I looked around, spotting Rune’s glowing eyes and Oliver sitting beside me, looking horrified. Rubbing my wrists, I gulped down air, trying to calm the terror prickling along my arms. “Why are you here? What’s going on?”
He nodded at Rune. “She interrupted my boxing match with Ronen after she and Oliver couldn’t wake you. You were screaming.”
The lightning between his fingers vanished, and he helped me off the ground. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I lied.
“Bullshit,” Oliver snapped.
My hands shook, and my skin felt clammy. I probably looked like a mess, but I wasn’t about to talk about it in front of Alexei or the general. Even if I explained everything to them, what could they possibly do?
Maybe it was from the king’s illusions, or from Moira constantly threatening to restrain me, but for the past week and a half, instead of dream-walking, I dreamt of the same three things: Aspen, my mom, and my torture. And the horror always started with that female’s voice.
I wanted to believe they were just nightmares, but a part of me wasn’t sure.
I never dreamed. I only dream-walked or slept through the night.
So what were these?
Was she doing it—the female who guided me to Elora? Would Cato or the king know?
“I’ll be fine,” I said, biting my lip and glancing at Rune and the general watching us.
Alexei raised his brows, tilting his chin down as if to say he didn’t believe me. “Why don’t I show you two around town?”
“I—Why?”
First, Ronen had Alexei come wake me up—which, if he despised me so much, I figured he’d let me suffer. And now Alexei wanted to take us out?
He stepped closer, fingering a piece of my hair. “Can’t I just be a nice male who wants to take a beautiful lady and her friend to a warm spot with good food and drinks?”
“You could. But my track record says that’s not likely.”
Alexei smiled. “Then you’ll just have to figure out my ulterior motive while we’re there.”
I narrowed my gaze.
“Come on.” He laughed. “I bet you both are hungry. Plus, you two need to see something other than the castle and arena.”
I was hungry. And by how dark it appeared outside, Oliver and I slept through lunch. But more importantly, Alexei was always by the general’s side. Even if he had an ulterior motive, maybe we could use it to learn something.
“Okay, sure,” I said. “Oliver?”
“Anything to leave this castle.”
After bundling up, Alexei led us to a large outdoor barn. Long, black wooden planks lined the building, and brown trim broke up some of the darkness. Unlike the castle, the barn had the right number of windows. The castle almost had too many, making me feel exposed as I walked down the red-carpeted halls.
He opened two dark wooden doors. “This will save your legs for your next run.”
Black sleighs with red detailing lined the barn.
Genuine joy lifted my lips, pushing away the aftershocks of my nightmares.
“So is this how the souls and blood-banded move around when you’re not trying to torture yourselves with running?” I mused, stepping into the building.
Alexei snorted. “Actually, when we’re not in the mood for torture, we enjoy flying—or we blood-banded who have wings do. Angelic souls, unfortunately, lose their wings and powers if they’re sent to Hell, so sleighs are their best friends.”
I frowned. “But Ni used her power?—”
