Understanding came like dawn, slow and creeping and with a shivering warmth. This god had saved her life. Kept her alive. But how? And from what? How did he know her?
She tried to ask a question, but her throat caught fire again and pain spilled down into her stomach.
"Justaminute." He eased the long, clear thing from
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her throat, and when it was gone, she breathed a sigh of relief. The pain abated.
She forced herself to try again. "Where . . ." She
frowned, her train of thought lost. What had she been
going to say? Where ... She tried to remember what
the word meant. It had come naturally to her, as if she
had once understood and used it easily. Now it was
gone, drifting away like an image from a dream, unre-
membered upon waking. All that remained was a vague,
illusory memory.
"Maine." God answered her forgotten question with another meaningless word. Once again, his deep, melodious voice washed through her, soothing even the pain in her throat. "You're at Lethe House on the coastof Maine. I've been caringfor you."
She had no idea what he'd said, but she could tell that he was waiting for her to respond. Images tumbled through her mind. Each new thought, each new image for which she had no word, added to a growing sense of unease. Tension tightened the muscles along her neck and shoulders. She wanted this god to stay beside her, talking to her in that wonderful voice, brushing the hair from her face. Without him, she would slip back into the darkness?she knew it somehow, knew he was the light through which she'd come back?and she couldn't face the nothingness again.
Words teased her, fuzzy and meaningless. She tried to latch on to one, to find some way to communicate, but nothing pushed through the quagmire of her mind. She swallowed, blinking slowly up at God, making certain he didn't look away.
He didn't. His blue gaze held hers in a velvet, reassuring grip. His smile was so bright, it felt like sunlight on her face, heating her, warming her. "I amlan," he said softly. "Who are you?"
She concentrated very hard, watching his mouth move, and she thought she discerned three word pat-
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terns in the gibberish he spoke. Very slowly, she tried to repeat it. "I ... am ... Ian."
A tiny frown flinched in his thick eyebrows. The brightness of his smile dimmed a fraction. "Say, Ian."
She'd done something wrong, had somehow disappointed him. She stared up at him, her mouth trembling, trying to divine the answer in his eyes. But nothing came to her. She was trying so hard to please him, but it felt as if she were wrapped in clouds, layers and layers of fuzzy gray softness.
Say. What did that mean ... say? She frowned in concentration, staring into his blue eyes as if they held the answers to the universe.
And it came to her. She knew suddenly, simply knew. Say meant speak. Talk. Say Ian. He wanted her to repeat what he'd said.
She opened her mouth to answer him and forgot what she'd been going to say. She made a small, moaning sound of frustration.
"It'sokay," he said finally. "Whoareyou?"
Whoareyou? She tried hopelessly to decipher the code, to find the secret meaning of his words. Whoareyou?
He released a small sigh. "It'sokay . . . okay . . . enoughfor today. We've been calling you Selena. That will have to do for now." He turned slightly, and she felt his weight shift off of the bed. He was leaving her.
"No!" She reached for him, clinging to his arm. Don't leave me. The words exploded in her head. She fought to release them, to make him understand what she was feeling, what she wanted. To explain how, even now, the horror of the darkness sat curled in the shadows of the room, waiting .. . waiting ...
The moisture in her eyes burned, cascaded down her cheeks. Her whole body shook with frustration. She couldn't find the words. Somewhere between her brain and her mouth, the plea was lost forever. She stared at him, ashamed and afraid. Please .. . The single word