I rolled my eyes. “If you’re real, why don’t you call me?”
He sighed. “I don’t want the Federation to know I’ve had contact with you. It would put us both at risk.”
“The Federation?”
“Yes. They’re a… terrorist group. I’m sure they monitor your calls.”
My eyes widened. “You think someone’s listening to my calls?”
Ezryn bit the inside of his cheek for a moment. “I’m sure they’re not listening to every single one of your conversations, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were watching for unknown numbers calling you and then listening to those conversations. If I called you, I could put you in harm’s way, and I’m not willing to risk that. Not right now.”
“That sounds like you’re making excuses.”
He sighed. “I know it does, but it’s the truth.” He pushed his hair behind his ear. “You’re in a place I can’t get to, on the other side of a null zone. That’s why I need you to cross back over. Look, I’m sorry this is so confusing for you, but I just wish you’d trust me.” He was visibly upset, angry even.
“I’m sorry,” I said, not knowing what else to say.
After a minute, he seemed to cool down. “Listen, Ry, I’m really sorry the mind-links are affecting you so badly but this, all of this, is important. Please keep looking at Rueberry. I need you to go there. Just… don’t panic this time. I promise I’ll be back tomorrow night. Now that I’ve found you, I don’t plan on losing you.” He offered a strained smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Ry.” And then he disappeared.
My chest was already constricted when I woke, and I stumbled into my bathroom to splash water on my face. The panic came, but I kept repeating he’s coming back, he’s coming back in my head, and that seemed to help.
Of course, I couldn’t go back to sleep, but at least I knew Ezryn would be back… or at least, I hoped so. I knew he wasn’t real, but for some strange reason, I believed he’d come see me again.
Maybe that was ridiculous, but it was all in my head, anyway, so who in the world cared, right?
It had been nearly two weeks, and every single night, Ezryn came back. The panic I’d been experiencing seemed to go away more easily now that I knew for sure he’d be back, but the way my chest tightened and my heart raced when he vanished, that wasn’t going away at all. In fact, I was pretty sure my chest was tightening more and more each night.
But that was okay because I had a beautiful man to keep me company at night.
I couldn’t help but wonder if I was maybe going insane. I was acting like Ezryn was a real person, but I knew better. So yeah, maybe I was going a little crazy.
“What’s wrong, Ry?” Ezryn asked as he sat on my bed.
I offered a weak smile. “I’m just wondering if I’m losing my mind or not.”
“Why would you think that?” His brow furrowed, and even with his face squished up like that, he was still beautiful—taking how gorgeous he was into consideration, there was no way this was anything but a dream—mind-link, whatever.
“Considering how I feel every time I wake up from one of your visits, I’m wondering if I’ve lost it. This is all crazy and just a dream, yet I look forward to it all day long, every day. I look forward to seeing a fake man in my head.”
“It’s more than just a dream, Ry, it’s a mind-link, I told you that. And I’m not a fake man in your head. I’m very much as real as you are,” Ezryn whispered.
“Of course you’d say that, you’re in my dream—”
“Mind-link.”
I rolled my eyes. “Mind-link, right.”
He took a shaky breath. “If you go to Rueberry Orchard, I might be able to change your mind about that.”
“I just don’t know if it’s a good idea.”
“Don’t you want to see magic for yourself?”
“Magic isn’t real.”
“Fuck,” he breathed, surprising me with his cursing. For some reason, I hadn’t expected such a word to come out of such a pretty mouth. From the tilt of his lips, I was sure he knew what I was thinking, too. “Time’s almost up. What if I can prove it to you?”
“Prove what?”
“That magic’s real.”
“Uh huh, sure.”
He huffed. “Tomorrow night, I’ll teach you a spell if you promise to give it a try and to be extra careful. I wanted to wait so you don’t hurt yourself, but… if this is what it’ll take to convince you to come to Rueberry, then we’ll have to figure it out.”
“Right. Okay…?” This was getting crazier and crazier.
He smiled a little sad again and reached over, pausing a few inches from touching me. He seemed to think about it for a few seconds before he finally gave my beard a little tug. “I’ll see you tomorrow night, Ry. Be ready.”
And then he disappeared, and that pain in my chest grew. I was getting better at managing it even though it felt worse each night, but it still took several long minutes to get it under control.
Chapter 3
Rhile
My eyes widened as soon as I opened them.
Ezryn smiled, sadly again, and said, “Hey, Ry.”
“Ezryn… what happened?”
Ezryn had a huge bruise on his temple, a scrape on his cheek, and blood on his shirt. From the way he was sitting, I was pretty sure the blood was his. “Nothing to worry about.”
“Nothing to worry about? You look like you got the shit kicked out of you.”
“You should see the other guy.” He offered a weak smile.
“Ezryn… what happened?”
He sighed and shifted on the bed, immediately wincing as if that small movement hurt him. He was moving stiffly and holding himself a little oddly, clearly hurting even more than he was letting on. Jesus. What the hell happened to him? He said, “It’s complicated. We’ve been laying low, but they found our safehouse. Took us by surprise. Got a hit off before my magic… well, the point is we’re safe now.”
“You and Braylik?”
He nodded. “And the team.”
“The team?”
He waved it away and winced again. “It doesn’t matter. We’re in a safe place now.” He smiled. “And I’m right where I want to be—with you.”
I frowned. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
He gingerly reached over and tugged on my beard. “I’m fine, you huge worrywart. I’ve had worse, and nothing’s broken, just a little bruised. I’ll be okay.”
I blew out a breath and nodded.
“Ready to learn some magic?”
“You sure it’s a good idea with you”—I waved at his body— “all beat up?”
“It’ll be fine.”
Blowing out a breath, I shrugged. Did it really matter, anyway? This was all fake. “Alright, go for it. Prove you’re real.”
He flashed me an amused grin. “Mages are taught the words of our magical language at a young age, and then we memorize spells. It helps focus your magic so it does what you intend and doesn’t go haywire. I’m going to teach you the words to produce a cold flame.”