“If we hadn’t known about the skull, we would have walked in blind. We would have done something stupid,” I murmured. “That information…Nyx should have told us.”
For a moment, Sable was quiet. Something in her expression told me she wanted to agree, but she didn’t say it aloud.
“Let’s just say, this is far more complicated than just our own world,” she replied, releasing a long, slow breath. As she let go of my hand, Sable stepped back. “My time with you is running out. Tell Rowan I love him.”
“Wait!” I reached for her, but she stepped out of my way. “Sable, how am I even here? How are you here? And what happened with Damon?”
“So many questions,” she sighed, shaking her head. “All I can say is, you’re closer to your power than you think. I know, I know, you said no more vague bullshit. But you must make the choices that feel right to you, and you have. You chose to believe your bond with Damon was real, and it did something to you, didn’t it?”
I stilled, those moments with him flashing back to my mind; Damon’s shadows, the hard kisses and his admission, that explosion of warmth within me that felt like a mate bond, and then…
Then the pain and passing out.
“That Primal mate of yours is smart,” Sable chuckled. “He knew before any of you did. Poor Damon. He would have figured it out sooner, but he gambled with fate when he took the throne of Elysian. But he’s yours now. It won’t feel like it for a while. But that choice? It pushed you closer to winning this war.”
With that, she gave me a wink and started for the inky darkness around us.
“That’s it?” I asked loudly. “Nothing else?”
Sable laughed, the sound echoing. “You already figured itout, my dear! Just listen to your intuition. It hasn’t led you astray before!”
And then she was gone, leaving me alone in the familiar darkness.
Last time I wandered through this place, I stumbled into one of Orion’s nightmares. This time, I moved warily towards what I hoped was a way out. Granted, I had no idea how to leave. I’d always been forced awake before—or kicked out by nosy succubus demons.
Sighing, I walked until light appeared ahead of me. It wasn’t like the time I entered the demon’s sex club. It was a familiar, soft light that usually meant entering the dreamscape. My safe haven away from Dante and the isolation.
I blew out a relieved breath and rushed towards it. As soon as I entered the light, the world around me shifted from deep, unending darkness into a landscape I knew all too well.
And waiting for me was a face I dearly missed.
Orion looked at me in surprise before rushing towards me. I met him halfway in the field, wrapping my arms around him. To my surprise, he was trembling, one hand smoothing down my hair while the other clutched my waist.
“You just disappeared on me,” he whispered, face buried in my hair. “I thought something terrible happened.”
I held him tighter and breathed him in. Spending so much time here in the dreamscape, he somehow smelled like tea and wildflowers, light and airy.
“Something did happen,” I replied carefully. He stiffened, but his hold on me didn’t waver. “I thought I woke up, but instead I was in another dream. It was Dante, and he was at the manor. On the balcony. It was like he knew where we were, but I don’t think he does. Well, the others don’t think so. But he was there in my dream for a moment and then I woke up.”
Orion made a sound in the back of his throat as he pulled back enough to meet my stare. “There is no way he can find the island. I did everything in my power to protect it for you.”
“I know,” I said, keeping my voice low. “And it still is.”
He didn’t look like he believed me as lines of stress darkenedhis features. Ry looked away from me for a moment to stare at the tunnel I’d walked through. “I need to wake up.”
I swallowed thickly. “You do.”
His gaze met mine again. “You need to wake me up, Ivy. You’re the only one who can.”
“How?” I asked honestly. “No magic, remember?”
Orion’s eyes softened as he pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “I don’t need your magic to wake me,” he whispered, leaning down to brush his nose against mine. “I just need you, my flower. Come to me in the waking world, and for you, I will return.”
A shudder worked its way down my spine, a tingling sensation starting in my lower back that ran down my legs.
“You’re going to wake up,” he murmured. “And you’ll come to me, won’t you?”
I pulled back to meet his stare. The exhaustion, the stress, and turmoil had me sucking in a breath. “Yes,” I said, nodding. “I’ll come and wake you up.”
