“Nai,” Rage said, his voice rough. “Hey…”
John corked the bottle and said, “You kids should get some rest.”
“Thank you.” I offered him a smile and then noticed that Sara and her twins’ jaws gaped open as they watched me. Maybe my high mage heir status shocked them or maybe because I’d just made freaking healing elixir! Hell, it still shocked me. I pivoted just in time to slide my arm around Rage’s waist as he stepped up next to me.
“Let’s get you into bed, and I’ll bring some food,” I said to Rage. Then I met Jeb’s gaze. “Thank you for your help. All of you.” Rage and I didn’t want to stay here too long. Honor was waiting for us, but my mate was still healing and could use the rest … so we would have to make it work.
I didn’t miss their wide-eyed gaze, but right now, I couldn’t offer them any explanation. I needed to tend to my mate.
After Rage and I shoveled two giant plates full of food into our mouths, I took a shower, rinsing the grime from my body. A few minutes later, I pulled on the borrowed sweats and t-shirt from Sara and crawled into bed where Rage slept, softly snoring. Okay, just an hour. I’ll just lay down for an hour. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I closed my eyes and drifted into unconsciousness.
* * *
“Where are you?”a familiar man’s voice called through the emptiness of my sleep. The landscape of darkness faded, and a flower garden appeared with stone pavers and a burbling fountain. Sure enough, my grandfather materialized on a bench near the stone fish spitting crystalline water into the air. He looked at me and patted the bench. “Nai, come sit with me.”
I casually walked over to the dream bench in the crazy dream garden, looking around the place in awe. “Is this magic?” I asked after sitting next to my grandpa.
He nodded. “Where are you? Are you safe?”
I gave him the rundown of the last few hours, including my discovery about my blood healing magic and ability to make Surlama’s healing elixir with Jeb’s help. And, most importantly, I told him we had to kill Surlama so that the Keeper of Souls would release Honor’s soul and we could bring him back.
Grandpa shook his head. “You’re lucky it was this Jeb fellow and not another dark mage. They would’ve bled you dry.”
“Please don’t make this a nightmare,” I muttered. “I can’t handle much more.”
Grandpa Geoff straightened and offered me a sharp nod. “I’m sure you’re right. You should take another day to rest with John and Sara before—”
I shook my head. “We need to get back to Justice and Noble. I don’t want to wait until the last minute to bring Honor’s soul back. I think we have”—how many hours had passed while Rage and I slept? Four? Six? How did I know that?—“maybe sixty hours left.”
It was just a guess, but I’d rather not run out of time.
He raised his eyebrows and asked, “What’s your plan?”
I gave him the briefest outline because that was all we had. “When Justice and Noble find us a recently deceased body—”
“You need to bring it to Montana where I will meet you and show you how to raise Honor.”
I nodded. “Hey, if the healing elixir can only be made with high mage blood of spirit, then—"
The entire garden shook, and the vibrant colors swirled and blended like abstract art. What in the name of the Mother Mage was happening?
As soon as the motion stopped, I looked to Grandpa for an explanation.
“Meet me in Montana. I can teach you how to raise Honor there without interference from the magic lands.”
The dream world trembled again, and I nodded.
Grandpa looked at the shaking trees, “I believe your mate is—”
The surroundings blurred once more, and even Grandpa Geoff melded with the strange muddy landscape, his words becoming a muffled garble.
“Nai!” Rage yelled. “Wake up!”
I shot up in bed so fast I cracked my chin on Rage’s head and then flopped back into bed with a curse.
“What the hell, Nai?” Rage muttered, rubbing his cheek. “You sleep like the dead!”
“I was in a magic dream with my grandpa.” I blinked the last vestiges of sleep from my eyes and mind as I took in the darkening bedroom. It looked like sunrise. We’d slept all day and night!
