“Hello.”
I spun, but didn’t spin, because I was floating. I searched the nothingness, well, not nothingness, becausesomethinghad said hello.
“Was it me?” I asked.
“No.”
I screamed.
I felt like I was spinning, and then I wasn’t. I looked at the shaman. “You?”
He smiled. “Hello, Rowen.”
“How…” I needed to breathe. But there were no lungs to breathe with. “How is this happening?”
“I am on the spiritual plane,” the shaman told me easily. “You are too, but I don’t know why.”
I snorted. “Makes two of us, buddy.”
The shaman grinned. “Drugged?” he guessed.
“Valerian root.”
He made a face that looked a lot like appreciation. “Your druid is protective.”
“Or my husband is a prick, you mean?”
The shaman smiled wider. “Or that.” He looked around the darkness. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”
I looked at the dark and then realized it wasn’t black; it was a deep indigo blue. “You can see this?” I asked him.
“Yes. Here I see everything.”
I turned back to him. “Why do I think you are seeing more than I am?” I asked hesitantly.
The shaman gave me a warm smile. “Because I am.” He leaned forward. “Been doing this a lot longer than you, young druid.”
“Is my child safe?” I blurted.
“Oh yes. You are too.” He waved his hand in front of him. “You haven’t moved, this is just a…higher state of consciousness.”
That settled me, and I was grateful for it. “You’re watching us?”
The shaman nodded readily. “Of course. Long lives can be boring after a while. But between your pack and my own pack…life is very exciting.” He seemed far too happy with that. “It’s a nice change of pace.”
“Where is your pack?”
He gave me a look that pretty much translated into one of “Do I look stupid?”
“Fine. Be secretive,” I muttered. “So…what can you see that I can’t?”
“Everything.”
I made a very impolite sound. The shaman laughed. “You remind me of my Kezia. She is just as feisty as you, daughter of the Hollow.”
“Is she your apprentice?”
He barked out a laugh that was so loud I jumped. “Goddess no, she is a bundle of chaos. She is a fighter, that one. Terrible student.”
