The sound of splashing water woke me up, and my fingers reflexively slid around my staff.

“Water is so delightful.”

Jazmine stood in the middle of the stream, her diaphanous gown raised just above her ankles. She kicked the water and droplets shimmered across the air.

“Whenever Rachel goes away on business, she puts me in self-preservation mode. Just in case she doesn’t come back, then I’ll be free to carry out her last instructions.”

She waded across the water and knelt beside me.

“Do tell,” I said.

“I cannot.”

“Why not?”

“You are a variable in the equation.”