So great was my distress that I didn’t think of the one thing that was sure to work. There was one place where we’ve always met, where nothing else was allowed to intrude.
Chapter 19
THORN
Yes of course, why hadn’t I thought of it sooner? Brushing the hair back gently from her face, I cleared my mind of everything but her.
The sounds outside the window no longer penetrated, as I controlled my breathing, until I was almost in a state of comatose.
I nudged at the edges of her mind, trying not to intrude too harshly. This will not be as our other encounters.
I wasn’t sure who I was going to find in the mirrors of her mind; eighteen-year old Jasmine, or the little innocent that had been dragged from the night in terror.
The room was in darkness as I crept into her mind. Everything was still and all that could be heard was her breathing. I stood over her here as I had in my room not long ago.
“Jasmine, baby look at me.” I knew she heard me, because her breath hitched, but still she refused. I touched her face lightly with my fingertips, tracing a path down her cheek.
“I would never have left you my sweet, sweet, girl, had I known what was going to happen, I promise you.”
“I was so scared, I called for you, all night and all the next day. Why didn’t you answer me, you knew how didn’t you, or am I remembering differently? Angel.”
She remembered. “How much do you remember?” I held my breath as I awaited her answer.
“Everything.” Her voice was a tortured whisper.
“That night...?” again I held my breath, hoping for the best.
“Everything.”
I closed my eyes in slight despair. I would’ve loved to have spared her that. I could feel her pain, the anger and torment. I warred within myself as to what to do next.
For years there was no memory of it in her mind or heart. I’d searched diligently, even toyed with the idea of erasing the memory if it was there. It wasn’t too late to do that now, but would it be fair?
It was so hard sometimes to know what was right and what was not. I know my views where she’s concerned are old fashioned and out dated.
This too is one of the reasons I wanted to give her more time. When I do finally take her beneath me, I won’t ever be able to give her the space most women want.
Much as when we were younger, we will seek each other out at every turn, never wanting to be too far from each other for any length of time.
I will also, as her mate, seek to control everything in her life as my way of protecting her and our children.
They had tried to explain this to me in my training, but there had been no need. I had already experienced it to a point, since the minute she was born, only it was supposed to get worst.
“Would you like to talk about it?”
“I want to know everything. Who was that girl, and what does she have to do with what happened to my family?”
“What makes you think...?”
“I don’t know; it’s a feeling, a very strong one. I seem to be bombarded with them all of a sudden.”
So it had started. “Did you touch her?” the question asked with such venom jarred me for a second.
“No.” Her body relaxed and she unclenched her fists. “Open your eyes baby and look at me.”
Finally she opened her eyes and looked at me. I could see the change already, not complete, but it had started. The light was already beginning in her eyes; it was only a matter of time.
I told her as much as I could about the legend and our destiny. She listened with very little interruption, though there were times she seemed more than a bit skeptical.
Taking one of her soft hands in mine, I relayed the story in my head, just as it had been taught to me so long ago.
“In older times, we would’ve been accused of witchcraft, cast aside, spurned. Some of our ancestors, both yours and mine, have suffered that fate throughout the centuries.
But now men think differently and are somewhat more tolerable. They’ve also learnt that every gift is not of the darkness.
That all unusual abilities hadn’t been granted by sorcery! Now, instead of being hunted to destruction, we and other people like us, are being harnessed for our minds, for our extra powers, that are still asleep in most men.”
“People like us, what does that mean? Does that have anything to do with you walking in my dreams?”
“Shh, we’ll get to all that, just let me share this with you, and then I’ll answer all of your questions.”
She didn’t seem overly happy about that suggestion, but she laid her head back down and prepared to listen like I asked.