But it didn’t matter, because she had fallen asleep. Against my warmth, in my hold.
And I didn’t have the heart to wake her. So, I did the only thing I could think of. I grabbed the thick, fur blanket that was always draped over the back, pulling it off the couch. I wrapped us, or more accurately her, in it and closed my eyes.
Sleep sounded like a really good idea.
CHAPTER14
Violet
The worldaround me was fire.
Warm, beautiful fire.
I stared into its flames, hoping it would provide the answers I sought.
But all I saw was large wings, and the figure of a tall, muscular man.
The fire dispersed, the wind blowing it out like a candle on a birthday cake, and he stood there still. Wings shuddering.
I took a step toward him, calling to him.
But he could not hear me. The world behind me was bright, sunny and warm.
In front of me there was nothing but darkness, despair, and pain.
He glowed.
Faintly, but he glowed like the fire, in its absence.
“The darkness can not exist, without the light,” a voice called to me.
I looked down at my feet, seeing familiar rune symbols etched into the ground, glowing like lava beneath volcanic rock.
But what did they mean?
My eyelashes fluttered as the sound of the clock chiming echoed in the space. Except, I was aware there was no chiming clock in my room, or even my dormitory.
I didn’t want to get up, for I was far too comfortable and warm where I lay, and the air smelled like burning fire, like fresh rain and mossy earth.
Likehome.
“And so she awakens,” a deep, velveteen voice made my insides twist.
A voice I now knew I’d know anywhere.
Bane.
Bane... oh my stars!
My memory replayed my red letter day like a highlight reel, and immediately I pushed myself off of him, scrambling back as I took in the sight of him, shirtless, stretching. Strange, rune-like tattoos glowed across his chest, similar to that of my dream... but they seemed to be fading.
In fact, his skin flickered from gray to its natural coloring, right before my eyes. His cheeks filled with color, and I watched as his wings—which reminded me oddly of bat wings—disappeared, shrinking into his shoulders as if they were nothing more than a charm or a spell.
It was a strange sort of sight—seeing his true form. I wanted to protest, because seeing him in his true form was something I knew instinctively he didn’t often do in front of others.
Probably because everyone thinks he’s a bloodthirsty monster.
But I didn’t see a monster when I’d awakened in the forest, and I certainly didn’t see one now. I wished he didn’t feel the need to hide who he was.
