"Allmy dreams? Even tonight?"
I nodded.
"What in the hell is wrong with you?" she asked. Then, she raised a hand. "No, don't bother trying to answer that. There's no explanation that would be worth a damn. No excuse for that kind of...of violation."
She was right. There was nothing I could say, no way I could explain. At least not in a forgivable way. The fact that I had no choice in where my talents took me wouldn't matter to her. I'd lied to her. It might have been by omission, but it was still a lie.
"First thing in the morning, I'm calling Ava," she said.
"I understand," I said. "Callum can take you to her tonight if you want."
"I can?" Callum asked. When he saw my stare, he turned the question into a statement. "I can."
"No, Ava needs to sleep. The morning will be early enough." Her dark eyes bored into me. "Stay away from me. And stay out of my head."
With that, she turned away and her footsteps seemed to echo as she marched down the short hall to the guest room. The door slammed, the sound as sharp and painful as a bullet.
"Look, Marcus, let me talk to her—"
I lifted a hand. "I told you that it was useless. It's even more useless now. Just let it go. It's for the best."
"You don't—"
"Good night, Callum."
I tried to walk past him, to brush off anything he might have to say. We'd been brothers in arms for so long, he knew when to push and when to back down.
For all his joking and ridiculous behavior, he knew when to stop.
At least, that's what I believed.
He lunged forward and grabbed my arm, jerking me back. "No, you don't get to walk away and shut down. Not this time. You're going to listen to what I have to say."
I jerked at my arm, but he held fast.
"Dammit, Marcus, you're going to listen to me if I have to beat it through your thick skull first."
I stopped trying to pull away and leaned into him instead. "This isn't something I can joke my way out of. That woman was innocent and did nothing to deserve what happened to her. Rhiannon violated her mind and now she feels I did the same. She's right to feel that way. And now someone else is watching her and it's not me."
"She's reasonable. If you only explained that you have no control over who you connect with, I'm—"
I'd had enough. I twisted my forearm out of his hold and shoved him away. Both of our water bottles hit the floor. He flew back against the cabinets with a clatter, knocking over a bowl of fruit and the crock of kitchen utensils next to it.
"Just shut up," I said.
I tried to keep my voice down, but Callum didn't seem to have my same concern.
"What the fuck, Marcus?" he roared as he straightened.
"You just don't know when to stop, do you, Callum? You have to keep pushing and pushing until someone snaps. Does it entertain you? Is it funny that I'm twisted up in knots over Merry and I can't do anything about it?"
"You can!"
"No, I can't!" I finally snapped and roared right back at him. "Why can'tyouunderstand that? I will not do anything else to make her feel out of control of her own life! She needs to feel safe and she isn't. Not while she's being stalked in her dreams." I shoved him again when he got too close to me.
"You're not stalking her. You can't help the connection. You're doing everything you can to make her safe."
"I'm not talking about me, asshole! I'm talking about whoever is waiting in the shadows of her dreams. She doesn't even know they're there. I've been trying to explain it to you but you're too fucking thick to understand, it seems."
