Page 29 of The Fate of Black Hearts

He sensed himself being watched and quickly closed his palm. The magic disappeared.

That Evie had disregarded his request to stay away should piss him off. Instead, excitement blasted through him.

The scissors shook on the table.

He could pretend he didn’t detect her, but he didn’t have time to play games tonight.

“It’s been barely a day since I saw you,” he said out loud. He stood and rotated toward her, butstumbled.Holy shit.

In the past, she’d been a shimmery ghost-like entity with nebulous form. Now, she looked almost solid. Themhismust’ve suppressed this ability like everything else.

“Did you mean it when you said you never wanted to see me again?” She crossed her arms and looked irritated as if she expected him not to hear him.

He could hear her.

Wow. He could hear her!

Excitement slid through him. In the past, he’d detected her presence and maybe sensed a laugh, but never heard her voice. This opened a world of possibilities. The wall of his forced solitude cracked to let in a blazing light of hope.

“I said it, didn’t I? You being anywhere near me is dangerous for both of us.”

“You heard me?” She grinned. “You heard me!” She did a little jig then stopped abruptly to point at him. “You can smile.” With a hand against her chest, she laughed loud and free. “This is incredible.” She frowned. “Wait. Were you always able to hear me and see me? You simply ignored me in the past?”

He shook his head. “This is new. As is me seeing you as if you’re solid and hearing you speak.”

She ran over to a small mirror and pointed. “I can see myself, whereas before I never could.”

He cleared his throat in an attempt to get control of the situation. “This dream walking is a skill like any other. You need to practice.”

“You can hear me and see me. I think I’m already a hundred times better.” Her smug grinalmost drew a laugh from him. When was the last time anything made him laugh?

“Speaking is okay. You should progress to being able to manipulate things in the place you’re visiting. Try touching me.” He held out his hand.

Her hand went through his when she tried. All he detected was a whisper of wind.

After twenty-something more attempts resulted only in failure, he dropped his hand. “Go away. I have things to do that threaten you if you’re found here.”

“You’re alone. Why is it dangerous?”

He turned away from her to sit back at the table and stare at the summonses.

“Have you done something terrible, and this is your prison? Looks gloomy enough.”

“This is my lot. I must remain alone.”Utterly alone.

“Oh, Dom.” She was close. He felt the whisper again as if she attempted to touch him. “You’re not alone. I’m here. You’re the only person I can visit like this. Maybe I have this ability so that you don’t have to be alone.”

Something warm touched his cheek. He jumped. “What did you do?”

She was right next to him. “I kissed your cheek. I can’t touch you with my hand, so I thought I’d…”

“No. Nope.” He put his hand over where she’d kissed him, stood while shaking his head. He backed away. “We’re not doing this. If they sense you here, they’ll hunt you down. Even I’m not sure I can protect you from them.”

“Whoexactlyforced you to be alone?”

The scissors rattled on the table.

He saw her reach for them.