Not that I’d really doubted it before.
“What dreams?” Liam demanded.
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” Thomas said at the same time.
“Because I thought it was a dream. At least until last night.” To Liam, “Most of the time I’m surrounded by a wall of black. Under my feet is a pool of blood that extends as far as the eye can see.”
Liam inhaled slowly. “It’s definitely Ahrun.”
Thomas nodded. “That fits my memory of my remaking.”
“How was last night different?” Liam asked before I could pursue that topic.
“There were more details. A table. A bowl of blood.”
Alertness entered Liam’s posture as he interrupted. “Did you drink it?”
I hummed an agreement. “There wasn’t a choice.”
Liam’s gaze shot to Thomas’s.
“What does it mean?” I interjected
“That’s why I sense him in her. He’s created a link like that of a sire with a yearling. It’s similar to what I did when I fed you my blood to start your transition.” Thomas looked upset about that news. I’d like to say his anger stemmed from the violation against me, but I suspected it had more to do with Ahrun touching something he considered his.
“That should be impossible, right?” I asked, my gaze begging Liam to agree.
“Your scent would disagree.”
I paced away from them to control my reaction. “Why are you so paranoid about the council knowing?”
“Because it shouldn’t be possible to steal a yearling from another master,” Liam said softly.
Thomas slammed a hand on the table. “That’s not what he did. I can still feel my connection to her.”
I never thought I’d be relieved to hear that. But I was.
Thomas leaned his hands on the table and slumped forward. “This will make the council take more of an interest in you. If they haven’t already. Kiss any secrets you have goodbye. They’ll uncover them and then take you apart to see how this was possible and if they can replicate it for themselves.”
So, pretty much a death sentence then?
“We need to keep her out of this battle. She needs to stay as far as possible from them,” Thomas informed Liam.
My lover glanced at me in hesitation. After a moment, he inclined his chin in silent agreement.
“I guess this is a bad time to tell you that Ahrun wasn’t the only one in my dream,” I said. “Connor was there too. I’m pretty sure Ahrun was feeding from him.”
Thomas’s eyes closed in defeat as Liam cursed.
“Ahrun is likely using him to heal from his prolonged sleep,” Liam said reluctantly.
“He won’t hurt him?”
Liam looked at Thomas. “The Ahrun I know wouldn’t have hurt Connor on purpose. But in his current state, it’s easy to make a mistake. Killing him on accident is a possibility.”
Thomas was between a rock and a hard place. No matter who he tried to save, he’d end up losing someone.
“We don’t have the resources to divert a search party for Connor,” Thomas said with an air of defeat.
