Forty-Nine
CHAPTER
ZATHRIAN
Not again.
It was the third night in a row that I had woken up to Aerilyn’s magic going out of control while she had nightmares. At least, I assumed they were nightmares. They were so aggressive and uncontrollable, that it was hard to make sense of the distress she was in.
Her nightmares were getting worse.
Far worse and completely out of control.
She was in a cold sweat, thrashing under the sheets. Entangled within them. Squirming and kicking as black shadowy tendrils crept around her, engulfing her. She whimpered and whined, begging for someone to help.
“Please, please, I can’t. Please stop!” Aerilyn muttered in her sleep.
I didn’t know what to do.
Hearing her like that, let alone seeing her in that state, was heartbreaking in ways I simply could not explain.
I felt her distress through the Bond yet was unable to reach her no matter how hard I tried.
It was as though something prevented me from getting to her.
A wall that I wished so desperately would come down.
My eyes widened, scooping her up in my embrace, attempting to pry her shadowy tendrils away from her. I cradled her in my arms tenderly.
“Aerilyn, please. Please wake up, baby. Starshine, please,” I murmured, one hand embracing her against my chest while the other pushed her damp curls out of her face.
As I gently rocked her back and forth, those shadowy tendrils kept growing.
“Come on, please. Snap out of it. I’m here.
I’m here. You aren’t alone, I’m here.” My tone was soft, gentle.
Firm and authoritative at the same time, hoping that she would hear me and snap out of it, but she didn’t.
Her fingertips turned black, and the darkness continued to creep up her fair features.
I jerked my head to the side to push my own dark curls away from my face, staring at her wide-eyed and panicked, unsure of what to do.
“Airhead, please,” I begged, slightly shaking her.
Not nearly with enough force to hurt her, but most definitely enough to have woken her if it wasn’t for whatever was preventing her from waking up.
Dipping my head forward, my lips grazed her ear.
“Come on, baby, wake up,” I whispered, planting a trail of soft affectionate kisses up her jawline until my lips met those soft pillowy lips of hers.
I kissed her.
Long, soft, sweet, and slow.
She relaxed in my embrace.
Slowly, I pulled away. Looking down at her, I watched the black shadowy tendrils slowly dissipate and dissolve beneath her. “That’s my girl,” I cooed, running my hand through her hair, the other kept her tightly pressed against me.
“You’re okay. I’m here. I’m here,” I whispered.
“Zath.” She sniffled, her eyes slowly opening.
“It’s okay,” I repeated.
She lunged forward, wrapping her arms tightly around my neck, nearly choking me. One of my hands rested on the back of her head, the other ran circles up and down her spine.
I was so scared, she whimpered within the Bond.
I frowned. I know you were. I’m here.
Please don’t ever leave me, she pleaded.
I won’t. Never. I would never leave her.
I love you. She embraced me tighter.
“I love you more.” I planted another kiss against her temple.
Her eyes met mine. Those big, beautiful blue irises were so glossy.
Leaning down, I kissed her nose in hopes of lifting her spirits.
I wanted to ask what it was that she was having a nightmare about, but I didn’t dare.
Not wanting to further distress her more than she already was, I posed a different question.
A soft whisper left my lips, “Was it the same one as before?”
She nodded, squeezing me tighter, burying her face into the crook of my neck.
My brow furrowed. It was hard, trying to protect her from things I was unable to. I swore to protect her, yet I was defenseless when it came to protecting her from her own mind.
It was still night. The moon was full and high in the sky, illuminating its reflection onto the floor of our bedroom. I looked the other way, noticing the clock and the time. 2:27 a.m.
At least it was never at the same exact time that these nightmares plagued her.
A soft breath left my lips. I pulled Aerilyn back down into the sheets with me, tenderly reaching around her, lying on my side.
She pressed her face against my chest as I covered us both with the sheets and a thick blanket.
“You know I would never let anything ever happen to you again,” I whispered.
She nodded.
I planted another kiss on her temple, gently digging my fingers into her supple flesh just enough to ease the tension that was knotted within her muscles. A soft breath of relaxation left her lips. I smiled as the last of her turmoil drifted away.
“Go back to sleep, baby. I’m here.” I pulled her close, softly humming the tune of my people until she fell asleep, and even thereafter, in hopes of her being able to rest easily enough for me to be able to dreamwalk.
I didn’t like utilizing my ability as a dreamwalker.
It always felt insensitive to wedge myself into such a vulnerable and intimate space for a person.
Aerilyn wasn’t just any person, though. She was my person.
I took a deep breath through my nose and out my mouth as I closed my eyes. Finding my center, I connected myself to her mind. Carefully opening the stardust doorway into her dream, I stepped into it only to see something quite unexpected.
She looked lonely.
Laying there in the flower field that she used to visit when she first came into my care.
Back in the Mortal Realm. With a smile on her face, she wore a flower crown and peered up at the clouds.
I did not interfere with her dream directly.
My brow furrowed as a wolf approached her, lurking in the shadows.
With a single flick of my finger, I changed the wolf into me.
Not intentionally.
But I did.
I knew that interfering with her dreams would influence her thoughts and emotions, but I wanted only for her to sleep peacefully. Dreamwalking was exhausting, but she needed rest. Just for tonight, that would be enough.
I watched her as she watched me. The me I was before she knew the truth. Or more so, the variation of me she was most familiar with for the longest time. Adrian. The Cruel Prince.
What a horrible title to have.
An even worse title to uphold.
My jaw clenched thinking back on those days, and how much cruelty Aerilyn had truly endured.
I watched the dream drastically shift, she fell through the grass and into darkness.
I was pulled with her, no longer in the Mortal Realm but the Realm of Nightmares.
My posture stiffened, watching Aerilyn—No.
No, I wouldn’t stand for this, not for a moment longer.
I opened my arms, shifting my hands into the proper positions as I changed the entirety of Aerilyn’s dream.
Stabilizing it, I brought her back to a memory I knew she loved.
The memory of us on the boat together in the middle of the lake.
At the celebration, surrounded by lanterns and stars that filled the night sky.
The bioluminescence and colorful fish beneath the crystal-clear waters.
I crafted the dream to appear just as it did the day it happened. I smiled, knowing that she was at ease.
Then and only then did I allow myself to step back through that stardust door and out of her dreams.
My eyes opened. A yawn left my lips, feeling more tired now than before. I looked down. Seeing the look of comfortable contentment spread across her freckled features was worth it to me.
“Goodnight, Aerilyn.” I kissed her temple. Closing my eyes, I drifted off to sleep as she slept in the warmth of my embrace.