The worry that had been lurking beneath the surface of Nikos’s thoughts flared up, but he dared not reach for either Mikhail or Joey on the mythic plane. He could trust the mate bond to keep his and Jen’s communication just between them, but he wasn’t skilled the way Joey was in shutting everyone out except one person when communicating at a distance.
Once again he tried to shift, usually an internal impulse no different than getting up from a chair to cross a room. But nothing happened, other than a deep throb of pain. He was still physically depleted to a dangerous degree.
Mikhail emerged from the kitchen and joined them. His expression tightened to reflect the alarm Nikos was feeling as Bird filled him in on what had happened.
Jen turned an anxious face to him. “I can get rid of it, can’t I?”
“I don’t know,” Mikhail said slowly. “I don’t know if it will stay in you, though logically, what can enter can also leave.”
“Can I tell it to go away?”
Mikhail held out his hands in a mild shrug. “As Nikos told you, this is very new for us all. And as for Long Cang chasing after you, you must remember the last time he saw you, he left you for dead after Keraunos bit you. Cang and his people saw what the rest of us saw, how the oracle stone hesitated once it emerged into this dimension. Then it dropped to the ground to return to its ward in the collapsed cavern. They don’t know—none of us did—that it’s now just an empty shell. My suggestion is that you remain here, inside my wards, for now. If you decide to experiment, stay within range of the property. None of Cang’s watchers can get in.”
Jen’s eyes widened, then narrowed in that fearless look of interest that Nikos loved about her. “Experiment! I didn’t think of that. But it really could be useful, right? As long as I don’t suddenly start bopping around like a ping pong ball.”
Nikos reached for Mikhail on the mythic plane, a wordless touch that Mikhail understood immediately. He leaped down the shallow brick steps into the garden, and came to Nikos, who shared the thought: Jen still can’t hear me without physical contact.
At the same time, Jen was explaining her sudden transfer to Doris and Bird. “ . . . and before I could finish the sentence, I was here.” She mimed falling down. “Splat. Right on the grass in front of Nikos.”
“It sounds like you focused on him,” Doris said.
Mikhail said, “Can you reproduce the transfer? Try crossing this terrace to the other side.” He moved his hand from one side to the other.
“Okay,” Jen said. “As long as I don’t leave behind my spleen or a toe or something if I do it wrong, I’m game.” She blinked, frowned at the stone bench on the other side of the terrace . . .
Nothing.
She leaned forward, eyes narrowed.
Nothing.
She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, but nothing happened.
“Maybe that was it?” she said, turning toward Nikos. “One shot was all I got? Or maybe I only get to reach you.” And he heard her clearly on the mythic plane, I can live with that.
He wasn’t certain if she’d intended that, or if her skills were still ahead of her awareness of them. He sent back the thought, So can I, but she didn’t react. And so he regretfully closed the mental door against her, until she had more control over that form of communication. He was not going to betray the growing trust between them by inadvertently trespassing on her privacy.
Jen plopped down onto one of the stone benches. “I guess I’m a little disappointed. Weird, isn’t it? I wake up to a whole new world, but I want to whine about the things I can’t do.”
“Whine away,” Doris said. “Though that’s not really whining.
I think if it’d happened to me, I’d still be in my room climbing the walls.”
Bird said, “It’s past noon. Who’s ready for a late lunch? I have lots of leftovers from yesterday, and can warm them up in a jiffy—”
“Me, me, me!” Cleo appeared at the head of the pathway, bouncing happily. “We’re back! We took the bus again! It was so fun! I love the bus, so full of interesting people!”
“Did you enjoy your party?” Bird asked.
“Yes!” Cleo began chattering about the films the hostess had picked for the overnight, and the delicious foods they’d eaten—tacos! churros! nachos!—as Petra sidestepped and came toward Nikos. “Kyrios,” she asked in Greek. “Why are you in shifter form?”
He tossed his head in a beckoning motion, inviting her to touch his forehead—she, too, was still tentative at communication on the mythic plane, though she knew how to reach him in an emergency. As Cleo followed Bird and Doris into the house, talking a mile a minute, Nikos filled Petra in on all that had happened.
At the end, she turned her serious, wondering gaze toward Jen, who was talking to Mikhail. Nikos caught words like oracle stone and ward. Jen was getting a lifetime of shifter education in a morning. Pride surged through him, intensifying his love. Trust Jen to go right along with everything that had happened. Oh, they had so much still to share!
But Petra was speaking. “What can we do?”
Help her out, Nikos responded. We still don’t know if she’ll be able to shift. But if she does, she’ll need guidance at first. I can’t think of anyone better than the two of you.