The moment of awareness is enough time to grab onto my mental control again, ripping away whatever hold Petra was able to gain.
What the fuck?
Our connection as doppelgängers is stronger than most because of our affinity to spirit magic, but that was nearly a possession—or it felt like one. There are a dozen reasons why that shouldn’t be possible, but my urge to get away from her outweighs my curiosity.
Turning back to the obscured man in time to see him slow to a stop a few feet away, I tell them, but mostly him, in a broken whisper, “I can’t do this. I’m sorry.”
Petra’s face morphs into something stubborn and fierce as she continues to scream at me. Her words are as silent and incomprehensible as before. She doesn’t stop.
“I don’t know why they’re here… in this place,” I tell the obscured man, feeling guilty for bringing trouble to his dreams. “I have to go now.”
With strong determination I close my eyes, trying to ignore the chaos in front of me and say a quick incantation; one all young witches are taught to use when they’re having nightmares.
“Espercito bannener bannener,” I whisper three times.
It wakes a witch from any dream while banishing the energies that may linger into the day.
Sitting up, I’m alone and drenched in a cold sweat but I’m in my own bed.
With a somber Nestor staring from the corner.
Archer
“Fuck,” I grunt, shooting up into a sitting position in the bed I’m renting from Gale, the town librarian.
Aggravated, I run a hand down my face and shout, “Fuck!”
I knew something was wrong when I stumbled into our dream meadow. I’m not actively avoiding her anymore, but we haven’t seen each other over the last few nights, either. Part of me assumed she used a potion to block out unwanted visitors. Another part just hoped she was sleeping.
The familiar warmth of her presence was absent before the first drop of water hit me. When I opened my eyes and was surrounded by tall, ominous trees, I knew I needed to find her. It wasn’t a gut instinct. My magic was tugging me toward her.
It’s a small reprieve to sense she wasn’t harmed, but there’s no way to know what was happening to her physical body at that moment—wherever that is.
I’ve never dreamwalked into someone’s mind andnothad full access to what they were seeing. Even when my magic was young and temperamental, I have always been able to face the monsters for them.
Except last night… There wasn’t anything, or anyone else, I could see.
The faceless woman was distraught, though. I was being pummeled by so many different emotions that it was impossible to keep up with all of them. They all grew and reacted to whoever she was talking to—or shouting at, from what Icouldsee.
Who was there? How the fuck did someone find her there? Inourplace?
Fear and anger courses through me. The thought of something happening to her makes me feral. If I had any idea of how to find this woman—or even what she looked like—I’d drag Sybil out of Briarhollow and go straight to her.
After last night, there’s no other question about whether I’m committed to her.
I am.
It doesn’t matter that we’ve never met or seen each other—it never has—because I know her on a level that transcends time and space. My fate is so delicately intertwined with hers that I can still feel her fear pumping through me, telling me she needs me.
Not for the first time, I have a strong desire to find her. Yet my magic is starting to heat my bones, pushing those inky emotions out, and I might be closer than I’ve ever been before to her.
Chapter 16
Renata
Walking into the kitchen, I mentally shake off the anxiety that hasn’t let up since I woke up five hours ago. The metaphorical claws have sunk deep into my skin like a cat clinging to a curtain. The more I pull away, the deeper the cuts grow.
I didn’t bother trying to go back to sleep after my last dream. There wasn’t any point; I’d either toss and turn for hours thinking about it or end up backthere. Instead, I grabbed a book I found a week ago in the inn’s library but hadn’t had a chance to start reading.
