Pleasures of the Night(80)
“Lyssa’s still fighting it?” he asked quietly.
“I’m sorry.” Connor shrugged lamely. “She’s too strong.”
Aidan looked away, his throat tight. It killed him to think of Lyssa being in the same agony he was. He was barely managing to breathe, and she was far more sensitive. It was that empathy that first drew him to her. “Keep working on it.”
“Wager’s doing his best.”
Connor was silent for a long time, then he asked, “Would you forget her, if you could?”
“No.” Aidan smiled ruefully. “Better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.”
“I don’t know about that, man,” Connor said gruffly. “I’m kinda liking this side of the fence. To be honest, it looks a lot greener than your side.”
Connor left, his footsteps nearly silent on the stone floor. Unasked questions remained heavy in the air long after he departed, and Aidan was grateful that his friend hadn’t pressed him to answer them. He couldn’t talk about Lyssa now or what he had done while he was with her. It was too painful.
Squeezing his eyes closed, he tried to focus his mind on the tasks yet to be accomplished rather than the piercing ache in his chest. He had no idea how much time passed. It didn’t matter.
“Cross.”
Moving on instinct, Aidan caught up the glaive resting against the tube before him and spun in a lightning-quick but tightly controlled arc. Sheron barely leaped back in time to avoid being cut in half.
The Elder held up his hands in a defensive gesture. “I am unarmed, Captain.”
Aidan’s gaze narrowed. “How did you get in here? You weren’t with the others.”
“You disappoint me. I thought I taught you better than that.”
“You taught me enough to hurt you. At the moment, that’s all I need to know.”
“Really?” Sheron looked around the room. “Then I take it you don’t care to hear about how you can return to your Dreamer and be more productive in her world than you can be here?”
Catching a glimpse of a smile in the shadows of the cowl, Aidan lunged forward, pinning his former master to the rough stone wall. His forearm pressed hard against Sheron’s windpipe. “When I move my arm, I suggest you start talking.”
Sheron managed a slight nod, and Aidan eased up slightly.
Gasping, the Elder said, “There are Earth legends about dreams.”
“Get to the point.”
“Certain human cultures have worked to control dreams using various items—dream catchers, dolls, or symbols.”
Aidan’s focus sharpened. “Go on.”
“Where do you think the ideas for such items came from? There is a kernel of truth behind every legend.”
“I know. And?”
“There are places around the Dreamer planet where the original artifacts that sparked the legends remain. They have been kept there until the Key was discovered. The possibility existed that the Elite would fail to kill her, or be unable to, and the Elders wished to have a recourse.”
The blood in Aidan’s veins turned to ice. “What do they do?”
“Everything you need to know is in that book you took with you.” Sheron’s voice lowered, became more urgent. “They’ll send someone after those items now. While you’re here, they will have someone working against your Dreamer there.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“What benefit would I claim by lying to you?”
Aidan arched a brow. “You’d get me out of the way for a while.”
“Ah…” Sheron smiled. “There is that.”
Shoving away from the wall, Aidan raised the point of his glaive. His heart beat in a steady rhythm, his chest rose and fell without labor, but his emotions were nowhere near as calm. “The book says something about the Key, the Lock, and the Guardian destroying the world as we know it.”
“Does it?” Sheron asked quietly.
Aidan paused, recalling what he’d transcribed and suddenly doubting the conclusions he’d drawn.
“Vids are everywhere, Cross. Until your men took over the cavern, I couldn’t speak freely. As for bringing you back, the Elite would not have commandeered this place if you weren’t here, and you will need these tools if you are to have any hope of succeeding. Everything had to happen exactly the way it did. Trust me.”
“The pendant?”
“Read the book. It’s all there. The Elders are unaware of its loss. Your men here will afford you the time you need.”
“You’re betraying the other Elders. Why?”
“We all want the same thing—an end to the Nightmares. I just believe that there are different ways to go about achieving that end. I can do nothing without losing my position, but you can work in my stead. You may not always understand why I do something, such as with the pendant, but trust that there is a purpose to everything.” Sheron moved toward the door in a swirl of gray robes.