“I do not intend to force you. I am merely presenting you with an opportunity to ‘broaden your horizons,’ as you say.”

“By causing pain.”

“If possession is performed well, it should not cause any pain. I do not expect you to possess a human. Certainly not tonight.”

“Then what do you want?”

He looked across the field. I followed his line of sight. The doe was scuffing her hoof against some flowers, watching them bob their heads. “Nuala,” I said.

“Yes.”

I watched the doe bend her head and snuffle at a patch of grass. I’d never considered practicing possession on animals. Animal minds were very different than human minds—less complex, less conscious—but that might make it harder. It might not even be possible for me to fit my human spirit into an animal body. Would I think like a human when I had an animal dreamscape? And then there were other concerns: Would it hurt the deer? Would she struggle against my infiltration, or let me straight in?

“I don’t know,” I said. “She’s too big. I might not be able to control her.”

“I will find something smaller.”

“What exactly do you want out of this?” When he said nothing, I continued: “You’re pretty pushy for someone who claims to be giving me an opportunity.”

“I want you to take this opportunity. I do not deny it.”

“Why?”

“Because I want you to survive.”

I held his gaze for a moment, trying to read him. I couldn’t. There was something about Rephaite faces that discouraged emotional guesswork. “Fine,” I said. “A smaller animal. An insect, a rodent, maybe a bird. Something with limited sentience.”

“Very well.”

He was about to turn away when he stopped. With a glance in my direction, he removed something from his pocket: a pendant on a thin chain. “Wear this,” he said.

“Why?”

But he was gone. I sat down on the edge of a small boulder, fighting a shiver of anticipation. Jax would be nodding his approval, but I wasn’t sure Nick would be doing the same.

I looked down at the pendant. It was about as long as my thumb, woven into the shape of wings. As I brushed my finger over it, there was a tiny tremor in the æther. It must have been sublimed. I pulled the chain over my head.