Page 12 of Visions in Blood
“You admit you’ve been invading my dreams.”She gulped a generous amount of brandy, waited for it to settle, then looked at him.“They’ve been so real.Have you been mesmerizing me?”
He chuckled, then let the brandy ease his own growing anxiety.“I’ve heard tales where two vampires have been able to share parts of their dreams.But this happened after blood sharing and only between mated couples.”
“But you gave me your blood.”
“Only a couple of swallows, and how many dreams did we share before that happened?”
Her head lowered, but he caught the blush on her cheeks.“All of them except the one tonight.”She lifted her head, and though her cheeks were still rosy, her chin held a stubborn angle.She was serious about getting to the bottom of this.Well, so was he.
“I’ve never experienced anything like what we’ve shared before.I’d heard stories, but those were long ago, buried under centuries of myths and legends.The very first dream, when I found myself in my private garden at Oasis, somehow I knew I’d find you at the grotto.”He shook his head, focusing on his initial impression at the time.“Maybe not you specifically, not by name.I’m not saying this right.”He fidgeted, so uncommon for him, and his only explanation was his discomfort at finding the correct words.He drew in a long breath and continued with, “I sensed a presence and knew without a doubt that someone waited for me.When I reached the grotto and saw you waiting for me…with love in your eyes.”He paused and gave her a small smile.“It seemed right.Like I’d known all along it would be you.”
He braced for her reaction, but other than her rosy cheeks, she only nodded.
“It was a similar experience for me.”Her words were so low, he might not have heard them without his vampiric hearing.“I had no idea what was happening or where I was.One moment, I’d been in my bedroom and the next I was in a garden.I was dressed in different clothes.”She closed her eyes.“I could smell the roses, feel the prick of its thorns.”She rubbed a fingertip, though she never opened her eyes.“I must have been barefoot because I remember the feel of the grass between my toes.But nothing compared to the need growing in me.The desire to…” She stopped, and when she opened her eyes, her blush grew deeper.
“I know.”
She appeared relieved to move past the intimate moments.Moments he’d been trying to erase for the last week without much success.And he hated to admit he missed the dreams, the touch of her, the taste of her lips—and other parts.She must have been thinking about their mutual responses because her blush deepened before she turned her head away.
“These dreams, the realistic allure, our senses so entwined, they’re simply not possible for a vampire.”
When she turned back to him, she’d schooled her expression, similar to the first time he’d met her.Almost bored.What she buried underneath that cool facade was anyone’s guess.
“The experience we shared reminded me of the old legends.Myths rarely spoken.In fact, what little I found in my earlier research had been done secretly, with only a handful of my inner circle aware of my activities.”He set his glass down and leaned over, his hands clasped between his knees.“I believe you’re a dreamwalker.”
That broke her quiet reserve.“You’re making that up.I’ve never even heard of a dreamwalker.”
“They’re illusive—rare and secretive.They can enter dreams and influence them, or so I’ve been told.I’ve only found references to them in books.Everything I’ve dug up has been from short conversations with vampires much older than me.”
She shook her head, and that stubborn tilt of her head told him he’d need something more convincing before she’d even consider the notion.
“Think back to your childhood.You probably had strange dreams as a child.Dreams you couldn’t explain, that maybe terrified you.They might have created the behavioral issues you experienced.”
“You know nothing of my childhood.”The calm exterior, stubborn as it might have appeared, crumbled under a torrent of hot rage.She reined it in before falling back against the cushion, but her flinty stare clearly stated that the volatile emotion hadn’t gone far.
After a moment to pull herself together, her expression turned triumphant.“If I was controlling the dreams, how would I know about your private garden, or the lake, or the giant oak tree?”
“I never said you were controlling them.You currently have no control, which is why they come through jumbled and out of context.And as far as knowing about Oasis before you saw it?I believe these dreams are prescient.”
When she gave him an odd look, he added.“Prophetic.”
“I know what the word means.I just think you’re nuts if you believe in dreamwalkers.”She rubbed her face, then pushed her hands through her hair.“Here’s what I think is happening, and you’re just unwilling to accept the facts.These dreams are tied to your emotions.Maybe you’ve never experienced them before.I can’t explain that part.But every time you get unhinged because of something I did or didn’t do, I end up in one of your dreams.”
He considered her explanation.He’d considered it before, but never in all his centuries had he heard of anything similar.And God knew he’d searched for possible answers long before he’d met her.
“Have you considered it’s your own emotions creating them?”He kept his tone level in an attempt to keep hers on an even keel.
She stared at him and shook her head.“No.No.You’re projecting into mine.”
“After five hundred years, I’m to believe I just began seeing the future?”
“One of us is.”
He needed a different angle.Perhaps this evening’s vision.He had no idea how she could be in his head while he was awake, and the thought was daunting.“Earlier this evening, you said you remembered the taste of the blood, but it wasn’t the same as when I gave you mine.”
Her eyes widened for an instant.Had she not considered that?“Again, your projections.”
He picked up his snifter and took a long sip before sitting back.What was the old saying, you couldn’t prove a negative?The best solution would be to let the notion sit and give her time to mull it over.
