Page 30 of Bonds of Magic
It took longer than I expected for the soft, translucent movements in the corner of my eye to disappear. The dream had lasted a while. Did that mean Cory had liked it? What had he and that man done together? I cursed myself for not watching, and cursed myself for wanting to.
Cory’s skin was warm. I hadn’t noticed that until now. I looked down at him in awe. I was scared to breathe, scared that the tiniest movement would break the spell I was under. Would make it clear that the vision I’d seen was in my imagination and nothing more.
So I was still staring when Cory woke up.
He blinked his eyes drowsily, looking up at me with curiosity. He held my gaze for a moment, then suddenly looked down at our clasped hands. I let go, but not soon enough.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
A thousand excuses sprang to my lips. Deny. Distract. Derail. Anything to not have to talk about how my body hummed when it was next to his.
I opened my mouth to tell him off, and instead said, “I saw you. In your dream.”
His eyes went wide, and he scrambled up so he was sitting. “What? How?”
“I don’t know. I shouldn’t be able to. It’s been years. I shouldn’t have access to that anymore.”
Cory pulled his knees up and wrapped his arms around them. “Anymore? Noah, what are you talking about?”
I drank in his face. He was so close, I could have leaned in and kissed him with ease. Could have placed my lips on his neck, felt the beat of his pulse with my tongue.
I ached. For Cory, and for the dreams I’d thought were lost forever. I’d gotten the smallest taste of what I’d been missing, and I wanted to howl. How had I lived with its absence all these years?
“Noah, what do you mean, ‘anymore?’” Cory’s voice was more commanding than I’d ever heard it. “I thought only incubi could enter people’s dreams. But you’re—” He broke off. Cocked his head to the side. Narrowed his eyes. “Are you one?”
“No.” I dragged the words from my chest, not wanting to speak, not able to stop. “But I used to be. I lost my connection to the dreamworld seven years ago. And you just brought it back.”
6
CORY
Istared at Noah. He was closer to me than he’d been in a long time. I could see the individual flecks of green in his hazel eyes. I could have reached out and touched his face.
Noahwastouching me, a second ago. He wasn’t anymore, but my hand was still warm from where his had covered mine.
I tried to make sense of what he’d said.
“How?” I asked, my voice catching.
“It’s complicated. And there’s too much to talk about now. We need to get you back to your room.”
“What? No!”
I wasn’t about to let him change the subject, not about this. Everyone said incubi were rare, butNoahwas one, of all people? At least it explained why Dean Mansur thought he could teach me. But I was still lost.
“Not until you tell me what’s going on,” I added.
Noah’s face went stony. “I was in a fight. I almost died. But instead, I lost my connection to the dreamworld. Lost my ability to dream entirely. That’s it.”
He pressed his lips together, but when he shut his eyes a moment later, I realized he wasn’t mad at me. He was trying not to cry. Which was the strangest thing I’d ever witnessed. Noah crying was like a boulder crying. The two things just didn’t go together.
“I wish I’d died that day,” he said with a heavy sigh. “But I didn’t. I’ve been dependent on Isaac’s trances—you know about those?” He opened his eyes and waited until I nodded before continuing. “Well, I’ve needed him ever since. To stay alive. The incubus part of meneedsto dream, but I can’t get to the dreamworld anymore.”
He looked at my hands, clasped around my legs.
“And then I touched your hand, and I… I could see it again. I couldfeelit—the dreamworld—through you.”
Why were you touching my hand? I wanted to ask, but Noah had never been this forthcoming before. Never been this close. It was stupid, but I didn’t want to ruin the moment.
