It’s kind of endearing, listening to the family have such mundane interactions. Where I’m from, no one’s this cheery. I think the cold of the Frostlands sucks the joy out of everyone.
I want to stay in this memory, when all of us were innocent, to some degree.
The room shifts, tearing the memory away, and I almost scream in frustration until Tom appears in front of me.
The darkness around me falls away, and I can see the Shadow Man again. Instead of feeling relieved, dread settles over me, and I stop holding my head. This doesn’t feel like a memory. Thomas seems to be his current age, but everything else is wrong. The skin on the right side of his face is burned, and his bare chest is bandaged; the skin beneath seems red, too.
My eyes widen as I straighten out. Ray and Zarev have given me an idea of the injuries Thomas sustained at Ysanna’s hands, but I have yet to see it with my own eyes. The injuries on his person match their descriptions down to a tee.
Thomas gives me a tight smile, and even with the burn marks, he looks peaceful. His hair on the side of his face that’s burned has gone, and there’s patchy red on the other. “You have to tell Ray it’s not his fault.”
Panic seizes me, and I shoot the Shadow Man a look before stepping forward. “Tom–”
My hand passes through him, like a spirit, and I jerk backward. I expected him to be out of reach, not to react like the souls I’ve helped move on over the past decade.
He tilts his head back, facing his palms upward. “It’s almost over.”
“Tom,” I say earnestly, holding out my hands, too. He doesn’t look back at me, eyes closed, and his face tilted up. “Don’t say that. You have Rapunzel with you… she’s supposed to be able to heal.”
“There’s no healing the dead,” he explains, looking toward me again. There’s no malice in his viridescent eyes. “I have a little longer. She doesn’t know what I desire since I can’t speak. But you fell asleep, and the dreams let me in.”
I glare at the Sandman, orHans, who stares right back. “You. You did this, Dreammaker.”
“Ban,” Thomas pleads, and I meet his gaze again. “Tell Rapunzel I know she tried her best. I appreciate her efforts, but I’m tired.Sotired. If I’m still here when you arrive, you have to tell them to let me go.”
“Thomas,” I urge, reaching for him again. There’s a shake against my shoulder that makes the entire scene wobble, and I try to rush toward him. “You don’t have to go.”
“You sound like Ray,” he says fondly, folding his hands in front of him. “It’s okay, Ban. Tell Ray for me.”
The shake draws my attention again, and I realize someone is trying to wake me. “Ban, please.”
“Neve,” I call, looking around. The space is still dark, and when I pivot around, Thomas and Hans are gone.
Is it a nightmare or an illusion? I have very little time to figure it out before the shaking happens again, and I feel my eyes flutter open.
“Oh, thank Gods!” Neve says, her face directly over mine. There’s a sun-kissed sky above her, and her hair hangs down as she stares at me. Her cheeks look wet, but that can’t be right. “You’re awake.Finally.”
Groaning, I try to sit up. Neve’s at my side, trying to push me down again, and I shrug her off. “What happened?”
“You used too much magic getting over here,” Odette says, and I turn to find her sitting a little further off in the glass. “Using your ice to speed things up and using the shadows to move, as well ascarrying me, you exhausted yourself.”
That all sounds about right, but it’s hard to center myself after that strange dream. I sleep so rarely, waking up is always disorienting. This time, after seeing both Hans and Thomas, it feels worse.
The memories the Shadow Man showed me prick at my heart, making me think of what Zarev told me.There’s a giant in the sky.
My past is coming back to haunt me. The shame from years ago is rearing its ugly head at the worst possible time.
Neve helps soothe my worries, locking her arms around my neck and pressing close. I use one hand to wrap around her back, holding her tightly to me. I tuck my face against her neck, breathing her in.
She smells like frost, or fresh snow. Beneath that, I can feel the gentle hum of my magic in her back, and it grounds me to the here and now.
When she pulls back, I glance around. “Where is Zarev?”
He grunts from my opposite side, and I glance over to see him lounging in the grass a few feet away. He’s got his eyes closed, lying on his back. “It was a lot of fucking work getting over here. No one’s bothered us so far. Even the Wonderland creatures know better than to get so close to the cliffs.”
Looking around, all I see are trees. Compared to the Frostlands, it’s pretty warm. Odette has shed the winterwear, back in the dress she started this whole mess in, and is no longer trembling. There’s a flush to Neve’s cheeks, and I remember she’s never been somewhere this warm.
“Zarev said maybe we should move someplace else,” Neve said, rubbing my arm. “He said the Red Woods aren’t friendly.”
