Page 77 of The Edge of Dawn

I’m not. Apart from the fact that I’m returning your mindspeech, it’s all you. Try to recognize the feeling of my presence. Register it and remember it. When you want to contact me again, you can find me simply by seeking out my ka’qui.

I’ll try. Jade hadn’t the faintest idea what he was talking about, but she memorized it anyway. So, you do want me to contact you?

Did I say otherwise?

Well, you just left abruptly. I didn’t know what to think—whether I’d upset you or something.

You couldn’t possibly upset me right now, Jade. His mindvoice was deep and resonant, as smooth as butter and laced with a hint of dangerous intensity. It was the very same feeling she’d gotten from the look in his eyes.

So why did you take off like that?

You wouldn’t understand.

I’ve been told that before. There was a tightness in her chest, almost like pain. Her heart was pounding like crazy. She tried to calm herself down and failed. In her past life, working as a divorce lawyer, Jade had dealt with people on either side of the most acrimonious breakups. She’d learned to keep her cool through volatile displays of temper and unpredictable behavior. She’d weathered storms of emotion as steadily as a rock wall.

So why was she falling apart right now?

You haven’t encountered one such as me before. The rules of your past life don’t apply here. You’d better forget everything you learned in the human world. There’s no going back for you, Jade.

Not everything. Even if this—she could hardly believe it… this ability—did something unfathomable to her, Jade silently vowed that she would never let go of her humanity.

She would never forget… what it felt like to be purely human, afraid and helpless.

Don’t you understand yet? You’re going to become incredibly powerful. It’s almost unheard of to initiate mindspeech like that without learning first.

I don’t care whether I become powerful or not. I just want to understand what’s happening to me.

It’s simple. You have the same ability I do, but yours is… more. Noali and the elder will help you understand. In the meantime, why don’t you try to follow me as far as you can? Let’s keep talking.

Why?

I’m leaving soon… departing this ship for another. I want to see how far you can go.

Is that all? Suspicion entered her tone. He was up to something, surely. I’m tired. I should leave.

Do you even know how?

Jade closed her eyes again and tried to shake off his presence, but she couldn’t. It felt like she was stuck with him… to him, like the time he’d entered her consciousness and taken over her body, only this time it was all her doing. I got to you in the first place, didn’t I? I’m sure I can figure it out.

Don’t go yet. To her immense surprise, a hint of a plea entered his voice. To hear that from him, of all people, was nothing short of astounding.

Then answer me. Why did you leave like that?

Because, he said softly, his tone deepening inside her head, filling her with warmth, if I’d physically stayed with you any longer, I would have done something that neither you nor I are ready for.

TWENTY-SIX

After he left Jade’s quarters, Dragek went to the weapons room, where he chose a pair of thin daggers. The blades were too long, not too short, and just the right weight and heft for his preferred style of killing.

That was all he needed. After all, Tarak wanted him to take this Amun alive, not kill him.

He was given a battle-suit, too; a skinsuit woven from saladin fibers, an exceptionally rare material that would allow him to cover himself in ka’qui and enter the state of qim—temporary invisibility. The suit had a hood, and there was a pair of soft boots made from a similar but more durable material.

When he donned it with a death-mask, he could become perfectly undetectable. Not for very long—as it took immense energy and skill—but long enough to infiltrate and deliver the fatal strike.

The weapons master—a severe, cold-eyed warrior called Tarkun—had scrutinized him with a calculating up-and-down look before letting out a soft grunt.

“Select your weapons of choice,” he’d instructed, stepping back and leaving Dragek to his own devices in a weapons room that was bigger and better stocked than anything he’d seen in his life. There were Callidum blades by the thousands, plasma guns of varying range and power, incendiary devices, armor suits of all weights and strengths, and even thin Callidum-wire weapons that could be used to flay or strangle.

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