“Of course I remember her,” Knox said. He gazed at me for a long moment before turning on the engine. “That’s what I don’t understand about James. Why doesn’t he remember his mate? The Elders don’t want us to forget what we left behind. They’re all for anything that makes us suffer whenever we go against their rules or expectations.”

His expression turned dark, and I hoped Knox’s mate hadn’t found the same end as Ever’s husband.

Ever and Cole. At least they are together now, I thought.

“I never met my mate,” Knox said. “Well, not in real life.”

“Why not? Couldn’t you find her?”

“I didn’t come to your world to try,” Knox said. “I told you James and I feel the same way about what goes on in Judaculla. I just determined it before I was due to leave Judaculla.”

“So you fell in love with your mate during your dreams?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Knox said. “We connected pretty quickly. In the beginning, we only shared dreams once a week or so. I guess we were about ten when the dreams started coming every night. They weren’t brief, either. Our dreams were extended, hours long. Somehow, we moved beyond our present, into the future. In our last shared dream, we went so far as getting married.”

Although I understood his reason for not going after his mate, it was heartbreaking to hear how much they had loved each other. They’d built a life together without ever meeting. I looked at him, amazed by the compassion he held, the willpower it must have taken for him to stay away from the girl he’d fallen in love with during their nighttime wanderings.

“I’m sorry,” I said quietly.

Knox sighed. “Don’t be. She’s better off for it.”

Having experienced life in Judaculla, I knew that to be true. “Do you still dream about her?”

“No,” Knox said. “It was hard in more ways than one, but I was able to close her out of my dreams.”

“How?” I asked.

“I stayed awake for a week. It got to the point that I started hallucinating about her. Those daytime images sort of swapped places with my dreams of her. When I finally slept, she wasn’t there at all. I never saw her again.”

“What do you think happened on her end?” I asked.

“No one knows,” Knox said. “Apparently, I’m the first one to ever end the dream sharing. I’d like to think that I died in one of her dreams.”

I couldn’t hide the shock in my expression.

“No. Not like what you’re thinking. I wouldn’t wish watching someone she loved die on her or anyone. But I hope her dreams led her to somehow believe I was dead. If she thought I’d died, maybe she could forget about me and go on with her life.”