Page 74 of Silver Elite

“Yeah. I had a shit week. And then last night…”He doesn’t continue.

“Last night what?”

“Nightmare. That’s all.”

“The drowning one?”

Laughter rumbles inside my head.

“What’s so funny?”I ask, but the sound is so comforting. I’ve heard that laugh nearly my entire life. It’s a reminder that while Jim is gone, I’m not entirely alone.

“Something just occurred to me,”Wolf says.

“And what’s that?”

I hear a rustling noise and glance over. Kaine shifts in slumber. His face is still turned in my direction, but his eyelids remain shut. He has no idea I’m carrying on an entire conversation beside him.

“That we know both everything about each other and nothing at all. I don’t know your job assignment. Your family life. Hell, I don’t even know your ward.”

“I don’t know yours, either.”Although I can guess he’s probably in the south since he talks about the ocean so often.

But he’s right. We don’t know the kind of information that’s normally free flowing between close friends. Uncle Jim instilled in me the need for secrecy, and as much as I enjoy Wolf, I would never risk my safety or my uncle’s safety on a stranger in my head. I omitted a lot of pertinent details over the years. The ranch. Jim. My real name.

“We don’t know basic facts, yet you’re an expert about my recurring nightmares.”This makes him laugh again.

“Basic facts don’t matter. It’s the important things that matter.”

His fears. His insecurities. That his favorite sound is rain hitting pavement, and the physical feature he likes best about himself is his hands. That he lost his virginity at sixteen, and the only woman he’s ever given flowers to is his mother. What does his mother do for a living? I couldn’t tell you. But it makes no difference at all to me.

“Did you wake up before the water filled your lungs?”I know sometimes he’s jolted awake just as he’s going under.

“No.”

I shiver to myself. I’ve never drowned in a nightmare before. It happens to Wolf often. He described it to me once, and it sounded like pure torture.

“Don’t want to think about it. Why can’t you sleep?”

“Stress,”I mimic.

He chuckles.“Feel free to elaborate.”

“I feel…stuck.”I’m careful with the details. Under no circumstances can I tell him I’m training for the Command. We trust each other, yes, but Mods get spooked about this stuff.“I’m not where I’m supposed to be, and it’s suffocating. I hate feeling trapped.”

“Then escape the trap.”

“Easier said than done.”

“Bullshit. Every trap can be escaped. It’s just a matter of what lengths you’re willing to go to.”

“Oh really?”

“Mmm-hmm.”His voice is a soft rumble in my head. I roll over and let it warm me like a blanket, turning away from Kaine.“Think about it. Animals get caught in traps all the time, keen? But the smart ones, the ones who refuse to be caged, they find a way out. White coyotes, for example. Unless you’re right on their ass when they’re captured, they’re usually gone by the time you check your traps.”

“Because they’re known to chew off a limb to escape!”

“Like I said, it’s a matter of lengths. The white coyote would rather sacrifice a leg than remain in a trap. What are you willing to give up?”

“Not my leg.”

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