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What kind of crazy dah she kept her face pressed into the palm of his hand she turned her attention back to the lake "I used to love co here," she whispered

Devon started in surprise as he turned toward the pristine lake The field surrounding it was covered with blue, yellow, and white wild flowers that flowed toward the edge of a thick forest The blades of grass, and wild flowers, swayed beneath the soft breeze that trickled over the toward the le tree was off to the side, a rope sas tied to a branch that dipped over the water He could al out over the water and released the rope

Though it could have been one of a hundred lakes in the world, it was not one that he had ever seen before "You know this place?" he inquired softly

She turned back to hirinned brightly "Oh, very well It’s Lake Waldorph Chris and I used to spend three weeks every summer at the camp just beyond those woods Those onderful suain; horror filled him as he turned from its smooth surface back to her This was not only his dreah he was the one that had brought her into the drea It hy she was not telling his he wanted to hear from her It hy her sorrow and reluctance were real It hy things were not going the way he wanted thean to go nu it He kne their minds had connected, knew he had been the one to do it But he’d had no intention of ever letting such a thing happen But while asleep, his subconscious must have reached out to hers It had taken hold of her mind, and drawn it in He had never had any intention of ever seizing hold of her mind, but apparently his subconscious had not felt the sahten or upset her anymore There was no reason for her to knohat had happened, how this had occurred, or the reason that it felt so real was because there were twoit It was better for her to continue to consider this just a strange, oddly real dream She could never knohat he hat he was capable of, what he could do to her He didn’t know her well, but she would run screa if she knew the truth, and he would not blame her in the least

The only problem was that no matter what she said, or what she wanted, he was afraid that this dreaht mean she wouldn’t have an option And he feared that neither did he They barely knew each other, but his ability had taken theht the happen before, had never lost control of his ability in such a way Even when he had been a novice, floundering and uncertain of his powers, he had never lost control of the that he finally knehat all of this nize the truth of it He still didn’t even have a place to stay in town yet and hadn’t intended to stay in town for er Noas fearful that hehis fingers through hers, he shut his thoughts off, not wanting to deal with theled h For now, all he wanted was to hold her, talk to her, and make both of their dreams come true

"Would you like to sit by the lake?"

Her face lit with pleasure, her eyes sparkedhe could to make her smile like that as often as possible "I would love to"

He led her slowly down to the water, stopping at the edge of the lake The water lapped gently against his feet "Just as war to cahtened briefly as a treh her "There wasn’t any time for camp once Luther and Melissa cahtly together as he thought over her strange words "Who is Luther?"

"Melissa’s father, adoptive father," she amended

Devon shook his head in confusion "I don’t understand What does he have to do with the fact that you could no longer go to ca her hair back as the breeze briefly picked up For a rief enveloped her and that lost look filled her eyes again But then her gaze cleared, and she s on tiptoe to kiss him briefly Devon started in surprise; he enjoyed the playful demeanor that suddenly enveloped her He was certain that it was not an attitude she had very often

"This is a dreary topic for such a wonderful dreaht now I think about it too often during the day"

Devon was once again confused as to what she was talking about What did Melissa’s adopted dad have to do with anythingcare of her friend, andthes were certainly not so the day, at least not as often as she had just suggested

Before he could question her further, she tilted her head to the side, looking i"

With that she released his hand and plunged into the water Her beautiful laughter trailed off as she dove beneath the surface Devon stood in shocked wonder for ati, and he could think of no one he would rather do it with

Cassie burst back to the surface, inhaling deeply Her skin gliainst her and drops of water clung to her as she sh hi, irresistible, and coan to wade into the ater

He was only feet from her when her head tilted to the side, her eyebrows drew sharply together and irritation flitted over her delicate features "What is that noise?" sheexcept for the gentle lapping of the waves against their skin "Alarone Horror and terror filled Devon as he looked frantically around for her It took him a few moments to realize that she had siood He still couldn’t help the disappoint waves He had wanted more time with her, wanted to enjoy her more, hold herfro the feel of the grass now It did not , he slid to the ground, draping his arms over his knees he stared at the serene lake that Cassie had placed here He wanted to know more about her He wanted to know about her days at camp, her childhood, and life experiences both happy and sad He wanted to know everything that there was to know about her, and he was tired of being avoided all the time

He did not care about the confusion and doubt that resided inside of hie talk, or the fact that he had lost control of his ability There was only one thing that he cared about now It no longer oing to get closer to her in real life He was going to make their dream come true