, our voices commingling into a beautiful song I couldn’t help but hum.
My heart began to break, memories of a past long buried tickling my mind with glimpses of my parents.
“Sweet darling flower, we love you so much,” my mother breathed, her arms tight around me. “We’re doing this for you, to ensure you survive.”
“It’s the only way,” my father agreed, his palm against my lower back. “…take care of you, baby.”
“Who?” I wanted to ask them. “Who will take care of me?”
But they were already gone, the aftermath of destruction blazing before me in a furious wave of devastating power.
A rock tumbled out of the debris, bumping my boot. I bent to retrieve it, then brought it to my lips.
“I’ll come for you soon, Aflora,” a gruff voice whispered to it. “I vow it.”
I couldn’t stop trembling, confusion mounting with each passing second as a cloud of thick smoke surrounded me from the wreckage. The rock fell to the ground and I took to the air, swirling in a cloud that reminded me of Shade.
“I’ve got you,” I heard him say. “It’s going to be okay.”
“Shade?” I couldn’t see him, but I felt him, our shared bond yanking at my essence. “Shade!” I tugged on that strand, our frail, initial link, following him through the sea of darkness to a place where his peppermint scent surrounded me in a fog of familiarity.
Tears tracked down my cheeks, my heart hammering in my ribs, my consciousness lost somewhere in the abyss, but his voice carried me to the present.
“Wake up,” he demanded. “Show me your eyes, beautiful.”
I wanted to.
But I didn’t know where to look, or which way to go, until I felt another tug, his intoxicating essence swimming all around me. I breathed him in, my mind working through the trickery and blackness left behind by the other entity, my heart racing against my ribs.
“That’s it,” Shade coaxed. “I’m right here, little rose. Come get me.”
“Shade,” I whispered, my voice sounding hoarse but finally coming through my own body. I’m me again. Only, I couldn’t see.
“Hi, sweetheart,” he replied, his lips brushing mine.
Mmm, I felt that.
I yearned for more.
But I needed to see him, to know this was real and not another game or spell gone awry.
“I’m right here,” Shade promised, his warmth seeping into me and drawing me out of the stillness of my mind and into his arms. “There you are, gorgeous.” His thumb drifted across my cheek. “You had me worried for a moment.”
I stared up at the sun, then at him, and finally at the tree behind him. “Our meadow,” I breathed, my throat sore and scratchy. “How?” Am I dreaming? Am I still trapped inside that man?
“I shadowed us here to get you away from that rock,” he replied, his lips curling down. “What happened, Aflora? What did you see?”
“Destruction,” I told him, shuddering at the images flashing behind my eyes. “He destroyed the education building after making sure everyone got out alive. Then he kissed the rock. He… I was him and he was me. And then I destroyed the building. But I didn’t. He did. Except it was me, Shade. I was… I was him.”
I sat up abruptly, only then realizing Shade had been cradling me in his lap. But he let me move, his gaze guarded as I jumped to my feet and spun around the familiar field. “Is this real?” I demanded.
“Yes,” he replied, standing up as well. “This is the meadow I took you to a few weeks ago, after the recording incident.”