Page 46 of Wrapped in Their Arms

Explosions of sound.Shouting.Thecabin doors burst inward.

Noelle’s heart clenched in her chest as monstrous pirates stormed the shuttle.Theywere huge—eight feet tall, with gray-green skin and jagged weapons.Thetwo fathers fought valiantly but were cut down almost instantly.Themother screamed, grabbing her sons.

One of the twins—so small, so brave—threw himself between her and the pirates.

No!No, don’t!Noellewanted to shout at him.

But it was too late.Theyshot him.Andthen… the screaming started.

Noelle wanted to wake up.Shetriedto wake up.Butshe was trapped, frozen in the dream—forced to watch as the mother was dragged away, her long hair tangled in the pirate’s fists, her cries echoing through the ship.

The remaining boy—left behind, all alone—collapsed onto the blood-slick floor, reaching out a trembling hand as if he could still stop it.

Her heart twisted.

Oh,BlessedVirgin…

The pain in that child’s eyes, the loss, the helplessness—it wasn’t just a dream, she realized.

It was amemory.

A low groaning sound broke through the horror.Adeep, guttural moan filled with anguish.Noellewoke with a jolt, heart pounding, her breath catching in her throat.

The sound hadn’t come from her or fromBright—it wasBurn, she realized.

She turned in the darkness, reaching behind her to gently touch his broad, bare back.Hewas curled away from her, the muscles in his shoulders bunched tight as if he were preparing for a fight even in sleep.

“Burn,” she whispered, brushing her hand over his hot skin.“Burn, wake up…Ithink you’re having a bad dream.”

He stirred but didn’t wake.

“They killed them all…” he mumbled hoarsely.“Allbut her.AndIcouldn’t save her—Icouldn’t move… couldn’tmove.”

Noelle’s heart clenched.Thatdream—hisdream.

We wereDreamSharing,she realized.She’dheard of the phenomenon before, whispered stories about how theKindredcould connect so deeply to the people they cared for that even dreams weren’t private anymore.

She shook him gently again.

“Burn, it’s all right,” she murmured.“It’sjust a bad dream.”

But was it?she wondered.Orwas it a piece of his past?

She shook him more firmly.

“Burn!”

He bolted upright with a gasp.

“Gods!”

Even in the pitch blackness, she could see the eerie glow of his eyes—like an animal’s caught in onrushing headlights.Theyglittered with grief and loss that tore at her heart.

“Burn, what is it?”she asked urgently.“Wereyou dreaming of the family too?Theone with two fathers and two sons?Werethey…were theyyourfamily?”

“They were,” he rasped.Heran a hand down his face, the sound of his rough whiskers scraping against his palm, loud in the silence.“Gods,Ican never get away from them—the memories.Ipush them down but they always come back.Fuck.”

Noelle sat up beside him, her body chilled now without the warmth of his.