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.I couldfeel the emotion swirling around us, auras of color and light, and closed my eyes.“I can feel you,” I murmured,as his heartbeat picked up under my fingers.“I can almost feel your thoughts.Is that very strange?”“No,” Ash said in a strangled voice, and a tremor went through him.I opened my eyes, staring into his perfectface.“What’s wrong?”“Nothing.Just…” He shook his head.“I never thought…I could feel like this again.I didn’t know if it waspossible.” He sighed, giving me a pleading look.“I’m sorry, I’m not explaining it very well.”“It’s all right.” I laced my hands behind his head, smiling.“Right now, talking isn’t what I was hoping for.”Ash smiled faintly, lowering his head again.And froze.Frowning, I arched my neck, looking behind us upside down, and let out a squeak.Paul stood at the top of the stairs, staring at us with wide, blank eyes.Even though he didn’t say a word andprobably didn’t understand what was happening, my cheeks flamed and I was instantly mortified.Ash rolled offme and stood, his face shutting into that blank, expressionless mask as I tried gathering the frayed strands ofmy composure long enough to speak.Rol ing upright, smoothing down my tangled hair and clothes, I glared at my father, who stared back in a daze.“Dad, what are you doing here?” I asked.“Why aren’t you downstairs with the piano?” Where you’re supposedto be, I added sourly.Not that I wasn’t happy to see my dad actual y looking at me for the first time since wegot here, but his timing absolutely sucked.Paul blinked, still staring at me in a fog, and didn’t say anything.I sighed, shot an apologetic look at Ash, and started to lead him back down the stairs.“Come on, Dad.Let’s go look for a certain cat I’m going to kil for not warning us.”“Why?” Paul whispered, and my heart jumped to my throat.He looked straight at me with wide, teary eyes.“Why am I…here? Who…who are you?”The lump in my throat grew bigger.“I’m your daughter.” He stared at me blankly, and I gazed back, wil ing himto recognize me.“You were married to my mom, Melissa Chase.I’m Meghan.The last time you saw me, I wassix years old, remember?”“Daughter?”I nodded breathlessly.Ash watched silently from the corner; I could feel his gaze on my back.Paul shook his head, a sad, hopeless gesture.“I don’t…remember,” he said, and drew away from me,backing down the stairs, eyes clouding over once more.“Dad—”“Don’t remember!” His voice took on a pensive note, and I stopped as al sanity fled from his face.“Don’t remember! The rats scream, but I don’t remember! Go away, go away.” He ran to the piano and startedpounding the keys, loud and frantic.I sighed and peered over the railing, watching him sadly.Ash’s arms wrapped around me seconds later, drawing me back to his chest.“It’s a start,” he said, and Inodded, turning my face into his arm.“At least he’s talking now.He’ll remember eventually.”Cool lips pressed against my neck, a brief, light touch, and I shivered.“Sorry about that,” I whispered, wishing, selfishly, that we hadn’t been interrupted.“I’m sure that’s never happened to you before.” Ash snorted, and Iwondered if we could somehow reclaim that lost moment.I reached back and buried my fingers in his silkyhair, pul ing him closer.“What are you thinking about?”“That this has put things in perspective,” he said, as the rumbling piano chords vibrated around us, dark andcrazy.“That there are more important things to think about.We should be concentrating on your training, andwhat we’re going to do about the false king once it’s time.He’s stil out there, looking for you.”I pouted, not liking that statement.But Ash chuckled and ran his fingers up my arm.“We have time, Meghan,”he murmured.“After this is over, after your father regains his memories, after we deal with the false king, we’ll have the rest of our lives.I’m not going anywhere, I promise.” He held me tighter and brushed a kiss acrossmy ear.“I’l wait.Just tell me when you’re ready.”He released me then and walked downstairs.But I stood on the balcony for several minutes, listening to thepiano music and letting it take my thoughts to forbidden places.CHAPTER SEVENSUMMER AND IRONThe days settled into a safe, if not comfortable, routine.At dawn, before the sunlight touched the forest floor, I went out to the little clearing to practice sword drills with Ash.He was a patient yet strict teacher, pushing me to stretch beyond my comfort zone and fight like I meant to kil him.He taught me defense, how to dancearound an enemy without getting hit, how to turn my opponents’ energy against them.As my skill andconfidence grew and our practice scuffles became more serious, I began to see a pattern, a rhythm in the artof swordplay.It became more like a dance: a tempo of spinning, darting blades and constant footwork.I wasstil nowhere near as good as Ash, and never would be, but I was learning.Afternoons were spent talking to my dad, trying to get him to come out of his crazy-shell, feeling as if I wasrepeatedly bashing my head against a wal.It was a slow and painful process.His moments of lucidity werefew and far between, and he didn’t recognize me half the time.Most of our days progressed with him playingthe piano while I sat on the nearby armchair and spoke to him whenever the music stopped
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