Page 128 of The Edge of Dawn

Her heart was fluttering like the wings of a hummingbird, so fast she felt like she was about to levitate.

“I still don’t understand a thing, but I’ll give it a try.” The krisalix had a calming effect on her. It felt good to touch. It sang to her.

It felt right.

“To be honest,” Noa admitted, “I don’t completely understand it either, but Tarak has specifically asked that we do this. If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t be so hasty, but he’s… Tarak. He sees things coming from a hundred miles away, and we just have to trust there’s a very good reason for all of this.”

Jade let out a puff of exasperation. They all trusted this Tarak way too much. But what else could she do now? The damn thing was practically beckoning to her, and she wanted to communicate with Dragek so badly. Logic wasn’t a consideration anymore. “So what do I do? Just stick it on my head?”

“Try it,” Elgon encouraged. “If it causes unwanted effects, you can take it off immediately. We’ll monitor you closely, and Noali will be there to catch you if anything untoward happens.”

“Uh, all right.” For such a monumental-seeming thing, it felt too simple.

“Relax. Place it on your head. You should be able to feel its effects immediately. Then, all you have to do is channel your ka’qui through the structure.”

“And follow that connection you have,” Noa added.

“There’s no manual on this, huh?”

Elgon’s expression grew terribly serious. “That’s the thing about the Talent. By its very nature, it is intuitive, and no two individuals with the ability are alike. There’s no set way of teaching because one way doesn’t work for all, and so we rely on the experience and knowledge of those who have come before. We can assist, but ultimately, you have to carve your own fate.”

A trace of bitterness entered Jade’s chest as she thought of Dragek and the way he’d been taught.

How cruelly they’d shaped him.

In comparison, she was fortunate. These people weren’t ruthless or evil. Even if they were using her for their own ends, she had something to gain, too.

Control.

Do it.

The krisalix practically vibrated in her hands. Jade ran her fingers over the impossibly intricate design, which could have been crafted by magic. She tried to imagine where it had come from. How had they made it, and more importantly, who?

She got the feeling it was very, very old. Older than human civilization itself.

At that moment, she wasn’t Jade Gannett anymore.

She was nobody.

Just a curious creature with a window to the Universe in her hands.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and put the strange object on her head.

And suddenly, the chatter of hundreds of minds in the background went dead silent.

What a blessing.

Instinctively, she knew what to do.

She gathered her energy, the way Dragek had taught her, and placed it inside herself—inside the glass walls she’d created in her mind.

She was contained.

She felt for the thread of their connection. It was still there, intact but tenuous, fueled by longing and curiosity and something else—hard-wired, biological, and impossible to quantify.

They kept referring to this thing, this Mating Fever.

Was this what it was?

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