In between classes, studying, volunteering, and working, life was busy. Luckily, my hours at work were reduced, and I was only scheduled a couple shifts each week. Physically, I was inundated with cold sweats and migraines. Ash confirmed those were the same symptoms he’d experienced in the months before he’d linked with Melanie. He and I were together all the time, planning strategies for how we could infiltrate the Ray-pacs without them becoming aware that his loyalties didn’t lie with them. Ash adapted his schedule around mine. He even insisted on giving me rides to campus each morning and picking me up in the afternoons after my classes. I was adamant that I didn’t need a chauffeur until he basically reminded me he needed me for my Essence. He’d been extremely emotional – more fragile than I’d seen him since the day he’d spoken about losing his family. Standing in my bedroom doorway with a look of self-disgust, he’d said, “I haven’t intentionally stolen another person’s Essence, and believe me, I don’t want to.
