CARLYLE

It wasn’t until we’d made it back to the house and Sol had left me in my room in a rumpled orange dress that I remembered seeing Killian on the beach.

I was very interested in the fact that he’d helped Sol set up such a romantic evening. Had he just been following directions, helping out a friend? Did Sol have to threaten or bribe him?

I hummed to myself as I took a long shower, rinsing away the sand and sex from the night before. Damn, what a night that had been.

Despite Sol’s sweet intentions, I didn’t think any of that was close to normal. I snickered. Fuck that. I would make normal my bitch - last night was just the sugary taste of the life I could have with these guys.

Now, that was something worth fighting for.

As I went through my regular routines, I started to notice my strength had indeed ramped up, though not quite to the levels of the first time we’d had sex and I’d thrown my body weight in dumbbells across the basement. Instead, my body felt like it was glowing with energy and health - as though I could run the beach for miles without breaking a sweat.

Sol had hinted at a few of his ideas for a proper honeymoon, promising me our power would become more entwined each day we spent together. He’d also assured me that as soon as we rescued Jack, I’d be able to do the same with him, even though our bond hadn’t been sealed the normal way.

Already, I could feel the orange warmth of Sol’s magic pulsing in my chest, and if I closed my eyes, I could even imagine it swirling through my veins.

Shit, if I felt this powerful with just two mates, I could see how someone might get addicted to the process.

This pulled some dark thoughts to the surface - just how much power could I handle? Would too much drive me mad? Would my different magics try to compete with each other and rip my body apart?

I wished I had more to go on, but none of the guys had heard of a Qilin with more than a few mates. I already had two.

I stretched on my back across the bed, letting my head hang down as I stared at the floor. My thoughts were a jumbled mess, and I was just hoping to be left alone long enough to sort them out and pack them away. I was an expert in denying my doubts and ignoring my fear when necessary.

The upper floor was quiet around me, and I drifted easily into a loose sort of meditative state where I imagined dealing with all my random unease. Slowly, I began to realize I felt another presence. Blinking around my room, I could see I was obviously still alone, but my room looked less like the space I was familiar with.

More like Jack’s trailer.

I tensed up, afraid to move too fast, lest I disturb something in the process. I’d never visited him while awake. Could Sol’s strength have somehow boosted my link to Jack?

Carefully, I curled myself onto the middle of my mattress and searched my heart for those wispy bits of garnet magic, tugging on them and following them like a light at the end of a tunnel.

There he was - I saw Jack clearly now. It was like a vivid daydream, but I knew it was real.

He was rolled on his side on that filthy bare mattress, his blank, unseeing eyes fixed on the spot over my shoulder. I turned my head to look where he was looking - he was just staring out the window of his trailer. It was light there too, which was good. That meant he was still at least in our hemisphere.

I'd heard rumors of the Ringmaster having camps all over the world, and I wouldn't put it past him to transport Jack halfway around the world.

My heart broke as I took in his appearance - it was even worse than before. He was very bruised, with an infected, open wound on his forearm and several dirty bandages across his knuckles. His clothes hung loose on his frame, and his lips were cracked and bloodied.

As I shifted my position toward him, Jack blinked a little bit. His eyes refocused, looking approximately where I was. My chest seized as I watched him start to realize something was there. Could he see me?

"Jack?" I whispered, afraid to shake myself out of the connection by talking any louder. "Can you hear me?"

Jack's eyes widened, and he sat up. Leaning his back against the wall, he was nearly facing me, both of us sitting side by side on the mattress in his dirty trailer, which was somehow overlaid on my plush bed in the beach house.

He nodded hesitantly, and I suppressed a squeal.

"Jack, it's Carlyle. I think we bonded, and I think I'm reaching you through that connection. I’ve seen you in dreams before, too." A look of fear washed over his face. Before I could say anything else, he ducked back down on the mattress and went still, closing his eyes tightly.

A shadow passed over the window, and I whipped my head around to try and see what he had been afraid of. I saw nothing, though - just the fierce brightness of the blue sky beyond.

I watched Jack pretend to sleep for several seconds, hoping he would sit back up if the danger had passed. I thought he’d actually heard me, at least. He’d almost seemed to see me, like you might notice a flash of movement in the corner of your eye. I wondered how much he knew about what we’d done that night in New York.

Did he know how the mating bond worked - did he even know we’d done it? I felt my strength beginning to ebb, and I doubted I could sustain this dreamscape much longer.

My focus was drawn suddenly back to Jack, when I felt the mattress begin to vibrate with a small series of taps. His eyes were still closed, but his fingers were tapping a pattern on the mattress. I hoped it wasn’t a code, because I didn't know any.

"I'm listening," I whispered, and the tapping stopped. He’d only been trying to gain my attention. He kept his eyes closed, but I saw his fingers begin to trace lines on the mattress. I watched for a few seconds, realizing they were letters. Slowly, he spelled out the words not safe.

"Not safe for what?" I asked, keeping my voice to the faintest whisper I could manage. His finger raised a tiny bit from the mattress and pointed at me. I gritted my teeth. Here he was, sitting on a dirty mattress, basically a starved, tortured prisoner of the Ringmaster, and he was worried about my safety? This wasn't happening, not again.

"Tell me how to find you," I said raising my voice just a tiny bit. He needed to know we were serious about the rescue attempts. "Your brothers are not leaving a man behind. Besides, you’re my mate now, so get over it."

The faintest of smiles crossed his face, but his eyes still remained closed. I ached to see their bright blue, although I feared that maybe they would be dull with despair and pain I didn't want to imagine. He began to trace letters again on the mattress.

I felt my body slipping away bit by bit, but before the trailer faded completely from my vision, I managed to see one final word.

Savannah.