#shahil

“Why look at this,” he said, grabbing the front of her shirt and holding her up slightly.

“Let go!” Red yelled, pounding her fists on his arm. “I ain’t do nothing!”

WIth his other hand, the guard grabbed her left arm, the one with the gold bangle. “You obviously stole this from someone,” he said.

“No! It was a gift!” “Yeah, right,” he said, and Red knew something not good was going to happen. She focused on getting away, of what it would take to make him let go, and she felt her mark heat up which meant it was working. Needing a distraction, she twisted as she kicked, and her shirt slid out of his fingers. Her bare feet hit the ground, and Red dug down, ready to pounce away, but then another guard’s arms wrapped around her midsection and hugged her close.

“Assaulting a guard, on top of thievery. Tsk tsk,” the first guard said.

“Let go, I’m innocent,” Red cried out, trying to twist, but the arms around her just tightened in response, holding her good and tight and in a way she couldn’t slip away.

“That’s what all you street rats say,” said a voice in her ear, and the bangle on her arm came off, and no matter how much she pleaded or wiggled, Red couldn’t free herself. The guard holding her, annoyed at having to stop and readjust his grip every few moments, finally had some come by and cuff her upside her head. Red didn’t pass out, but confusion slowed her senses, and that was just long enough to walk the few blocks to the jail and throw her into one of the cells. One of the few female guards came in and stripped Red of everything but the clothes on the back, and even when Red begged her innocence, everyone ignored her.

——-

“Something’s wrong,” Agni said, walking right into Shahil’s house without knocking, holding a covered plate in his hands.

“How so?” Shahil asked.

Agni shrugged, and handed Shahil the covered plate. “Chef made Red an angel food cake!” He said brightly, taking off the dome covering. Shahil raised an eyebrow at the delicate looking cake with strawberries piled in the middle.

Shahil recovered the cake, a rarity they would all enjoy later, and put it in a cupboard for safe keeping. “Angel food cake?”

“Chef said it’s so soft, an angel could take a nap in it.” Agni went into his satchel and brought out some extra naan for dinner. “I had some last week, and he’s definitely right.”

“That’s for us?” Shahil asked, then added, “Any idea what’s wrong?”

Agni took a seat and nodded. “Something’s just wrong. I’m not sure. Nothing’s clear.” He rubbed at his mark. “I mean, today’s match ended up being rescheduled for tomorrow, but that shouldn’t set anything off?”

When Shahil turned his back to Agni, Agni added even more naan to the pile. “Where’s Red?” he asked, looking around the room.

“Dunno. Must be running late.”

“Not like her to miss out on a free meal,” Agni commented, adding yet another stack of naan as his friend glared at the back of his head.

Hours passed, and while Agni provided a welcome face to the dinner table, Red’s presence was definitely missed. No one was sure if something happened to her, but she’d been late to dinner before, and it was possible she messed up her days again, or was sick due to some bad food. But the day ended, with Agni refusing a slice of cake for the road before going home.

The next morning, Shahil and Maya made their way to the city to sell his trinkets. The equinoxes and solstices were days of celebration, bright colorful days that brought in a lot of travellers that could afford marked up prices. Shahil kept an eye out for Red, but she never appeared.

In fact, nearly a week passed before Agni made his way over to Shahil’s shop. “Red ever come by?” he asked, using a decorative hand fan to cool himself down.

Shahil shook his head as he added a few more logs to the fire. “Been swamped over the last few days, so I haven’t been able to look for her,” he said. “Plus your broken knee plate has been a challenge.”

“That was a dirty hit and you know it.” Agni had sensed the hit coming, but it had been too late; what would’ve smashed his wrist instead got his knee. Different place, but still damaging. It wasn’t like him to be so distracted, but with the warning bells already going off in his head, he couldn’t exactly focus on anything else.

“I never said it was your fault,” Shahil said, then looked at his friend. “You okay?”

“I’m still…” Agni gestured around, as if that would make any sense. “Something bad has happened. I think to Red? I don’t think she’s hurt, but she’s not here, and…” he sighed, more unsure than he’d ever been before. “Maybe we should look around for her tonight.”

Shahil nodded, then pulled his mask over his face and got back to work.

—————-

“Hey, psst. Hey, you!”

Red tapped against the bars next to her head, trying to get the attention of a kid on the other side of the hallway. He had his back turned to her, curled into a ball, but she could tell that he was a street kid just like herself. He wasn’t from her area, and she’d never seen him before, but maybe he could still help her.

She picked up a small stone from the floor of the cell and lobbed it at him. It bounced to the side, and Red huffed in annoyance. Grabbing another pebble, she tried again. This time it landed, and he uncurled himself and turned to face her.

“What?!”

“What’cha in here for?”

“Does it matter?”

“Wanna make some money?”

The boy raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. Red pressed on anyway. “I’m friends with the town’s blacksmith, the one that does mech,” she said, hopeful, wrapping her fingers around the bars. “He’ll give you some gold pieces if you tell him I’m here.”

“Yeah right, and the Empress will throw a parade in my honor. Fuck off.”

“No, seriously, his name is Shahil, he has a mechanized toy cat sitting in the window that purrs and wags its tail, please you gotta tell him I’m here –”

The guard walking down the hallway hit Red’s fingers with his baton, causing her to yelp. “No talking.”

“Please,” Red silently mouthed, but the boy only turned his back on her again. In frustration, she kicked at the bars, but that only gave her a sore foot on top of her sore fingers.

————–

That night’s search party had to be put off thanks to the announcement that the Ardhu Titans had advanced into the semi-finals.  

Agni sat on one of Shahil’s workbenches, leg extended. “I’m disappointed Red couldn’t eat any of the cake,” he mused sadly. “I’ll have to have Chef make her another one.” He looked up at the ceiling of the shop, the support beams looking like sooty pathways.

Shahil said something that he missed, and Agni brought his attention back to his friend. “Sorry.”

“You’re distracted. Why?”

“Somethings still off,” Agni said, flexing his mech knee slowly so Shahil could check the connections. “Usually there are a lot of different paths, like branches of a tree, and the correct one is glowing brighter than the rest. But… it’s tight there.”

Shahil extended Agni’s leg and loosened the screws slightly. “But?”

“But this time, I can tell something’s wrong with Red, but not what. Or where she is. Or what’s causing it. Everything is murky and distracting.”

“Tomorrow we’ll start asking around and see if anyone else has seen her,” Shahil said, pushing on the kneecap before making a few more small adjustments. Agni brought in his knee again and shook his head. “Tonight’s going to be a long night.”

—————

“Yo, street rat.”

Red didn’t look up from her knees from where she sat in the corner. It’d been about a week, the longest she’d ever been in jail. Most times they’d let her free after a day or so, usually with a scolding or with a kick on her bottom to make her stay away for a while, but this was just too much. It was loud, it was cold, and no one believed her when she said the bangle was a gift.

“Hey, street rat! What are you, deaf?”

“My name’s Red,” she mumbled, but the guard either didn’t hear her or care. He opened the jail cell door and walked over to where she was before grabbing her by her hair.

“Let go, that hurts!”

“You’re such a dirty little thing, aren’t you?” he said, and she tried to twist around, but he lifted her up to her toes by the fistful of her hair. “Do you know what dirty creatures have? They have bugs.”

That’s when Red noticed the other guard in the cell with them, brandishing a pair of sharp scissors. Her eyes widened and she tried to punch or kick the guard, but a tight hand on her throat stopped that quickly.

“Don’t,” she whispered, tears forming in her eyes. Her hair was longer now, past her shoulders, and when Maya helped her brush it, the dull black strands turned into a shiny soft waterfall. “I don’t have lice anymore, my hair is clean, let me go –”

The hand tightened around her neck even more, and it got hard to breathe. “Shut up,” the mean guard said, and that was when the snipping started. Tears hit the floor, joining the chunks of hair. If it wasn’t for the scissors so close to her head she would try to move away, the cell door was open after all, but her bandage had been stolen from her a few nights ago and they would see her mark. There was nothing she could do except wait for them to finish.

And finish they did, leaving Red’s hair cut close and haphazardly to her scalp. The guard holding her by the throat tossed her onto the floor, and the two of them left, laughing as she wheezed and coughed.

————

First stop on the ‘Let’s Find Red’ list was talking to Khanda and his floating food ship.

“Haven’t seen her in awhile,” he said, handing out bowls of food to the kids crowding his knees. “But then again, she never did come by every night like some of these cuties.”

A little boy with snot smeared across his face asked, “Is the pretty story lady coming today?”

“Not today, little one. She’s sick.”

Khanda turned his attention back to Agni and Shahil, frowning in worry. “Maybe she’ll be by tomorrow? Otherwise I don’t know.”

Defeated, the pair turned away.

The next day all Khanda had to do was shake his head sadly for them to know that Red hadn’t come by. However, Annaisha was there, sitting on a small stool, tuning her sitar.

“Hi guys! Heard you’re looking for my little cabbage, but I haven’t seen her around at all.” She plucked at a few strings, and winced at the sour tone. “Red used to sleep under the tables a lot, but that’s usually only when it’s rainy.”

“Well, if you see her, let me know,” Shahil said, frowning.

“Of course! Whatever you say, my little marshmallow. You know, you both are welcome to come by the library any time! I’m sure my patrons would love having someone come and talk to them about blacksmithing or making things into toys. As for you, Agni, I’m sure we could find something for you.”

Khanda let out a hearty laugh at that, causing Agni to pout. Shahil shook his head and led the both of them away. To where, he wasn’t sure, but this was a dead end.

——————-

Red sat in her little corner, absentmindedly scratching at her old scars. She’d been here nearly two weeks, the small scratches on the wall helping her keep track of the days. This was horrible, longer than any other time she’d been in here, and she wasn’t sleeping well because of the noise. The guards also kept ‘accidently’ spilling her food tray at meal times, and they weren’t giving her enough water, causing a dull headache to form behind her eyes.

One of the newer guards, fresh faced and skittish around the prisoners, turned down the hallway. Even though it wasn’t allowed, Red called out, “I learned my lesson, can I go home now?”

The mean one, the one who Red originally bumped into, turned around the corner as well, and she quieted down, hoping he didn’t hear.

Luck wasn’t on her side, as he came right up to her cell door. “What home?” he laughed.

Red didn’t answer.

“You know, if you just confess yo-” the younger guard said, gaining an elbow in his side for his words.

Tears welled up in Red’s eyes, and she blinked them away. “I didn’t steal anything,” she repeated for the hundredth time.

“I didn’t steal anything,” the guard mocked in a high pitched voice. “I’m innocent, it was a gift, I didn’t mean to assault the guard, I definitely haven’t been here before for stealing.”

He was right about being here before, but those times were long in the past, and usually coincided with extremely cold weather. Red curled tighter into a ball, defeated. If they didn’t believe her about the bangle being a gift, they definitely wouldn’t believe her when she said she was friends with Shahil the blacksmith. And it would be impossible for them to think she was friends with Agni.

“We’ll have a gift for you real soon,” he said as he nudged the other guard along. “It’s called a rope necklace.” Red’s eyes widened when he put his fist near his neck, tilting his head to the side. She swallowed nervously, and he walked away laughing.

They were going to hang her!? For a crime she didn’t actually commit? Maybe he was joking, but then again, why had she been here for so long? Why hadn’t her friends found her yet?

The what-ifs and whys circled around her head. For the first time she could ever remember, Red buried her head in her hands and cried, afraid of what was going to happen to her.

——————

Night slowly arrived. Usually Red would try to get some rest, but with every guard that walked by her cell brought along another surge of panic - were they going to hang her now? Was this how it ended, not in a blaze of glory but with a short fall with a quick stop?

Maybe she would have to use her powers after all. The bright white glowing would be dangerous in the poorly lit jail cell, but it would be her only choice. Red chewed on the side of her thumb, thinking it all over. If she was caught escaping, especially with a glowing arm, she would definitely be put to death. But then, if the guards were to be trusted, she would die anyway. Maybe they were just trying to scare her? But why hadn’t they let her free?

Try to escape, or just roll over and die. Or maybe not die. Or maybe be stuck here forever. Red sighed and rubbed at her eyes. She wasn’t one to just give up, not after all these years living on the street, so after the next guard rotation, Red moved over to sit next to the bars. She didn’t like sitting by the cell door, because some of the meaner guards like to pull on her hair or make uncomfortable remarks about her body. There was even one guard who dragged his baton on the bars late at night.

Red settled down, trying to get comfortable. She had never tried to do something this complicated before: trying to move through the jail bars would be much, much harder than wiggling out of someone’s grasp. It wasn’t ideal, but she put her left hand over the mark on her right wrist, then grasped the bar with her right hand, placing her head against the bars.

Instead of focusing to get away, Red instead tried on focusing on getting through. It was the same concept, as she wanted to get away from jail, but her mind kept wandering. What if it didn’t work? What if she got caught?

The best way to stay calm is to meditate, Shahil told her one time, and Red breathed in for a count of four before holding it. However, the thought of Shahil just made her throat tighten up more. Why hadn’t they found her yet? Agni was usually so spot on when it came to his intuition, so he should’ve been there for her at least a week ago. Maybe they were glad to be rid of her?

You were on your way to Shahil’s for a birthday party, she reminded herself, and not everyone gets a birthday party. That was a thing friends did for each other, and that meant he was your friend. Right?

Red sniffled, then breathed out on a count of four, and held it again. She would have to worry about all of that once she was out of here. Birthday parties and friendships wouldn’t matter if she didn’t make it through the next day.

Breathe in for a four count, hold for a four count, out for a four count, hold for a four count. It took a while for her breathing to settle into the correct pattern, and for her mind to stay focused. After being on edge for so long, it was hard to stop paying attention to every noise or movement. Red could feel her mark warm up and start glowing, and her concentration faltered for a moment.

Pulling herself back together, Red waited until the guard’s footsteps faded away. She would only have about ten minutes before someone walked by again, and with the clock pressing against her, Red tightened her grip on the bar. In, hold, out, hold. In, hold, out, hold. In, hold, out, hold. In, hold, out, hold, and through

Several things happened at once. A flash of bright white light emitted from her arm, and Red felt herself falling forward. She brought out both hands to stop her fall, and the light disappeared, and now she was face first on the hallway floor. Red laid there for a moment, breathing in the dust of the hallway, shocked it had worked.

But when she tried to pull her knees up to her chest, her left ankle refused to move. Red twisted around and swore under her breath when she realized her foot was stuck under the bars, in the little gap. “No no no no,” she whispered, tugging at her leg, but it was properly stuck. She could pivot around her leg, but there wasn’t enough room to wiggle it free.

With time against her side, Red bit down on the collar of her shirt to muffle any noises she might make. She braced her right foot against the bars and kicked back. Chunks of skin scraped off, thanks to the rough bars and even rougher concrete, and by the time her foot was out, she could already feel the blood beading up. That would leave some new scars, Red knew, but she didn’t have time or extra cloth to wrap it.

Now the choice was to either go down the hallway that lead towards the back of the jail, which was the way the rotations always walked. That would give her more time, but a considerably higher chance of being seen, either by the guards or by someone else in jail. Taking the other route meant a shorter path, with the door to the outside only a few turns away, but that was where the guards came from, and there was usually a posted guard or two at the front door.

Well, she could always wiggle away if a guard caught her, and with that settled, Red stood. She couldn’t put much weight on her left foot, but if she balanced on the ball of her foot it was tolerable. Limping towards the hallway, Red paused to see if there was any oil lamps in the distance. There wasn’t, so she turned the corner and continued limping along.

Two hallways left, and now one hallway left, and she was near the end of the cells when it happened. One guard came around the corner, with the oil lamp held out in front of him.

“Fuck,” she said the same time the guard yelled, “Jail break! Stop!”

Red charged at him, thinking she’d be able to fake left and get around him on the right. However the blood from her ankle was slicker than she thought, and she slipped, crashing down on her side. The guard pounced on her, and Red tried to get away, with the front door so, so close now, she didn’t want to die, she couldn’t die, not like this –

Warmth and faint glowing came from Red’s right wrist, and she swore again, trying to twist away, but the glowing just got brighter. She couldn’t get caught as a Star Warrior, she’d heard stories of people being tortured or burned at the stake for telling stories before. Against every instinct in her body, Red stopped struggling.

Footsteps came running down the hall then, and the only female guard Red had ever seen work here rounded the corner. “The hell?”

“Open a cell before she gets away,” the guard twisting Red’s arm behind her back. It didn’t take long for the cell to open, and between the two of the guards, they easily picked her up and tossed her onto the floor.

“How did you get out?” one of them asked, but Red didn’t answer, only curled herself into a tight ball at the clanging of the door closing. They asked again, this time tapping their baton against the door, but again she didn’t answer. She’d been so close!

“It doesn’t matter,” said the female guard after a while. “She’ll be hanged tomorrow anyway.”

——————-

Shahil always dreamed. It was never of anything important, just muddled retelling of the day’s work or residual surges of emotions of his family members. He couldn’t hold up his mental blocks while he was sleeping.

Which meant Shahil felt the moment someone entered his bedroom. His eyes snapped open.

“Agni, why are you in my bedroom?”

Agni seemed to jump several feet in the air before laughing. “You scared me!”

Shahil sat up and rubbed at his eyes. “That didn’t answer my question,” he said, taking a few seconds to pull up his blocks as his friend went over to light one of the oil lamps.

“I know where Red is. We got to go get her right this instant.”

That got Shahil up. He hefted up his bed, and hid it in the metal cabinet he’d created with scraps of unneeded material. Even if they were going to rush out at… two in the morning according to his clock, he still didn’t want his dad to have to move the heavy bed on his already damaged back.

“Explain?” Shahil asked, tugging off his shirt to put on a new long sleeved one for the day. “So, I was sleeping, and suddenly Red was in my thoughts, and she was in a jail cell bleeding and crying,” Agni said as Shahil tugged on a new pair of pants as well, then went rummaging around in his dresser for a clean pair of socks. “I don’t know how long she’s been there, but someone in the background said they were going to hang her in the morning! So then I had to come get you first, mostly because there’s a little bit of time before morning, and I know she likes you a little bit better, and anyway, did you know the streets are empty of cars this early?”

“Cars?” Shahil asked slowly, tugging on his socks. Waking up this suddenly meant a very slow Shahil.

“Well, yeah, I brought the car. It’s faster than walking. I’ll have to have someone clean it later, your roads are very dusty around here. Are you ready?”

Grabbing his satchel off the hook by the door, Shahil nodded. With a small pause near the door to kick on both of their shoes, and another apology to Maya for waking her up, the pair made their way outside and towards the city.

——————–

Using her powers drained Red. Usually it was small bursts, like a yell in the middle of a normal conversation, but what she did, going through the jail bars… that was a lot harder. She lay curled in a ball, dozing in and out even though she wanted stay awake. Her ankle hurt, her head hurt, her everything ached and throbbed.

At least she tried. It failed, but she tried.

There was a guard posted outside of her jail cell now, to make sure she didn’t try to escape again. They had nothing to worry about, not with how empty she felt. Red couldn’t even muster up the energy to wipe away the leaking tears from her face.

She struggled to keep her eyes open, and finally lost the battle, falling into a light sleep. Red could hear the guards walking by, and voices, but didn’t react to any of them, too tired to care.

Shahil’s voice entered her thoughts, and she sniffled. She wouldn’t be able to thank him for being so patient with her, or thank Miss Saanvi for all the nice meals, or Maya for all the clothes. She wouldn’t even get to thank Agni for being such a good, however obnoxious at times, friend.

His voice got louder, and Red sobbed, curling tighter into a ball. Guilt washed over her, on top of the ache and pain. This was torturous, stabbing straight at her chest, knowing that she would never get to see them again.

And then Agni’s voice was there too, yelling at someone, and a guard was yelling back, and Shahil’s tone filtered through as well. Groaning, Red moved to a sitting position, her heavy head held up by her hands. Maybe her hallucinations would go away if she woke up a little.

“What the hell?” said the guard outside of her cell, and Red looked up. It wasn’t the Head of the Guards outside her jail cell, here to bring her to the hanging post like she expected. Instead it was Shahil, holding a set of keys, his eyes wide at her condition.

“Agni, you have to see this,” he said tensely, and Agni came around the corner as well, his fancy clothes a stark contrast to the gloomy walls, with a guard a step behind him.

As Shahil thumbed through the keys, Agni spun around to face the guard. “Explain yourself now.”

“What is there to explain? She’s here for thievery, assaulting a guard, and attempting to escape from jail.”

Finally coming to her senses, Red spoke up. “They said I stole the bangle you gave me.”

“That bangle was a gift to her,” Agni said, in a cold voice Red had never heard him use before.

“How were we to know that?” the guard asked. “She’s just a street kid, they always lie.”

Shahil finally found the right key, and with a soft click, he opened the cell door, using his body to keep the door opened. Red slowly got to her feet, her balance unsteady, her gait uneven with the limp. Standing up helped clear her foggy mind slightly, and she made her way over to Shahil. The guard talking to Agni tried to close the jail door on her, but Shahil’s stocky frame stopped him from getting far.

“She can’t leave, you can’t do this!” The guard said, and Agni responded that with a quick, “I’ll pay triple for whatever mayhem you say she caused.”

“What happened to your leg? And your hair?” Shahil asked, his fingers coming close but not quite touching what little hair she had left.

“They said I had lice, and they cut it off!” Red said, tearing up. “They wouldn’t believe me when I said I didn’t.”

“Triple for her damages, you said? That can be worked out, follow me,” the guard stated, turning towards the hallway.

Red took another few steps, but then had to stop, as the wound on both sides of her ankle opened up again. Shahil saw this immediately, and reached out to scoop her up, much like a father scooping up a child ready for bed. “Careful,” he murmured, and she knew exactly what that meant: if they touched skin-to-skin, both of their marks would flare up. She nodded, resting her head against his shoulder.

“I want my stuff back,” she said as they walked into the reception area.

“What stuff?” Shahil asked as Agni repeated, “She wants her belongings back.”

“My satchel,” Red said, “and my clothes and my treasures and my honey and my bangle.” It wasn’t much, but it was hers.

“We had reason to believe she had lice, so we tossed it,” the guard said, and Red’s eyes went huge.

Anything Red could’ve said, had she not been in shock, wouldn’t have been as effective as Agni’s ice cold voice returning. “Shahil, take her home. As for you,” Agni took a step towards the guard, “I want to speak to your supervisor. Now.”

“Sir, it’s not even three in the morning and-”

“And I don’t care. I want to speak to your supervisor this instant. In fact, I want your supervisor’s supervisor as well.”

As the guard came up with more excuses as to why he couldn’t just wake up his superiors at this time of night, Shahil carried Red outside. “What happened to your ankle?” he asked again.

“I fell.” His raised eyebrow exposed her lie, but he didn’t correct her.

Shahil looked over at Agni’s car, parked crooked on the street. “He didn’t bring a driver, and I don’t know how to drive, and he’s probably going to take a while, so… walking it is.”

“I can walk,” Red said, and the eyebrow raised up again.

“You weigh less than some of my tools,” he said, and Red smiled into his shirt. She tucked both of her arms to her chest, trying to gather up some of his body heat. They walked in silence for a long while, and Red felt herself dozing off again. Shahil was so warm, and safe, and the still night, however colder than the jail cell, was much quieter.

“You’re going to live with me now,” Shahil said, and Red fluttered her eyes back open. “No more of this not being safe, you hear?”

As she disappeared down the stairs, a pair of kitsune materialized. “One of you, please follow her and make sure she gets back okay,” Shahil said to them, “The other, guard the door and let me know if anyone comes up, okay?”

The two nodded. “It shall be done,” they said in unison, disappearing.

Agni gave him a fond smile. “You’re getting good at that.”

Shahil grinned in return, looking at the floor in embarrassment. “I dunno, they seem pretty agreeable. They’ve been really helpful, at least the ones that don’t talk in riddles.”

Agni took his hand, lacing their fingers together. “I’ll admit, as weird as it all is, there’s lots of good things about this.”

Shahil, in spite of their situation, couldn’t help but smile. The thought of being able to touch the people he cared about without mental blocks, was admittedly, a thrilling one. He rested his head on Agni’s shoulder for a moment. “Yeah, I know. But later, okay? Meg needs us. I’m worried about her. She’s probably been hit by the same thing we have, and she’s the only one missing. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

“Right,” Agni agreed, and they regarded the shut door to Meg’s room.

A horned beast appeared, floating beside the door as it inspected it carefully. “The lady of the threads has had her heart exposed,” he said, “another victim of the curse.”

Agni looked over at Shahil, his expression quizzical. “So, uh, do you get that at all?”

Shahil shook his head. “Not really. But at least it sounds like Meg hasn’t crawled out of the window.” He approached the door and knocked. “Meg? Are you in there? It’s me, Shahil. Agni’s here too.”

“Go away!” came the strangled cry from inside. It was definitely Meg’s voice, but weaker, ragged, like she was pulling on reserved energy to put the necessary force behind her normally commanding tone.

“We came to help,” Shahil persisted, “We sent Nidhi out on an errand, so it’s okay to talk. Something’s happened, to all of us. I’m guessing it got you too. Did your mark change?”

There was a frustrated, pained sound. “I just got the fucking time thing figured out, and now this shit? I swear if I ever meet that tiger… I can’t come out. I just…can’t.”

“Meg, it’s okay,” Agni added, putting a hand on the door, “We’re getting everyone together. Annaisha’s got all her books on deck. Khanda and Red are already at the library helping her sort through them. We’re going to figure this out, but we need you too.”

“No you don’t!” Meg replied, “Just…leave me alone. I can’t come out.”

Shahil and Agni exchanged glances. “Meg,” Shahil began, “We’re not leaving you. Everyone’s worried about you. Nidhi’s practically beside herself. Whatever’s happened, we’ll manage it, but we’re going to do it together. And if you don’t come out, we’ll…we’ll…break down the door!”

There was silence. “At the very least, we’re staying right here until you come out!” Agni added.

That was a threat Meg seemed to take more seriously. There was a pause, and then a muttered, “Oh for fuck’s sake…” followed by shuffling. A moment later, the door creaked open, revealing Meg. For a moment, Shahil and Agni were stunned into silence. Meg looked a bit of a fright, almost ragged, her normally warm brown complexion grown pale, her hair loose and stringy, and her stance held up only by virtue of the door frame. She looked like had been throwing up. The most striking feature, though, was the brilliant blue symbol glowing on her forehead. Heart.

“Well, that’s a new one,” Shahil commented.

She took one look at the two of them, and doubled over, covering her mouth with her hand as she fought back a wretch. “Fucking flying airships, you two are worse than Ni…shit, that is way too many colors.”

Shahil stepped forward, supporting her as she straightened up. She didn’t look at him. “Meg? What’s going on?”

“I don’t know,” she replied, keeping her breathing slow to try and keep what little remained in her stomach down. “It’s like suddenly everyone and everything have this sort of glow around them, and it’s really messing with my head. I can’t focus on anything for too long without wanting to spew my guts everywhere. Agni is like some sort of green and gold sparkle vortex, and you’re this weird swirl of blue and tan, and there’s a fucking light show around you, and then you both have this light green haze thing going on, and…damnit, I can’t take this. Everything is like this. It’s just one big mass of color and I can barely see through it. My head is pounding and I feel like I want to explode and I just want to die quietly in my room.”

“Come on, nobody’s dying,” Shahil said, pulling her into a gentle hug. She trembled as she rested her forehead in the crook of his shoulder, leaning against him. “Let’s get you to the library. I’m sure Annaisha’s got a mat you can lay down on, and we can give you something to cover your eyes so you can at least listen to what’s going on. I know you feel awful, but I think it’s important that we’re all there if we can manage it. Maybe Annaisha’s got something in her books that’ll help bring this under control. You’re not in this alone.”

“I don’t think I can’t make it,” Meg said, her voice surprisingly small, “There’s so many people out there, and they’ve all got these colors, all clashing and swirling, I don’t think I’ll be able to walk five feet without losing it.”

“We’ll help you,” Agni said, putting a hand on her shoulder and squeezing reassuringly, “You can keep your eyes closed and we’ll help you out. My car’s just outside. We’re not just gonna toss you to the sands after all, right?” He thought for a moment. “Here, turn my way, lemme try something.” He concentrated on his palm, the symbol on his back chilling as he focused, until a thin sheen of frost lay over his hand. He laid it on Meg’s forehead, the symbol’s blue light peeking through between his fingers. She winced at the cold and her eyes stayed closed, but after a moment the pained lines on her face relaxed. “How’s that?”

“Well, water dripping down my face aside, it helps.” She risked opening one eye to look at him. “That’s…that’s your hand, isn’t it? Fuck, we really are all screwed up, aren’t we?”

“At the very least, something’s gone all sideways, that’s for sure. Okay, looks like I’m on ice duty when we get to the library,” Agni said, smiling at her. “C’mon, let’s get you ready to travel. I’ll work on the frosty hands thing and see if I can keep the ice from melting.”

They found a couple of wide ribbons that belonged to Nidhi, and tied them around Meg’s head to hide the symbol. “I don’t know about this,” Meg said, wary, “This is gonna look awfully weird.”

“We won’t be outside for long. If it helps, if anyone asks, we can say you went on a wild drinking rampage and we’re getting you to the doctor for a hangover cure,” Agni suggested.

Meg opened her eyes to shoot him annoyed look, and immediately regretted it. She swayed, leaning forward to put her head between her legs to quell the nausea. “Gonna barf all over your seat for that,” she murmured.

Shahil couldn’t help keeping the amusement out of his voice. “C’mon, you two can spar more when we get to the library. The sooner we get there, the sooner you can lie down.” They got Meg into a standing position, Agni and Shahil each taking an arm.

She suddenly stiffened. “Wait! What about Nidhi?”

Shahil thought for a moment. “I’ll let Kavi know on our way out to tell Nidhi to go to my family’s place when she gets back. We’ll tell him we took you to get some help, which is the truth. Don’t worry, we’ll take care of it. You worry about you right now.”

Meg sighed, grimacing as they started on their way, her steps tentative and unsure without visual cues. “This fucking sucks,” she grumbled, “I feel like some frail old lady.”

“You’re not,” Shahil said, “We know you’re not. It’s only temporary. We’re gonna make sure of that.”

“I hope so,” Meg replied, hanging her head, “I hate being a burden.”

“C’mon Meg,” Agni added, “You’re always putting yourself out there to help us. Now we’re helping you. Lean on us, it’ll make it easier to balance.”

Slowly, they made their way out. Even with her eyes closed, she could tell when they reached the stairs, and tensed up.

“It’s okay,” Shahil said gently, “We’ll take it slow. We won’t let you fall.”

The path Red led them down had just enough room for the autobike and sidecar. Even though Red used the crank flashlight to give an extra source of light, Agni still took the winding path slow. It seemed to take ages to get there, but when asked how much longer, Red quipped, “Had we been walking, this’d taken about two hours.”

“How often did you come here?”

Red’s demeanor changed slightly. “It ain’t too terribly far from me tree,” she said. Agni didn’t push the questioning (his was so curious, but everything else told him to back off), so instead he just placed a hand on her shoulder. After a few beats of hesitation, Red placed her cheek against his hand and closed her eyes.

They both ignored the sniffles.

Agni continued to drive.

After a few more curves they finally finally got to a point where the road narrowed too much for the autobike. “We’ll have to walk from here,” Red said softly, not quite able to look him in the eyes. Agni nodded, walking the bike so that it was hidden behind some trees. Red handed him her bag, and Agni raised an eyebrow before realizing she was handing him the heavier of the two.

“How much farther?”

“Not much. Don’t worry, the clothes ain’t until tomorrow.”

His eyebrow arched higher, but Red didn’t clarify, instead turning on her bare heels to walk farther into the forest. Agni followed, his shoes making quite a bit of noise in the dark night.

“Can we not use the flashlight?”

“Ya eyes need to adjust eventually, so nah.” They walked silently for a bit, the jungle floor going up on a slight but steady incline, and then Red added, “I should’ve asked before, do ya know how ta swim?”

“... If I say no, will you let me drown?”

Red laughed, bright and loud, and Agni grinned. Now it felt like they were on equal ground again. Before she could answer that question, Agni said, “My brother taught me years ago, before, before he…” Now it was his turn for his voice to fade off into silence.

Red did something he didn’t expect: she grabbed his hand. Both their marks glowed dimly in the dark night, with hers hidden behind bandages, his obvious on his forehead. Red didn’t let him stop walking though, her slow yet steady pace keeping him moving over the jungle floor. Finally they reached a clearing where the ground lay flat, with an obvious pit in the middle where a fire could safely burn.

“We’re here,” she said, placing his bag near the fire pit. “Now we have to find wood to burn. It has to be dry, rotted wood, or it’d just smoke and not give off any warmth.”

Agni nodded at her instructions. He constantly felt amazed by her endless well of knowledge, but he knew better than to say anything, as Red always felt like he was poking fun at her. Instead Agni placed the bag on his shoulder next to the one on the ground. He kept the fire pit and the clearing within sight, but either Red knew where to look for dry wood, or she had some stashed somewhere, as her pile grew much faster than his.

In fact, the second time he returned with an armful of wood, she was sitting on the ground, rubbing a stick quickly between her hands, her feet holding another, larger stick still. “Need help?”

“Yeah, dry leaves in a ball in the middle. Please.”

“Sure.” Agni did what he was asked to do, crouching by the fire pit, and it was only a few moments before a soft wisp of smoke came off her sticks. “Smoke means fire, fire means warmth,” Red explained, knocking the smoldering pile into her hands. She blew on it once, twice, before carefully placing it on the pile of leaves. A few more breaths later, and gentle flames sprang to life.

“Now what?” Agni asked softly, watching her carefully and slowly feed the fire.

“Look up,” she said, and Agni did just that.

“Wow,” he said breathlessly, leaning back on his elbows, before just giving up and laying on his back, hands behind his head. The sky above them glittered with a dozen colors he’d never seen before. The usual muted stars he could see in town or from his window nearly blinded him, and now he could see the minor stars, and flickering colors that could possibly be other planets and just… “Wow.”

“There’s been whispers of bears around, so better safe than sorry,” Red said, adding a few more sticks to the fire before lying next to him on the ground.

“I was talking to Miss Annaisha, and she showed me some star books. They have some new names because of the Empire, but…” Red raised her hand, her finger tracing a small circle of what looked like about sixteen bright stars, “That’s me. Apparently I’m considered the ‘Legs’ of Byakko.”

She took her hand from the sky, and looked around, before nodding and putting her hand back up. “There you are, those three stars there, bent like a house roof. You’re the ‘Stomach’ of Byakko, which makes no sense, because your mark is on your forehead. At least mine is on a limb.”

Agni tried to stifle a laugh, but Red heard, pushing at his side. “This ain’t funny! I’m trying to teach you stuff!”

That caused an embarrassingly loud guffaw to escape. “I’m considered the stomach because I follow my guts!”

She stopped pushing on his side. “I... uh. Oh. That makes sense.”

After a long pause, Red continued talking, her hands tracing paths in the sky as her words wove elaborate stories. Whatever books or stories Annaisha told the young girl, Red soaked them up like a cloth did to dye, as she easily talked for hours as the half-moon slowly travelled over them.

Agni wasn’t sure when he dozed off, but when he awoke again, a large white tiger with yellow eyes lay staring at them on the other side of the smoldering coals. He slowly blinked once, twice, knowing exactly who he was staring at while his brain tried to process it, and on the third blink, the tiger disappeared. Knowing they were safe in the cool, dark night, Agni rolled onto his side. Red lay curled into a ball, her thin frame taking up barely any space; Agni scooted closer, throwing his arm over her side. He kept his grip loose enough so she could push him away easily if she wanted, but tight enough to send some warmth her way.

Red sighed, the soft creases in her brow loosening, and Agni fell back asleep.

The next morning started bright and early, the birds and sunshine louder than he was used to. Agni blinked himself awake, then stretched; he slept surprisingly well on the dusty ground. Red was no longer next to him, and he rolled to the other side to see her stirring a pot over a low fire.

“Working on some breakfast,” she said once she noticed he was awake. “Don’t worry, it ain’t rock soup.”

That didn’t soothe his fears, but Agni didn’t say anything as he sat up. Scrubbing at his face with his hands, he tried to peer into the tall sided pot. It looked a lot like rice, but before he could get a good look, Red covered it with a lid, then shifted the pot so it sat indirectly by the fire.

“Now it’s time for the real fun,” Red grinned.

Agni raised an eyebrow. “Real fun?”

She turned on her heel, and started running farther into the jungle with a whoop. “Catch me if you can!”

He stumbled to his feet, completely forgetting to tug his shoes back on, and he chased after her. A very thin path on the ground led the way, and the whoops and peals of laughter coming from Red led him in the correct direction. He could see flashes of Red’s yellow sari among the bright green leaves and dark brown trees.

Warning bells in his head told him to slow down, so even as Red raced ahead, calling him a lazy sloth, Agni slowed his pace to a fast walk. Thank goodness, because the ground suddenly turned into a rocky overhang, and that overhang dropped off to nothingness just as quickly. There was one last squeal of joy from Red, and then the sound of splashing water. Agni peered over the edge, the cliff face probably six or seven polo mech lengths from the surface of the water.

After several long, long moments, Red’s small head finally broke the surface.

“I win, ya slow sloth!” she yelled, her voice echoing through the canyon. Before she could sling any more insults his way, Agni jumped into the water, his knees to his chest to help soften the blow. The water was cold, shockingly cold, and when Agni broke the surface, Red laughed at his guppy open-mouthed face before splashing him.

His forceful splashes back evened the playing field, even when she started relying on her teleportation powers to launch a full on water assault from all different directions. Agni’s mark glowed white on his forehead as his powers helped predict where she would attack next. He got a few good splashes in as well, but when she didn’t seem to slow her advances, Agni started to fight dirty. He grabbed at her arms and legs, pulling her close anytime she was within reach. She sputtered, laughing and splashing and wiggling away.

“Truce,” Red finally sputtered, laughing, her eyes twinkling, “Truce.”

Accepting her truce, Agni floated on his back in the cool water. Red floated near him, not quite as steady, her head nearly dipping underwater when she yawned.

“You sleep okay?” he asked, remembering the vision from the night before.

“Okay enough. Me blinkings be getting good, but it still makes me tired quickly.”

Agni hummed, then suggested, “Next time you spend the night, we can work on that. Like make you blink until failure, rest, then try again. You know, build up your stamina.”

Red splashed him again. “I’m not a failure!”

After spitting out the water, Agni explained, “Until failure means doing until you can’t anymore, or until you fail at trying to make it happen. It’s not a derogatory term, Red. It’s just a phrase.”

“It’s a stupid phrase, but I guess.”

They floated in quiet for a few more moments before Red asked, “Are you sure it’s safe? To talk about our marks at your house? No one will hear?”

Agni grinned. “Shahil’s never complained.”

“GROSS,” Red yelled, splashing him again, and Agni splashed back laughing. He didn’t accept her calls of truce this time around. Instead he pulled her close, then using both his hands, Agni tossed her up and behind his head.

The water fight waxed and waned, but eventually Agni called truce himself, mostly because the grumbling in his stomach got too much to ignore. Even then, he didn’t mention that he was hungry, mostly because the one time he tried to say about being hungry around Red she got more upset than he’d ever seen her before. Instead he asked, “What are you making for breakfast?”

“Congee.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s like… savory rice porridge? With eggs and veg? One of me Littles from Hongnan taught it to us. Sometimes we call it garbage rice, because ya throw anything you can find from the garbage in it.”

Agni hid his grimace behind his hand, pretending to wipe some water off his face.

Red continued, “But don’t worry, Miss Saanvi let me borrow some pans and your cook gave me some eggs and veg and even some spices! In fact, it’s probably almost done cooking. Wanna go back to camp?”

“Sure,” Agni said, not quite so sure of her cooking any more. But she had never made any of them sick before, and her food outputs always tasted better than the individual ingredients, so… it would be worth a try, if nothing else.

The walk up the mountain didn’t seem nearly as long in the daylight.

Sitting with his back against a tree, Agni watched Red pull another pan from her bag, then unwrap some eggs and some vegetables from her clothing. Agni blinked in surprise at the sharp pocket knife she pulled out of a hidden compartment, but her expert handling of it caused him to relax again. The vegetables weren’t always evenly cut, but they were small enough, and after bit of oil from a small vial, Red started to cook in the second pan. She added in some thinly cut carrots, quite a bit of green onions, and some shelled peanuts into the frying pan. Once those softened a bit, Red added in some garlic, then cracked the eggs into the frying pan.

“Runny or hard?”

“Huh?”

“Ya want ya eggs runny or hard?”

“Uh… runny.”

Red stirred the rice as the egg and vegetable mixture cooked, then took out two tall bowls that looked more like cups than anything else. She scooped some rice into each bowl, then topped it with the eggs and veg mix, then gave each bowl a dash of spices.

“Here ya go,” Red said, handing him a bowl and a carved, flat wooden spoon. The congee was something he’d never tried before, but the mixture of the creamy rice with the fried egg and vegetables was something he’d want to eat again. In fact, the two of them finished off the whole pot of rice and all of the vegetables.

Once finished, Red kicked dirt over the remains of the fire. And then, for good measure, she dumped the rest of their water skins over the embers, and then added more dirt. “Don’t want no forest fire,” she explained, and Agni nodded.

With their packs now a bit lighter, Agni carried them both. Now slightly more familiar with the terrain, the walk back down to the autobike didn’t seem to take nearly as long, but then again, their running commentary helped pass the time as well. Red settled into the side car easily, and Agni started to bring them back to town. Agni took the long way home, partly to stay out of the mid-morning crowds, and partly to let Red sleep, curled up almost as small as their combined bags.

Only Saanvi was home when they arrived back at Shahil’s house, and she held the door open as Agni carried Red inside.

“Have fun?” Saanvi asked softly, unpacking the pans from Red’s bag.

Agni looked over at Red, who seemed so young when she slept, but her actions and attitude told a completely different story. “Quite a lot,” he said softly, and then grinned. “Can you tell her something when she wakes up?”

“Sure?”

“Tell her that I said she’s the sloth now.”

Saanvi snorted out a soft laugh and nodded. “I can do that.”

[Notes: the congee recipe I based her meal around can be found here.

On the other side of the room, illuminated only by moonlight, Shahil tossed and panted under his blankets. His head moved from side to side, as if he was trying to avoid something, or perhaps there was something he was desperately searching for.

“Shahil?” Meg called out. No response except for the continual moans and something that sounded almost like a sob. Meg let out a soft groan of her own, and tossed off the blankets. She crept in the darkness until she made it to his side. “Shahil. Wake up. You’re dreaming.” A little twinge of anxiety went through her when she realized he wasn’t responding. “Shahil!”

“Meg…” For a moment, she thought maybe he had responded to her, but his eyes remained shut, his breathing rapid. She swallowed. No, this wasn’t a dream. It was a nightmare. A nightmare with her in it?

“Crap, I’m gonna have to do it, aren’t I. Sorry about this,” She reached down and took hold of Shahil’s hand. She was rewarded by the soft glow of his symbol, unusually bright in the darkness. Good, his blocks were still down. She sent out the thought in the firmest tone possible. SHAHIL CHAUDHARY. WAKE THE FUCK UP.

He flinched, and an instant later, his eyes snapped open. For a moment, his gaze flew about wildly, as if uncertain if what he was seeing was actually reality. It settled on Meg as his breathing slowed down from its frantic pace, searching. “Meg?”

“…yeah?” she replied, “Who else would it be?”

Before she could react, he was sitting up, wrapping her up in a hug so fierce it took her breath away for a moment. “Thank goodness,” he murmured, burying his face in her shoulder.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Meg said, her voice softening even as utter confusion overtook her. The questions that spun in her mind were pushed to the back in favor of the need to help her distressed friend. She folded her arms around him, holding him gently as he clung to her, his breathing spastic.  “You’re okay,” she reassured, reaching one hand up to stroke his hair. She waited until his trembling seemed to be lessening and his breath calmed before asking, “What’s going on?”

“It’s…it’s nothing,” he said, letting out a ragged sigh, “Just a really bad dream.”

“Bullshit it’s nothing,” Meg replied, her voice maintaining a sharp edge even as she shifted him to a more comfortable position. She propped herself against the wall and let him lean on her the way she let Nidhi when she was in need of reassurance, holding him protectively in her arms. “If the whole place was on fire, I’d bet you’d sleep through it. I’ve never seen you so worked up in your sleep that you’d start talking.”

“I was talking?”

“You were calling my name.”

“Oh…” Shahil was quiet for several moments, the silence broken only by the sound of summer insects from outside the open window. “It wasn’t a bad dream, it was an awful dream,” he finally said, his voice soft, “I dreamt that you had been captured. They were torturing you, trying to get you to tell them about us, but you wouldn’t give in. They were going to break you…I knew it was only a matter of time before they killed you. I saw it all happening, but there was nothing I could do. I tried to scream, or fight them, or get to you, or do something, anything, but it was like I was frozen in ice. I could do nothing but watch, just watch you slowly die…”

She felt him tense up, his body beginning to tremble again as he recalled the nightmare, hiding his face in her shoulder. “Don’t, it’s okay,” she said, holding him close as she stroked his back, her cheek resting against his head.

“I’m sorry,” Shahil murmured, “I didn’t mean to wake you up, and I don’t want to burden you with this.”

“You’re not,” Meg replied, and she meant it. “Believe me, I understand. Dreams like that feel like they’re real for all the world. But it’s just a dream. That’s all it was. It’s not a prediction of the future or anything. It has no power over you.” Inwardly, Meg pursed her lips at herself, realizing she was telling him the same things she told herself when she had these sorts of nightmares—

—shit.

Meg tensed as she remembered the soft glow illuminating the room came not only from the moonlight outside, but from the light of Shahil’s symbol, fueled by the touch of Meg’s cheek. She had forgotten all about his blocks in her sudden need to do something to calm Shahil down. She quickly stuffed the thoughts back into the back of her head, trying to think of something else, anything else to replace them.

It was too late. “Meg, don’t, I’m sorry, I don’t have my blocks up” Shahil said, starting to pull away.

“It’s okay,” Meg replied, tightening her grip on him – not enough that he couldn’t leave, but enough to let him know that she didn’t want him to go. “I shouldn’t have let my mind wander. Really. It’s okay.”

After a moment’s hesitation, he settled down again. “I didn’t know you had nightmares like that too.” He said, a quiet astonishment in his voice.

Meg let out a half sigh, suppressing the urge to run her hand through her hair. “Yeah, well, it’s not exactly something I shout to the world.”

“I—sorry, I wasn’t going to say anything, but I was just so surprised. They’re like mine.”

“It’s not that big a deal,” Meg replied, a wave of unease moving through her.  She wasn’t sure how much he got. Did he know about the nights she would wake from another nightmare and couldn’t get back to sleep? Did he know how she cried and howled at watching the death of someone she loved? “Everyone gets nightmares.”

“But not like mine. Ours.” Shahil replied, “I know you don’t want to talk about them. I’m not sure I like talking about mine that much. But knowing I’m not the only one, it helps.”

She considered for a moment. “Yeah, I guess it does.”

“If you ever do want to talk…I’ll listen.”

She smiled softly in the dark. “I know.”

They fell silent, listening to the chorus of insects outside, Meg keeping her arms wrapped protectively around him, as if by doing so, she might keep away any other nightmares with thoughts on visiting. It was several long moments before Shahil spoke. “Meg,”

“Hm?”

“Thanks…you didn’t have to do this.”

Meg gave a wry smile, even if he couldn’t see it. “Yeah I did. What kind of friend would I be if I left you hanging?”

She felt him smile against her shoulder. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“How’re you feeling?”

“Better. I didn’t realize how much this would help.”

She smiled. “Sometimes a good hug is all you need.” She shifted, releasing Shahil. “Come on, you need to get some sleep. We’re gonna have to get up early if we’re going to catch up with everyone else in time.”

“Yeah,” he replied. Even if she couldn’t see his face well, she could hear the anxious edge in his voice.

“You gonna be okay?”

“I think so,” he replied, “I guess I’m just a little anxious I might have another one, or that one’ll pick up where it left off.”

Well, she couldn’t argue with that, she thought. Sometimes the nightmares left her in such a state that she couldn’t even consider going back to sleep, the threat of more pain, of seeing more of her loved one suffer, making it difficult to consider sleep. She considered a moment.

“Hm. Hang on.” She fumbled in the darkness, making her way to her own futon and taking firm hold. It slid over the floor, stopping when it caught on a low table. She grumbled at it in the darkness.

“What are you doing?” Shahil asked.

“Just a sec,” Meg replied. A little more shoving, and she got it free and into the position she wanted, next to Shahil’s own futon. She got under the covers and lay down, reaching out into the darkness. “Give me your hand.” After a moment of groping, their hands found each other, and Shahil’s symbol lit up softly, illuminating his face and the confusion there. “Maybe this’ll help keep you grounded. It’ll help remind you that the real me is here, not the one in your dream. And if I’m closer, maybe I’ll notice more quickly and help you get out of it.”

“Are you sure about this?” Shahil asked, “Letting me be in contact this long? You know I can’t keep my blocks up to sleep…”

Meg smiled. “It’s okay. I’ll try to think happy thoughts. Besides, if yours are being difficult, maybe you can hitchhike on my dreams and tell me what I dream about. I know I dream a lot, but I don’t remember them that often. Not the good ones, anyway.”

He considered for a moment, and then nodded. “Okay. If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure,” she replied, “I’m not about to abandon you to your nightmares, not if I can help it.”

He chuckled softly, “Next thing I know you’ll be coming into my head to fight them off yourself.”

“That might make for an interesting time.” She twined her fingers around his. “Now get some sleep. I’ll be here. I won’t leave you.”