Sullha
She was dreaming, and she knew that because this wasn't her room in the dormitory, and Tomek wasn't sleeping next to her.
It was so strange that she was dreaming about a man and it wasn't a nightmare. It was the first time she'd had an erotic dream, and her body was responding in ways she hadn't known it could.
Yaaf's face was above her, and his expression was unlike any she had seen during coupling.
He wasn't looking at her as if she was a vessel, a slave with no agency who had to please him or suffer the consequences.
He was looking at her as if she was precious.
He was looking at her with love in his eyes.
So much love.
And then the scene changed, and they were no longer alone.
The others were there, appearing suddenly, first as apparitions and then solidifying.
Seven big males converging on the bed in the dark, watching, their faces all wearing the same expression, mirroring Yaaf's.
The same wanting, hungry look coming at her from seven additional pairs of eyes, fixed on her bare body, her breasts, their gazes not full of love like Yaaf's but full of lust.
The pleasure and warmth curdled to horror, and she opened her mouth to scream…
A hand closed over her mouth.
A large male hand.
Panic seizing her, Sullha shook awake, her eyes registering the dark room and the face hovering inches above hers.
The scream that had already been lodged in her throat expanded, choking her, and she threw her hands up to claw at the hand blocking her airways before registering the familiar features of the face that came with that hand.
"It's me," Yaaf whispered. "Don't scream. It's just me."
Just him? As if that was supposed to calm her down.
For a moment, dream and reality converged one on top of the other like two movies projected on the same screen, and she could not tell them apart or tell which one was what. The eight faces or the one.
"Can you promise not to scream if I remove my hand? You'll scare Tomek if you do."
Reminding her of her son was like a splash of cold water that dispelled the last vestiges of that dream, the horror draining out of her as if someone had pulled the plug on the pool of panic that had flooded her.
Only Yaaf was with her and Tomek in the room, his hand gentle but firm over her mouth and his eyes full of concern.
Her fingers on his wrist loosened, and she tried to nod, which was impossible because his hand was still holding her down.
Sensing the change, he slowly lifted his hand from her mouth, ready to clamp it back on if needed.
Sullha sucked in a deep breath and stared up at him, dread replacing the horror.
Had he entered her mind and seen her dream?
If he could skim thoughts of other people, he could collect their dreams as well.
Which parts had he skimmed?
Had he been there when she was writhing in pleasure under him, or had he arrived only to witness her horror when his friends had invaded their private space?
Oh, wait. There was no private space for them because the other seven were always in Yaaf's mind, seeing what he saw, feeling what he felt. They didn't need to be with her and him in the room to share the experience.
Sullha opened her mouth to ask but then closed it.
She was such a coward.
It was easier to pretend that the dream had never happened, that Yaaf had never told her that he loved her. Choosing not to ask, not to know, not to say the words that would make it real and require her to deal with it.
"You scared me," she whispered instead.
"I'm sorry." His voice was soothing. "I needed to wake you up, and I didn't expect you to panic when you saw me."
It was still dark outside the window, and there was no sound to indicate that anyone in the enclosure was stirring except for the night patrol. Beside her, Tomek was sleeping, his breathing even and untroubled despite the commotion.
"Why did you need to wake me up in the middle of the night? What's happening?"
"Dawn is approaching, and I need you to assemble the women. We are moving out today." Yaaf drew back enough to give her room to sit up.
The thin blanket slid down, and she was suddenly and absurdly aware of the dream and the way her body had reacted. The urge was to pull the blanket up with her, but she didn't want to pull it off Tomek.
His words suddenly registered, and she gasped. "Today?"
He nodded. "We had to change the timeline."
She stared at him. "But nothing's ready. The idea was to tell the women the exact timing during the evening meetings in the playground. How am I going to assemble them in the small hours of the night without raising the alarm?"
"I'll cover you. No one will see you."
"Why did you move the timeline?" The question came out before she could stop it. He probably couldn't tell her, but she had to ask. "Did something happen?"
He just looked at her for a beat, then shook his head.
"It's better if you don't know the details.
Not because I don't trust you but because if anything goes wrong, the less they can pull out of your head, the safer everyone is.
" He held her gaze for a moment longer. "All I can tell you is that it's necessary. "
Sullha understood.
She already knew too much, and so did the other women. They knew that their sons were organizing this escape, and it put Yaaf and the others at risk.
"So, how are we going to do this?" She slid out of bed and tucked the blanket around Tomek.
"Simple. I'll keep us from being seen the same way I do on the playground.
As long as you're beside me, no one will notice us.
You tell each of the women to go to the playground right after breakfast so it doesn't look suspicious.
They can only bring what they can carry without it being obvious. We will handle the rest."
"Why not wait for breakfast to do that? It will be easier for me to tell the women while they are gathered in one place."
"It will be much more difficult for me to shroud us with so many people around sitting close to each other. Besides, I want them to head out to the playground right after breakfast, which means that they have to bring what they want to take with them to the dining area."
That made sense, and it would also give the women a few hours to process the sudden change so she and Yaaf wouldn't have to herd a bunch of panicky and distraught females.
Yaaf looked at Tomek. "Is he going to be okay by himself here?"
She followed his gaze to her son. He was deeply asleep, one arm flung off the edge of the bed, his face slack and peaceful.
If she left now and he woke to find her gone, he wouldn't panic.
He knew what to do. He would get up and go to the dining area to look for her, assuming that she was serving the breakfast shift.
He wouldn't brush his teeth or wash his hands without her standing over him, but under the circumstances, it was such a small and inconsequential thing to worry about.
It didn't matter.
"He knows what to do if I'm not in bed with him when he wakes up. Sometimes I cover the morning shift in the kitchen, but I usually tell him the night before. He will just assume that I forgot."
"Good." Yaaf stood there as if waiting for her to walk out of the room in her night clothes.
"Wait outside while I change, please."
His eyes widened for a split second. "Right. I'll do that. I'll wait outside."