I’m doing what I can to enhance the medicine your father gave you, and I’ll do better work without any interference from you, thank you very much.
She . . . remembered that he’d tried to help her inside the tent, with Matas. Yes. That’s right. Matas had hit her, and—she wasn’t sure what had happened after that. She only knew she had failed to listen to X and she had suffered. She wouldn’t make the same mistake.
“I will. Thank you,” she said, and drifted off.
• • •
An eternity later . . . or perhaps mere minutes . . . the darkness faded from Vika’s mind and a fantastical dream took shape around her. She stood inside a shaded courtyard, jewel-toned flowers blooming in every direction, interspaced between towering white columns. On her right was a tall, muscled man she’d never before seen. He had dark hair and eyes the color of the purest ocean. His skin was a deep, rich shade of bronze, flecked with shimmers of gold. He wore a bright white robe and held a double-edged sword.
On her left was another robe-wearing male, and though he, too, was tall and muscled, he lacked the first male’s beauty. Pale, tangled hair shagged around a face with hollowed cheekbones and chapped lips. His skin was chalk white, and his eyes so light a green they would have reminded her of diamonds set inside polished jade if they had possessed any kind of sparkle. Instead, they were dull, lifeless. He was without a weapon.
Heart slamming against her ribs, she backed away from both. “Am I dead?”
Both males faced her.
“You’re here,” the dark-haired one said, motioning to the garden, “and you see me.” There was a layer of surprise in his tone. “Not even my charge has come here, and no one but him has ever before seen me.”
“That means you can see me, too, can’t you, pretty girl?” said the blond, grinning a siren’s grin despite his ragged appearance. “Let’s make out to celebrate.” He reached for her.
Just before contact she could not avoid, the other giant batted his hand away. “I will not allow you to harm her, fiend.”
Though the blond hissed, he didn’t make another move toward her.
She recognized their voices. The good. And the evil.
“Pay no attention to him. I am the one called X, by the way, and I have been helping you as much as I’m able.” The dark-haired male offered her a warm smile. “You are not dead. You live. You had a lot of internal damage from all these years with your father, but you are now healing quite nicely.”
X. The good. “Thanks to you,” she told him.
“And Solo.”
Solo. Her gaze swept the area. There was an alabaster bench a few feet away, but it was empty. “Is he here?”
“No. As I said, he has never traveled here.”
Disappointment filled her. “Where’s here?”
“Alloris. I am Solo’s Altilium, and to protect him from rejection, I have kept him away, guarding him until he’s ready.”
She was more confused than ever.
“I’m called Dr. E,” the blond interjected smoothly. He reminded her of her father, when Jecis spoke to the crowd inside the big red tent during a performance. A soothing tone meant to beguile, hiding a wealth of wickedness.
“He is not an Altilium,” the other said, “but an Epoto.”
“Am not.” The blond offered her a smile as well, but his was far from warm. His was all teeth and no substance.
“I don’t know what either of those things are.” Wait. She had heard their voices. Not just inside her mind, like before, but through her ears. Ears that had not worked in years. How was . . . why had . . . this wasn’t possible. Was it?
Her entire body began to shake. How long had she dreamed of such a thing? Craved it with all of her being? How many times had she cried about the fact that she would never again have it? Countless. And yet here, now . . .
Joy burst through her, as intoxicating as wine. “What do you want from me?” she asked, then blinked. Her voice! She’d just heard her own voice, as well. It was different from what she remembered, more grown-up, deeper.
I truly can hear!
“I’m not sure I’ll ever have an opportunity like this again,” X said determinedly, “so I’m going to throw a lot at you. Solo is a good man, and he’s attracted to you. You can grow that attraction. And if you do, he will allow you