Panic climbs up my throat as I remember being trapped in this cage with no food or water. I had thought I was going to die here. I try to tell myself this is a dream, but the bars seem to close in, the space getting smaller and smaller, until I think I’m going to suffocate.It’s just a dream, Shade. Only a damn dream.My head grows light, and just when I think I might pass out, the scene changes.
When another scene comes into view, I’m still surrounded by bars, like I’ve simply traded one cage for another. On the bright side, I’m back in my human form, even if my limbs are translucent and wraithlike in my dream. Dark bricks line the back of the cell I’m in, and the space is bare except for the metal cot I’m on, and a waste bucket in one corner. A flea-ridden rat with tiny black wings squeezes through the bars connecting to the neighboring cell, and I yelp, quickly lifting my filthy bare feet off the floor as it scurries toward me.
Crap. I take it back, this is worse.
The rat stops in front of my cot, and it stares at me with unnerving black eyes before dipping its head to lap at a dark puddle before me. I don’t want to look down. Something tells me I’m going to regret it, and it turns out, I’m absolutely right. The first thing I notice is that the dark puddle is blood. The second thing I notice is that it’smyblood.
Yep, definitely worse.Fear wraps around me, because I’m pretty sure this isn’t just a nightmare, it’s another memory. One from before I was turned into a crow. I remember seeing this cell when I’d freed Satine from the dungeon below Shadowbone Academy not too long ago.
My heart stutters when I realize my hands are wet, and I notice the blood dripping onto my lap. The nails have been torn from three of my fingers, and one of my thumbs is sitting at an odd grotesque angle. There’s no skin on my fingertips, and I lift my head as I notice the deep gouges in the wall behind me. The stone is smeared with blood, and my hands tremble when I recognize the scratches. And then the pain comes. Agony tears through me, and I scream, fear and pain colliding until I turn to that wall…and start scratching again.
No!
My fingers scream as my nails tear against the stone, but I don’t stop. I can’t.
Tears stream down my cheeks as my arms move like I’ve been possessed, and I breathe heavily as I fight to survive the pain. Slowly, I remind myself this isn’t real. At least, it’s not my reality right now.A dream. It’s just a dream.
Outside my cell, there’s a cloaked figure watching from beyond the bars, and a sense of urgency slams into me. The rat squeaks, its snout drowned in blood, and heavy footsteps sound loudly in my ears.
Get out! Get out now!Listening to my inner voice, power pulses within me, crackling through my veins, and I’m not sure how I do it, but the cell flickers around me as though it had been a mirage. The cell falls away, and a bed with a soft mattress rushes up under me.
I gasp with relief as I stare down at my hands. They’re no longer bloody, and the skin of my fingers is completely healed.Oh thank god. See, it was just a dream.My power is no longer bubbling in my chest, and I rub my hands together like I think that will help to get rid of the memory.Okay, I’m awake. It’s fine. You’re totally fine, Shade.I turn my head to look at my mates, because after that nightmare, I definitely need a cuddle, but my heart sinks when I realize they’re not there.
I’m still in a damn dream.Ah, crap.Trying not to panic again, I wince as my gaze scans the scene around me. I’m expecting this dream to be just as bad as the last one, but I’m surprised when there’s nothing horrifying around me. A familiar pattern of hearts and roses decorates my quilt, and though the lighting is dim, I make out the shapes of a small bookshelf on one wall, and a dressing table with an antique mirror across from the bed.
More items appear on the quilt in front of me, and I suck in a sharp pained breath.And there it is.Numerous books come into view, materializing before me, one at a time.
The first, has a dog-eared page that makes me wince. The second, has a cracked spine, veins of damage running up the length of the book, and the third…
I curse.Yep, definitely another nightmare.I had such high hopes, too.
The third is a thick paperback that’s been completely torn in half to form two separate pieces. Like someone thought it would be easier to walk around with half of the book at a time. I scream, because that feels like the only appropriate response when faced with a book massacre.
Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I go to stand like I’m planning to leg it away from this nightmare, but the moment the pads of my feet touch the icy floor, the entire room shakes. A wailing, piercing noise fills the air like I’ve activated some kind of alarm system, and I yelp, jumping back onto the bed.What is it now?
Something smacks against the glass window to my left, and I jerk toward the noise, my heart feeling like it’s about to leap out of my chest.Okay yep, definitely a nightmare.I decide to slap myself, hoping that’ll help to wake me up, but it simply makes my cheek hurt, and I feel like an idiot shortly after.I thought you weren’t supposed to be able to feel pain in dreams?I grumble internally.
Across the room, the wooden door rattles as something bangs loudly against it, and the screeching noise is soon replaced with a howling that fills me with dread.
Pulling my knees up to my chest, I start to rock myself as the sound continues. The banging on the door grows louder until I’m sure someone is hacking at it, trying to get in.It’s all good.I’m sure it’s just some masked muscular man who has come to ravage me.
Yeah, I want to believe that’s true, but it’s probably more likely to be a monster who wants to eat my soul or whatever.
I close my eyes as that same sense of urgency I felt earlier washes over me.
Something smacks against the glass window again, and there’s a cracking noise that echoes in my ears. My eyes fly open, and I stare in horror at the crack branching out across the glass. One more hit, and I’m sure it’ll shatter and let the monsters in.
I rock faster and hold my breath as power pulses in my chest again.
It builds, racing along my veins, but before it can burst from me, darkness suddenly takes me.
Chapter Five
~ Knox ~
Istare down at where the troublesome human is tucked into the crook of my brother’s muscled arm, her long, brown waves cascading over his tattoos. Her face is scrunched, her mind trapped in whatever nightmare she’s experiencing. I can feel her fear, even without entering her dreams. Her soft lips tremble like she wants to scream, even as she sleeps, but no sound comes.
I told myself I would stop shielding her from her nightmares. That tonight, I would leave her be. But as I stand there, tasting her fear, I can’t move. I simply stare at her in the darkness, my shadows twisting in agitation around me. I’m transfixed, my attention glued to her pale features and the tortured expression on her face.
