She lost the battle with her emotions and the sob she’d swallowed came out as her tears started afresh.
“Oh, hon…” Kat gave her a comforting squeeze.
“I just…just felt drawn to him,” Imani sobbed. “I tried to fight it but somehow, the minute I saw those pale green eyes of his and they were so much like the eyes I dreamed of before I met him—”
“Wait—you dreamed of him?” Liv interrupted.
“Of his eyes, anyway.” Imani sniffed. “Why?”
Liv and Kat exchanged a glance.
“They were Dream Sharing,” Kat murmured.
“Dream Sharing? What’s that?” Imani asked.
“It’s a sign the Goddess means for you to be together,” Liv said gently. “When you dream of a Kindred warrior and he dreams of you before you even meet—that’s Dream Sharing.”
“So all along we were meant to be together?” Imani felt a fresh sob rising in her throat. “And I was so angry with him!”
Kat squeezed her again. “Oh, hon—I don’t know what to say.”
“I do,” Liv said. “It sounds to me like you’re taking on a lot of guilt that doesn’t belong to you.”
“What…what do you mean?” Imani looked up at her, swiping a hand over her streaming eyes.
“I mean, of course you were upset about getting bonded against your will—any woman would be!” Liv exclaimed. “And of course you didn’t want to give up everything you know and the career you’ve worked so hard for and the parents you love at the drop of a hat—that’s completely understandable.”
“But so is falling for J’are—especially if the Goddess put you two together,” Kat said gently. “You’ve got to forgive yourself too, Imani—not just J’are.”
“I just want him to live,” Imani said fervently. “And I swear, if he does, I won’t complain about having to move to his home planet. I just want him to be okay. He’s part of me. I can feel him here.” She put a hand to her heart. “And I don’t know how I’ll live if he dies.”
“Well, if you can still feel him—feel your connection with him—that’s a pretty good sign he’s still alive,” Liv said comfortingly. “Would you like me to check and see how the surgery is going?”
“No need.”
They all looked up as Sylvan came through the door. Beside him was a little creature that looked like a cross between a chimpanzee and a hound dog, Imani thought. He had big, soulful eyes and long, floppy ears.
But she was much more worried about J’are than the strange alien creature beside Commander Sylvan.
“What do you mean, ‘no need?’” she demanded. “Please tell me he’s okay!”
“He’s okay,” Sylvan echoed and gave her a tired smile. “It was touch and go for a while, but luckily my colleague, Yipper here, is excellent at repairing nerve and vascular damage.”
“He also lost a lot of blood, yes he did, yes he did,” the little creature named Yipper said gravely. “But we were able to give him a transfusion.”
“It’s also helpful that Nightwalkers heal with incredible rapidity—that’s probably what saved his life in the first place,” Sylvan said. “That and the fact that you got to him and stopped the flow with your hand.”
“When can I see him?” Imani asked.
“He’s resting now,” Sylvan told her. “But I think you could go sit by the side of his bed and wait for him to wake up, if you want.”
“Maybe you could get cleaned up first, though,” Kat said to her. “I don’t want to be rude, but you are kind of covered in blood, doll.”
Imani looked down at herself and saw that it was true. Her hands and arms were coated in dried crimson and under the Med Center gown, her Yonnie Six clothes were stiff with dried blood.
“You’re right.” She nodded. “I’m going to get a shower and then go sit with him. But…could you keep checking in on him just in case?” She looked at Liv. “I’m still just so worried about him.”
“Of course we will. But you know, you can check in on him yourself, hon,” Liv said gently. “Through your bond, remember?”
“Oh…right.” Imani shook her head. “I guess I’m just not used to being bonded.”
“It takes a little getting used to.” Kat smiled at her. “But you’ll get the hang of it.”
“I know I will.” Imani lifted her chin. “Because I want to stay bonded to J’are—no matter what the consequences are.”
She was going to stick by her new mate, stick by the man she loved, she promised herself.
And she was never going to regret her decision—no matter what.
Forty-Three
J’are woke from a dream that he was drifting in space. There was blackness all around him but when he looked up, he saw light. Pink and blue and purple light from the three converging moons.
Blood over water, he thought, staring up at the three moons coming together. Bonding night…
The thought made him sad, but he didn’t know why. Didn’t understand why it should upset him so much to think of bonding…
“J’are? J’are, can you hear me? Are you okay?”
The voice was familiar—it was the voice of the woman he loved.
The woman he had betrayed.
Instinctively, J’are turned away, turned inward. He shouldn’t still be here—he ought to be gone by now. He ought to be dead so she could be free of him…
“I don’t want to be free of you, damn it! J’are, come back to me right now!”
Imani’s mental voice was so insistent that he opened his eyes at once and saw her looking down at him. He was lying flat on his back on something soft but firm and she was leaning over him.
“Where…where am I?” His
