come back from the Dreaming in sparrow form. Aznuts! She’s come back from the Dreaming in sparrow form? He jumped to his feet.
Shape-shifting in the dreamscape, fueled by the power of the Dreaming, was one thing. Dreams were easy to transform. With a little imagination anything was possible in the dreamscape, but physical metamorphosis was something far more. A lost power. He’d never heard of a psychopomp who could shape-shift and the Somnians didn’t have the ability either. Keoni didn’t even want to deal with how she’d ripped a hole in the dreamscape and transported his physical form from Hawaii to wherever the hell they were now.
Worse, she’d mostly closed the tear behind them but hadn’t completed the task—likely because she’d been terrified. Freaked out or not, no telling what kind of shenanigans would ensue if they left a gaping hole between the two worlds.
Keoni reached for the rip where it floated, framed in the opening of the shower, and laid his splayed hand against it. The pale blue of his Somnian ability shot out from his fingertips and lifeline. Securing the frayed edges of the breach by digging in with his nails, he rotated his hand to the left until the pathway between worlds closed completely.
Ciaran returned to her perch on the shower’s enclosing glass to stare down at him.
“Ridiculous.” Manu was a shape-shifter, and he couldn’t guess what else. He laughed. No wonder he and his brahs found her irresistible: power fed power.
Ciaran clearly took exception to his amusement. She flew at his face, batting him with her wings and twittering in anger. Feathers filled the air. Her frantically whirring brain was nearly impossible to read.
“Easy, ipo, ” he sighed and took a deep breath. Perhaps what she’d call the queen’s English would be a better way to go. “Sweetheart, you’ve got to calm down, or we won’t be able to figure this out.”
She continued to fly agitated circuits around his head. He extended a finger and commanded, “Come to me.” She squawked, balking at the demand. “Yeah, yeah. I know. Come to me anyway.” She flew several more loops in defiance before landing on the finger he offered.
Lifting his hand, he brought her to eye level. Ciaran blinked, inclining her head from side to side. One. Two. Three. She unleashed a stream of indignant twittering, reflecting the stream of expletives in her mind.
“I got that part too,” Keoni said, “but you chose me, so you get the Brahma bull and the horns.” Her answering chirp said bullshit .
He chuckled while checking her out. Pretty little thing. Bronze feathers and a fluffy white breast complemented bright eyes—eyes that indicated he wasn’t going to get away with his chauvinist antics. He gazed back into that brilliant stare. “Breathe, ipo, sweetheart.”
After a few moments, Ciaran’s tiny chest puffed and deflated slowly as she brought her breathing under control.
“Remember who you are,” he said, his voice steady. “Your human form is your most natural state, so it should be easy to return to it. You just have to remember who you are and your body will follow suit.”
At least returning to his body after going astral worked that way. His voice sounded sure. He wasn’t. She’d kick his ass if she figured it out. But he hoped reclaiming her human shape would be the same for her as returning to his body was for him.
Ciaran slowly opened herself more fully to reveal the doubt. “I feel like half the girl I used to be. And I don’t want to—I won’t go back to hiding out in someone else’s mansion.” Her wings fluttered as if an outward sign of internal conflict, but then… He allowed her to see herself through his mind’s eye. To feel the beauty he saw in her, things she had never seen in or believed about herself—and suddenly she longed to become the woman whose image she saw reflected in his eyes.
Before either knew it, he held her naked body cradled against his chest, their
Shape-shifting in the dreamscape, fueled by the power of the Dreaming, was one thing. Dreams were easy to transform. With a little imagination anything was possible in the dreamscape, but physical metamorphosis was something far more. A lost power. He’d never heard of a psychopomp who could shape-shift and the Somnians didn’t have the ability either. Keoni didn’t even want to deal with how she’d ripped a hole in the dreamscape and transported his physical form from Hawaii to wherever the hell they were now.
Worse, she’d mostly closed the tear behind them but hadn’t completed the task—likely because she’d been terrified. Freaked out or not, no telling what kind of shenanigans would ensue if they left a gaping hole between the two worlds.
Keoni reached for the rip where it floated, framed in the opening of the shower, and laid his splayed hand against it. The pale blue of his Somnian ability shot out from his fingertips and lifeline. Securing the frayed edges of the breach by digging in with his nails, he rotated his hand to the left until the pathway between worlds closed completely.
Ciaran returned to her perch on the shower’s enclosing glass to stare down at him.
“Ridiculous.” Manu was a shape-shifter, and he couldn’t guess what else. He laughed. No wonder he and his brahs found her irresistible: power fed power.
Ciaran clearly took exception to his amusement. She flew at his face, batting him with her wings and twittering in anger. Feathers filled the air. Her frantically whirring brain was nearly impossible to read.
“Easy, ipo, ” he sighed and took a deep breath. Perhaps what she’d call the queen’s English would be a better way to go. “Sweetheart, you’ve got to calm down, or we won’t be able to figure this out.”
She continued to fly agitated circuits around his head. He extended a finger and commanded, “Come to me.” She squawked, balking at the demand. “Yeah, yeah. I know. Come to me anyway.” She flew several more loops in defiance before landing on the finger he offered.
Lifting his hand, he brought her to eye level. Ciaran blinked, inclining her head from side to side. One. Two. Three. She unleashed a stream of indignant twittering, reflecting the stream of expletives in her mind.
“I got that part too,” Keoni said, “but you chose me, so you get the Brahma bull and the horns.” Her answering chirp said bullshit .
He chuckled while checking her out. Pretty little thing. Bronze feathers and a fluffy white breast complemented bright eyes—eyes that indicated he wasn’t going to get away with his chauvinist antics. He gazed back into that brilliant stare. “Breathe, ipo, sweetheart.”
After a few moments, Ciaran’s tiny chest puffed and deflated slowly as she brought her breathing under control.
“Remember who you are,” he said, his voice steady. “Your human form is your most natural state, so it should be easy to return to it. You just have to remember who you are and your body will follow suit.”
At least returning to his body after going astral worked that way. His voice sounded sure. He wasn’t. She’d kick his ass if she figured it out. But he hoped reclaiming her human shape would be the same for her as returning to his body was for him.
Ciaran slowly opened herself more fully to reveal the doubt. “I feel like half the girl I used to be. And I don’t want to—I won’t go back to hiding out in someone else’s mansion.” Her wings fluttered as if an outward sign of internal conflict, but then… He allowed her to see herself through his mind’s eye. To feel the beauty he saw in her, things she had never seen in or believed about herself—and suddenly she longed to become the woman whose image she saw reflected in his eyes.
Before either knew it, he held her naked body cradled against his chest, their
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