“Cassie what is wrong? Did I hurt you? Please,” he whispered. “Please tell me that I did not hurt you.”
She shook her head wildly. He gently pulled back the strands of hair that fell across her damp cheeks. Cupping her chin, he lifted her face to his. Tears slid silently down her cheeks, her eyes were bright and damp with unshed ones. Though he had been frightened that he had hurt her, there was happiness and joy radiating from her.
“Cassie?”
“I’m fine,” she breathed, reaching up to cup his hand in hers as she leaned into his touch. “I’m just so happy here. This, this is just the most wonderful thing that I have ever experienced. You are the most wonderful thing that I have ever experienced. I can say that here because it isn’t real.” Her eyes darted away from his for a moment. “But out there…”
She shook her head, closing her eyes as she nestled closer. “Out there what?” he asked softly, knowing that she was talking about the world that existed outside of this dream one.
Her eyes darkened, her face hardened slightly with anger. “Out there everything is hard. Out there, this cannot be.”
Confusion filled him as he studied her. She kept her gaze focused on the lake, more tears filled her eyes. But he sensed these were tears of sorrow and loss, not of joy. He did not understand what she was talking about, but it was more than apparent that she was greatly upset about something.
“Cassie look at me.” Her attention returned to him, her forehead furrowed. “Why is it hard? Why can’t this be?”
Though she smiled wanly, the depth of her sorrow was nearly palpable. “I wish that I could tell you.” She shook her head. “You wouldn’t believe me anyway.”
“I would believe anything you told me.”
Her eyes warmed and melted. “You are wonderful,” she whispered. “So wonderful. I’ve never felt like this with anyone before, never even knew it could be possible to feel like this. Even though it’s a dream, I feel like you would be like this in the real world, that you would make me feel this good.”
“I would,” he promised, surprised by the strange turn of events this dream was taking. It was his dream after all, she should be in his arms still, she should be happy still. She should not be lost and wounded and talking in riddles that he couldn’t unravel. She should tell him what was bothering her, not keep it hidden from him.
What kind of crazy damn dream was this anyway?
Though she kept her face pressed into the palm of his hand she turned her attention back to the lake. “I used to love coming here,” she whispered.
Devon started in surprise as he turned toward the pristine lake. The field surrounding it was covered with blue, yellow, and white wild flowers that flowed toward the edge of a thick forest. The blades of grass, and wild flowers, swayed beneath the soft breeze that trickled over them. There was a dock stretching toward the middle of the lake. A single tree was off to the side, a rope swing was tied to a branch that dipped over the water. He could almost hear children laughing as they swung out over the water and released the rope.
Though it could have been one of a hundred lakes in the world, it was not one that he had ever seen before. “You know this place?” he inquired softly.
She turned back to him, the sorrow momentarily slipping from her as she grinned brightly. “Oh, very well. It’s Lake Waldorph. Chris and I used to spend three weeks every summer at the camp just beyond those woods. Those were wonderful summers.”
Devon focused on the lake again; horror filled him as he turned from its smooth surface back to her. This was not only his dream, he realized with a start, but also hers. Though he was the one that had brought her into the dream, it was her mind that had created the setting. It was why she was not telling him the things he wanted to hear from her. It was why her sorrow and reluctance were real. It was why things were not going the way he wanted them to, because they were also going her way.
His body began to go numb with the shock and disbelief filling it. He knew how their minds had connected, knew he had been the one to do it. But he’d had no intention of ever letting such a thing happen. But while asleep, his subconscious must have reached out to hers. It had taken hold of her mind, and drawn it in. He had never had any intention of ever seizing hold of her mind, but apparently his subconscious had not felt the same way.
Devon bit back a curse, not wanting to frighten or upset her anymore. There was no reason for her to know what had happened, how this had occurred, or the reason that it felt so real was because there were two minds creating it. It was better for her to continue to consider this just a strange, oddly real dream. She could never know what he was, what he was capable of, what he could do to her. He didn’t know her well, but she would run screaming if she knew the truth, and he would not blame her in the least.
The only problem was that no matter what she said, or what she wanted, he was afraid that this dream might mean she wouldn’t have an option. And he feared that neither did he. They barely knew each other, but his ability had taken them both over, and brought them both here. He had never had such a thing happen before, had never lost control of his ability in such a way. Even when he had been a novice, floundering and uncertain of his powers, he had never lost control of them.
He had a bad feeling that he finally knew what all of this meant. He just didn’t want to recognize the truth of it. He still didn’t even have a place to stay in town yet and hadn’t intended to stay in town for much longer. Now he was fearful that he may not have a choice about staying or going.
Wrapping his fingers through hers, he shut his thoughts off, not wanting to deal with them right now. He knew that it would only result in a tangled mess of confusion that he was not in the mood to sort through. For now, all he wanted was to hold her, talk to her, and make both of their dreams come true.
“Would you like to sit by the lake?”
Her face lit with pleasure, her eyes sparked merrily. He knew in that moment that he would do everything he could to make her smile like that as often as possible. “I would love to.”
He led her slowly down to the water, stopping at the edge of the lake. The water lapped gently against his feet. “Just as warm as I remember,” Cassie whispered.
“Why did you stop coming to camp here?”
She shrugged, her hand tightened briefly as a tremor of tension raced through her. “There wasn’t any time for camp once Luther and Melissa came.”