—Nymph?—
Ludo. But his voice sounds weak, wrong.
I shift from panic about Wes to panic about Ludo. “Back in a minute,” I say, releasing Donovan and crawling across the sand toward Ludo’s body.
Lu pushes himself onto one elbow, squinting and blinking.
“Are you OK? Are you hurt?” My voice wobbles a little, and I sternly tell myself this is not the time to freak out.
—OK, yes. What about you? What’s wrong?—His thoughts are faint, like my antenna is not tuned in correctly.
“I’m…I don’t know.” Ludo tenses, his gaze flicking over my shoulder. Donovan squats next to us, placing a possessive arm on my back.
—Who is this?—
“He’s Donovan. One of the men we were looking for.”
—Yours?—Ludo's thoughts are sharper now.
My eyes flit between Ludo and Donovan, a certainty blooming in my chest. “You are both mine,” I say, leaning my body into Donovan but taking hold of Ludo’s massive hand at the same time. “Donovan, this is Ludo. He’s, he’s…”
I want to say Ludo is absolutely vital to my very existence, but I don’t know how my long-lost boyfriend will take that right now. “Ludo is important to me.”
Donovan clears his throat. “If Theo says you’re important, then I guess that’s good enough for me.” He gives Ludo a wary nod.
—Where are we, Nymph?—
“I don’t think any of us know,” I tell him. “It’s certainly not the regular world.”
“Yeah, you’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto,” Cosmo mutters from behind me. “Even a shit-hole like that has oxygen.”
—I’m not breathing—Ludo’s eyes fill with a heavy sorrow —I wanted more life with you, my nymph—I wanted to become worthy of you—
Tears prick at my eyes at the sadness of that statement. I lay a hand on his bicep, then try to send mental waves of love and warmth to the point where our bodies touch.
—What are you doing? I feel…—
“What, Lu, what do you feel?” I murmur.
—For a moment I-I-—
I wait for him to find the words.
—For a moment, I don’t feel broken—
His eyes dart away, and the connection between us breaks. I catch movement from the corner of my eye.
“Pulu?”
Alexis!
I give Ludo and Donovan quick smiles, then race over to my professor. Launching myself down onto the dirt, I run my hands all over his hair and face. Alexis peels his eyes open.
“Wha?” he groans, blinking against the stark light. “Are you alright?” His eyes search my face, then move on to look around the foreign landscape. “Where are we?”
“That’s the question of the hour.”
I see the second Alexis realizes he’s not breathing; his eyes widen and he takes some empty gulps.
