“I’m sorry you wouldn’t wake up,” she whispers, terror lacing her voice. My chest heaves as I gasp for air. It was just a dream,right? I look around in the dark and realize I’m still in my room. It was just a dream. I swear it felt so real.
“Raea,” Ryker says softly, releasing me.
I take another cleansing breath and close my eyes, willing my trembling body to calm the hell down. It was just a dream. Maybe if I say it enough, I’ll believe it.
Gods, it felt so real. I swear I can still taste the tangy air and feelthe unsettling chill in my bones. I breathe in for three, holding it before blowing it out for three, willing the adrenaline to leave my body. I groan, dropping my face into my palms. Ryker pulls back the covers and sits beside me, tugging my trembling body into his. I don’t fight it, and I don’t stop to question why Aolyn went to Ryker. She goes back to her bed, leaving him and me alone.
“I’ve got you,” he whispers against my temple.
He doesn’t say anything else. He’s just there, and I let his scent wash over me, and the charge of energy in the air warms me like a soothing blanket. I close my eyes and feel my body relax more with every breath.
It was just a dream.
I sink into the warmth of his body, letting his steady heartbeat lull me back to sleep.
I wake up to an empty room, the sun already high enough for me to realize I slept in. I shower quickly, washing off last night’s sweat, and dress in a simple navy shift dress that brushes my mid-thigh. A simple gold necklace and a waterfall braid finish my look. If I hurry, I can make it to the tail end of breakfast. But after last night, there's something I need to do. Every secret, every impossible truth, now demands to be shared.
I’m calling a meeting.
thirty-seven
. . .
ryker
Gods,it took everything in me to pull myself out of Raea’s grasp this morning. I had fallen asleep beside her and woke before Aolyn or Raea and snuck out. Last night, she scared the shit out of me. Aolyn showed up at my door, looking terrified and begging me to help. I found Raea thrashing in her bed, but I couldn’t get her to wake up. She was screaming, crying, and fighting. The energy surrounding her body had burned hot like the day she was on Sgya.
It took several minutes before I was able to wake her, and then, just like before, she crashed into my arms. I don’t know what to do about it, but we need to get her powers under control before she hurts someone or damages something. Hell, it’s time we all talk. She’d been thrashing, screaming words I couldn’t decipher, but the air around her room had thrummed, the crystals in the sconces vibrating with latent power. It wasn’t just a nightmare—it was a manifestation.
I sit down beside Trysten in the dining hall at breakfast. He’s tearing pieces of his honey roll off and tossing them into his mouth while he concentrates on something in the distance.
“Trysten.” He doesn’t look at me. He just continues the same mindless routine. “Trysten.” I shake him this time, and he snaps out of it. His eyes move to mine.
“What?” he answers.
“What’s up with you? Wanna talk about it?” I stab a piece of meat and toss it in my mouth.
“What’s up with you two?” he asks, taking a long pull of his coffee. “You’re not being careful.” He looks around the table at the other leaders, all of whom are chatting.
I take a sip of coffee before saying, “Not here. But,” I pause and look around, “after Sgya, everything’s different.”
He nods, then his face falls. “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect her.” He sighs. “I keep hearing her screaming, and each night, I can’t get to her.”
His hand unconsciously rubs where the bandage was on his head, his eyes distant as if reliving the memory. “The voices were telling her that she would watch her kingdom burn, and then every other kingdom after it. Then there were other voices.” He looks around. “Ryker, I have a bad feeling something big is coming.”
I take another sip of my coffee despite the urgency I feel thrumming through me. He’s right. I can feel the shift in the air. I just don’t understand why every daily report about the veil shows no change. Nothing makes sense.
“C’mon, we have to get to the briefing.” I nod and take a few more bites of food before discarding the tray with the rest of the crowd.
Before lunch, Raea messages a group of us, asking us to meet her in the first-floor study room. Trysten and I get there last, finding the room full. Kellan sits near her, Tate and Ciara arguing about something, and Aolyn and Kamden are even here.
“Hi,” she says with a blush, though a faint shadow still lingers beneath her eyes. Her shoulders are squared, but I feel the subtle tremble as I hug her. “I think it’s time we all talk.”
“Thank the gods,” Trysten says, dragging a seat back beforedropping into it. I pull her to the front, keeping an arm around her because I can’t not touch her.
“You okay?” I ask quietly.
She nods, stepping back out of my arms.
