The call was loud, a flood of fear and confusion, an impression of strangling, of darkness and pain. She sent her answer back so easily it startled her. To reassure him, she tried to fill her mind with every beautiful thing she saw. She smiled at the demand in his voice; her heart somersaulted at the raw truth in his voice. He never tried to hide anything from her, not even his elemental fear of her leaving him to face the darkness alone. She sent it tenderly. There was no reasonable explanation for the joy flooding her at the touch of his mind lingering possessively in hers. She shied away from looking at that one too closely, too. He was more relaxed now, beating back his fear of isolation. She was teasing him. Warmth curled in the pit of his stomach. He had no memory of such a thing before Shea. There was no life before Shea. There had been only ugliness. His world had been torment and hell. He found himself smiling.