Morgan to Mac and then smiled at Dink. âIâm right in the middle of it, Dink, having killer sex with guys who turn into flashes of light and disappear, and I still hardly believe it.â She shook her head and glanced at Mac. âIâm not complaining, though. Honest.â
Then she saw the somber expression on Macâs face and her heart fell. âMac? Is Zianne okay? Where is she?â
âAt the dream shack with Finn. We took her over in the hope that any Nyrians who might show up today could share energy with her.â
âYouâre not expecting many?â
âNot really, though we want you at the shack, keeping a steady stream of fantasies going through the array. I have a feeling most of the Nyrians will be preparing for tonightâs first shift change when they start their escape.â
âItâs getting close, isnât it?â She thought of the men sheâd been with last night, so excited they were finally breaking free of the Gar. How afraid they were of failure, but accepting, too. âThe guys with me last night, Ian and Darc, are more than ready. They didnât stay long, but they wanted me to know how much this means to all of them.â
Morgan nodded. âBolt said the same. In fact, I had hoped heâd be the one to teach me how to dissemble, but it seems their shift schedule wonât work for that. He was with us last night.â
Lizzie wrapped her fingers around Morganâs and squeezed. âAre you okay with that? With turning into nothing but particles and actually going on board the ship? Iâd be scared to death.â
He chuckled softly and patted her hand. âLizzie, Iâm so terrified we donât even want to go there, but I have to do this. I want to, and so does Finn. We talked about it, about taking a risk like this, and we both realize this is bigger than anything either of us has ever been involved in. Itâs huge. To be part of it, to do something no human being has ever done before . . .â He raised his head and glanced at Mac. âSomething else we discussed. If this doesnât work, Mac, if we donât make it, Finn and I donât want you to feel guilty. Youâre giving us an opportunity thatâs unique, thatâs impossible to explain. We donât want you having any second thoughts, because we sure as hell arenât.â
Morganâs comment slammed into Mac. His dark eyes glittered with the passion of his beliefs, yet his words were softly stated, given power by their seemingly offhand manner.
The power of what he offered, the amazing generosity of his words, threw Macâs brain into almost immediate turmoil. He blinked, trying to process what Morgan had said. It was amazing, that men he hardly knew would be willing to die for a goal Mac had worked toward for two decades. Macâs goal, not theirs, and yet Morgan spoke as if the danger was of no consequence, as if the attempt was what mattered most.
Who could expect such a thing? What kind of men were willing to give everything for someone they hardly knew, for creatures not of their world?
And yet . . . as Macâs thoughts went from logical and organized into an emotional free fall spinning out of control, the shift into chaos sent his mind into a rhythm that had been lacking. He discovered a pattern to the myriad twists and turns, the thoughts and ideas that for so long had felt like a convoluted mass of pointless incoherency. Morganâs softly yet powerfully spoken words forced an amazing clarity to Macâs mental process, until the convoluted threads of consciousness once tangled and knotted suddenly shimmered with logic and form.
Opening up in his mindâs eye was a perfect tapestry of his life now and to come, woven in all the colors of the rainbow. Instead of a mass of twisted knots, each thread was finding its place within the pattern, forming the image of what was to come.
In that image, he saw