Page 265 of Hunters and Prey

I could feel his presence wrapped around me still, even as he let me go with those arms made of diamond-like light. He looked at me in the space, and I looked back at him.

Are you ready?he sent then.

His thoughts had gone still again, stripped of inflection.

Ready?I stared back at him. Ready for what?

We’ve been working on your light for over three hours, Miri. It’s time.

His thoughts were calm, matter-of-fact, but I almost thought he was screwing with me again. Three hours? How could it possibly have been three hours?

Either indifferent or oblivious to my reaction, he went on.

We didn’t have to do much,he sent. Most of it was getting past you. Your structure is all there. We connected it more closely with that of your mate, but it looks like the two of you have done a significant amount of work to activate it already.

I frowned, but still didn’t know what to say.

I could see him more and more clearly in that space now, almost like we were talking in the same room, even if that room was featureless and filled with light.

Okay,I sent. So what now? What is it you intend to do?

Not us,he corrected firmly. You. It’s time to see what you can do now, Miri.

I stared at him in that dark and light space, and he looked back at me, his pale, colorless eyes almost visible to me now, and not just as those darting flickers of diamond-like sparks.

Go to a few different places, if you can,he advised. Get comfortable with it… see how closely you can direct your jumps. In the beginning, just see if you can stimulate a jump yourself. If you can do it on purpose, you should be able to not do it on purpose, too. Then try aiming more, if you can. See how precise you can get.

Pausing, he added,

We’ll send you on the first one––

Wait,I cut in, realizing what he was saying. What? What about Black? I need––

No.He shook his light head. I heard him clicking in the space, and now I could see his black hair, his angular features, those colorless eyes. No waiting. We’re out of time, Miriam, and so are you. Something is happening on your world. We all feel it. We may not understand what it means, but we can feel that things are changing there… and that you and Black are at the center of it. You need to be fully awakened. So no waiting. No slow-walking this.

Pausing, he gave me a sideways smile, his clear eyes holding a bare humor.

And no Black,he added firmly. He stays here. It’ll be a lot easier for you to find your way back to us, with him here. There’s a reason you always made it back home, Miriam. There’s a reason why you always ended up back on your own version of Earth, usually in your own bed. You’re going to jump to where your mate is, Miri, first and foremost. The way the two of you are connected, I think that’s probably even more true.

I saw him give me another sideways smile.

So we keep Black. You’ll just have to come back for him.

I stared up at him in disbelief.

I was about to protest again, when Revik signaled to someone else.

I felt it more than saw it, but his light arm and hand went up when he did it, motioning something in seer sign-language that I couldn’t understand.

Okay,he sent when he finished, looking back at me. Time to go.

Another of those smirks touched his lips.

Don’t worry… we’ll feed him.

I felt my heart leap to my throat. A million questions crowded into my mind.

But something jerked above my head before I could speak.

Everything collapsed down, like I was folding inside myself––

I watched it happen around me, powerless to stop it. I watched a vortex open up, a long tunnel of light, and I knew as soon as I saw it that I wouldn’t be able to stop that, either.

Then, before I could think anything else…

Poof.

I was gone.

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