I can't help but giggle. "You're right. That does sound crazy."
Her mouth twitches. "I wish I was being funny, but I'm dead serious. You need to get pregnant, because the world needs your baby's help. We need all the half-drakoni babies we can get."
"Babies," I echo. "You really came here to tell us to make babies?"
They are born with strong names, Mhal says suddenly.
I straighten, looking over at my mate. What do you mean?
The babies. The ones that talk to me—the ones you told me not to talk to. My mate's gaze is startlingly clear, his eyes vivid gold even though he speaks of nonsense. They have strong names and strong minds. The Salorian will want to harness that. He is clever and will stop at nothing to expand his empire.
That's not very reassuring. “I can’t believe all of this is about babies.”
“It’s true,” Rachel tells me. “I know it sounds ridiculous, but the babies that are half-human, half-drakoni have some sort of extra-strong mind connection. Azar thinks they can all work together and seal off the Rift.”
Babies. It sounds…ludicrous. But the look my friend is giving me is utterly serious. Rachel’s not one to carry a joke for too long, so she must believe this.
"Before you panic," Rachel says. "Let me tell you what I know and what I'm working off of. You guys can make your choices based off of that. If Mhal wants to talk to Jurik, Jurik's willing to share his thoughts with him. If not, I understand that, too. You're in a vulnerable position." Her gaze is clear and honest as she looks over at us. "It's a lot to take in, but we need your help, and once you understand why we're asking, I'm hoping you'll make the right decision for everyone."
I turn to Mhal and give his thigh a little squeeze. Well?
Do you want me to talk to Jurik?
I want you to do what you're comfortable with. If you're not ready to talk to him, then you don't have to. Simple enough. I'm on your side.
He lifts my hand to his mouth, pressing a kiss to my skin. If it is a trap, you will help me come back?
If it is a trap, I'll destroy everyone involved, I promise him fiercely.
So bloodthirsty. He likes that I'd get so violent on his behalf. Very well.
And I can feel the moment Mhal opens his thoughts to Jurik.
29
MHAL
This world has taught me one thing—it is far easier to stay mentally “closed” to everything this world presses onto me than to open myself up. When I am in my two-legged form, with my mate at my side and her thoughts threading through my own, it is easy to push out the rest of the world. To ignore the drakoni minds that tap at my own, the children who try to shout their way into the edges of my mind. I push them away and focus on Jenny and Jenny alone.
And now I have to force myself to open up. To be like I was…before, in a time I can scarcely remember any longer.
But my mate is confused and unhappy. She wants to trust her friends, but they tell her horrible, dark things, and she wants me to reassure her. To find out the truth for her. I can do so by touching minds with Jurik, even if it means I risk myself again.
I will always risk myself for her, so the answer is an easy one.
It is easier than unfurling my wings, lowering the mental walls I have erected around my center-self. The moment I do, it feels as if I am…relaxed. Loose. Easy.
And yet…still in my mind. Still Mhal. Still myself.
Jurik prods at me, a silent request to touch minds. Even though my instincts flare with unease, I force myself to allow the connection, well-aware that this might be a trap, that the Salorian might be clawing his way back in even now.
I am not with him, Jurik says, and there is truth in his thoughts. Search my mind. You will see I tell the truth.
I do, pushing and probing through his thoughts. He is like me, scattered when it comes to his past, but utterly focused in regards to his mate and the child she carries. The human hive is as his female has told mine—the Salorian lords over the humans, keeping them in line, but he also worries over the Rift. He has felt the evil there reaching out, and he has felt it in his mate's dreams. Once I am satisfied that he means me no harm, he steers me towards the children. Have you spoken to them?
They have touched minds with me, but I pushed them away. My mate did not like it. She worried it was a trap.
They are infants, Jurik replies. Infants with strong names born of this world. Our minds are scattered and tethered by this land, but theirs are not. It is through them that we will be able to fight whatever seeks to come through the Rift. It is why you must have a child with your mate. We need all mated drakoni to reproduce to make these strong children.