Galen looks frustrated but pulls me closer to his body. My dream of him comes back to me, causing my breathing to become quick and shallow. I’m going to start hyperventilating if I don’t focus. I look down at my feet, trying to stay on the beat.One, two, three, one, two, three.
“Ican’t,” he says.
“Can’t, or won’t?” I challenge, trying to slow our movements to force him to talk.
“Can’t. Essos and Sybil surely explained that there are rules, yes? One of those rules prohibits me from telling you anything independently. If you come to certain conclusions on your own, I can verify and provide embellishing details. I can’t initiate. Otherwise, the Calling will be canceled, and I’ll be back to square one.”
I pick up my pace to match his tempo, trying to split my focus between the steps and his words.“But if I ask you questions, you can answer?” He nods, and I take this as a sign I should continue. “Was it a memory?” He nods, his gaze casting around the room, and my breath stops for a moment. “Was itmymemory?” He nods again. “What about my dreams, are they memories?”
He looks at me suddenly. “Dreams? More than one? I stopped in your room earlier, and you seemed to be sleeping so peacefully. You actually sighed in your sleep when I brushed a hair from your face. Were you having dreams about me before I arrived?” He stares at me, his gaze fierce.
I stumble another step, surprised that not only was he in my space while I was asleep, but he was close enough to actually touch me. “Stopped in?”
“Yes. I caught one of the maids bringing the food up and offered to take it in myself. I had the idea to gift you a dress while I was there, so I conjured it for you. Essos wouldn’t let me get within a foot of you afterIdragged you out of the ocean.” Galen looks into my eyes. “Tell me more. Have I appeared in any other dreams?”
I clear my throat and look away from him. “Not all of them. In this one, you and I were dancing, and it looked like the 1920s.” I avoid mentioning the hot sex in the coat closet.
He grins, clearly remembering. The look he gives me makes me blush deeper. “Real, very real.”
I watch his face as he looks me up and down like a wolf eyeing a sheep that has strayed too far from her pack. “Why were you able to warn me about Sybil but not tell me about this?”I ask, thinking back to our conversation in the water.
“Because Sybil isn’t a strict party to the Calling. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that what grabbed you today was their doing,” he hisses. His hand clenches mine, hard.
I frown, remembering Sybil’s concern when they walked me to my room, and how they’ve been nothing but kind. The memory of Sybil’s implied threat about the dreams rises to the forefront of my mind in support of Galen’s theory. It’s hard to not have doubts when they flat out threatened Cat and me. Even thinking of that conversation drives me to suppress a shudder.
I choose to play dumb with Galen to see if he has any other insight. He doesn’t need to know that I already tipped my hand to Sybil. “Do Sybil and Essos know that I have memories that are, I don’t know, locked away or whatever?”
He sighs deeply at my question. “I have my suspicions—that’s why I came as soon as I heard that Essos had a new group of girls. Just as badly as Sybil doesn’t want to share Essos, he doesn’t want to share his power. It’s all he has going for him. He’ll play along, and in the end, dump all the girls. Keeping you away from me again.”
The song comes to an end, but my questions have not. “Again? What does that mean, keeping me away from you?”
He shakes his head.
Ifthese are memories…have I lived a life before this that I can’t remember? The vision from when I was under the water rises to my mind unbidden.
Do I have powers?
I want to keep pressing him, but he steps away from me.“I’ve said too much.” He strides off, and before I can follow him, I feel a hand on my wrist.
Ripping my hand out of the grip, I turn to find that it’s Finn. “Let him have his diva moment. It makes him feel cooler if he gets to storm off into the night for dramatic effect.” Finn holds his arm out to me.
“I don’t find it entertaining.” We walk off the dance floor in the opposite direction of Galen to where the drinks are. I grab two champagnes and hear Finn start to thank me, until he realizes that they’re both for me as I knock them back.
“I need some fresh air,” I say and walk away from him to the back porch, where I immediately regret my decision.
Essos is seated outside with Zara in his lap. She’s got her mouth on his neck while his eyes are closed with one hand on the curve of her ass.He looks almost pained, and I wonder if it’s from having to restrain himself from taking this further. They don’t seem aware of my presence, so I stalk past them quickly.
My teeth clench so hard that my jaw aches. I try to scrub the image from my mind as I storm down to the beach. I reach the waterline, discard my shoes, and stand with my feet in the surf, not caring that I’m ruining the red dress.
Finn comes to stand beside me with his pant legs rolled up. “Not in the mood for dancing tonight?”
I shoot him a dirty look but stay where I am.
“Listen, you should know by now that you can talk to me about what’s going on. I know that this process is stressful, but I am here for you. If you think the escorts’ only purpose is to show you how to dance, you’re wrong. I want to see you succeed, but I have to know what’s going on in that brilliant mind of yours if I’m going to help. I want to think I’ve earned your trust. If you’re upset about what was happening up there, it’s probably not what it looked like. She’s been throwing herself at him since you almost drowned again.”
“Can gods die?” I ask abruptly. Like Sybil, Finn made it clear that I shouldn’t poke at the bruise that is any dream that Essos might or might not be in. He’s likely to shut down again if I mention that I’ve seen flashes when touching Galen.
Finn’s nostrils flare, and he presses his mouth into a thin line as he regards me. “No, gods can’t just die, Daphne. W— They’re immortal.”