by Rena Marks
“Bring her to medbay.”
They raced down the hallway just as others showed up. Robyn. Two of the male doctors on staff. Then he was laying her still, limp body on the exam bed and backing away so the others could work on her. He was barely aware of sinking into a chair, his head in his hands.
She’d tried to kill herself. Take her own life. He’d never forgive himself.
Next to him, someone sat. Blaze’s mate, Dr. Irina.
“Hey, buddy,” she said softly. “Can you tell me what happened?”
“The computer notified me of a problem with her vitals. I raced over and found her with the sleeping tablets all over the bed.”
“Was it a suicide attempt?”
“I think so. We had a huge fight. She went back to her own apartment.”
“Some of these tabs?” she asked, picking a few from his arm.
He looked down at himself. “Uh, yeah.” He brushed three more from his chest.
“Let me have them,” Irina said.
He stared at her, confused.
“She has high levels of B-12 in her blood. More B-12 than the sleeping medication. When she was prescribed the Systalize, she was asked if she was on any other medication, herbs, vitamins. She said there was nothing. But with these levels, it has to be added supplements.”
“I’ve never seen her take anything. When we went to the trial, she was nervous the night before. High strung, almost anxious like she had a caffeine buzz. She took a sleeping pill that night, and I fell asleep. I woke briefly and saw she was awake. I wondered why, but just assumed she’d turned over and woken and would go right back to sleep.”
“I think the B vitamins were interacting with her sleep aids. The question is, where did she get them? And why was she taking them?”
Amanda stepped near and Irina brushed the bits of cellophane samples into her hand. She took them away.
“She couldn’t have gotten them on Xenia,” he said. “She wouldn’t have had them in her bags. I’d have noticed. There was no point on Iota Nine when she was away from me. Not even for a minute.”
“Here we go,” Amanda called out. “We found two tablets on Leah. Three on Trance. Four of those were Systalize but one…one of them was a concoction of B vitamins, the primary ingredient B-12. Thing is: they look exactly like my prescribed dissolve tabs.”
“I’ll go search her room and gather up the rest,” Dr. Eric said. “We’ll test more.”
“There were two containers,” Trance said. “One fell out of her hand. The other was on the floor.”
“I’ll get them both,” Eric said, then left.
“Will she be okay?” Trance asked.
“I’ve given her something to counter the sleep aid, but she’s not waking by herself. We’re going to keep talking to her, hope she wants to pull through on her own.”
He took a deep breath. “When she sleeps, she dreams. She has an entire dream world in her head that she thought was hers—but it wasn’t. It was mine. I pulled her into my dreams and now she wants to live within them.”
“Your power.” Amanda breathed.
“Yeah. I think that’s why it was so bad when she’d first moved out.”
“She told me she felt guilty that she was keeping you up.”
“I think she felt guilty for the direction the dreams took. Then when she started dreaming more and more, she grew more tired because her mind wasn’t sleeping. It was actively participating in my world. She started to confuse the two realities, unsure of which one she wanted to live in. Maybe she was slipping into a trance instead of sleep—the way other Xeno Sapiens do. I don’t know because she was in her own apartment by then.”
Amanda was somber when she said, “There’s no choice here. To remain in her dreamworld means her body in real life will become comatose. A trance.”
“That’s okay,” Robyn said. “We can work with this. We’ll let her sleep all night and all day tomorrow if necessary. Obviously she needs it. But if she’s still sleeping by tomorrow night, or if things get worse, we’ll have you go into her dream and force her to face reality.”
“She was angry at me. What if she won’t listen? What if she wants to stay there?”
“It’s your dream, Trance. You make it uncomfortable for her in there so reality is a better option. You tell her you’re out here, on the outside, and to come where you are.”
Dr. Eric entered the room. “Here we go.” He had a plastic baggie of numerous cellophane pills and two boxes. “I ran the scanner through these. It appears the box that was running low was the one that had the substitution.”
“So, since that coincided with her nervousness at the trial—”
“Wait a minute,” Trance said. “They collected her blood for her DNA sample and eligibility for testifying.”
“That’s right,” Robyn snapped. She made a series of hand motions in thin air, and a hologram keyboard dropped down. “Thanks, Leo,” she said to the house computer.
“You’re welcome, Robyn. But if I may? I already have tapped into the Global Government’s determination of her blood sample on the stand.”
Robyn snapped and her hologram vanished. “What was the damage, Leo?”
“It appears Leah was already dosed on the B vitamins at the time of her trial.”
“So the night before when she was awake,” Trance said. “It’s possible she had taken a sleep tab, but it was switched for the vitamin. When I woke and saw her, she hadn’t just awoken. She’d been awake the whole time. Maybe she even popped another dosage, which wired her even more.”
“Who would have done that?” Irina asked.
“Leo,” Robyn said. “Can you check records at the hotel to see who had access to her bags?”
“Housekeeping. Management.”
“Cross reference the names for any relation to Leah Margulies or Brock Ciregna.”
“Done. Wilson Dolan is in management of the Bella Hotel. He was enrolled at the same college as Brock Ciregna. He attended several of the same classes as Ciregna in his first year before switching majors. Records show the two have kept in contact over the years,” Leo responded.
“Why would he only have switched out one box?” Amanda asked.
“The second, unopened box, was carried in Trance Xeno Sapien’s bag. Because of the specialized weapons, a bodyguard’s bag is inaccessible.”
“That’s right,” Trance said. “I brought a box in case she didn’t bring hers. I figured we’d have it as a back up and if she didn’t need it, which she didn’t because she didn’t run out, I’d give them to her when we returned to Xenia.”
“Instead they stole her box—probably during the dinner she said they gave you—and replaced the tabs with their version. Leo, what were Leah’s vitals before she fell asleep?”
“Her body was utilizing the B vitamins. Her heartbeat was no longer elevated. However, it increased at bedtime by double. In all probability, she took two tabs thinking she had to double on sleeping pills.”
“Perhaps she dumped them on the floor and decided to open a new box. When sleep didn’t come she took another couple from the real source. She grew sleepy immediately and that confused her,” Robyn said.
“So she reached for the pills again,” Amanda said. “I warned her that one pill would work instantly in the beginning until her body adapted and then she might need two. But she had to be careful because there was a fine line where too much could cause confusion right before she fell asleep.”
“It wasn’t a suicide attempt,” Trance whispered.
Chapter Seventeen
LEAH WAITED FOR HIM all day once she got back to her own reality. He never came home. She looked everywhere but no one had seen him. She dreaded going to bed alone that night. What if she woke in the wrong life? But she was tired and lost without him and finally fell asleep, fretting before it hit. In the morning she woke, looked warily around her, and a sense of elation hit.
She was in their bedroom still! He wasn’t around yet, but toda
y she’d find him because surely he was around here somewhere. She woke and showered, dressed, and then finally went into the main hub to found Shawn and Tempest. Her best friend told her Trance was on the beach at the man-made, salt water lake. Why would he have stayed away from her the entire day and night? Was he angry at her? They’d never had a fight before.
But she never hesitated like she would have in the other life. She headed straight over there.
There he was, walking along the beach.
“Trance!” He turned around as she started running.
She flung herself into his arms, feeling his warmth. His safety. His everything. This man was her entire world.
“Wife,” he murmured against her hair.
Her lips curled. “My husband. Hold me. Just hold me, please.”
“You shouldn’t be here, baby. You know that.” Very gently, he cupped the back of her head, bringing her head gently back so he could look into her eyes.
“I couldn’t stay away, Trance. I love you. I’d rather be here than there.”
He sighed, moving her to a seating bench. He sat down first and had her straddle his lap. She knew why. It forced her to look into his eyes.
The purple eyes with the gold irises. The one who’d never had to wear brown contact lenses.
“Leah, you have to give him a chance.”
“No. I can’t. This”—she waved her hand around—“what we have here is perfect. Nothing can compare.”
“You can have this out there.”
“No. Stop talking about the other world.” This was dangerously close to the behavior the outside Trance used. Forcing her to talk about wary feelings and stuff. Her husband on this side simply loved her. Supported her.
“I want you to be happy. I want us to be happy.”
“Then that’s here, Trance. Can’t you see that? We’re happier here than out there.”
His voice was harsh. “So I’m supposed to live with you in a coma? Because that’s what you’ve done to yourself. You popped so many goddamn pills you can’t even breathe. They’ve got you plugged into breathing tubes.”
She had a vague, confusing memory of her sleeping tabs flitting from her shaking fingers. “I—I couldn’t sleep. I don’t think I meant to take so many. You know I’ve been forgetful lately. Maybe I lost track of whether or not I took a dose and then doubled up. And then I wanted it to work faster so I took one more—”
“Leah.” His voice was ragged. “I don’t want to have to do this.”
“Then don’t,” she said. Something hard clenched in her chest. “Whatever it is, just don’t.”
His eyes were anguished. “I have to.” He took a deep breath. “You resent him. The other me on the outside. He’s not perfect. He’s invasive to the point he can make a person go into a trance if he wants them in a fucking dream. He lied, letting you assume he could invade telepathic links instead of your memories. He’s an asshole. He’s been cocky. But you need to know we’re the same person.”
“No. You—you are perfect. My husband is perfect.”
“You’re mad at him. He told you something you don’t want to hear and it pissed you off.”
“Yes, but I’m not mad at you. Never at you.”
“I am him.” He leaned in. “Baby, you know what the one constant is?”
“What?”
“You. You are the same out there and you’re the same in here, correct?”
Yes. In both places, her awake life and her dream life, she was the same. Scared. Stressed. Hiding. A little rabbit. She didn’t like that person.
Slowly she nodded.
“Then why wouldn’t I be real, too?”
She moaned because the walls of her reality were crashing down. “No. I can’t accept it.”
His voice was harsh. “You don’t have a choice. He’s devastated. Looking down at you while you’re in a coma. Begging you to wake.”
“I didn’t mean it!”
“I know.” He brought her head down to curl into his neck. “I know. But baby, we gotta get you out of here before you lose both worlds. Eventually your exhausted brain will give out…and you’ll be unable to dream. You’ll be a vegetable. Neither of us will have you then.”
“I don’t know…I don’t know how to deal with him. Out there. He knows things about me…” She curled her fist into the shirt at his chest.
“It’s okay. Trust him. Treat him like you do me. We’re one and the same…no matter how stupid I am on the outside and how perfect I am in here.”
She giggled softly. He was. He really was.
Her own soft laughter woke her. And it woke Trance, who scrambled up from the chair next to her bed to stand by her side. Somewhere behind her, a machine blipped faster as the dredges of sleep left her. Computer arms removed the breathing mask from the lower half of her face. Brief sadness hit, knowing she’d just left him behind.
He peered into her face. “Leah?”
“Hi.”
“Are you okay?”
She nodded. “I think so.”
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I kept it a secret. I didn’t tell you fully about my power. I let you assume I could hear private telepathic links, never once using the word dreams.” His face looked so dejected.
She reached up to cup his face. “Shh. You have nothing to be sorry over. It’s me. I’m sorry. I put you through the wringer over it and I shouldn’t have. I acted like everyone else who finds out about your ability. Rejecting you immediately.”
“No. You just didn’t want to leave your perfect dream world. Your marriage.”
“Yeah, it was pretty perfect, Trance. Can you blame me?”
His breath caught. He looked hopeful…and terrified.
She took a deep breath. “I want that world here. I want it with you. I love you so much.”
“I love you, too,” he groaned, his mouth covering hers. He pulled away to speak.
“You’ll marry me? Change your name this time?” He teased, nuzzling her nose with his.
“Leilani Xeno Sapien? I like it.”
Another deep kiss later, he pulled away. “What changed your mind? I destroyed your dream world.”
“You didn’t destroy it. You made me realize it wasn’t my fantasy. It was yours. You pulled me into your dream. And if you could give me a life that perfect, you’re a prize I don’t want to let go of, Trance Xeno Sapien. Ever.”
“I’m going to give you all of that and more, wife.”
She laughed. “My man.”
Chapter Eighteen
“THAT WAS QUITE a wedding,” Vien said, sipping at his champagne flute with his pinky up. He winked at her—with his third eye. The Xeno Sapien had one Cyclops eye in the center of his forehead and was quite proud to operate it independently of the other two.
Leah sighed. “It was perfect.”
“Trance says he’s on his way,” Vien said, his tone a bit monotone as Xeno Sapiens tended to get when they communicated telepathically.
Vien’s friend, Potierre, had readied a cabin on the outskirts of the city that they could use as a honeymoon suite. He’d taken Trance to it so Trance would know where to take her tonight. For her honeymoon.
A shiver hit her midsection at the thought.
“Now, milady, may I have this dance?” Vien bowed at the waist. She slipped her hand in his—and quite happily. Both he and Potierre were excellent dancers.
Sure enough, he led her around the dance floor effortlessly, her gorgeous white dress trailing behind her. There was clapping all around the room before others joined in more dancing. And it less than five minutes, Trance was tapping Vien’s shoulder to cut in. The Xeno Sapien bowed to her and she was swept up into her husband’s arms.
“Wife.”
“My man,” she whispered. “How did our honeymoon suite look?”
“I didn’t look inside,” he admitted. “I just wanted him to show me where it was. The inside will be a surprise we can explore together.”
“That’s why you were
so quick,” she said.
“Every minute away felt like an hour.”
She sighed. “It was such a great wedding.”
“It’s going to be a great honeymoon,” he whispered against her ear. “Are you ready to slip out while everyone’s distracted?”
It wasn’t as easy as they thought it would be. Whoever was in charge of the lights flashed them on and off as they made the way to the door, signaling their departure. Everyone began cheering and following them outside, where they proceeded to toss birdseed instead of rice.
A hovercar decorated like a carriage waited in the yard. Vien and Potierre acted as footmen, opening the door and helping her inside. Once Trance followed her, he swept her up along with her filmy white overflowing skirts to bring into his lap. More cheers erupted as the carriage hovered away.
The nights were getting cooler. With a touch of a button, Trance enclosed a force field around them so they could still see the sights but the cold air was directed away.
She sighed happily.
“Thank you for marrying me,” he said.
“I should be thanking you. I know mating is the way of your people.”
“I know how important it was to bring the perfect marriage to you,” Trance said.
The hovercarriage stopped outside a cabin. A sign that read Welcome Lovebirds was pounded into the ground. The fine print read: Enjoy your week-long getaway. It sounded more like a threat, like they’d descend upon them if they weren’t back to normal life in a week.
Trance leapt from the carriage and swept her into his arms. She tamped the fluff of white material down, giggling.
“Is it considered improper to want to toss this fluffy skirt over your head and have my wicked way with you?”
“I think it’s expected,” she shivered, pressing small kisses along his jaw.
“Everyone has assured us they will avoid this area of Xenia for one week,” he said.
“Great, my husband,” she teased. “We shall be quite vocal.”
“Wife,” he groaned, pushing open the door with his shoulder. He carried her over the threshold and straight to the bedroom, barely taking in the sights. The ambience of the softly burning fireplace. The soft lighting. More champagne and flutes in an ice bucket.
