Lightning Strike (Skolian EmpireRuby Dynasty Book 1) by Catherine Asaro

Author:Catherine Asaro [Asaro, Catherine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-04-03T00:00:00+00:00

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…water cup. Beads of moisture cling to its outer surface, poised to slide down the smooth sides, surfaces swirling with clouds, blue, gray, white, swirling. A hollow cup shaped like a woman riding a centaur with six legs, four to stand on, two that paw the air… Instead of a head, a spout where water pours out, cool and sweet, running in a glistening stream, sparkling…

I woke up gradually, comfortably, wrapped in a blanket with a hard surface under my body. The floor. Yes, I remembered, I was on the floor. The cup image remained vivid in my mind instead of fading the way my dreams usually did after I woke up. I wasn’t thirsty, but I could see an afterimage in my mind of that cool, delicious water pouring out of a spout. How odd. I felt an urge to find a glass of water, and yet I didn’t feel at all thirsty.

Early morning sunshine lightened the room. I had slept on the floor because the bed was too cramped with Althor taking up most of the room. Joshua had given me a T-shirt to wear so I could wash my blood-soaked clothes, and they were hanging above his sink now, fresh and dry in the sunlight.

I rubbed my eyes as I rolled onto my side. A paper crinkled, and I found a note on the floor by my pillow. It was penned in Joshua’s sloppy handwriting: Hey, Tina. I’m at class. I’ll be gone all day, to lecture and then the library. Back this evening around 5. See you—Josh.

Now I felt guilty. Joshua hated getting up in the morning. High school had been pain for him, but since coming to college, he was in heaven. He could sleep until noon and study until the sun came up. He never signed up for morning classes unless he had no choice. If he had left early today, he was doing it to give Althor and me privacy, bless his drowsy heart. I looked to where Althor was asleep on the bed—

And he was wide awake, lying on his side, staring straight at me.

Althor didn’t need to say a word. I knew what he wanted. I climbed to my feet, letting the blanket drop into a pile at my feet. The t-shirt I had on was so big, it came halfway to my knees. A quick search of the cabinets over the sink turned up a battered cup made from orange plastic. It was nowhere near as beautiful as the one in my dream, but it would do. I filled it with water and brought it to the bed. As Althor pushed up on his elbow, I sat next to him and gave him the glass. He gulped it down so fast, he practically inhaled the water. Then he dropped onto his back and let out a relieved breath while the empty glass fell out of his hand, onto the bed.

“How do you feel?” I asked.

“Better.” He lifted his head and glanced around the room.

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