of her feet. He loved to watch her while she slept and he felt desire

stirring within him. He bent over and gently kissed her naked

thigh. She moaned and shifted slightly in her sleep.

He was starting to get a headache. He went into the bathroom

and opened up the medicine cabinet, looking for the bottle of aspirin

he always packed anytime they went anywhere. He was prone to

anxiety headaches. A by-product of his constant worrying. He

couldn’t help it. He always worried. He shook out a couple of pills

and ran some water in the sink. He took the pills, put the bottle

back, and closed the medicine cabinet door. He saw his reflection in

the mirror. The emerald runestone in his forehead was glowing

faintly.

“Damn, ” he said.

He went back into the bedroom. Kira was thrashing and moaning

in her sleep, her head jerking from side to side on the pillow. She

was damp with sweat. The runestone in her palm was emitting a

soft blue glow. It was happening again. Someone out there was

dying.

He ran over to the bed and bent over her, holding her by the

shoulders.

“Kira! Kira, wake up! Kira!”

He couldn’t wake her.

“Kira!”

He shook her. She still did not wake up. She continued to cry out

and twist in his grasp.

“Kira! Wake up!”

He shook her as hard as he could, lifting her up and slamming

her back down against the bed repeatedly. Her eyes opened

abruptly as she awoke with a gasp.

“Jesus, ” he said. “Are you okay?”

She was breathing hard. “Yeah, I think so.”

He ran out of the bedroom and through the connecting door, into

Modred and Billy’s suite. Modred was sitting on the couch, a drink

in front of him. He was cleaning his 10-mm semiautomatic Colt. He