Along both sides was a park-like setting with a meandering sidewalk and dozens of trees fit for the coming summer desert heat. But there were green-belts as well, a lot of grass. Because it was spring, there were burgeoning flowerbeds scattered here and there.
Small footbridges, many of them made of stone, crisscrossed the canal with cottage-sized homes along either side.
A much larger stone bridge, over which vehicles could travel, kept traffic moving through the area. Where does everyone park?
How easily she could communicate with him telepathically. We have long alleys here and the garages come off the alleys.
This is fairly new construction.
The development was laid out ten years ago. My husband bought a home for me here when we divorced. She’d already told him everything in the dreamglide, but she doubted he remembered it.
That was big of him. I approve. It’s a lot more than some have experienced.
I know.
He began to slow, another indication he knew where he was headed. He began his final descent toward one of the smaller stone footbridges. This is Talisman Bridge, isn’t it?
Yes. She wondered why he was stopping here and not taking her to her canal home.
We’ve been here before, haven’t we, in a dreamglide, I mean.
Oh, God, he was recalling another memory. Yes, we have.
Tears burned her eyes as he touched down on the stone path. No one was around, and they had the bridge to themselves.
When he released her, she stepped off his boot, slowly sliding her arm from around his neck.
She watched him. He frowned as he turned in another slow circle, taking in the entire area. “It’s beautiful.” He then shifted to face her. “You must love it here.”
“I do. When I’ve finished with my night’s work at the Board of Sages, I often come here, sometimes with my camera.”
He frowned slightly. “That’s right. You were a photographer before you became an alter fae.”
She had to smile. During one dreamglide, he’d asked her a dozen questions about how she’d gotten interested in photography.
He rolled his eyes. “I take it we’ve talked about this before.”
“I didn’t mean to smile, but you were so curious. You don’t remember our conversation?”
He shook his head. “No. Not about photography. Christ, this is bugging the shit out of me, that you hold this over my head.”
She drew close. “Brann, never. I would never.”
He scrubbed both hands through his hair, afterward pushing it straight back. She loved the look on him. “I didn’t mean that you hold anything over my head, not exactly. I hate not knowing, when you know everything. It’s an unfair advantage.”
She took a moment before answering him. “You, especially, would feel that way.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“Only that you like control. You even dictated what you allowed yourself to know about our dreamglide relationship. But you can have complete access right now if you want it. I have a block in place, and I can remove it, something I learned as an apprentice sage.”
She didn’t tell him the rest, that she’d been compelled to learn the skills because Neal Roche had attempted to hijack her once in a dreamglide. She’d barely escaped. If he’d gained control of her, she would have been lost to him for a good long time, possibly forever.
Brannick frowned hard, a pit between his brows. “You can remove the block right now, and I can see everything?”
She dipped her chin.
“Have you been edging the block out of place? Is that why I’ve suddenly been remembering?”