Shimmer |✓|

//Burn// Part 4

Adelle and Ethan left the castle as Jeeves escorted Chandler to his new quarters. The Alpha found me in the courtyard on his way out, poking his head around the castle wall to say good-night.

"You've got me on a roller-coaster, Memes. Whatever's bothering you, tell him. And get some rest."

I said goodnight, then sat back in the wooden swing, legs folded beneath the blanket as I mooned over the stars on the moor. I noticed them more often now that my Wolf was gone. It was an ache I hadn't felt since I lost my parents, and I hated dwelling as much as I hated to forget. I cleared my throat, wiping my cheeks with a sniff as I pushed those emotional walls back in place, lest Ethan come running to save me. It was a lost cause anyway. Stars collide, but when they fall there's no going back.

I swept my curls from my face, letting them go all at once. Damnit, how does Lucas expect me to fix the Alliance when I can't even solve my own problems?

I sighed, brushing away the mist coiling in my lap. "Seriously, what is the deal with this stuff?" It had been playing tag ever since my run-in with the Omega. For as long as I could remember, longer, it had overrun the moor. You couldn't see the grass for the rolling, impenetrable fog-opaque clouds, grey-white beneath the moon.

Something cold and wet brushed my fingertips. I glanced down, starting at the wolf-pup who had jumped to nuzzle my hand. Made entirely of dew, her shaggy body was corporeal as moonlight, forepaws leaving wet spots where they rested on the swing.

She scampered from my touch, returning to her home on the moorland, to chase her brothers and sisters through the stuff dreams like them were made from. I watched the mist-pups frolic and this time when the fog slithered in my lap, I didn't shoo it away. Instead, I raised my hand, letting it slide between my fingers like a lover's would.

A breeze stirred the cool night air as Tidus made his descent, the angel without wings. I made room for him on the swing and he took his place beside me, using his legs to push us back and forth.

"Are you okay?"

"What is?" My smile bloomed and faded. "You don't have to feel sorry for me, I don't deserve it. Chandler told you about the attack on the Midnight, but what he didn't say was that he got hurt. The Witches were following me, but they went after him when he revealed himself. They nearly killed Chandler--they would have... but I healed him."

"I know."

"You do?"

Tidus nodded. "I felt when you were in danger Naomi... and I felt when you weren't."How odd, to see a Vampire as strong and fierce as Tidus looking as lost and vulnerable as a Human.

"I'm sorry. I'm sure that must've hurt, knowing what was happening." I let my head hang, hands twisting in my lip. "I get why you and Addy and Ethan all wanted me to stay away from him--but less than a week ago, it was me putting everyone's lives in danger. Chandler stepped in when I nearly killed Collin--I don't regret asking for his help. Crazy as it sounds, he's actually teaching me." I sat up, chin resting on my knee, observing the pups as they zig-zagged through the clouds. "Today, I learned that Witches can see Chi. It'll take practice, but Chandler thinks I can do it. He knows things, things I need to know too. "

"Understood. But what stops you from asking me instead of him?"

"He... trusts me. Sure, he lied too, but we all have. The difference is that Chandler revealed himself to me. The real him. And for some reason... I don't think you've done that with me." I was duped. I thought I knew him. "Ti, why didn't you tell me about your name--the name you were born with?"

He rubbed the back of his neck then leaned forward with a sigh, hands on his knees. "Because if I told you about that name, I would have to tell you about the others, the ones I created for myself. And if I do that... bad things could happen."