Page 172 of Hunters and Prey

It coursed through me like liquid stone, densifying my abdomen, then up to my chest, my arms, even my throat. As it moved through me, I found myself taking deeper, longer breaths. That calmed me too, bringing more oxygen into my blood and brain, stilling my mind.

By the end, I felt his light completely wrapped into mine, like he’d twisted into me around and inside his aleimi.

Whatever he’d done, it locked me not only to him, but to the Earth. It locked me to the building, to the construct around his skyscraper, maybe even the city itself.

It felt like an anchor, coiling around my legs, feet, and body like steel cables.

I felt those lower structures of his aleimi in that, the ones that lived under his feet, that made me think of lava flowing underground.

I felt the strength in that, a nearly intimidating strength mixed with a kind of crushing stillness that allowed me to relax into him completely.

In the past, that strength had unnerved me.

This time when I looked up at him, all I could feel was relief.

My headache was gone.

I gripped his arms, wrapping my light deeper into his.

“Thank you,” I said.

Pooling my light into his chest, I could feel nothing but love for him, a fierce love mixed with gratitude that brought tears to my eyes.

“Thank you,” I said again, feeling my chest tighten on the words.

I saw a flicker of reaction in his face, maybe from how hard I was pulling on his light, or maybe from the naked gratitude in my voice, or maybe from the tears. His sculpted lips tilted into a frown, but I could feel a part of him that didn’t know how to react.

I could also feel him softening towards me.

I could feel the part of him that wasn’t ready to do that, either.

“You were going away,” he said, gruff. “Miri… I saw you…”

He hesitated, struggling for words.

“You were fucking fading, Miri. Right in front of me.”

I bit my lip, nodding. I knew what he meant.

I’d felt it the night before, inside our walk-in closet.

That was the second time in less than twenty-four hours. It was also the second time it happened while I’d been wide awake, fully conscious.

That fact alone scared the hell out of me.

I realized he was waiting for me to speak, to answer him in some way. In the end, I only nodded, not looking at him now.

My nod didn’t satisfy him, though.

It didn’t come close to satisfying him.

He shook me lightly with his hands, without in any way releasing that stranglehold he had over my seer’s light.

It ended up feeling almost like being rocked.

“We need to talk about this,” he growled. “We need to stop pretending it’s not happening and talk about this, doc. I saw it this time. I didn’t just wake up to an empty bed. Or find you ‘mysteriously’ on the fucking roof. I saw it with my goddamned eyes. You were going away, Miri. You were fucking leaving…”

I bit my lip, but only nodded again.

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