Chapter 29 Trance
Hazel
I groan when something wet hits my face, cold enough to drag me out of sleep.
I swear I’m going to kill Dean if this is some stupid prank. I need at least two more hours of sleep before my brain starts working. We didn’t crash until two in the morning, and I’m the one who’ll be dealing with overenthusiastic kids in the morning, not him.
I raise my hand to wipe it away, but the stickiness clings.
Something shoves into my side, nearly knocking me off the bed, jolting me fully awake.
A thread of Dean’s Divine snaps in front of my face before flickering out.
What the hell is he planning now?
When I turn toward him, I freeze. He’s already sitting up, his essence circling him in frantic, uneven bursts. It doesn’t move like it usually does. It looks… panicked.
His Divine flickers again, dimming before struggling back to life, but I can feel something is very wrong.
I rub my eyes hard, trying to clear my vision because I have to be seeing things. Dean’s Divine doesn’t just disappear like that. It’s always steady. Controlled.
What’s happening?
And then the metallic scent hits me. Blood.
Something glints in the darkness, and I realize a second too late it’s one of my daggers just as Dean drives it into his stomach.
“Dean!” I lunge for the dagger, but he rips it free and slams it into his thigh before I can stop him. I grab the handle, but his grip only tightens, forcing the blade deeper.
“Dean, what the fuck are you doing? Stop!” My voice cracks, panic bleeding through the words.
His shadows come to help me, wrapping around my wrists, lending me just enough strength to wrench the dagger out of his thigh, but it doesn’t stop him from trying to drive it straight into himself again.
Has he lost his fucking mind?
My eyes finally adjust to the darkness, and my stomach drops. Blood pools around my mate, soaking into the sheets. His thighs, his stomach, his legs… all covered in stab wounds.
This time, when his Divine flickers, I understand why. He’s losing too much blood.
I yank the blanket free and press it hard against the wounds on his thighs, but the moment I look away, Dean takes the opening.
His hand snaps up, aiming straight for his heart, and I barely catch it in the nick of time. My palm closes around the blade, the edge slicing into my skin, while my other hand grabs his wrist, trying to hold him back, but Dean is stronger than I am.
My blood drips down my hand, mixing with his, but nothing snaps him out of whatever this is.
This isn’t like him. He’s not even reacting to hurting me.
“Dean, please!” I choke on a sob, begging him again and again, but it’s like he can’t hear me.
He can’t hear me…
The realization settles cold and heavy in my chest.
I notice the way his eyes are fogged black, and my heart stops beating.
No. It can’t be.
I’ve seen this before… when Tiberius takes over someone’s dream, turning them puppets inside their own mind.
The air shifts, heavy and wrong. pressure crushes against my chest as I can feel him trying to slip into my safe haven.
No, no, no.
My stomach drops, dread sinking deep and fast.
I try to link someone, screaming into the void for help, before it hits me. The pixie potion is still blocking Anxo’s link in my mind.
Panic claws up my throat, sharp and suffocating.
I start screaming, hoping someone—anyone—will hear me. My hands are shaking as the dagger digs deeper into my palm, my grip slipping, and I know I don’t have much time before I lose against Dean’s strength.
I fall forward, my forehead touching Dean’s, but no one comes. No one hears me. It’s just us. Just me… failing him.
I can’t lose him. Please… please, I can’t lose him.
A scream tears out of me when the dagger slips again, slicing deeper into my palm. The pain barely registers when whatever hold Tiberius had on Dean suddenly disappears, and he snaps out of it.
The dagger slips from his hand, falling between us.
The fog in his eyes finally clears, revealing that soft brown again.
Dean blinks, shaking his head at the way I’m sitting on his lap, his hands coming up to cup my face. “Why are you crying, baby?”
His voice is gentle. Confused. Completely unaware of how he nearly killed himself.
Relief crashes through me, and my hands wrap around his wrist. Dean’s eyes widen when he sees the blood smeared across his shirt.
He grabs my hands, flipping them over to press the blanket against the cut and apply pressure.
“Did I do that to you?” Horror floods his expression as it clicks.
Dean panics, his pulse racing as his gaze flicks to the dagger between us… and then to the stab wounds covering his body.
It hits me all at once how close I came to losing him, and I fall into his arms, sobbing into his shoulder.
“I’m okay. You’re okay.” I pull back, my hands moving over his rapidly healing wounds.
“I… I don’t understand. Hazel, what the fuck is going on?” His voice is unsteady, edged with fear and confusion.
A sob catches my throat, and Dean immediately pulls me into his chest.
“He’s here. Tiberius is here.”
Saying it out loud makes it real. Too real.
Dread filled my lungs at the thought of him being this close. He has to be nearby if he got inside Dean’s head and almost—
He wanted me to watch my mate kill himself with my dagger.
Dean’s face darkens, but before he can speak, shouts echo from downstairs. We’re on our feet and moving before the next breath leaves my lungs.
Adrenaline hits fast and vicious, drowning out everything else.
We find Seiji, Jackson, Akihiko, and Yua pacing in front of the main gate. The tension in the air is thick enough to choke on.
The moment they see Dean, everyone starts talking at once, and it’s clear they’re rattled, panic and alarm crashing over each other.
Akihiko’s arms are wrapped tightly around his mate, his posture protective, but his gaze keeps snapping back to Yua’s neck, still flushed red.
She’s trying to calm him, but whatever just happened is tearing him apart from the inside. His control is hanging by a thread.
Seiji steps forward, his face twisted with anger I’ve never seen on him, and it’s aimed at… me? The accusation hits before the words even come.
“If this is a prank, I swear to fates it’s not fucking funny. Jackson barely woke me up in time. I could’ve killed him, Hazel!” His voice shakes with fear.
I shake my head, stumbling back. I try to tell him it wasn’t me, but the words won’t come out. My throat locks, panic choking off every explanation.
But can I say it’s not my fault when Tiberius is only here because of me?
Dean steps in before Seiji can say another word.
“She didn’t do it.” His voice cuts clean through the chaos.
Akihiko’s gaze drops to the blood covering us, and his expression hardens. “Tiberius?”
Everyone turns to me, shock and anger carving into their faces as I nod.
“How’s that possible? We’d know within seconds if he crossed into the kingdom,” the Horseman of Famine says.
He doesn’t need to. He can cause just as much damage without coming here.
I step forward and take responsibility for the mess I’ve created. “He’s not actually here. If Tiberius had crossed the portal, he would’ve come for me.”
Dean grabs my hand, his firm grip grounding me. “He found a way to slip a piece of his essence past our protective walls. He’s dreamwalking… trying to hurt us without ever setting foot here.”
Dean growls, his anger rising with every word, before he drags in a deep breath, forcing himself to get back in control.
“Akihiko, Yua… take your Warriorhead and personally check every portal. I want every inch inspected.” Dean shifts into command mode. “Seiji, Jackson… run to the War Castle. It’s not a coincidence that only the three of us were attacked. He’s targeting Horsemen.”
He pulls me towards the door, speaking over his shoulder. “We’ll check on Nevaeh and Anxo.”
August…
He’s in the Horsemen castle, too. What if Tiberius did something—
I’m running before I even realize it. I can’t let that little boy get hurt because of me. I should’ve pushed harder to convince everyone to move back into the Horsemen castle until Tiberius was dealt with.
The guilt sinks its claws in deep and refuses to let go.
I knew the risk, but I was stupid enough to think we still had time. I should’ve been more careful. More alert. Now everyone I love is paying for it.
As much as I hate to admit it, Tiberius won tonight. He caught us off guard, and if he’d actually been here, he could’ve gotten to me.
Even then, just showing up wouldn’t have been enough to drag me out of this realm. Even if he’d trapped every single person here in a trance, I still would’ve slipped through his claws because I wouldn’t have been fighting him alone.
Tiberius doesn’t know it yet, but there’s someone here who wouldn’t fall for his tricks no matter how hard he tried. Someone he can’t twist. Can’t break.
Someone who’s survived enough manipulation to not just play his game… but win.