I squeeze my eyes closed. It’s tempting to ask her to try the spell. The thought of having her in my arms again in real life fills me with deep yearning. Only, it’s pure fantasy. She’d never make it back out. Nothing, absolutely nothing, trumps a shade’s instinct to protect their mate. No matter how seductive the idea of a possible escape is, I won’t risk Eloise for anything, even my freedom.
“Once you were with me, you’d have to redraw the symbol and offer it blood.” I extend my hands, appealing to her sense of reason. “Even if you were strong enough to perform the spell twice in a short time, you’d never get the chance to open the way home. I am heavily guarded, always surrounded by vampires at night and witches during the day.”
“Witches?” Her face tightens. “Who? Maybe Maeve can do something on our end.”
“A family called the Kims. They’re sun wielders. That’s why I haven’t returned to you. They keep me caged in sunlight at all times.”
Her face tightens and her lips start to tremble. “The Kims. I’ll tell her. But there must be something more. I won’t accept that there is nothing I can do to help you. What about your friend Cassius?”
My brow lifts at the sound of Cassius’s name. If anyone could help me, it would be him, but I don’t want Eloise doing anything that might alert Valeska to her identity. She’s already risked far too much visiting with Morpheus, and if I didn’t trust the shade more than almost anyone, I’d be telling her to run and hide right now.
I take a deep breath and stroke her hair back from her face. “You have the most beautiful heart and the purest soul, little bird. Do you ever think of yourself first?”
“All the time. That’s why I take care of the people I love, because they mean the most to me.”
I laugh softly and draw her into my arms again. I press my lips to the top of her head. Is the ticking growing louder? Or do I only now realize this is no ordinary dream and our time together could end at any moment? I can’t lie to my mate, and I’ve already shared more information about my predicament than I wish for her to know. My only hope is to distract her. “Can you guess where we are now? Here, in my dream?”
The question serves its purpose, and at least for the moment she gives up on her quest for information. She turns around, taking in the flowers, the trees, the stone benches partially covered in blooming vines.
“I’ve never seen anything like this. I don’t recognize any of these plants aside from the roses, although I’ve never seen ones this color before.” She cradles an amethyst bud in her palm.
“Careful of the thorns. They hurt just as much as the ones in your garden. Perceptive of you to notice about the flowers. Roses are one of the few varieties that are the same on Tenebris as on Earth, although they’re more frequently purple where I come from.”
She releases the flower and walks the periphery of my dreamscape. “It’s beautiful.” She whirls back to me, a ghost of a smile breaking through her former stormy expression. “This is what your world looks like? What you dressed like there?” She gestures toward my royal garb, black pants and a wrapped tunic.
I look down at myself. “It is when I’m not in battle. This form is considered more socially appropriate, or you might say diplomatic. As for the garden, this is the one behind the castle where I was raised. At least how I remember it. When I was summoned to Earth by the Gowdies, we were at war. I have no idea how much of this place remains.” I approach her from behind and wrap an arm around her shoulders. Drawing her back to my front, I point toward the sky.
“A supermoon.” She sighs. “It’s beautiful.”
“No. That’s how the moon looks every day on Tenebris.”
“Don’t you mean every night?” She rests her soft curls against me.
“No. This is day here. Our galaxy works differently than yours.”
She looks again at the amethyst roses and reaches out to run a finger along the petals. “I don’t have time for a lecture on the astronomy of Tenebris.” She turns in my arms to face me, sighing heavily. “I pray I have the chance to see your world in person someday, but after what happened, I regret not going with you when I had the chance.”
I nuzzle the side of her face. “You weren’t ready. You were right to want to stay and practice your magic.”
“A lot of good it’s doing me if I can’t use it to get you back.”
I brush my lips along her ear, inhale the scent of her hair. “Give me time. I’ll find my way home to you.”
The clock chimes. “We don’t have much time.”
The beat of her heart grows louder, her fear and yearning bringing her blood to the surface of her skin. I run my nose along the side of her neck. “There is one thing you can do for me.”
“What? Anything.”
“I need your blood. It will make me stronger and increase my chances of freeing myself.”
Without hesitation, she sweeps her red curls over her shoulder, offering her vein. “Will it work? We’re inside a dream. Is my blood anything more than thoughts?”
I turn her to face me. “I don’t know. I’m not familiar with this magic. But I can smell your blood. You feel real.”
“Then take it.” She waits, head tipped, the warm skin of her throat exposed like a dish of cream.
I lower my lips to her flesh and breathe her in. “Do you think I’ll simply strike, little bird, and take your blood like I would a goat’s? Oh no. You are too delicious a meal not to savor.”
