She reeled, gasping for air, and felt herself fall through the black waves. Her body was plummeting out of the sky. She tried to reach for her bonds, but all she felt was silence. Her arms flailed, attempting to grasp onto a stronghold, but the air kept whizzing by her.
A scream built in her throat, but before she could open her mouth, a voice was shouting in her ear.
“Traia, wake up! Stars help me, open your eyes!”
Her eyes flashed open only to find herself surrounded in white light. She blinked, trying to take in her surroundings, but she could barely see in front of her.
“Traia! Your tether! Find it!” the voice shouted.
It took her several moments to remember the voice belonged to someone she knew, someone she cared for. Someone who helped her.
A tether. I have a tether.
Diving into her mind, she opened her hand and groped in the waves. A golden thread slid into her palm, and she closed her hand into a fist. The thread tightened, extending forward until it attached to a shining spot on the horizon of her mind.
Stars. The Stars are my tether.
As soon as the tether anchored, the glow around her dimmed, and her eyes refocused. A blurry face in front of her began to clear, until she finally recognized the source of the voice.
“Draven?” she asked, her throat hoarse and dry.
His hands were on her shoulders, a look of panic in his eyes. He let out a breath, dropping his head.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice low and uncertain.
“I think so…” Her voice trailed off. “I had a nightmare. Only I have never had this one before. It felt so…so real.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
She paused and began to shake her head, but then remembered the man and woman who spoke to her in her dream.
It had been a warning.
She took a deep breath, then sat up next to Draven, her feet grazing the cold floor. Instinct told her to keep her walls of mistrust intact, but that small whisper of hope fluttered in her chest. So, she told the bounty hunter about her dream.
“I believe it was the Stars speaking to me, Power and Sacrifice. Their voices were the same as when I heard them become my tether,” she said as she finished telling him her dream.
“And the darkness?” he asked.
“I cannot be certain, but I believe it was…Dominion.” She shuddered, hugging herself as she realized the demon Star had infiltrated her mind.
“What would he want with you?” Draven asked, anger laced in his words.
“I do not know. But the Stars said I was chosen. For what? I am not sure. Perhaps he knows and would rather destroy me than let me find out.” Her voice softened as she spoke. She wrung her hands together in her lap, fidgeting as she sat on the bed.
A warm hand closed around hers, sending tiny sparks dancing over her skin. She dared to look up at his face as amber waves crashed into her. In a thousand lifetimes she could not tire of his eyes, and even longer still to get used to the way he looked at her.As if she were the last star remaining in a starless sky, willing to fall so she could remain.
“You are safe, Traia. I will never allow harm to come to you.” His tone was firm, resolute as he held her gaze.
She swallowed a lump in her throat, a small tear escaping out of the corner of her eye.
“You should rest.” He cleared his throat, beginning to stand from the bed, but she held fast to his hand.
“Please, stay with me.” Her pulse quickened, unsure what came over her, only that she did not want to be alone.
He nodded at her, and she felt her chest loosen. She slipped back under the covers and curled onto her side. A moment later, a warmth pressed onto her back as he lay down beside her. A strong arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer to him. Her breath hitched at the smell of pine and the way her body seemed to melt into his.
“One truth for a truth?” she whispered, breaths quickening.
