by Caris Roane
“I don’t know.” She planted a hand on the center of his chest. The touch was all Natalie’s style, firm and confident. He drew a slow deep breath to steady his racing heart.
The internal tremor increased in strength.
Her brows rose. “I can feel what you’re experiencing and yes, this is very fae.”
“But what the hell is it?”
“I think…no, I’m sure this is about foresight or knowing. It’s not exactly futurism. I think it’s more like connection. In this case, to me and my faeness.”
He was about to ask her to elaborate, but the tremor grew very strong and began to pulse as though it had a heartbeat. Suddenly an image, like a video, arrived in his mind.
He saw Cape Town in South Africa.
He didn’t relay what he saw. For the moment, he was afraid to say anything for fear he would lose the vision. He and Renee had visited the southernmost city of South Africa. They’d taken the cable car to the top of Table Mountain, walked on the beach and spent a lot of money on native jewelry.
“Where are you?” Natalie’s voice brought him back. “I mean, what are you seeing because I know something has captured your mind?”
He decided to risk losing the images as he said, “Cape Town.”
“What?”
The odd sound in her voice, almost a break, drew his attention back to her. Fortunately, the vision remained and continued to take him in the direction of a place called Boulders Beach where the African penguins lived.
As he met Natalie’s gaze, his connection to her seemed stronger still. He covered the hand planted between his pecs. He could tell she was upset though he had no idea why.
For a reason he couldn’t explain, he wanted her to see the penguins. “A colony of penguins lives at Boulders Beach and the place looks as I remembered it. I wish you could see it.”
“I know about the penguins.” Were there tears in her eyes? “I always thought it something of a miracle that they lived there.”
Because it seemed as though the vision had arrived specifically for Natalie, he asked, “How would you like to take a dreamglide trip right now, to visit the penguins?”
At first, she looked almost horrified. Then tears flooded her eyes, her head bobbed, then her forehead landed on his shoulder.
Deep, grief-stricken sobs followed, yet still the vision was intact. The penguins were still there.
He didn’t know what to make of any of it.
He couldn’t imagine why the idea of seeing penguins was causing Natalie so much pain. But it seemed right to fold his arms around her shoulders and hold her.
She responded by crying harder still and sliding her arms tight around his waist.
She held onto him with a grip so fierce his own eyes stung. If he’d thought for a second that the mention of Cape Town or the penguins would have caused her this kind of pain, he would have kept his mouth shut.
~ ~ ~
Natalie held Grant in a vise-like grip. He’d caught her completely off-guard and somehow brought back in the most soul-shredding way, her last moments with her husband six long years ago.
Of course, Grant couldn’t have known about the penguins or Cape Town or her husband, Aaron. She’d never told anyone about their final moments together and about his desire to take their daughter to visit the penguins at Cape Town. Even if Grant had known, he would never have reminded her of such a painful memory by bringing it up. Grant would never be so cruel. She knew that much about him already.
Natalie rarely wept, and she was embarrassed by her tears. She believed in getting on with things, not wallowing in past grief and loss. She’d had counseling and training. She thought she’d done a good job at mourning the passing of her husband and her unborn daughter, Grace.
As her tears subsided however, she found it difficult to let go of the wolf. What he’d seen in the vision had renewed her grief and she had to ride it out to get through it, dammit. She allowed herself, therefore, the comfort of his arms.
He was warm, wolf-warm.
She shifted her head slightly to lean her ear against his chest. His heart drummed an ancient call. She could listen to it forever.
She let her thoughts slide toward his mind. Just for a few minutes, unless this bothers you.
Not at all. Take as long as you need.
That might be an eternity.
She felt him chuckle, his chest rumbling and disturbing the sound of his heart. Then an eternity it is, he said.
She sighed heavily. She understood the dreamglide itself was partially responsible. She felt less inhibited here with Grant. She knew the moment they left this protective space her necessary walls would strengthen once more. His as well, no doubt.
After a few minutes, when thoughts of Aaron and baby Grace retreated, she slowly released Grant. She took the time to savor his powerful arms as they slid down her back and she stepped away from him.
She was grateful beyond words that instead of letting go of her completely, he kept his big warrior hands, calloused from wolf-battle, settled gently on her hips.
From a pocket in her tunic, and careful not to disturb his hands, she withdrew a tissue. Her work with her clients had taught her to keep a small stock on hand. Emotions could run high when the future interacted with the present.
She wiped her face and blew her nose, then met his gaze. Sniffing, she asked, “So how red is it?” She tilted her chin up to give him a good look
“More than a pink rose, less than a tomato.”
His response made her smile and she chuckled. There it was again, that she liked this damned wolf.
“I take it that’s a ‘no’ for Cape Town?”
Her lips parted. Was it a no? She even wondered if, in Five Bridges’ fashion, Aaron himself had had a hand in the idea. Maybe he was nearby? Ghosts often visited, like Grant’s wife.
In six years, though, she’d never heard a whisper from Aaron.
Now that the initial shock had passed, she considered the suggestion. It took only a few seconds to decide. “Actually, I want to go. The vision that came to you took me by surprise, that’s all. You say you’ve been there?”
“With Renee. Lots of beaches. Good water. She surfed. I watched, played the tourist, enjoyed seeing the galaxy at night from a completely different angle than here in Phoenix.”
“I remember hearing somewhere that you taught astronomy to high school kids.”
“I taught science and threw in as much astronomy as I could.”
“It’s a love of yours.”
“It is.”
“You didn’t surf?” At that she pulled away enough to see his face better. But he still kept his hands on her hips and she wanted them to stay there.
He shook his head. “Not even a little. That was all Renee. I didn’t look like this back then. I was lean and spent more time on the roof with my telescope.”
“Were you this tall?”
“Only six-two.” His smile broadened. “I could gain some muscle strength, but bulking up? It wasn’t in the genes.”
“We’re all different here. My eyes were grayer, and my hair didn’t float. There. I’ve said it aloud. My alter hair is different in Five Bridges.”
He took hold of a long lock of her hair, lifted it up and said. “I like your hair.”
Compliments were the last thing she’d expected from a wolf. She had supposed his kind was like the name of his territory, savages in every respect. But there wasn’t anything savage about Grant’s spirit. Oh, shit, she really did like him. A lot.
Time slowed and for a moment she was struck by how he looked. He was a truly handsome man with strong, even features, an angled jaw and pronounced, almost ridged cheekbones.
His brows were thick and angled away from his eyes giving him an intense expression. He wore his hair in a long braid, straight down his back that reached his waist. His blond hair on top coupled with a light brown beneath, gave his braid a multi-shaded effect.
Like her own hair, his had a curl thoug
h in parts it was only a wave. Tendrils had escaped the braid near his face. The whole effect, coupled with his gold-green eyes and their unique shards of brown, gave him his usual god-like appearance.
Davis Grant was a hunk-and-a-half. The female wolves of his pack had to be in heat one second to the next just looking at him.
“I’m smelling lemonade with mint again.”
“You can ignore it. You’re handsome and built. What else am I going to feel?”
He shifted one of his hands to catch the tender, underneath side of her arm. “So, you’re okay? I was worried.”
She could smile now, though she couldn’t quite ignore the ache in her heart. “I am.”
“Good.” He glanced around. “How about we go for that ride?”
“I’m ready.” She turned to scrutinize the dark, hazy edges of the dreamglide where her studio faded to nothing but a kind of preternatural quiet zone.
The only other time she’d been in the dreamglide was at Mont St. Michel. She had no idea what it would be like traveling to another destination.
Very few fae had the advanced ability to create a dreamglide, so she’d never been in one before Grant. In fact, she’d never had the opportunity to even sit down with someone and ask about their experience.
She had no idea what to expect.
For that reason, she shifted to stand next to Grant and took his arm. She used her free hand to cradle the inside of his elbow.
“Nervous?” He asked. He covered her hand with his own then squeezed.
“Of course. I mean, do you have any idea what you’re doing?”
He chuckled, and she loved that he wasn’t offended. “Hell, no, but I’m willing to learn.”
~ ~ ~
Grant felt split down the middle, two men, two very different desires. One was a wolf who would take over the pack. The other wanted to hold onto Natalie and never let her go.
Her interest had gotten to him, firing up the nerves along the insides of his thighs and connecting at the base of his groin. Only the most strenuous discipline had kept his arousal in check.
He had to admit he’d never felt like this before since Renee passed. Not once. A line of fur had erupted down his spine all the way to his tailbone.
He wanted Natalie.
He’d wanted her since the hospital and every minute in-between. That old saying about men thinking about sex every seven seconds had dropped to a very fine line between two and three. Only it wasn’t sex: It was Natalie and sex.
He took deep breaths.
He worked to focus on Africa and the penguins. Yet his thoughts kept shooting to the way her fingers held tight to the inside of his elbow. She held on with soft pads of pressure that set his nerves tingling in another straight line to his testicles.
He finally tore his thoughts away from his need for her.
He focused instead on the blue waters of Cape Town, on the layer of clouds that often streamed across Table Mountain, on the colony of penguins that had given Natalie a sudden heartache.
A rush, not of wind, but of energy, came toward him. The dreamglide began to move though not in a linear sense.
Natalie said, “This feels familiar.”
“I thought you hadn’t travelled in a dreamglide before.”
“Right,” she responded uncertain. “But the sensation, right now, of a kind of movement that isn’t movement. Seeking out the future feels similar to this. It’s like a rush of air, yet not.”
Grant felt compelled to look up. He was shocked to see the stars as he headed southeast across the North American continent toward the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic.
In front of him was nothing, just a sense of extreme motion and destination. But above was what he loved most. Natalie lifted her head as well.
“Look at the stars,” she cried, her voice full of excitement.
His heart felt tight. He was seeing the various constellations move swiftly and in positions different from what he’d ever expected to see because he was stuck in Phoenix.
God, was he no longer stuck?
He’d been shocked to learn he could build a dreamglide at all. But if traveling outside the confines of Five Bridges was one of the possibilities, his heart thudded in response.
The Gulf replaced the land below.
Natalie’s hand gripped his elbow harder. “We’re not in Kansas anymore, are we?”
“I was thinking the same thing. Jesus, we could travel the world. Think of it!” The moment he invoked the word ‘we’, he felt sick.
There was no ‘we’.
He glanced at Natalie. She didn’t meet his gaze, but she must have read his thoughts because she’d grown very still. “Forget about it, Grant. I know what you meant.”
“I need to be clear. What’s happened here can’t happen. I will soon be alpha of the Meldorin Pack or I’ll be dead. Either way, this attraction has nowhere to go, at least not where I’m concerned.”
She released his arm and shifted toward him as the dreamglide continued to hurtle through its own dimension in space. The strange, preternatural craft was on autopilot. He’d set the destination. He could feel Boulders Beach in Cape Town like a beacon pulsing in the night.
Natalie pivoted to look up at him. “I get what you’re saying and believe me, I’m not interested at all in a relationship with a wolf from Savage Territory. But what do you mean by saying you’d be dead?”
“The current alpha is a psychopath. He provokes dominance battles with the intention of legally killing his challengers and I know he’d love to do the same with me. He requires half of everyone’s wages, but no one knows what he does with the money. The compound needs a dozen major repairs, but he hasn’t spent a dime on them for the past eighteen months. Worst of all, he brutally rapes his own wolves, both male and female.”
“When you said psychopath, you weren’t kidding.”
“No, I wasn’t.”
“I hate Savage Territory.”
“And Revel is full of virtue?”
“No. Of course not. In fact, I know there’s a similar level of violence because of the cartels in our territory and the fae who work for them. But Savage—”
He sighed. From science teacher to Border Patrol officer, it had taken him some time to get used to the visceral nature of Savage, of fangs that tore out chunks of flesh, of so much blood. “I understand. Wolves tear into each other.”
“Like Talya. Like your wife.”
“Yes. I won’t pretend otherwise. But your kind is duplicitous. You work in the shadows, pluck information from the future to do harm in the present.”
“I won’t pretend, either. There are dozens, maybe even hundreds of futurists in Revel who offer their skills to the highest bidder, to drug-runners and other criminals.”
“You don’t?”
“Not to criminals but I did do it once during the Fae-Wolf Wars, and promised myself I’d never do it again. Besides, do you think Kiara would have let me get anywhere near her refuge if she didn’t trust me?”
“Of course not.” Kiara was one of the finest women Grant had ever known. She had refuges in each of the five territories, even though she was a witch. She was also bonded to Alpha Warren, one of the most powerful wolves in Savage Territory.
There was a gulf between him and Natalie, understandably so. Fae and wolves didn’t trust each other easily. Yet, Kiara trusted her and everything Natalie had done so far led him to believe she was the kind of woman he could put his faith in. This assessment of her character, however, wasn’t helping at all.
The dreamglide cruised easily above the Atlantic Ocean. Suddenly, the dark shadowy front edge of the dreamglide began to thin until the vista opened and land appeared in the distance.
Soon, the distinguishing features of Cape Town took shape. Mist streamed across the flat surface of Table Mountain and the natural coves of the beachline grew clear.
It was daytime in this part of the world, yet the sun didn’t bother them at all because something about the dream
glide offered protection.
“Do you feel the sun?” Natalie asked. She held her free arm aloft and lifted her face.
“Yes. It’s unbelievable.”
As he focused on the penguins and what was known as Boulders Beach, the dreamglide began to descend then veer toward a portion of the beachline dominated by massive boulders.
“There are penguins everywhere.”
Grant sought a cleared portion of beach and settled the dreamglide in the middle of it.
“They’re adorable.” Some waddled to the surf’s edge then dove in. Natalie had grown very quiet and still as she watched the penguins. He didn’t know what she was thinking, maybe those thoughts that had earlier caused her grief. He didn’t want to press her.
She said, “My husband wanted to come here. I’m feeling overwhelmed.”
“You miss him.”
“I do. Every day. I imagine it’s much the same with you and Renee.”
“She’s a big part of my sense of mission with my pack. I promised her I would take care of our wolves. But I still can’t believe she appeared to you.”
Natalie huffed a sigh. “Neither can I. Though I’m glad she did.” She glanced at him. “She’s never come to you?”
He shook his head. “Early on, I contacted several deadtalkers, but Renee remained distant and silent. Until now.” Another reason he felt uneasy about all that was happening. Why, now, after all this time?
“Did you ever see your husband?”
“No. I wanted to desperately. But my experience was similar to yours.”
“What a world we live in.” He held out both hands. “And now this? I’d give about anything to swim in that water with the penguins.”
The dreamglide was one thing. He couldn’t exactly explain in what kind of state they existed. It was very physical, yet it wasn’t. He’d read the blogs about dreamglides, interviews done with Fergus and others who could build them. Humans would never be able to see them and only uber-powerful alter people. They were, for the most part, invisible to anything around them.
Several penguins waddled close and appeared to be arguing maybe about territory. Natalie started to move, but Grant held her arm. “Wait. Let’s see what happens.”