Libby was a feline shifter, and already she could jump across the river.
Paxton was a vampire-demon, and he was getting faster and stronger every day, but he wanted to play his guitar instead of train.
Hope just wanted to fix the world and then maybe buy some new pink lip gloss. The fairy had worn lip gloss, and she was super pretty. The movie finally ended, and the fish found his way home. “It’d be fun to be a fish,” she whispered.
Libby giggled, her blond, shoulder-length hair messy. “Fish can’t run up trees. That’d be no fun.”
Paxton yawned and stretched out his legs, pulling on the sheet. “I don’t know. I’d rather be a wolf.”
Libby reached across Hope and smacked his arm. “Lions are better than wolves.”
Pax blinked his odd silver-blue eyes. “Okay. A lion, then. Anything is better than being a hybrid like me.”
Hope sighed and patted his hand. “Everyone is a hybrid around here. You’re cool, Paxton.”
He grinned. “Right. So, tell us about the fairy. Is she gonna mate your uncle?”
Hope rubbed her eyes. “I don’t know. I tried ta ask the universe and Fate, but I got no answers back.” She never got the answers she really wanted. “I’m glad you guys can sleep over.” She slid the covers off their heads and handed the tablet to Libby, who was closest to the bedside table.
Paxton pushed his hair out of his face. “Are you still having nightmares about the scary white-haired freaks?”
She blinked. “They’re called the Cyst.” She wasn’t supposed to, but she’d researched them on her tablet using her daddy’s personal password. It wasJanie Belle,her mama’s name, and he should probably change it.
Libby sucked in air, her eyes wide in the nightlight. “They really exist?”
“Yeah.” Hope yawned. She’d already known they existed. “The file said they were Kurjans.” There was only one way to find out.
“No.” Pax’s jaw snapped shut, and he looked older than seven all of a sudden. “You have to stop meeting Drake in that dreamworld. I got a bad feeling about that place and him.”
Hope reached down and patted his hand. “It’s okay, Pax.” She closed her eyes and counted the kittens in her head.
Soon she was walking down the pink beach, but the wind was a little cold. Frowning, she tried to warm it up. Nope. Still cold. That was new.
Drake moved out from behind a rock, his hands in his pockets and his eyes sparkling. His hair was getting longer, and she liked it. “Hey. How’s your head?”
“Fine.” She grinned. He’d been so nice when she’d been knocked out. “I met a fairy.”
His eyebrows lifted just like Talen’s did. “A real one?”
“Yep.” She rocked back on her heels, showing off a little. “She’s super nice. I like her a lot.”
Drake kicked pink sand toward the ocean. “That’s cool. I’ve never met a fairy.”
Most people hadn’t. She cleared her throat. “Um, Drake? Do you know the Cyst?”
He turned toward her. “Yes. Why?”
The last one she’d dreamed about had angry yellow eyes and a scar through his eyebrow. He’d been snarling, and he’d looked super scary. “Because they’re bad and they want to hurt me.”
He grasped her hand, looking way down, even though they were the same age. “I’m never gonna let anybody hurt you.”
Her heart warmed. “Even if the Cyst try?” She had to know.
He nodded solemnly. “Yes, but they won’t try. They’re our priests, Hope. A lot of people don’t like them because they’re scary looking, but they’re lonely and lost. I want to save them.”
Sometimes there was good in people that was hard to see. If somebody didn’t know her daddy, they might think he was a bad guy when he was angry. Zane Kyllwood could look really scary if somebody wasn’t nice to Hope’s mama. But she wasn’t sure about the Cyst. Maybe it would be her job someday to save Drake from them.
She was sure about Drake, though. “Do you think we’ll always be friends?” Just because her mama and daddy had always stayed friends after the dreamworld didn’t mean that she and Drake would.
