Sophia nodded, not trusting herself to say the words.
She wanted him so very badly.
“I think it could work,” Rain mused, thinking out loud. “At least to heal his physical wounds. You told me before, during the abduction, that he seemed to heal faster from physical connection with you, correct?”
“Yes,” Sophia recalled.
Dalair had been severely wounded after they made their “escape” from their enemy’s cave. Better, though, than he was now. For he still had the strength to move and speak, to show her what he needed—the physical closeness with Sophia that accelerated his healing.
Kisses. Touches. Skin on skin.
And, ultimately…
But their lovemaking had not brought his soul back. He’d left her while she was still sleeping. And when he returned, it was as one of the enemy.
As if knowing exactly where Sophia’s thoughts had wandered, Rain said, “Perhaps you can touch his mind as well. Talk to him. Tell him how you feel. Touch all of him with all of you. Body, heart, and soul.”
“But he can’t hear me,” Sophia worried, then looked with cautious hope into Rain’s eyes.
“Can he?”
“There’s no harm in trying,” the healer answered. “I will confer with Ava to see what else we can do medically, but it will take time.”
Rain referred to Ava Monroe Takamura, human Mate to one of their Dark allies at the Cove, a member of the Chosen warriors that served King Ramses. Ava was a brilliant geneticist, and for a brief time, an unwitting contributor to Medusa and Wan’er’s experiments. If anyone could figure out how to reverse the turning, it was Ava.
“But…” Sophia trailed off, uncertain how to ask what was on the tip of her tongue.
Rain tilted her head in that patient way of hers, simply waiting for Sophia to continue.
“How do I do this? How do I begin?”
“What did you do when he was wounded before, Sophia?” Rain asked gently.
Heat involuntarily bubbled through her blood to suffuse Sophia’s cheeks with color.
The healer smiled a quintessentially feminine smile at the young queen’s silent response.
“Then start there. Give him your love. Make your Claim. True love requires no reciprocation. True love is unconditional. Just be yourself, Sophia. Give him all of you.”
Sophia was slightly startled when Rain enfolded her in a loose hug. The healer was not one for effusive demonstrations of affection, but the gentle embrace nevertheless soothed Sophia’s nerves.
“I will convince Valerius to give you privacy,” she said softly beside Sophia’s ear.
And then, she pulled away to hover her hand an inch from Dalair’s form, moving it slowly from the top of his head to the soles of his feet.
“There,” she said, though Sophia had no idea what it was she just did.
“I’m giving you command of the zhen that binds him, Sophia,” Rain explained. “They obey you now. They will keep him secure to protect you both, but should you wish it…”
Sophia understood. She could command the zhen to release Dalair as well as to restrain him.
“Be very careful, my friend,” Rain warned. “I trust you will do the right thing.”
Sophia regarded the healer for many long moments silently. She comprehended what Rain didn’t say.
What might be the right thing for Sophia as a female who desperately loved her male might not be the right thing for her people, and the races at large, as Queen of the Pure Ones.
Rain talked about giving her privacy. That meant shutting off the surveillance of this chamber. She was trusting Sophia with the enemy. If things went south, Sophia would not only be risking her own life, but the safety of the Shield and all its inhabitants as well.
The healer left after that, as gracefully as she came, all but floating out the double doors in a flurry of silk, shutting them behind her silently.
Sophia waited in silence, surveying the chamber with a scrutinizing eye.
After a few minutes, almost imperceptibly, the glow from hidden cameras in the healing enclosure stopped blinking. No one was watching any more. No one was listening.
She was entirely alone in the silence with Dalair.
Before she could second guess herself, she doffed her clothes with efficiency and climbed onto the padded table beside him. Naked.
She didn’t touch him as she lay beside him, only an inch of space between them. Though he didn’t give off the heat he usually did, weakened and wounded as he was, she could still feel the magnetic