It did piss me off, now that she mentioned it.
“I’ve had a lot to learn.” I gave her a searching look, hoping to see deeply and recognize my good friend. Her sensitive eyes, the ones that had offered trust, support and care during the last year and a half of my life, looked steadily into mine. She was still in there, even amid all this.
“It probably feels like an invasion of your privacy, but please know that I tried to shield you as much as possible. It’s just that...your energy was powerful. Is powerful. I can feel your pull even now.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I’m saying there were times when I was working hard to shield against you, and I’d still catch thoughts. Waves of emotion. Memories. Even dreams. I didn’t know what to make of it because I knew you were of Earth. I’d been in your mind, and I knew you had no idea about any of this, us or mylunate.”
“I drew you into my dreams?”
“Many times.”
“What dreams?”
“All kinds. Sometimes they were surreal, other times abstract scavenger hunts. A few times we went looking for your mother. I could always exit the dream if I wanted to, but hanging out with you in our dream state was so fun. We had some great times this last year, so I stopped questioning it and just accepted it as a kind of fluke thing. You’re powerful, Tay. You don’t seem to need mylunate for some interesting mindwalking.”
“I don’t remember any of it. How can that be?”
“You weren’t trying to.”
Oh, crap. Is that how Ryder had ended up in my dreams? Had I pulled him in? Was he truly not culpable? Had he been off minding his own business in his own subconscious la-la land when I yanked him into my fantasy world? My sexual fantasy world? Let me hang my head in shame. He probably thought I’d delivered an invitation. If that was true, it was no wonder he’d stayed to enjoy the sensual play. I couldn’t fault him for that.
“Should I apologize?” I asked hesitantly. “I mean, is it normal for people to jump into each other’s dreams here? Or pull each other into one? I mean, how does that all work?”
Cynthia shook her head with exasperation, her hair swinging gently around her face as she added, “Don’t you dare apologize to me. Look. Those of us born in most areas of the Sunan nation are immersed in the power that mylunate gives off from birth, because there are rich deposits sitting right under us. From birth, we can do all of these things that probably sound like sci-fi or something, but it’s just part of our reality. Kids have to be taught how to control these abilities in Sunan the way they have to be taught how to cross the street properly on Earth. It’s just a thing. Sometimes they end up in a parent’s dream. It’s also common for couples to share mental space for a little exotic fun.”
“Exotic?”
Cynthia actually flushed. Wow. “You can do anything in a dream, Taylor. You just have to know you’re in one.”
“I didn’t pull you into a...” How to put this delicately? What was a good way of asking if I’d ever subjected her to a sex dream? Or maybe it was better to just not go there. “Never mind. As long as I didn’t offend you or put you in a weird situation.”
“Never. And remember, I could have exited at any time if anything weird did happen. But it didn’t. And no, I have not been in your sex dreams.”
“I thought my mental wall was up.” I frowned at her.
“That was an easy guess.” She grinned. “You recognized my energy on some level without realizing it. You identified me as a friend and brought me in for some fun, adventurous times. You’re a busy girl in your sleep.”
“Recognized your energy?”
“Yeah. Like I can recognize yours. We each have our own, and if you start looking for it in the people around you, it will suddenly jump out at you.”
Man, did I have a lot to think about. If I’d recognized Cynthia’s friend energy when I needed it, what did that say about the kind of energy I considered Ryder to have for me?
“Let’s get you a shower.”
There was an archway at the far end of the big room. This led to a hallway where two rooms were located. I quickly glanced in the first as we walked by. It seemed to be a bedroom, but we walked by too quickly to catch more than a quick impression of neatness. The second was a bathroom, where I was blown away again.
Cynthia explained that there were a number of springs running throughout the Catacombs as well as on top of the ridge above us. Much of the water from the springs ran through the Catacombs, naturally seeping through soil and cracks in the rock to drain into the forest below, which was why it was so lush. Earlier Te’reans had learned how to harness it and redirect some of the flow in order to support life in the caverns.
“Wow. Natural plumbing?”
“Exactly. Never need to repair any pipes. At least not for the shower or the sink.”
Though clearly a bathroom, it was foreign looking, and Cynthia had to show me how to release the water in the bathing area so it sprinkled like a gentle waterfall from a natural overhead spout. A small hole in the floor by the side of the wall, about large enough to fit a golf ball through, allowed the water to escape, which she explained was its natural pathway. The hole led to the outer wall and drained to the forest below, as it had been doing for millions of years.
There was a toilet, and luckily, it worked much the same way toilets did on Earth. While an attempt to keep things natural was clearly prevalent, they’d had to make some compromises in plumbing.
The naturally warmed spring water felt great. It was the perfect temperature by the time it worked its way through the rocks, not too hot and not too cold. I could feel myself rallying as I soaped up with the good, spicy soap that Ryder used.
Okay. Confession time. Momentarily, and only momentarily, the scent took me back to the sexual dream where Ryder first gave me a cataclysmic orgasm, and my cheeks flushed with the memory of his rough skin skimming mine in ultraprivate areas. It’s funny how being naked in the shower of a guy you’re attracted to can make your mind go places. Involuntarily, my thighs clenched, and I felt my body warm. My heart double-timed. That led to the memory of his beautiful lips and strong hands running over me when we were in his bedroom back on Earth. It still had the power to give me goose bumps.
Hussy! My intellect wasn’t having it.
Cynthia, who’d stepped out to grab me some of her clothes, reappeared and kept up a steady stream of one-sided, soothing conversation about how the Catacombs were created and how the spicy-smelling soap was made locally from native plants known for their regenerative medicinal oils or something. I appreciated the distraction. There wasn’t a curtain for privacy, but I hadn’t wanted her to leave when I was just beginning to feel normal again, so she sat on the closed toilet lid with her back facing me.
“Okay. I think I’ve waited long enough. How the hell did you get here, Taylor?” Her voice drifted toward me impatiently. “It’s almost unheard of that any one of us brings an outsider in. It’s nothing personal. It’s just that after everything that’s happened to us historically, our people as a whole have nurtured a culture of exclusion. And after what’s been going on lately, everyone here is on high alert. There isn’t an open-door policy for strangers.”
I thought back to Ryder’s indecision outside the cave, how he’d seemed so reluctant to bring me here, and realized why he’d been uncertain. It had seemed out of character from what I knew of him. He was more the arrogant, take charge, I-have-all-the-answers guy, but he’d been fighting his inherent reserve. So why would he bring me here?