Forever in the Past and Forever in the Future

Chapter 18

I wait as patiently as I can for Lenora to finish giving Kas a hug. She finally lets her go and kisses her on the cheek.

"I mean it. No more scaring me," she wags her finger

at Kas.

"I promise, Lenora. No more scaring you," Kas smiles back with a nod before turning to me. She takes her hand out of mine and brushes her fingers on the side of my face.

"All I want to do is pull you into my lap and hold you all night, Baby, but I need you to tell us about your vision before you forget. Can you do that?"

"Yeah b-but," she looks at me with watery eyes, "Can you tell me if James is okay? Was that real or part of my vision?"

"It was real, Kas. Don't worry, he'll recover. We can take you to the hospital wing to see him tomorrow. Okay?" Lenora squeezes her hand in reassurance.

Kas nods, looking at her hands for a moment. She collects herself so she can concentrate. When she's ready, she takes a ragged breath and tells us about what she saw.

"I think I saw some of the people who kidnapped me. There was a woman that looked just like Lenora, but maybe she was a little older? Or something about her seemed old, even though she looked young. She knew my name. She called me Iokaste. There was also a woman with dreadlocks and red eyes. She mind linked me, but it wasn't a real mind link. I could actually see her words in my mind."

Kas squeezes her eyes closed for a minute, then opens her eyes and looks at the nightstand. She grabs her journal and pen and scribbles something down on a page.

'Essai dynatós. Empistéfsou ta énstiktá sou.'

I trade a confused look. Kas has never remembered this much detail from a vision before, and this message in a foreign language is pretty specific. She only knows the little

confused look crosses Kas's face, "but I-I'm pretty sure it was the past. Not the future, like it usually is. It seems like it was a past life, but not one I already knew about. I was fighting alongside the woman with red eyes in an intense war. We knew each other, and she sacrificed herself for me, Bronx. She threw herself at charging werewolves. I

sternum while she talks. Her eyes aren't really

I ask as gently as possible, but in reality, I'm feeling a tinge of jealousy that Kas could have had a

like a mate bond. It was more like something connected our essences to each other,” her voice is soft, "She said something else

someone special to you? What did she say?" Lenora asks, smoothing Kas's partially dry hair. "Yeah, I think she was important to me. She told me she would always be there for me and when she died, it hurt so bad. It made me have this huge burst of energy come out of my body. I felt like a bomb was exploding out of me. And when I looked around, everything was...well, it was all gone. As far as I could see, everyone and everything was destroyed. Burned and flattened. I think it was because of the energy that came out of me. I don't

head on top of hers. As soon as I fold my arms around her, she begins to bawl. Between her sobs, she says she didn't mean to hurt James. She doesn't want to hurt anyone. We all know that. It was an accident, but we can figure

isn't the Kas who has become stronger every day since she came to Blood River. She isn't the Luna and leader that everyone loves and respects. Right now, she is a scared nineteen-year-old girl, who grew up not being able to trust anyone around her. She was lonely, scared, and trying to hide from the world. It's the deep dark part of her we all wish never existed. I know it will never go away completely. It will always be a part of who she is, but if there is anything I can do to keep it at bay, I will do it. If

phone ding. She looks down at

"Is that Musu?"

instincts',” she says with a knit brow as she looks at me

mate.

shoulders, and she shrugs back. Lenora gives Kas one last sympathetic look before kissing the top of her head and

send a mind

the

leave.

else has as much faith in her as I do. I

she pulls away from

I caress her face, hoping I can

she wasn't allowed to

be around other prisoners, unless they have developed Stockholm Syndrome. Then the captors would want them to convince the newer prisoner to stay and