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“Here?” His brows rise as he looks around us. “Inside your mind?”

“Yes. A human man.”

“You’re the only one I see.” His green eyes hold mine as he grasps my hand and helps me to my feet. “I’m going to pull you back through again, okay?”

“Yes.” I nod and let the male lead me back.

CHAPTER13

RAIZ

* * *

Neev’s eyes flutter open seconds after mine. Her body is tense as she looks around the room, but then her gaze lands on me and her body melts into the bed. The beat of her heart slows back down to a more normal tempo.

“That’s never happened before.”

“What?”

“The man that was there. He, it didn’t feel right.”

“Did he threaten you?” I fight my talons' natural instinct to emerge at the thought.

She starts to sit up, but Hyva sets his hand on her arm. “Lie down for a while longer.”

“No, he didn’t threaten me, at least I don’t think he did. When did you get here? How long was I out?”

“We came as soon as Vynia called me.” I pull my hand from her hair. “We were already on our way back.”

I look over at Hyva and speak into his mind. “Can humans mind walk?”

“Not that I’m aware of from my research.”He frowns. “But if they possess that gift, it could be something they keep hidden.”

“Don’t do that.” Neev pushes herself up into a sitting position further away from both of us. “Don’t have conversations in your minds about me when I’m right here.”

“Apologies,” I say, immediately chagrined.

Hyva’s eyes meet mine. “This female is feisty.”

“You’re right,” he tells her. “We were just trying to figure out if humans could mind walk.”

“Clearly they can if he was able to be there.”

“Are you sure you weren’t in distress and that caused you to believe he was there?” Hyva asks.

“Yes. He touched me. I felt his presence just as I felt Raiz.”

Her eyes widen as a snarl rips from my chest at the thought of another male in her mind, touching her. Shame follows in its wake for scaring her, but before I can apologize again, she scoots forward and puts her hand over mine. It’s so soft and small in comparison to mine.

“It’s okay. I know how you feel about entering others’ minds. Thank you for scaring him away.”

Truthfully, I’m not sure if that snarl was about him being in her mind so much as it was putting his hands on her. It came from an inner, primal place I’ve never explored within myself. From the look on Hyva’s face, I can tell he’s thinking the same thing.

“I’m going to leave you with this.” He sets a bottle on the bedside table. “It’s a medication that should help with the pain from these episodes, perhaps even stop them. Though, I think we can all acknowledge that these aren’t regular headaches.”

“Probably not headaches at all,” she agrees.

“I’m staying in the guest quarters for the time being. Let Raiz know if you need anything from me, otherwise I’ll come check on you in the morning.”