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But mostly, I wanted to know Wei because I knew that he was in love with me.
Maybe that was weird, maybe a little childish, but there was a part of me that really liked the fact that he was interested in me. Then again, I remembered hearing once that another person’s interest was the greatest aphrodisiac.
And when I couldn’t figure out what was going on in my own life, I liked to turn to the literary world.
Eventually, I settled on a novel I had already read before. There was something comforting about re-reading a story, as if you were having a conversation with a friend.
I expected to see Wei. I didn’t know why, but I did. Instead, tall and dark, Zane stood over me, holding Dmitri in one hand at the back of the neck like a very bad dog.
“We are the Sons of Vlad, created in the mirror of his image,” Zane said as if that made perfect sense. “Dmitri is the aspect of the beast.”
Zane’s smile was slow and not altogether kind. “I am the shadow.”
Zane raised his eyes to mine. The look he gave me was easier to understand. He was saying I was being stupid. Maybe I was. I just didn’t like to see people hurt, even if they hurt me. Empathy was weird.
“For which part?” I asked. “For the wild make-out session? For you eyeballing my throat like it was a tasty, tasty treat? Or for running away from me and leaving me with a throbbing case of blue-ovaries?”
“I will never make you do something you do not wish to do. I will only use that power on you to keep you from harm, as long as you, little necromancer, promise the same.”
“Somniamancy, or the magic of dreams, is split into several schools of magic. The first is dream walking, or the ability to insert oneself into the dreams of others in order to manipulate them or discern something about the target.
“A dreamscape is another dimension, accessible only by the unconscious mind. A dreamscape is created by a somniamancer, and is, in its own way, as real as the world we live in. The scape itself is malleable, as most dreams are, but the pain inflicted in these dreams is real, up to and including death. To die in a dreamscape
is to be cut from one’s corporeal body and thus die here in the terra realm.
I snorted. “You are the angstiest guy I have ever met, and I was in high school while the scene kids were there.”
“Okay, if there is no chance of me getting you out of those pants, you are going to have to chill out with the dirty jokes. Pervy puns are the best way to get me naked.”
“Forgive me, but your magic is…potent.” “I don’t even know what that means.” I remembered the way the magic had spilled out of me and into him, the way life had poured into him. I couldn’t quite resist the urge to reach out and touch his cheek. “Holy crap, you’re alive. You’re breathing.” He nodded. “I am; my blood…flows.”
