Born Wicked

LXIII

I kind of thought there'd be an afterlife. I'm kind of pissed off to tell you the truth. I expected to see my mom and dad. I wanted to see Gran. I even hoped to see David and Margot Cross so I could tell them I 'm sorry they died because of me. And that I loved their son so much, that I saved his life by giving mine up.

Totally ripped off.

So, I float around. I guess this is it.

"Jayme," a soft sob.

Through the gauze I see Julian. He's sitting in the middle of a field. This looks familiar...

"What is this place?" I ask coming to where he is. I fold my legs under me and sit next to him.

He smiles. "I've been waiting for you."

I nod and stare off into the distance. Nothing but trees as far as the eye can see and one big, fat milky moon in a midnight sky.

I hug my knees. "So, you died too?"

He frowns. "Die? No... Jayme, you're not dead."

This surprises me. "I'm not?"

He shakes his head. "No, but I need you to come back."

I laugh at the absurdity. "I don't even know where I am."

He drops an arm around my shoulders. I shift closer to him. He's as beautiful as ever and I'll be honest, if I can't see my parents or Gran, I'll take him any day of the week.

"You're in the place we go when, you know, it gets bad," he says softly.

I frown. "So, how are you here?"

He regards me and there's a ghost of a smile. "The same way you were with me. In our dreams."

"This is a dream?" I ask him, I lay my head on his shoulder.

"This," he says, tracing my fingers which are splayed in the lushest, greenest grass you've ever wanted to see, "is a dreamscape."

"What's that?" I murmur lazily. His fingers feel good.

"It's what we've been doing since we were children, sweetheart," he replies gently. "It's telepathy."

I lift my head and turn to look at him. His blue eyes sparkle with wicked humor.

"Do you mean the dreams—"

He nods slowly, grinning. "Yes, Jayme. Although I will say I was pretty scared when I couldn't get to you right away this time. Kind of like when Shane..." he clears his throat uncomfortably. "Anyway, I've been pretty worried."

I'm kind of struck dumb. I don't know what to make of this dreamscaping, but I'll put a pin in it for now. For now, I'm so happy he's here. The black nothingness was pretty awful.

"You're not giving me too much energy, are you?" I ask him, worry creasing my eyes.

He shakes his head. "No, I can't. No one can. We were hurt pretty bad in the fight. Everyone is healing very slowly. Georgia and Paige are beside themselves."

"Are they okay?"

He nods. "Yes. We're all okay. Everyone made it away from that field because of you, Jayme-Lynn. You saved all our lives."

I blush and look away. I guess I'm still not comfortable with taking credit.

"Who saved me?" I ask quietly, pulling tufts of luscious grass out in my hand. "I was pretty sure that was it. I was going to die."