Weaver of Dreams (23 page)

His focused solely on his enemy, the one who had injured his woman.

He reached the man in the blink of an eye. Their bodies went down in a mass of flesh, limbs tangled in their struggle for supremacy. They rolled over the dewy grass until they came to rest with his opponent lying on top of him. The man’s back to Zane’s front.

Zane locked his legs around the man’s waist to hold him there and grabbed the arm that held the gun. Zane knocked the scrawny hand hard on the ground, dislodging the gun. It skittered just out of reach over the lawn.

The gun would not be how Zane would end this. Hand to hand, a fair fight would be the way this altercation would end. The honorable battle, though hard fought, was about to come to an end. With fatigue pushing down on him, he knew he needed to end this fast.

Zane gathered his waning strength and wrapped his arm about the man’s neck. His other arm wedged between their bodies, so his hand fisted on the back of the man’s greasy hair. A brutal snap and the man fell limp over him.

Zane ruthlessly pushed the body off of him and tried to stand. He made it to his feet, but as he went to straighten, the world tilted on its axis. He lost his balance, tumbled sideways a few steps before dropping to the ground.

Maggie ran to him, holding her side. She knelt beside him, and cradled his head on her lap.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his sole concern for her wellbeing.

“I’ll be fine. It’s a scratch.”

“Don’t lie to me,” he warned. Pain lanced through his body, taking his breath. He looked at his stomach. A crimson puddle pooled atop his flesh, spilling over his sides. Zane instantly realized the grave injury would mean his life.
As long as she lives, that’s what’s important.

“A few stitches and I’ll be good as new, Zane. The bullet went right through, just under the skin.”

He heard the sound of sirens in the distance and knew she’d be okay. That was all that mattered. Weariness closed his eyes.

“Don’t you leave me,” she demanded, her fingers smoothing his hair. “You said you love me. You better prove it. You better stay with me.”

Zane forced open his eyes, looking up at her tear-streaked face. He would have loved to stay with her, wanted to tell her he loved her, but as his stare rolled up to the sky above, he found himself unable to speak.

She leaned over him. “I love you,” she whispered against his cheek, before placing a kiss there.

A feeling of welcoming peace came over him as the darkness settled in to take his pain.

Zane heard buzzing, it hummed in the background like a corona discharge from an electric power line.

No light registered in his sight. His arm was cold, but the rest of him felt comfortable.

Was he dead?

If this was the afterlife, it wasn’t the way humans described it. No bright light or people he knew coming to welcome him.

Was this what happened when one of his kind died while in human form? Maybe there was no afterlife for Dream Weavers, just this darkness on the other side.

The buzzing changed, became clearer like the soft sound of fluttering wings in a flock of humming birds. Two distinct pitches vacillated back and forth.

Zane listened harder, tried to make out the tones. They softened into two distinct voices.

“So you are a friend of Zane’s?”

Maggie
, he realized when the sweet sound of her voice finally registered.

She spoke to someone in hushed tones. Was she dead too?

Fear flooded him, bringing with it a cold panic. He had done everything he could to save her. He tried, really did. But maybe it hadn’t been enough.

She told him her injury was not serious. Perhaps she had been wrong. It could be like that with a gunshot. A small, benign looking hole could mask internal damage too great to survive.

The sound of a second voice quieted his thoughts. This one too was familiar.

“Yes. I have known Zane for a long time.”

Gracyn?

She couldn’t be in the afterlife. That would be impossible.

His mind flew to the only logical conclusion, and it gave him hope. Desperately holding onto what the possibility would mean for him and Maggie, Zane struggled through his groggy haze, trying to reason this through.

He must still be alive. He and Maggie must be in the human world and Gracyn had come over into the dimension. It was the only thing that made any sense.

His eyes started to open, but the sound of Maggie’s voice stopped them.

“Then you are a Dream Weaver too?”

A pregnant pause hung heavily in the air.

“Zane has told you about us.” Gracyn’s low voice was steady but carried a subtle hint of menace. “Yes, Maggie. I am a Dream Weaver.”

“How did you know my name?”

“I have heard much about you.”

“From Zane?” Maggie correctly guessed.

Zane heard the rustling of soft fabric. The soothing scent of lavender surrounded him, bringing with it a sense of peace.

“Yes. He’s quiet enamored with you.”

“I feel the same about him.”

Zane remained still, his eyes closed tight while he listened to the exchange. Did Maggie actually believe him? Did she care enough to remain with him even if he was not human? The temptation to find the answers to his questions kept him motionless.

“Do you care for him, Maggie?”

“I do.” Her confession came on a sentiment-laden voice. Hearing the play of emotions in her admission made Zane’s heart leap for joy in his chest.

“But he deceived you, lied to you.”

What was Gracyn doing? Was she trying to drive Maggie away? The answer to Gracyn’s question kept him feigning sleep.

“He did it to protect me. I realize that now. Zane saved my life not once, but twice, from the Dream Stalker and from a real stalker.”

“So you care about him because he saved you.”

“That, and other reasons.”

“Do you mind if I ask why? He has saved many over the centuries, Maggie. The Peacemaker is very proficient at his job. And yet, you are the first human who has affected him to such a degree. Tell me why it is different for the two of you?”

“I don’t know what makes us different. I can’t answer for him. All I can tell you is how I feel.”

The support he lay upon, gave under a weight. The slight depression lowered the left side of his body. Gentle fingers threaded through his hair as the smell of Maggie’s shampoo wafted over him when she continued to speak. “The first time he came to me in a dream, something tugged at my heart. There was a connection the moment our eyes met. I see a kindness in him few men have.”

“Please, continue on,” Gracyn prompted when Maggie paused.

“I started falling for him as we walked through the brightly colored meadow; by the time we made it to the waterfall I was his. Each time he came to me in a dream we learned more about each other and became closer.”

“But then he ceased his visits.”

“Uh-huh and it tore my heart in two. I missed him so much and thinking he wasn’t real didn’t change how I felt.”

Zane could hear the misery in Maggie’s voice. It pulled at his heart.

“And when you saw him in the flesh?”

“I knew my dreams didn’t do him justice. He was even more handsome in real life. When he stepped out of the shadows that evening, my heart stopped.”

“So you find him attractive, handsome. Is that why you like him?”

Zane hoped it was not the only reason, though to be honest with himself, he was glad she found him pleasant to look at.

“I think he’s very good looking,” Maggie continued, “but that’s not what drew me to him. His personality drew me in, made me love him.”

It made his heart sing to hear her confession of love. He wanted to open his eyes, let them feast on the sight of the woman who loved him. The desire warred with the need to hear more. If he remained still, how much more would Gracyn cajole her into saying?

His curiosity won out, keeping the warrior stone still where he lay.

“And what will happen if he never wakes from his coma, Maggie? Will you go on with your life?”

There was an extended pause during which Zane held his breath as he desperately awaited her answer.

“It has been quite a week. A terrible week and I haven’t left his side. I will continue to come see him every day, even if he never wakes up.”

“I believe you, Maggie. I can see the truth of your conviction in your eyes. You should see it, Zane.”

The shock of Gracyn addressing him opened his eyes. Maggie gasped when he looked up at her.

She sat on his bed dressed in a pair of khaki pants and a red sweater that lovingly molded to her breasts. He ran his gaze over her, devouring her like a starving man does a meal. Her strawberry-blonde hair, pulled back into a braid, made her angular face and cleft chin seemed a bit more pronounced. Stark cheekbones shadowed the sunken flesh beneath. She looked tired, drawn, like she had not slept or eaten in days, and her petite body was a little smaller than last time he saw it.

Her eyes were the same, though, the same staggering shade of green with flecks of yellow thrown in to make them interesting. And in them he could see her love. It shown down on him with an undeniable truth.

“You’re awake,” she exclaimed, taking his hand in hers and placing it in her lap.

Zane gave her hand an assuring squeeze. “I love you, Maggie. I have since the first day I saw you in a dream.”

“Are you sure?” Gracyn asked from the other side of his bed.

Zane turned to look upon her in corporeal form. She was beautiful, with an almost ethereal look about her. Her platinum hair fell in long curls, flowing to her waist in waves. Her oval face and olive complexion were the perfect complement to her ruby lips. A petite nose sat between violet eyes which were outlined dramatically with kohl.

She wore a white gossamer caftan, so fine as to be called shear. Zane could see the silhouette of her body through the delicate fabric. She was a vision, a goddess any man would desire, but his libido didn’t notice. For him there was no woman other than Maggie.

“I’m positive I love her,” Zane answered honestly.

“Would you die for her?”

“I thought I did,” Zane replied. Maggie clutched his hand a little tighter.

“Oh, Zane. I thought I had lost you.”

He turned his head back toward the woman he loved to find tears in her eyes.

“I never want to leave you, Maggie. Tell me you accept me; accept who I am and I will remain with you for as long as I can.”

“Of course, Zane. Oh course, I accept you. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to be with you. If we have a week, a year, or a lifetime, it will never be enough. Almost losing you made me realize I want each moment I can have with you.”

“Do you reciprocate her feelings, Zane?” Gracyn asked.

“Yes, unequivocally,” he answered without hesitation, continuing to hold Maggie’s eyes with his burning regard.

“And you would give anything to be with her?”

“I’d give up all I have.” He raised a free hand and tucked a stray wisp of hair behind her ear.

“Including your friends, your life in our dimension. You would give up being the Peacemaker for her?”

Zane didn’t need to give the question a second’s thought. When he lay dying, he realized he was willing to give his life for her. Give up being a Dream Weaver for a life with her? Well that, as the humans said, was a no-brainer.

“I’d give anything,” he answered, looking deep into Maggie’s eyes.

“Are you positive? To be with her, you would even give your immortality?”

“Absolutely.”

Maggie brushed her fingers through his hair, in an act both intimate and comforting. “A wise man once told me, ‘if you don’t take extraordinary risks, you’ll lead an ordinary life.’”

Zane smiled, happiness filled him that she had remembered his motto. The soft sound of swishing fabric turned his head.

Gracyn’s eyes narrowed and she nodded once as if making a decision. Without a word she held out her hand over his stomach. Though it did not touch him, he felt something there. Zane looked down, watching as a soft white light flowed from his abdomen into her hand.

He felt the pull and flow of the energy. It didn’t hurt, but the sensation was most uncomfortable, like a part of him was being taken.

After only a few minutes, the light dissipated and with it, Zane instinctually knew his magick disappeared too.

“You are fully human now,” Gracyn announced.

Confusion worried Maggie’s brow. “What does she mean?”

Zane ran his thumb over the back of her hand. “Gracyn took my magick. I can no longer create a portal to my world, or enter my dimension.”

“What did you do?” Maggie’s voice thickened with emotion.

“It’s okay, Maggie.” Zane tried to sooth her, but he could tell it did no good.

“You took his friends, his world from him,” she accused Gracyn hotly.

“Zane made his choice, Maggie. He chose you. I only helped him to be able to remain with you.”

“Maggie look at me.” Zane waited until she complied. “We can be together now. Here in your world. Our world. If you’ll have me.”

“You saved me not once but twice. You’ve given up your beautiful world. You’ve given up your immortality for me. How could I not want you with all my heart?”

“So you’ll grow old with me?”

“Absolutely.”

Maggie leaned down, hugging the air from his lungs. It felt wonderful.

He reached his arms around her as best he could. The movement tugged the IV line taunt, causing a pinch to the skin on the back of his hand. “Ouch.”

“Just one of the many problems of being human, I’m afraid, Zane,” Gracyn informed him.

He smiled. “I’ll gladly bear any trial or tribulation to be with the woman I love.”

Gracyn smiled down on him. “I will miss you, Zane. You have been a dear friend throughout the centuries.”

“As have you, Gracyn. But this doesn’t have to be goodbye. You can visit in my dreams.”

She made her way to the mirror hanging on the hospital room wall and sent her magick flowing over it to create a portal. “Happiness and joy be with you both. Take care of him, Maggie.”

“I will,” Maggie promised before Gracyn’s form disintegrated into the mirror.

Zane closed his eyes, needing a moment to absorb all that had happened. He was completely human now. He could feel the difference in his body. With his magick gone he could no longer feel its subtle hum in his blood.

He would never be able to return to his marvelous world or again know the freedom of floating in the sky. Never glide on top of cool water, soar over a mountain, or see a sunset that contained every color of the rainbow.

And all he had gotten in return was . . . everything.

He had gotten Maggie.

“Are you okay?” Maggie’s voice drew him from his thoughts.

“I was just thinking.”

“About what?” she asked when he paused.

“I was just thinking we should . . . wondering if you . . .”

She lifted a questioning eyebrow and he took a deep fortifying breath.

“I was wondering if you would agree to be my wife.”

Excitement lit her eyes and brought a smile to her pretty face. “Yes! I’ll be your wife.”

Maggie threw herself over his chest in an awkward hug. It sent a pulse of pain through his wound, but it felt good. Pain meant he lived, as a human. And he would gladly endure anything to be with her.

He slid one arm around her back, holding her to him in a loving embrace. Pressing her head into his shoulder, he silently offered her his troth. Nothing in the world compared to holding the one you loved in your arms. In that perfect moment, Zane knew.