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As if he knew where my thoughts had wandered, he gave me a comforting smile that seemed to say, I’ll always be there for you, Vivi.
“There are a few things you can start with,” Vern said, sounding more like his old self. “Meditation, prayer, anything that brings you to the present and prevents your mind from falling down memory-lane.”
“Prayer?” Killian asked.
Vern didn’t seem like the religious type, but he never ceased to surprise me.
He nodded and explained to us how prayer was an exchange of energy. There was an intangible source of power inside all of us and various things could fill it, but prayer was apparently very effective at reaching the energy that existed beyond a Level Seven Light Tunnel.
“I’ve never thought about it that way,” I said. “I’ll try it.”
I’d definitely been negligent in my prayers since all of this mess started, which was probably the opposite of what I should do. My Catholic upbringing sometimes took a backseat, but I made a mental vow to do better.
Vern snapped his fingers. “Oh, and you can teach your dragons to make this.” He dug out a bottle from his pocket filled with dark liquid. “This is dragonfire concentrate. It’ll give you a temporary boost of mental clarity and focus.”
“Hmm,” Killian said as he took the bottle and examined it. The contents weren’t like corruption. Rather, it moved like fire inside the container while somehow maintaining a fluid-like texture. “How is it made?”
Vern gave Killian a wry smile. “That’s why Obsidian isn’t talking to me. You have to extract it from the fire glands behind their jaw.”
Ouch. That didn’t sound fun.
A jolt of annoyance hit me and I glanced up to find Solstice flicking her tail.
She seemed to be saying, No one is extracting anything from me.
The moment passed as a dwarf brought her and Topaz massive bowls of steaming brown liquid.
When they dove into it, I chuckled.
Coffee. Of course.
Ever since our trip to Earth, they’d been completely obsessed. It was nice that the Dean was spoiling them. They deserved it.
“How did you convince Obsidian to let you extract that?” Killian asked as he handed the bottle to me.
A very good question.
Vern winced. “I didn’t ask permission. I just caught him off-guard while he was sleeping.” He lifted his shirt, revealing a healing burn. “It didn’t end well.”
Snorting, I handed the bottle back to him. “He’s never going to forgive you.”
I meant it as a tease, but Vern seemed to take it to heart. “I’m going to miss him,” he said as his face dropped.
That familiar guilt hit me again.
Right, Vern was going to give up his life.
His dragon.
His mate.
This is so not fair.
“All right, mental training it is,” Killian said, diverting the topic. “But we should also split our time with physical training. From what I’ve read of the Shadow Realm, it’s possible that our dragons will be grounded for parts of it.”
Vern nodded. “And vampires are fast.”
I sighed. So, maybe there was going to be a need to use some of the skills I’d gained from my fencing training.
