And he clearly didn’t want to.
“Why won't it work with him here?" It wasn't like he would interfere. At least I didn't think he would. Declan might not be Inarus’ biggest fan but he wouldn’t prevent me from helping him either.
If Declan had wanted Inarus dead, he wouldn’t be in the Pack’s infirmary to begin with.
"As I said, it's an intimate process. One your mate isn't going to like."
"All the more reason for me to stay.” There was no arguing when he used his Alpha voice.
"Just tell me what to do and we'll go from there."
Dia looked doubtful, but with one last glare directed toward Declan, she nodded and told me what had to be done.
And she was right. Declan wasn’t going to like this.
4
Forming a mental connection strong enough to pull Inarus out of his coma was more intimate than I could have imagined, and none of us were happy about it. Least of all, Inarus.
“Stop fighting me.”
“Get out of there.”
I gave a mental eye roll. “You’re the one who asked me to help you in the first place,” I reminded him.
“No, I wanted you to get my sister to help. I never asked you to invade every private corner of my mind!”
Urgh. Arguing with him was like arguing with a toddler. He just refused to see reason.
I couldn’t help where my mind wandered. I’d never poked around someone else’s mind before and it was … breathtaking. Like gazing at the stars on a clear night. Bright spots shone, each one signifying an emotion or memory in his past. The brighter the spot, the stronger the associated memory was.
His mind was like the night sky full of constellations.
I’d stumbled into two bright stars before Inarus pulled me back. Neither had been a big invasion of privacy. The first was a moment from his childhood. Eating an ice cream cone at the park while he watched his younger sister on a swing.
The second showed Inarus accepting an award in college. I’d experienced his pride in the moment as he strode across the platform to the podium.
“You went to college? What did you get your degree in?”
A not-so-gentle shove against my mind had me pulling back from the mental plane. “Fine.” I grumbled. “Message received.”
I wiped my forehead and blinked several times as my surroundings came back into focus.
Inarus lay unmoving in bed. His jet-black hair was sticking out at all angles and I had the insane urge to smack him upside the head.
Not long ago, I'd contemplated punching his sister the last time she'd been out cold too.
There was probably something wrong with me since I kept wanting to hurt people who were physically unable to hit me back.
Wrong of me...or maybe just smart on my part. Who knew. Who cared.
"He's fighting me at every turn. I can't help him wake up if he won't let me." I popped my neck and adjusted my position at the edge of the bed as I glowered down at him.
My butt was going numb. We'd been at this for twenty minutes already and we weren't making much progress. I’d stumbled into unimportant memories all while Inarus held me back from anchoring to the ones that would actually get him out of his own head.
I studied his still form. His skin was usually a sun-kissed bronze color but today he was pale and sickly, and God I was such a jerk because he was still recovering and I was fantasizing about hitting him.
Thankfully the paleness was the only real indication he was still recovering.
Frankie, or maybe Annabeth, had changed him out of his blood-stained and torn clothing when we'd first brought him in.
Now he wore a light gray cotton shirt and matching loose cotton pants. Not that I could see them right now. A white blanket was pulled over his hips and the head of his bed was lifted to a near forty-five-degree angle.
An IV fed fluids and nutrients into his left arm and a pulse oximeter and automatic blood pressure cuff monitored his vitals. Yes, he was pale, but his coloring had improved since yesterday.
Had he been awake, blue-grey eyes would have met mine. Eyes so clear it was like looking into the ocean.
But he wasn't awake. And at the rate we were going, that didn't look like it would be changing anytime soon.
I turned to Dia.
"What are you doing while you're in there?"
"Exactly what you told me to do. I'm trying to find anchor points to connect our minds but he keeps telling me to get out. I'm invading his personal space. Blah blah blah." I waved my hand in the air. "He's being a baby."
Communicating with someone mind to mind was personal. And the more I did it, the stronger Declan's irritation bloomed. His feelings on the matter vibrated down our mate bond, holding a neon sign that said, I do not approve.
I was going to have to deal with that later but for the time being, I pushed his emotions out of my mind. Getting Inarus out of this coma had to take priority.
Anchoring my mind to Inarus's may make him uncomfortable, but I was trying to do it as quickly as possible for both our sakes and he was dragging it out longer than it needed to be. Dia had explained what I needed to do. Find six strong memories filled with emotion between the two of us and anchor to those
