Until now, when she was showing him a sixteenyear-old Miles, a Miles who looked pretty muchlike the Miles of today.
That's Miles. He's my brother. He's eighteen and he just started college.Maggie paused, trying to feel what Delos was thinking. He's the reason I'm here.He got involved with this girl called Sylvia-Ithinkshe's a witch. And then he disappeared. I went tosee Sylvia, and the next thing I know I'm waking up ina slave-trader's cart. In a place I never knew existed.
Delos said, I see.
Delos, do you know him? Have you seen him be fore?Maggie tried to keep the question calm. She would have thought she could see anything thatDelos was thinking, that it would all be reflected inthe crystals around her, that there was nothing he could hide. But now suddenly she wasn't sure.
It's best for you to leave that alone,Delos said.
I can't,Maggie snapped back. He's my brother! If he's in trouble I have to find him-I have to helphim. That's what I've been trying to explainto you. We help each other.
Delos said, Why?
Because we do. Because that's what people are supposed to do. And even you know that, somewhere down deep. You were trying to help me in my dream
She could feel him pull away. Your dreams are just your fantasies.
Maggie said flatly, No. Not this one. I had it before I met you.
She could remember more of it now. Here in his mind thedetailswere coming to her, all the things that had been unclear before. And there was onlyone thing to do.
She showed it to Delos.
The mist, the figure appearing, calling her name.The wonder and joy in his face when he caughtsight of her. The way his hands closed on hershoulders, so gently, and the look of inexpressibletenderness in his eyes.
And then -I remember!Maggie said. Youtold meto look for a pass,underneath a rock thatlooked likea wave about to break You told me to get awayfromhere, to escape. Andthen...
She remembered what had happened then, andfaltered.
And then he had kissed her.
She could feel it again, his breath a soft warmthon her cheek, and then the touch of his lips, just as soft. There had been so much in that kiss, somuch of himself revealed. It had been almost shy in its gentleness, but charged with a terrible passion, as if he had known it was the last kiss theywould ever share.
It was ... so sad,Maggie said, faltering again.Not from embarrassment, but because she was suddenly filled with an intensity of emotion that fright ened her. I don't know what it meant, but it was so sad....
Then, belatedly, she realized what was happeningwith Delos.
He was agitated. Violently agitated. The crystalworld around Maggie was trembling with denialand fury-and fear.
That wasn't me. I'm not like that,he said in avoice that was like a sword made of ice.
It was,she said, not harshly but quietly. I don't understand it, but it really was you. I don't understand any of this. But there's a connection betweenus. Look what's happening to us right now. Is thisnormal? Do you people always fall into each oth ers' minds?
Get out!The words were a shout that echoedaround Maggie from every surface. She could feel his anger; it was huge, violent, like a primal storm. And she could feel the terror that was underneath it, and hear the word that he was thinking anddidn't want to think, that he was trying to bury and run away from.
Soulmates.That was the word. Maggie couldsense what it meant. Two people connected, boundto each other forever, soul to soul, in a way thateven death couldn't break. Two souls that were destined for each other.
It's a lie,Delos said fiercely. I don't believe in souls. I don't love anyone. And I don't have any feelings!
And then the world broke apart.
That was what it felt like. Suddenly, all aroundMaggie, the crystals were shattering and fracturing.Pieces were falling with the musical sound of ice.Nothing was stable, everything was turning to chaos.
And then, so abruptly that she lost her breath,she was out of his mind.
She was sitting on the ground in a small cave lit only by a dancing, flickering flame. Shadows wavered on the walls and ceiling. She was in her ownbody, and Delos was holding her in his arms.
But even as she realized it, he pulled away and stood up. Even in the dimness she could see that his face was pale, his eyes fixed.
As she got to her feet, she could see somethingelse, too. It was strange, but their minds were still connected, even though he'd thrown her out of his world.
And what she saw...was herself. Herselfthrough his eyes.
She saw someone who wasn't at all the frailblond princess type, not a bit languid and perfect and artificial. She saw a sturdy, rosy-brown girlwith a straight gaze. A girl with autumn-coloredhair, warm and vivid and real, and sorrel-coloredeyes. It was the eyes that caught her attention: there was a clarity and honesty in them, a depth and spaciousness that made mere prettiness seem cheap.
Maggie caught her breath. Do I look like that? she wondered dizzily. I can't. I'd have noticed inthe mirror.
But it was how he saw her. In his eyes, she wasthe only vibrant, living thing in a cold world of black and white. And she could feel the connectionbetween them tightening, drawing him toward her even as he tried to pull farther away.
"No."His voice was a bare whisper in the cave."I'm not bound to you. I don't love you."
"Delos-!'
I don't love anyone. I don't have feelings."
Maggie shook her head wordlessly. She didn'thave to speak, anyway. All the time he was tellingher how much he didn't love her, he was moving closer to her, fighting it every inch.
"You mean nothing to me," he raged through clenched teeth. "Nothing!" And then his face was inches away from hers, and she could see the flame burning in his golden eyes.
"Nothing," he whispered, and then his lipstouched hers.