Dreams Made Flesh

and shoulders. Every time I touched you, I hurt you, drained more of your strength because there was something else you had to heal."
    "That's not…"Jaenelle paused. Then she sighed. "In the beginning, that was true. Everything was so… frail… it didn't take much to cause damage. But I did heal. It's been months since I've been that fragile."
    He heard the words, but pain drove him now, forcing him to say what he'd hoped he'd never have to admit. "You suffered. Every moment you were awake, every move you made… you suffered." He still couldn't bear thinking of how much worse it had been when she'd first risen from the healing webs. How had Ladvarian, Kaelas, and the rest of the kindred who had cared for her endured watching her suffer?
    Tears filled his eyes. "I understand why you want me out of your life. Sweetheart, I do understand. But I'd hoped you could forgive me."
    Jaenelle s anger faded, but the hurt was still there. "Forgive you for what?"
    "You suffered… because of me. You rose up from the healing webs too soon… because of me."
    Horror began filling her eyes. "Daemon…"
    The tears fell. He choked back a sob. "They told me you would come back, but I didn't believe them. Couldn't believe them. I wanted you so much, needed you so much… and you came back too soon. Because of me."
    "That isn't true. The healing webs had done all they could and…"
    "Liar." He waited, but she didn't deny it. She couldn't…and they both knew it. "You could have stayed longer in the healing webs, could have given your body more time to mend. But you never could withstand a plea for help from someone you cared about. And a cry of pain from me?" He shook his head. "You would have answered that cry no matter what it cost you. You paid the price for my doubts, and there was nothing I could do to make it up to you."
    "Daemon…"
    "Do you want to try another lie and tell me you didn't hear me calling to you in the abyss?" he asked bitterly.
    Jaenelle's hands curled into fists. "Yes, I heard you. How could I not hear you? Begging. Pleading. I could feel you breaking under the pain."
    "So you rose out of the healing webs too soon and then discovered the flesh was barely able to survive despite how much healing had already been done."
    "Yes, I rose too soon…and then there was no going back. After that, the healing had to be done from within…and done in a way that only I had the skill to do. But it wasn't just you, Daemon. Did you think you were the only voice calling to me, pleading with me to come back? You were one voice among hundreds. All of them wanting me to return. I could feel Lucivar's and Saetan's yearning, the coven's grief, the boyos fear that, without me there as a connection for all of them, the Shadow Realm would splinter again, that most of the kindred would retreat from human contact again. And the kindred… They didn't want to let go of the dream either, and they held on with everything in them. All of you call-ing, pleading, hoping that love could do what shouldn't have been possible. Hell's fire, Daemon. I'm a Healer. I know better than you ever will what happened to this flesh when I got hit with the backlash of power still left in those webs I'd created. I knew the healing would be hideous and painful, and that after everything was done that could be done, I might not have anything better than a shell that would exist but never really be able to live." Jaenelle's eyes filled with tears. "But sometimes," she added, her voice breaking, "love is worth whatever price must be paid."
    Daemon turned away. He should have felt relieved that it wasn't his fault…at least, not his alone. But her words had numbed him. No pain now, no anger. Nothing. "So you loved them enough to come back."
    A long silence. Then Jaenelle said, "No. I came back for you."
    He looked at her, not quite trusting enough to hope… or believe. But the emotional pain in her eyes now was more devastating than any physical suffering he'd seen.
    "I came back for you," Jaenelle said, tears streaming down her face. "Because you were worth the price."
    His heart ached as emotions flooded him. Pain. Pleasure. And the love. Oh, yes, the love. "Jaenelle." His legs trembled as he took the few steps that separated them. He raised his hand, intending to brush away the tears, but he was still afraid to touch her.
    Jaenelle closed her eyes and took a few breaths before she looked at him. "I don't know if it will ever be better than this, but I'm