The smile was a wasted effort. He didn't glance up from his magazine. "Outside. You need a key."

She waited a moment, but he didn't move. Her friendly expression vaporized. She slapped her hand on his magazine and snapped, "May I have the key, please?"

The attendant gave her a nasty glance. She sneered back at him, feeling as if she had regressed to a snotty teenager. He shoved the key across the counter. She s.n.a.t.c.hed it up and stomped outside.

Michael stood by the car pumping gas. He had shrugged on his jacket, no doubt to hide his gun, and he stood hipshot, hands resting at his waist. He looked haggard as well, the lines of his hard face jagged.

She felt a ghost of compa.s.sion stir at the sight. This life had not been kind to him. In the glow of the station's lights his eyes were the color of pewter. He watched her with his Mister Enigmatic expression.

She forced herself to walk at a decent speed around the corner of the building. Once she was out of Michael's line of sight, she rotated her shoulders and stared at the open field that bordered the gas station. The ever-present forest lay just beyond. She felt the urge to run until she couldn't run any longer, just for the illusion of freedom for a few brief minutes.

"Mary, Mary, quite contrary," she muttered. "The freaky son of a b.i.t.c.h got that much right."

She jabbed the key into the lock and opened the door. The restroom looked as bad as she had expected, with a broken mirror, and a rust-stained sink and toilet. Her gaze bounced around, taking in the filthy floor and the lack of paper towels. At least the dispenser had toilet paper.

Her hotel on the beach would have gorgeous bathrooms with designer soaps and lotions, fresh-cut flowers delivered daily and Jacuzzi bathtubs. Populations of small island countries could live in those bathrooms. h.e.l.l, forget about the beach. Give her a bathroom like that, and she would take her entire vacation in it.

She shut and locked the door, and used the facility. Then she washed in cold water. There was no hand soap. Of course. When she finished, she studied the door. At least that was adequate for what she wanted, constructed as it was of st.u.r.dy metal. Better yet, it had the kind of lock that bolted from inside.

She gritted her teeth and lowered herself onto the floor in a corner as far away from the sink and toilet as she could get. Leaning against the wall, she closed her eyes and took deep breaths as she concentrated on relaxing and remembering how easy it had felt in her dreams to slip away from her body, like sliding a knife through whipped cream.

She could do this again. She remembered how.

She breathed in deep, slow breaths, and after a few moments, she slid away from her body. As the first pounding began on the door, she stared at her transparent hands, then at the crack down her torso that continued to bleed light.

Michael's deep voice reached her through the door. "Mary? Mary!"

She smiled and walked through the door.

She hadn't counted on Michael's thirty-plus years of experience, or his psychic sensitivity. His head snapped around as she pa.s.sed him, his hard-angled expression incredulous. They stared at each other. He said, "Jesus. What the h.e.l.l are you doing?"

She told him, I can't heal myself. But I remembered someone who can.

"Astra can heal you." He bit off each word. "We don't have time for this."

Tough, she said. We'll just have to make time. I don't know either you or Astra any longer, and I'll be responsible for my own healing.

He punched the door, a short, savage jab. "You don't know what the f.u.c.k you're doing. There are predators in the psychic realm as well."

Then you'd better stop distracting me, don't you think?

He punched the door again. "If I get inside that bathroom," he snapped. "I can make you get back in your body. Just remember that-and act fast."

She hesitated. That's it? You want me to try?

"If you think you can heal yourself, by all means do it," he said. "We need you strong and well, and the sooner that can happen the better. But pay attention. You are very visible to anyone who has the ability to sense you. The longer we sit still the closer our pursuers get, and you're using up strength you can't afford to lose. Now hurry."

New questions crowded her mind. She shoved them aside. He was right-she was using strength she could ill afford to lose. She could ask questions later.

She moved away from Michael, the gas station and the parking lot, until she stood in a clear wide s.p.a.ce of field. Even with the sun-filled s.p.a.ce around her she could hear whispers and rustlings. Dark things flitted at the edge of her vision, but she could sense that none of them quite dared to draw close in the full light of morning. Not yet.

She faced the eastern sky. The first tip of radiance appeared above the horizon. She caught her breath as she found she could stare at the sun full-on. Then as her centuries-dead Asian teacher had once instructed her, she called a long lyrical, physically unp.r.o.nounceable name.

Then she waited. Michael, her body and a growing collection of furtive dark creatures in the psychic realm waited as well. After several moments her bright and eager hope started to dim. She became aware of her waning energy and their increasing danger, all of which she had gambled in this desperate foolish experiment.

G.o.ddammit Mary, Michael roared. Come back.

She shook her head. No.

Whatever you tried didn't work.

Just a little longer, she gasped. Her astral presence began to flicker.

Come back now!

A hollow boom sounded as he threw his shoulder against the restroom door. He stepped back and began to kick it in.

She was about to admit defeat and return to her body when something far-off snagged her attention. She had the sense of an archaic being lifting its head to look in her direction.

A tremendous power shot toward her. It came from an impossible distance, moving with the speed of a lightning bolt. Even though she had left her physical body behind, her astral projection fell to its knees. The gathering of dark creatures hissed and fled.

The dragon flew across the rose and gold of the dawn. Her spirit leaped at the sight of its immense, undulating body and a wingspan that draped the sky. A creature of pure elemental energy, it was one of the monarchs of Earth's psychic realm. It plummeted to land before her. Then it raised its huge lion's head and regarded her with an ancient, tranquil eye.

She bowed her head. Honored One, this unworthy person's heart is full of grat.i.tude that you chose to answer her humble request.

Celestial Daughter, said the dragon. Its voice was a bell that shook the bones of the world. You have slept long and long. And you bleed.

This person will cease to exist unless someone wise in the arts of the realms should honor her with healing. Her astral presence trembled from the strain of being so long away from her body. She abandoned formal speech as she gazed up, into that swirling, alien eye. Our group owes a debt to this world that has not yet been paid, she gasped. I would not want to leave . . . without paying it. I thought you might help . . . for the love of my old teacher who was once your friend. . . .

I would for the memory of my old friend, and that would be reason enough, said the dragon in a gentle voice. But I would also help for love of the memory of your brightness that has now grown so dim. Come.

The dragon scooped her up in ma.s.sive, gnarled claws and bent over her. Feeling cradled in a strength that was as old as time, she abandoned all strain, all fear and pain, and rested in total trust.

Then the dragon breathed on her.

She plunged into a deep pool of lava. Her entire being caught on fire. The pain was a horrific, immeasurable shock. After the first few moments it also felt necessary, as it purified, strengthened and nourished her energy rather than destroyed.

Poisons, injuries and old soul scars smoothed away. Something in her that had been crippled long ago straightened gently into place.

When she had been burned to an essence beyond form, thought or words, the dragon stopped. Still she kept glowing, but it was no longer in gouts of uncontrollable, hemorrhaging energy. Now she glowed with a healthy bright color like a new-minted coin.

She had a dim awareness of Michael approaching with her body in his arms. He and the dragon spoke to each other, but she did not try to understand their exchange. Then the dragon deposited her back into her physical self.

Her head lolled. She managed to crack open her eyes. Michael held her against his chest, supporting her upper body while her legs sprawled on the ground. With her psychic sense, she could see the dragon looking down at her. Not yet capable of words, she pressed a hand over her heart in a silent gesture of thanks.

Now you are as you were meant to be, Daughter of the Sun, said the dragon.

Before either she or Michael could say anything, it launched with a forcefulness that buffeted them to the ground. When it winged away, the trees in the nearby forest bent and swayed as though from a violent wind.

She lay limp in the circle of Michael's arms, at first too replete and weak to move. She had forgotten the simple miracle of feeling whole.

She had, in fact, never known the feeling in this life. Tears spilled down her face. A muscle in Michael's lean jaw worked. He turned from watching the dragon's flight to press his lips against her forehead. His arms were clenched so tightly on her, she could feel his heart beating, too fast, as if he had been running for miles.

She looked up at him with pity and thought, he doesn't remember that he killed me.

Chapter Seventeen.

MICHAEL KNELT ON the ground and held Mary, her head cradled in the crook of one arm as he stared into her eyes. They were as beautiful as the rest of her, jeweled and bright, a vivid, aquamarine blue. She gazed back at him, her expression grave, even compa.s.sionate, although he did not understand why she would look at him like that.

She was a game changer. This was a game changer.

He became aware that he gripped her too tightly again. He clutched at her as if he were afraid she might melt into nothing. He forced his arms to loosen.

She gave him a small, tentative smile. "It's better now, isn't it?"

He ran a hand down her slim torso, probing mentally at her energy. To his careful scrutiny, she felt burnished and whole. She felt magnificent. Sharp terror for her had spiked then vaporized, leaving behind a vast, dizzying void that made his ears ring.

He whispered, "It's so much better now."

She put a hand over his as it rested on her flat abdomen. "They can't trace me like this anymore, can they?"

"No, they can't," he said. "You're no longer shining like a beacon in the psychic realm, which means our day just got much better." He lifted his head to study the field and the nearby buildings, frowning.

Her smile vanished. She sat up, out of his arms, and looked around too. "Then what's wrong?"

"You know how I said there are predators in the psychic realm?" He glanced down at her. "Some have gathered around, hoping to feed, but they can't hurt you now. Still, we need to leave this place."

She struggled to get to her feet. Her movements were slow and clumsy, and it was clear that she was hurting. The dragon's healing had been purely psychic, so she still retained all the physical soreness from her earlier injuries. Before he thought about it, he slipped an arm around her and lifted her upright.

She gave him another guarded glance, murmuring thanks. Why did she look at him like that?

His head was splitting. The pain was so bad it made his eyes throb. Despite the fact that she had changed the game, and they were no longer in quite the imminent danger of discovery that they had been, the sense of an oncoming crisis crushed down on him. He shook his head to try to clear it, to expand his senses to check their immediate surroundings. It was a mistake, and it made his head pound worse than before.

He managed to say, "Get in the car. I'll be right there."

She hesitated and looked as if she were about to say something. Then she must have changed her mind, because she limped toward the car without a word.

Changing the game. Changing everything.

I don't know you and Astra any longer, she had said. And I'll be responsible for my own healing.

Grimly he went into station to pay for the gas and buy yet more coffee, along with a travel packet of pain reliever. He tore the packet open with his teeth and dry swallowed the pills before scooping up the coffee cups and pushing through the door.

Mary's declaration was an outright statement of distrust. He couldn't blame her. What she said, after all, was only the truth.

But how would Astra respond to Mary's unpredictability, or her rejection of reliance on either one of them?

MARY CLIMBED BACK into the pa.s.senger seat of the car, still trembling and moving with care. She watched Michael step outside the station with two disposable cups. His expression was set in bleak lines, the skin around his eyes tight.

When he climbed in the driver's seat, she held her hand out for her coffee. She said, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" He didn't look at her as he started the car, glanced around and pulled onto the road.

"For what I said about you and Astra." She sipped the steaming hot liquid and lifted her eyebrows. The filthy little gas station produced a delicious cup of joe. Who knew?

"You only spoke the truth. You don't know Astra or me any longer." His voice was toneless. He was back to the stoicism of the soldier survivor. The car sped up to the speed limit and held steady.

She fastened the lid back on her cup. No matter how good it was, she couldn't face another swallow of coffee. Then she put a hand on his thigh. Under the covering of his jeans, his powerful muscle tightened at her touch. "What I said was only one version of truth, which can sometimes be as hurtful and misleading as a lie. I trust you."

"Maybe you shouldn't." His expression remained closed, harsh.

"Maybe I didn't," she said. "But I do now. Or at least I trust you far more than I did a few hours ago. But we've still had a long separation, and we've all changed. We need to get reacquainted with each other, with who we are right now."

There was a pause. He drank coffee and watched the road. "How are you feeling?"

"Indescribable," she said. She stretched and took a deep breath. "I feel clean and straight, like everything inside me has come right again, even things I didn't know were damaged. This might sound funny, but I've defined myself through a sense of being injured or incomplete for so long that I'm not sure who I am without it." After a pause, she said, "The dragon helped with my memory too."

His gaze shot to her. "Do you remember any more about the past?"

She chose her words with care. "The dragon didn't help bring back everything, but I remember bits and pieces. Some of my recurring dreams were from the life when I was wounded. What he really did was to help clarify everything. I understand better now some of the things that have happened. I suppose if I want any memories from other lives, I'll have to work at retrieving them like you did."

"Tell me." She heard buried in his quiet voice a desperate hunger. "I need to know what happened."

"I will," she replied. Her voice was as hushed as his. "I promise. But I'm not going to have that conversation with you while we're on the road."

His mouth tightened, and he rubbed his forehead as if it hurt. "It's too important to wait."

Why did he feel such urgency? Was he close to remembering for himself? She didn't want him to recover those memories when he was behind the wheel of the car.

"If that's so, then we need to find a safe place to stop," she said steadily. "We need real rest and real, nutritious food. I have no idea what happened to you before you caught up with me, but you had to have expended a lot of energy to find me."

His reply was slow in coming. "I did."

"I'm not surprised," she said. "I don't know about you, but I need recovery time. I worked a twenty-six-hour ER shift, and after that, there's been one crisis or epiphany after another. Half-hour naps on the run aren't helping. Coffee isn't doing a thing for me anymore. It's just making my stomach hurt. My body has had the c.r.a.p kicked out of it, I ache all over and I've had enough."

He glanced at her in thoughtful a.s.sessment. She also didn't like how he looked, but she didn't mention that. A small vein throbbed at his temple. His gaze was too bright and somehow feverish, his expression stark. She wanted to put her fingers on his wrist and take his pulse.

"A game changer," he muttered.

"What do you mean?"