Chapter 19
Alaric
Iwoke up gasping for air, sweat slicking my chest and face even though my dragon fire felt like it had been drowned in ice water. I flung the sheet aside and rolled out of bed, padding silently across the living room to Everly’s door.
Peeking inside, I found her curled in raven form, resting on a fluffy white pillow. My chest loosened. She was safe.
Want to talk about it? Elandor’s voice was quiet in my mind as I closed her door and rested my forehead against it.
Not really, I answered. Just a bad dream.
You’ve been getting a lot of them.
He wasn’t wrong. I straightened slowly, my shoulders tense. I had been getting a lot of them lately. I’d told myself it was anxiety, but what if it was something more—something darker?
Everly would know, Elandor offered gently. She’s attuned to the dreamscape. If someone were after her, she’d feel it.
Yes, I countered, but what if she didn’t?
I groaned softly, pressing my palms against my eyes. That was the problem with anxiety—it was always what if? What if I failed? What if I made things worse? What if she grew to hate me? What if I couldn’t be the king my people deserved?
I was sick to death of what ifs.
I slumped onto the couch, tired of being afraid all the time. They called me the strongest shifter in the world, and yet sometimes I felt as helpless as a newborn.
My heart thudded painfully, and I pressed a hand to my chest, willing it to slow.
I was so tired.
So everlastingly tired.
Something had to give.
Leaning back against the cushion, I closed my eyes.
How could I protect my people like this? How could I care for Everly when I felt this broken inside?
Tears slipped down my temples, mingling with the sweat still clinging to my skin.
I’d finally found her—my mate, my heart—and my greatest fear was losing her. Somehow. Through my own failure or my own hesitation.
That dream again—her being taken from me while I stood frozen, legs trapped in quicksand, watching helplessly as she vanished. And every time, I woke convinced it had really happened—until I found her safe, breathing softly in her bed.
I’m just so tired, Elandor.
I know. I’m here.
Thank you.
Always.
I exhaled slowly, my heart rate easing under his steady presence. Eventually, exhaustion pulled me under again.
When I woke, Everly was human again—she spent less and less time as a raven these days—and she was in the kitchen, trying to move quietly as she made breakfast.
I rubbed my eyes and sat up, surprised by how rested I felt. “Hey, what time is it?”
She glanced over the counter and winced. “Did I wake you? I’m so sorry.” She checked her phone. “Just after nine.”
Seven straight hours. No wonder I felt human again.
I stretched, then headed for my room. “Let me get cleaned up. I’ll join you in a minute.”
“No problem.” She hesitated. “Hey, do you mind if I borrow Elandor for a bit? I want to work on one of the gold threads. After everything the past few days, I think I’ve figured out how to step into the dreamscape while awake.
I didn’t want to just pull him from you again and give you another heart attack. ”
I paused, turning back. “I request that I go with you this time.”
You can’t, Elandor warned.
We can at least try.
He sighed. Fine. We can try.
Everly frowned thoughtfully. “I think I might be able to bring you, but I’m not sure what’ll happen in the dreamscape. I didn’t mean to pull Elandor in the first time—my magic just… acted on its own.” She grimaced. “Also, I have a feeling that only one of you can be embodied there.”
And that needs to be the scary dragon, Elandor said.
I’m scary too, I muttered.
For a human, yes. But I can protect her as a dragon, he said matter-of-factly.
I huffed. Good point. But I wasn’t giving up that easily. “I’ll be right out,” I told Everly and ducked into my room.
After a quick shower and clean clothes, I found her flipping through channels on the couch. She stopped occasionally on cooking or renovation shows, but nothing held her attention for long.
“I’m ready,” I said. “Let’s leave a quick note in case something goes wrong, so Alpha Riggs knows what we’re doing.”
Everly turned off the TV and stood. “Would they need to hire a mage to rescue us?”
I frowned, looking for a pen. “Probably not. More likely they’d call a dreamweaver—kind of like the humans’ sandman. They weave dreams for mortals and have the power to help if things go wrong.”
Everly went still, and I felt Elandor’s low rumble in response.
You’ve upset her, he chided.
I turned, seeing how pale she’d gone, and immediately pulled her into my arms. Elandor’s soft thrumming echoed between us. “It’ll be okay,” I murmured. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you.”
“I just don’t want to hurt you,” she whispered.
I winced and rested my chin on her hair. “Then let’s think positively.”
“Okay,” she said after a beat. “I’m positive something’s going to go wrong.”
I chuckled and gave her a squeeze before kissing the tip of her nose. “Not quite the kind of positive I meant.”
She smiled mischievously. “Sorry. I only have freaked-out pessimistic thoughts today. If you want optimistic Everly, you’ll have to come back tomorrow.”
Elandor and I chuckled. “Okay, we’re ready when you are.”
Everly bit her lip, drew a deep breath, and closed her eyes. The moment she connected with the dreamscape, I could feel it. I could also feel the golden shifter threads, even though I couldn’t see them. Their power hummed in the air around us.
Between one blink and the next, the world changed, and we stood in the dreamscape.
Only... I wasn’t corporeal.
Everly took one look at me and her eyes went wide with horror. Elandor stood beside her, fully solid, towering and magnificent, his scales shining in the sunlight.
“Please tell me I didn’t kill him,” she whispered to Elandor, panic threading her voice.
Elandor lowered his massive head to my level, studying my faintly glowing outline. I lifted my hand and stared at it, too, surprised by the soft shimmer tracing my fingers.
I looked like myself, only I seemed to be made of light and air.
“It’s all right,” I said. “I’m not dead. But you were right, the dreamscape can’t give both of us tangible bodies. It seems to favor Elandor when we’re here.”
My hammering pulse steadied when Elandor thrummed peace through our bond. Even telepathically, the sound was deep and resonant, spreading warmth through me.
Everly, with her curious mind, and despite her fear that she’d killed me, reached a finger out and tried to touch me—but her hand passed straight through. Elandor exhaled, but his warm breath swept over me without a trace of heat.
It was disorienting. I was here but I wasn’t. I felt as if I were made of light particles. Matter... but different.
I wondered... if I focused hard enough, could I make part of my body corporeal? Could I touch Everly? If I managed it, I still might be able to be useful on this trip.
I wanted to try.
I cautioned Everly to hold still. Then, drawing in a deep breath, and drawing on every ounce of strength and force of will I possessed, I reached for her arm.
When my glowing fingers brushed her skin, we both gasped—then I collapsed.
My knees buckled, and I dropped to the ground, the world tilting and spinning.
Weakness rolled through me, flattening me against the soft grass.
Everly reached for me instinctively, eyes wide and hands outstretched, but her fingers slipped through my chest as if I were made of mist.
“Okay,” Everly said softly after a moment, her voice trembling. “Let’s not try that again. We don’t need you so weak something happens and you get... scattered or worse.”
I grimaced. “Yeah, that would not be optimal.
It took a few moments more, but I eventually gathered enough strength to push myself upright again. I couldn’t lean against anyone, which made standing harder when I felt so drained, but my strength came back slowly, and I straightened fully at last.
Turning in a circle, I glanced around. I’d expected to see the golden threads immediately, but there was only a rolling field of grass, a burbling stream, and a forest stretching off into the distance.
“Where are the threads?” I asked. They felt close, but I couldn’t see a single one.
Everly faced the open meadow, following the direction of my gaze. “Oh, I have to bring them here. I guess I better get on that.”
She closed her eyes, and the air shimmered with energy.
The hum of the threads, the power I could feel in my bones, deepened, and then the world lit up.
Thousands of golden threads appeared, drifting in slow, graceful motion.
Some were dim and fading, like dying embers.
Others shone so brightly they left afterimages on my retinas, and I blinked hard against the glare.
“That’s... a lot of shifters who need help,” I murmured.
Everly’s shoulders sagged. “Yeah. It really is. But Elandor told me that even if I can only help one at a time, it still matters. That I will make a difference.”
I smiled faintly. “That sounds exactly like something he’d say. How do we start?”
“I focus,” she said, scratching at her wrist. “I close my eyes, find the thread that feels the most urgent, then grab it and pull on it. It’ll take us where we need to go.”
I sighed. “Wish I’d brought weapons.”
Elandor’s amused rumble echoed through my mind. Weapons wouldn’t help much without a body.
I couldn’t help a grin. Fair point.
Everly straightened. “Okay, I found it. Get ready.” She reached for one of the glowing threads, and the world lurched. We fell through darkness and light, through mist and shadow, until our feet hit solid ground again.
Everly grimaced. “It’s so hot in here! I wonder where we are?”
I glanced at her in concern. “Your magic doesn’t tell you?”
She shook her head. “Nope. It just... brings us.”
Well, that wasn’t ideal, but it wasn’t the most important thing right now. The cavern around us stretched wide and shimmering, heat rolling off the stone walls in waves
I cocked my head. “Do you hear that?”
Everly stilled, listening. “No. Elandor?”
Elandor’s golden eyes narrowed, his attention sliding toward a darker tunnel. I hear it. And I smell something foul.
Everly wrinkled her nose. “Well, that’s not encouraging.”
“I’ll go first,” I said. “I can scout whatever it is safely.”
What are you going to do—frown at them? Elandor teased.
I shot him a look. “I can provide reconnaissance.”
Good point.
I crept forward, instinctively trying to be silent, though my incorporeal form made no sound as I moved, then leaned around the edge of the adjoining cavern, and froze.
What is it? Elandor demanded.
“It’s a dragon.”
That’s impossible, Elandor said, his voice suddenly low and sharp. There are only five dragons alive, and they’re all accounted for.
I gestured toward the shadows. “See for yourself.”
Everly and Elandor joined me. Everly squinted. “I can’t see anything.”
Elandor’s tone dropped to reverence. He’s right. It’s a dragon.
Everly’s eyes widened. “It must be in trouble... Is it a shifter?”
“Yes,” I said quietly. “The non-shifter dragons have long passed from our world.”
Elandor’s gaze sharpened, green eyes flaring. This one’s an elder. And, Alaric... I hate to say it, but he’s a full dragon.