In The Dark Of Dreams Part 10

It didn't last. Each breath became more difficult and crushing than the last, and panic again supplanted wonder. Jenny's lungs burned like h.e.l.l.

The parasite shifted against her skull. Some instinct made Jenny open her eyes. She was surprised at how sharp her vision was in the darkness, each particle that drifted past her face distinct and bright, as though lit from within-like stars. Below, far below, something moved toward her. It was impossibly large and fast, a silver streak.

Dolphin, she thought weakly, wondering if this would become a fairy tale. Girl rescued by dolphin, carried to the surface, drawn far and away from the evil that had tossed her in to drown.

But the creature drew close, and it was no dolphin.

It was a man.

Jenny forgot she was dying. Everything faded, her life shrinking to nothing but a flash of strong white arms, silver drifting hair, and a face that was high-cheeked, masculine, and edged with faint white scars. She glimpsed a set mouth, and pale blue eyes staring hard into her own. Nothing comforting about that gaze-just that it was frighteningly intense. Fear thrilled through her, and awe.

You know those eyes, she told herself, even though it was impossible. She was dying. This was a delusion. No one was there.

But that same no one placed his hands on her arms and gathered her close against a hard warm body, and those same hands touched her face, and those imaginary eyes gave her a look of such ferocious wonder that her heart ached with a different kind of dying, and if this was death and insanity, then she welcomed it. Jenny was ready.

He pulled her toward the surface, fast as a bullet. She looked down and saw a long silver tail propelling him, and then their heads broke free of the ocean. She tried to breathe and vomited water. Coughs wracked her, so violent she half expected to taste blood in her mouth. But those arms never let go, and held her close, strong fingers smoothing back her hair. She tried looking into the merman's face, but he was too close. All she caught were glimpses: puzzle pieces, riddles.

Jenny heard a shout. She twisted, and found the boat some distance away. Les stood at the rail, staring. The merman holding her stiffened, and when she pulled back far enough to see his face, all she saw were his eyes, staring back at Les.

Staring as though he knew him.

Les dove into the water. The merman muttered, "s.h.i.t."

Jenny blinked. "What?"

He never answered. Just spun her around, fumbling for the restraints holding her wrists. It was a plastic cord, the kind that needed a knife to cut. He made a low frustrated sound.

"Kick," he ordered hoa.r.s.ely. "Try to stay afl-"

He was slammed away from her, caught in a torrent of foam and thrashing limbs. Jenny kicked hard, gasping for air-staring as Les reared briefly out of the water. Time slowed down as he threw back his head, silver water flying from his hair, waves crashing against his chest and shoulders as his arms moved steadily through the water. He stared at the merman without fear. Just grim, unhappy acceptance.

The merman's expression was far more terrifying. Calculating, thoughtful, filled with a fury that hit Jenny as primal and cold. His skin was white as marble, as new snow in sunlight, glimmering with water and salt crystals. Long hair clung to his hard muscles. Scars crisscrossed his arms and upper shoulders.

Memories slammed. The beach. That boy.

Jenny sank below the surface, lungs full of air. Eyes open, staring. She saw two bodies twisting through the water, and expected to witness one human confronting a merman-bizarre, insane, as that might be.

But what she saw was even stranger.

Both men had tails.

Chapter Six.

There was a homeless shelter in New York City that played old movies in the evenings-cla.s.sics, some of the guys had told Perrin, though he had little use for such definitions, or for film. Westerns, however, were occasionally enjoyable; if nothing else but for their historical value, which he knew was minimal at best. It awed him, however, that humans could live and thrive in deserts. Fascinated him to see what deserts looked like, even on grainy film: golden rock and sand, and sharp-needled plants; and skies that never ended.

Gunfights also intrigued Perrin. Standoffs between men who refused to relent, who knew they were going to die but continued on, carried by nothing but conviction. Everywhere, he saw this, and not only in film. Humans valued the individual moral fingerprint-as long as it was just and good.

As did he. Much to his misfortune.

Wyatt Earp. Magnificent Seven. Pale Rider. Movie t.i.tles rolled through Perrin's head like some secret chant, which he hated. He wanted quiet inside his mind, a place to think, but the sun was high, spreading a glitter of light against the waves, and if this had been the desert with a gun strapped to his side, he would have felt more at home than he did now.

He had expected many things, in coming to the woman's aid.

But not this. Not . . . him.

"A'lesander," he said, more calmly than he felt-trying to keep his eyes open against the glitter of sunlight on the water-bright, too bright. "Thought you were dead."

A'lesander's answering smile was bitter, cold-but that wasn't mask enough to hide the hint of uncertainty in his eyes. His skin was darker than Perrin remembered, hair a lighter shade of golden brown. Sun rich. His grandmother had been human.

"Same to you," he said.

Three words. Just three. But Perrin was astonished at the emotions that filled him, simply by hearing the sound of that voice-like a hot poker searing an unhealed wound. Hurt like h.e.l.l. Cut the breath right out of his lungs in ways that simply seeing A'lesander did not.

All he could do was harden his heart. He had no time for anything less.

Perrin drifted carefully to his right, just out of arm's reach, and saw the woman on the periphery of his vision-head above water. "You thought I was dead," he said, forcing himself to focus on A'lesander: every word, every nuance. "Why would you think that?"

A'lesander's expression hardened. "I might have been exiled before you, but I was finally allowed back into the sea, within my clan territories. I suppose you never had that . . . luxury. What you did, I heard, was beyond forgiveness."

Perrin said nothing: still circling, a.s.sessing. Burying all the emotions riding hard in his heart. Might be the sea, but this was still a prison yard: only one person could leave free.

A'lesander watched him, eyes narrowing. "Imagine. Perrin O'doro, getting exactly what he always wanted. A life on land."

"Yes, imagine," Perrin replied. "But you're still denied what you want most. Nothing can change that. And," he added slowly, "these territories don't belong to your clan."

"But what do you think the others might give me if I dragged you home?" A'lesander cut the water with his hands, finally baring his teeth. "You shouldn't have come here, Perrin. They won't just take your life. You know that."

"I know," he replied-and lunged for the other's throat.

Just a feint. When A'lesander raised his fists, Perrin dropped his right hand and shoved two fingers hard into his side, a trick he had learned in prison. Humans and Krackeni might be two different species, but the physiology was close enough to cripple. A'lesander cried out, twisting away-his expression not just pained, but shocked.

"Yes," Perrin muttered. "Things have changed."

A'lesander panted, clutching his side. "You won't stop me."

"I'm not here for you." Perrin sensed the woman behind him, and watched the other Krackeni's gaze flicker past his shoulder. His mouth tightened into a hard white line.

"No-" A'lesander began, still looking at her-but Perrin slammed a fist into his head before he could finish. He followed with another punishing blow, and another, and another. He gave him no chance to recover. Long ago, he might have. Long ago, he would never have raised his fists. But those days were gone.

Blood spurted from A'lesander's nose. Part of his cheek looked dented. He fumbled in the water, trying to dive, but Perrin grabbed his hair and finished him off with one last blow. Suffering, for a brief moment, A'lesander's dazed gaze, which was hateful and stunned, and brought back too many memories.

The Krackeni went limp in the water. Perrin didn't let go. He stared, breathing hard, taking in that familiar, broken face. Wondering how the fight could be over so quickly. It didn't seem right.

Nor was it right to see him again. Now. Here.

He looked for the woman, but she was gone. Panicked, he released A'lesander and dove beneath the surface. He found her only a foot or so down, kicking hard, staring in his direction with those clear green eyes. His pounding heart stopped, again.

He had found her. This was no dream. He could see her face. She was here, flesh and blood. Looking at her for the first time in sixteen years had left him so stunned, it was a wonder he had managed to bring her to the surface.

Now was no different. She was so beautiful.

He was suddenly afraid to touch her. She was much smaller than him, more delicate than he had imagined. His memories of her, as a child, were larger than life.

He held her carefully, hands curling around her bare arms. She was hot to the touch, feverish, and the light from above cast a white glow across her skin. Her gaze sought his, and he searched it for any sign of fear. Found none. Just a stunned sort of wonder, and awe.

Like time travel, as though Perrin was stranded on the beach again, little more than a boy. He could still see that girl in this woman's face-in the curve of her cheeks, in her mouth-and those eyes. He wondered what she saw when she looked at him, if she even remembered that day the same way he did; or whether the dreams meant as much. a.s.suming she had ever understood their significance.

You don't know her, whispered a small mean voice. Eight years of silence. She's changed. You have, too. Be careful.

Careful. If he had been careful, he would never have been exiled in the first place. Or come back.

Perrin pulled the woman to the surface, holding her head high. She sucked down a deep breath that ended in a raw, hacking cough.

"Are you hurt?" he asked roughly, rubbing his aching eyes with the back of his hand.

"No," she replied, hoa.r.s.e. "Y-you?"

He was surprised she asked. All he could do was shake his head, feeling dumb, throat too tight for words. His mind couldn't wrap around what was happening: seeing her, seeing A'lesander. All this, and the darkness stirring below them all. It was too much.

Perrin twisted around until he floated on his back. The sky was so blue. He held the woman close, one arm wrapped around her upper waist. She had no way of holding on to him with her hands, but he was nonetheless startled by the sensation of her leg sliding across his lower torso and tail. He flinched, and she froze.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "But I need -"

"Yes, I know," he replied tersely. "It's . . . fine."

More than fine. He savored the sensation of her body pressed against his own. Not a dream. This was real. She was here. Same voice, that glint of red hair. He had found the girl.

And it made him feel as though he were losing his mind.

Perrin swam them toward A'lesander and grabbed a fistful of his hair. The woman exhaled sharply, her breath warm against his shoulder. All of her was warm, so much so that he feared she was ill. Her gaze, too bright, traveled down the Krackeni's bobbing body.

"He's not dead," Perrin said, but that elicited no response. He wanted to hear her voice. He wanted to ask who had tied her hands and put her in the water, but he knew the answer. He couldn't imagine how this woman had gotten mixed up with A'lesander. His presence here, now, was a very bad sign.

Perrin pulled them back to the boat. Only when they were close to the ladder did he let go of A'lesander, and grab the bottom rung. His tail shifted, bones cracking; skin rippling in silver streaks as his legs re-formed. The woman stared down through the water, first in astonishment, then with a thoughtfulness that made Perrin feel ill at ease, exposed. Like he was a guinea pig. He tightened his hold around her waist.

"This may be uncomfortable," he said.

She gave him a questioning look, which ended in a grunt as he tossed her over his shoulder. She made no other sound as he climbed the ladder, taking care not to let her slide away from him. She almost did, and he was forced to dump her, rather awkwardly, onto the deck.

Perrin followed. "I promise to free your hands, but I need rope, quick. For him."

"Equipment bin," she said, without hesitation. Perrin scanned the deck-but stopped when he saw the body near the bow. Dolphin. He thought of Rik, and shook that thought from his head.

The woman followed his gaze. "I think he did that last night."

Perrin said nothing. He knelt beside the corpse. His hand hovered over the cold cracked skin, and that black glazed eye could have been a fragment of polished stone. The wound was vicious.

He heard a shuffling sound. Found the woman staggering toward the equipment box. He beat her to it, placing a steadying hand on the small of her back. She froze when he touched her, and he s.n.a.t.c.hed his hand away.

"I'll take care of this," he said, glancing back at the dolphin. Anger filled him, a primitive rage that started in his chest and rose high into his throat until he wanted to scream in frustration.

"Do you know why?" asked the woman, gesturing with her chin toward the corpse.

"Dolphins talk," Perrin replied, and sensed her frown before he saw it.

He grabbed the rope and strode quickly to the ladder. A'lesander continued to drift, but his fingers were twitching. Perrin jumped into the ocean, and hauled the Krackeni close, tying his hands behind his back with one end of the rope. He carried the other half up the ladder-braced his feet into the deck-and began hauling A'lesander into the boat.

The woman peered over the rail. "I suppose you know that you're pulling his arms out of their joints."

Perrin grunted. "You care?"

The woman gave him a long look. "Not in the slightest."

A'lesander slipped onto the boat, his arms twisted in odd directions. His dorsal fin flopped, and silver scales rippled from his torso down the muscular length of his tail. Perrin looped the rope around the Krackeni's neck-once, twice-and tied the end around his bound hands. No good restraining the rest of him until he shifted shape.

"Do you have a place to secure him?" he asked the woman.

She had been staring, and blinked hard. "Yes. Follow . . . follow me."

Perrin grabbed A'lesander's hair and dragged him off deck through the door that the woman pa.s.sed through. Bits of scalp tore away. He didn't shift his grip except to tighten his fingers, and refused to let go until she led him to a room that had to be hers.

"It's already been emptied of anything that could be a weapon," she explained, voice breaking on that last word.

Perrin tossed A'lesander on the floor and rubbed his hand against his thigh.

"Your knuckles are bleeding," said the woman.

"So is he." Perrin backed out of the room and closed the door. A thick board was in the hall. He laid it lengthwise across the floor-bracing it against the wall and door-and found that it fit perfectly as a rough lock. He suspected it had already been used as such.

The hall was small. Perrin had to bend over to keep from brushing his head against the ceiling. His shoulders touched the walls. The woman stood before him, a good deal smaller, though her gaze was bold-if not a little wild. A tic in her right cheek betrayed a hint of nerves. Perrin didn't know what to say to her, how to explain anything-or even how much he could say. He had no time.

"My hands," she said.

"Yes," he replied. "Knives."

Her bottom lip trembled, and she backed away from him, slow and careful. He followed, holding his breath, afraid he was losing his mind.

She led him to a kitchenette. He found a knife in a drawer. Her shoulders tensed when he picked it up. He wanted to smile for her but could not. Rea.s.surance had never been his strength.

"Turn around," he said roughly. "Hold still."