“What’s wrong?” Ada asks, her smile flickering.
My voice is thick when I reply. “Nothing. I’m just so happy to be here with you. Even if it’s not the real you.”
I expect dream Ada to look confused, but she lets out a deep chuckle and a moment later her form shifts into a different one. Ada’s pale white skin takes on a pink hue, her eyes becoming a vibrant fuchsia and her body morphing into a much taller, masculine one.
I scramble backward as soon as I recognize the creature beneath me.
“What the fuck, Rhys?” I glare at the love spirit with a shit-eating grin on his face as he sits up.
He chuckles, brushing some of the snow out of his dark hair. “What? You weren’t enjoying your sweet dream about the woman that you claimed you absolutely weren’t in love with but sacrificed everything to go be with? Without saying a word to your dearest friends, I might add.”
I wince. I’d honestly been too focused on helping Ada to think of anything else. He has every right to be pissed at me. Joining me in a happy, pleasant dream isn’t anywhere near as bad as me leaving without saying goodbye.
Rhys holds up a hand asI open my mouth to apologize. “Nope. Never be sorry for chasing after love at any cost.” He lets out a dreamy sigh. “Gods, you’re obsessed with her. It’s adorable. You have your first dream, and it’s about something mundane you could do in real life.”
I gesture up to my bare, maskless face. “Except this.”
Rhys frowns. “That’s your dream? To not have a mask that your new girlfriend isn’t bothered by in the least?”
“I guess so,” I say weakly, knowing it’s a little silly to care about that when I know Ada wants me even with the mask. “Probably better than dreaming about murdering that creep that tried to kidnap her. I still regret letting him go, but I didn’t want to upset Ada more.”
My friend’s eyes widen at my blithe mention of killing someone. “Someone kidnapped your human? Who was it? Give me a name.”
“Why? What are you going to do about it?”
“It’s that creep you mentioned before, isn’t it? I’ll take care of him.” Rhys’s tone is deadly serious, unlike I’ve ever heard him before.
I blink at him. “Uh, what?”
“I’ll take care of him.” Rhys looks down at his nails with an air of nonchalance, but there’s a violent edge to his words. We’ve joked about him shooting people with arrows and other things, but that was always a joke. Or maybe it wasn’t. I gape at this side of him I’ve never witnessed before, impressed and a little scared.
He smiles and pats my arm. “He won’t be a problem for you and your love. Go. Be happy with her. Have all the snowball fights and cute romantic shit of your dreams. You deserve to be happy without worrying.”
“Thank you,” I say, throat tightening with emotion.
Rhys smirks at me. “Don’t get all blubbery on me. You’ll see me again.”
“I will?”
“Well, yeah. I can come visit your dreams whenever youwant. From what you told me before, I bet they’ll be pretty wild and spicy.”
“Stay out of my sex dreams,” I growl at him.
He chuckles and shakes his head. “Fine, fine. You two are so connected that most of your dreams will be shared anyway. I had to shove Ada out of this one so we could have a moment to chat.”
“Don’t do that either.” I don’t like the thought of being apart from Ada, even in our dreams.
“Alright. But that means I’ll have to come visit in person, so don’t get mad at me if your girlfriend takes one look at me and ditches your ugly ass.”
I scoff, unconcerned. Rhys is as handsome as a creature can be, but I know in the core of my being that Ada is mine and I’m hers. The dreams he feeds on are those of mortal hearts yearning for love rather than visions from their slumbering minds, which means Rhys is more capable of going into the mortal realm without risking being unable to return home. Him visiting is a real possibility.
“I’ll take that risk.”
Rhys laughs again, but the sound is muted as something tugs at me, guiding me away from this scene. The dream is ending, and I’m waking up.
How strange.
“Goodbye for now,” Rhys says, pulling me into a hug. “And remember that the key to any good relationship is making your partner come until they see stars,” he adds in a whisper.
