“This isn’t poison.”
“How do you know?”
Footsteps raced down the hall as one of the guards returned with the healer. The old man was nearly dragged and thrown into the room. He looked antique. His gaze found Ariana and he approached at once while the guard stood by the door, nervously shifting on his feet.
“Can you fix this?” I asked.
He held a hand over her, moving it as if feeling her energy. A frown pulled down on his dry lips. “No healer can help her. You are right, this is not poison. There is nothing to be done but wait for her to wake. I don’t think this should last very long, at least not past the morning.”
“What is it?”
He scratched absentmindedly behind his ears, though maintained his focus on her. “I believe it is a Dreamer. They used to be more common amongst our kind, but have vanished.”
I looked at Ariana with dread, knowing full well where these conjurors likely had gone, and who was responsible for this.
40
ARIANA
Drifting off to sleep in Erik’s arms had to have been my favorite way to fall asleep. Especially after a thorough exploration of each other’s bodies. Ending in our souls intertwined, bodies trembling, and our thoughts void of anything but the moment we shared.
With my mind thoroughly emptied, I fell asleep quickly. The dreamless nights were my favorite. This, however, was not that.
I slipped into a dream that was not mine, pulled into a room I did not recognize. It was as if I closed my eyes at home, and opened them standing somewhere else. The walls were stone. Torches hung on each of them. There were no windows. A single bed, desk, and two chairs were within the space. None of it was remarkable in any way. There was a wooden door, otherwise there did not seem to have been any other way in or out.
Deep inside, I reached for my internal river of strength, harnessing it to rise and flow through my veins. Nothinghappened. I couldn’t sense a thing, as if the door to my conjuring was shut.
I was defenseless. Taking another inventory of the room, I searched for anything that could have been used as a weapon. Settling on the chairs, I turned towards them, fingers curling around the back of one before every muscle in my body tensed at the familiar sensation flooding the room.Stagnant air.
I whirled around and froze when my eyes locked with Clause’s crisp stormy gaze. My heart jolted into my throat.
“Hello, love,” he said. Power rippled through him, out of him, surrounding me.
I could hardly breathe, my muscles locked in place at the sight of him. This was not possible. I had escaped him, left him in the Sidhe lands.
He viewed me with a cold, cunning stare, rendering me speechless. I needed to get out, to run as far away as possible. But there was no escape. I was surrounded by walls and he stood between me and the only door in this place. Not that I even knew whether it could be opened or what was on the other side.
Panic shot through my veins. My body grew more and more desperate for oxygen, yet I could not draw a full breath. My head spun.
Clause took a step in my direction and I took one back, away from him, forgetting all about the chair I was going to grab, not that it would have done me much good. He stopped mid-step, gaze never leaving mine. “I have told you before that I will not hurt you.” As if that was the only reason I would want to keep my distance.
“Doesn’t mean I want to be anywhere near you.” I managed to reply despite the tightness in my chest.
His lips curved upwards, though the look in his eyesremained ice. “Don’t tell me you prefer the Lysian whose arms you sleep in.” His voice was uncomfortably hollow.
My heart fully stopped as panic surged through me. Once it restarted, it took everything in me to try and not react to his words.
I needed to get out of this place.
He continued moving towards me at a leisurely, slow pace. “I have to admit, I hate that you continue to give your body to him.” I retreated until my back hit a wall and I had nowhere else to go. Clause remained just hardly out of reach. “That you allow him to touch you.” He took another step, crowding me now. “Allow him to bury himself inside of you.”
His audacity to insinuate he had a say in what I did awoke the rage within. I grabbed on to that feeling, prefering it to the panic.
As if intending to caress my cheek, Clause’s hand lifted. I moved my arm, hitting his arm and blocking the hand.
“Do not touch me.” I seethed.
His jaw ticked with… was thatirritation? The hatred inside of me was so bitter that I could taste it on my tongue.
