In a panic, she tugged at her sleeve, a breath of relief escaping her when she saw the Mark, stark against her skin.
Dream.
Dream, dream, dream.
She was dreaming.
But she knew how this dream went.
Someone was going to come through that door soon. It didn’t matter who. They were all nightmares. Still, it had been awhile since she’d found herself here. She could count on one hand how many times her dreams had brought her to this place since she’d found herself with the title of wife and queen.
Throwing the blanket back, she swung her legs over the side of the bed. Her bare feet touched the cool floor, her long black dress pooling around her ankles. She summoned her bow, looping it across her chest, and because she had to know if herpower was broken here too, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and tried to disappear among her smoke and ashes.
They sang to her, pulling her into their embrace. Weightless. Nothing and everything all at once. She felt the tears burning at the back of her eyes. She’d missed this—missed this piece of herself—so very much.
But then she was being jostled and jerked, pulled in a direction she wasn’t intending to go. The joy turned to panic as she once again lost control of her power. She fought, straining to go where she wanted, until finally she was dumped onto the ground beside the stream that ran through the middle of the Cliffs.
Gasping, she scrambled to her feet. It was dangerous to be out in the open like this, even in her dreams. They’d find her. They’d find her and drag her to those rooms, especially if they knew she’d lost control of her power.
No.
They couldn’t know.
They couldn’t?—
She went still when she spotted him, his back to her and hands in his pockets. His silver hair was loose, reaching his shoulders, and his posture was almost relaxed. Like the rare times he actually spent some of the night with her. Black pants. Black tunic.
It made sense that he was here. They’d been spending more time together. Ever since that day in Shadowfen, he even slept in the same bed as her. Sometimes. Not every night. Okay, twice. She was still as confused about that development as she was when she’d asked him to come sleep beside her.
But none of that mattered right now. She was being foolish to let herself get distracted here. They would find her, and then they’d both be fucked. She really hoped this was one of the dreams where he interacted with her. Sometimes he didn’t.Sometimes he seemed to be observing, and other times he spoke to her. She wasn’t one to question dreams and what they were trying to show her, but this time, out here, she really needed it to be the latter.
“We need to go,” she said, her voice thankfully firm and unwavering.
He turned at the sound, silver eyes piercing as they took her in, but he said nothing.
“Cethin? We can’t stay here,” she insisted, looking around nervously.
“Where does this stream lead?” he asked instead.
She glanced at the water. She knew exactly where it led. Out to the beach and beyond.
She also knew what it was used for.
“Not now,” she hissed, feeling sweat beading at her nape. Tugging at her sleeve again, she saw the Mark, but it did nothing to reassure her now.
“Tell me of that,” Cethin said, the words dark and commanding.
She looked back up to see his gaze on her arm too, a fury dancing in his eyes that she didn’t understand.
“There really isn’t time,” she said, nerves and adrenaline making her heart pound at an erratic rhythm.
Cethin looked around. “There’s no one here, Kailia.”
“They’re here,” she said, each word a hurried breath of syllables. “They’re coming.”
“Maybe I want to see.”
“No,” she said brusquely, and without thinking, her hand snapped out, latching on to his and tugging. “Please, Cethin.”
