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that they were linked. Kahli wondered if Will could sense her apprehension mingling with the cold fear in the pit of her stomach. It was trying to creep up her throat and choke her. Her fingers clamped down onto her forearms harder, trying to contain the panic that was rapidly growing.

Will placed his hands on her arms, and looked down into her eyes. His voice, earnest, pleading almost, "I won't hurt you. I promise."

Kahli's chest tightened. He knew what she was thinking. "Why can't I read your thoughts so easily? I feel you there, inside of me," she lifted a hand, pressing her fingers to her temple and looked up at him, "but your thoughts are muddled. I can feel them, like breath on my skin, but there's no meaning - just feelings without words."

"I can control the link a little a bit. While you slept, I had time to figure out how to seal off my thoughts. As long as I control it, you won't hear my musings, like I hear yours." As he said it, Kahli started to twist out of his grip, but he held onto her. "Please, don't look at me like that. I didn't do this on purpose. I couldn't lose you. I did it to save you. Please, you have to trust me on that."

"You're asking me to trust you - completely and totally - but you've shut me out of your head, meanwhile you can rummage through mine whenever you like?" They were nose to nose, Will's fingers tightly gripping her arms, holding her in place.

"It's not like that."

"Then, what's it like? Because it's like that for me" She looked into his face, breathless. Her heart pounded like she'd been running, and was unable to catch her breath, "Will, how am I supposed to trust you? Normally, trust is earned. Things and thoughts are shared. Friends confide in each other. There's no way for me to do that with you. You just know everything. It gives you power that I don't have. It's not a friendship anymore. I don't know what it is, but the linking has changed things. You can see a million things that can paralyze me. How do I know you won't use them against me?"

His voice was beseeching, "Trust me like you did before. Nothing's changed with that."

"You're wrong!" she said. "Everything has changed. You know everything about me and I know next to nothing about you." Pressing her eyes closed, she snapped her mouth shut and looked away. The tension in her arms kept her muscles corded tight, but she no longer tried to pull out of his grip. There was something about having his hands on her that she liked. She could feel his strength, his desire to protect her, but Kahli couldn't get past the link. A one-sided extension of trust wasn't a friendship. She would have never told him some of the things she knew he could see. Her heart constricted like a hand was squeezing it in her chest.

"What do you want me to do? Kahli, I'll do it. Anything." Will looked at her smooth skin, as she tried to get control over her emotions. They pounded into him. He knew how much she wanted to run away from him. He could feel it.

"Prove it."

Chapter 2

Looking up at him, Kahli licked her lips. They'd become dried and cracked. The movement stung more than it helped.

Will watched her, his attentive gaze unwavering. He was silent, breathing in long slow breaths, but Kahli could feel his pulse. She knew he was nervous, scared even. But, he blocked everything else from her. She didn't know why he'd be afraid of her. Or, maybe, he blocked her for another reason, but Kahli wasn't about to ask.

After a moment, Will broke the gaze and looked down at his chest. "If that's what you need, I will." He released her arms and started to peel off his coat. As his fingers worked the buttons on the front of his shirt, Kahli couldn't look away. She didn't know what he was doing. It was freezing, even with the fire right next to them.

"You saw the runes on my chest once before. Do you remember?" His fingers undid another button and his shirt began to fall open.

Now that he said it, Kahli thought she remembered something, but the recollection was fuzzy and faded, like an old photograph left in the sun, bleached white with all the details missing.

Brow pinching together, she