Chapter 17 Ivy
Ivy
Ientered into the dreamscape without trouble, finding peace in the world created by my mind to draw me away from the pain happening outside of me.
The field opened up before me, wildflowers poking through the tall, green grass. Today, the water appeared even prettier, reflecting the light of the sun. It danced across the clear surface, bouncing like crystals upon glass.
At the pavilion, Orion lounged. The table and tea set were gone, replaced with the chaise lounge he was sprawled across. His violet eyes found mine, a smile spreading across his lips.
“There you are,” he said, sitting up. “You’ve been gone a while.”
A lump formed in my throat as I left the darkness of the tunnel and stepped onto the grass.
What I’d been wearing when I fell asleep disappeared, replaced by a comfortable sundress.
As I moved towards the pavilion, I breathed in the scent of wildflowers and fresh air, the opposite of the stone cell I lived in now.
Not the stone cell, I reminded myself, as flashes of my last moments before sleep claimed me appeared in my mind.
Cold, icy fingers wrapping around me, drilling deep into my bones. My breath fogging in front of me from the freezing air.
Dante and his soldiers storming the cell. The cruel males who grabbed me.
The vision, a memory I so badly wanted to forget, crossing my mind. My mates, dead, while I was caged like an animal.
I swallowed hard, shaking my head. As I stepped into the pavilion, Ry reached for me, offering me his hand. Without a word, I took it, letting him guide me to the chaise. I sat beside him, the cushion almost too soft after days on the ground.
“Why do I only see you here?” I asked, glancing at him. “Why don’t I see any of the others?”
Orion trailed his fingers down my cheek before cupping the back of my neck. “Because our bond is different,” he replied, searching my eyes. “Because you keep pulling me in.”
I frowned, looking away. My gaze caught the wildflowers again. They were beautiful, different shades of pink, red, yellow, and purple. If there was a breeze, I imagined they would dance, swaying to the elements but never bowing.
I didn’t want to ask the real question, but it fell from my lips before I could stop it. “Is it because you’re dead?” I asked, heart pounding, crashing against my ribs with enough force it might break free.
The thought of tainting this safe space with the truth made sickness coil in my stomach, but I couldn’t keep pretending like it was normal. Not when Dante could come in here at any moment and destroy even this tiny bit of safety I had.
Ry took my hand, entwining our fingers. It forced me to look at him, to take in the brightness of his violet eyes, which looked too real—too alive—to be here.
“Do you think I’m dead?” he asked seriously, head cocked.
Silver-white hair fell over his forehead.
I itched to reach over and run my fingers through the silky strands but held back.
“Yes,” I whispered, swallowing hard past the lump in my throat. “I felt you go.”
“Did you?” He leaned in, eyes remaining locked on mine. “Are you sure?”
My breath lodged in my throat as tears burned my eyes. I couldn’t bring myself to form words, to use my voice. It didn’t feel like there was a right answer to that. Was it even possible? I’d heard his heart stop. But with the magic dampeners around us, I hadn’t really felt his bond disappear.
“This is just a dream,” I murmured, tearing my gaze from his. “I’m imagining this because it’s better than the alternative. That you’re dead, and I’m trapped in a torture room right now with Dante and his men. You aren’t really here.”
The hand on the back of my neck moved to grasp my chin, forcing me to look at him again. I sucked in a breath as Orion’s eyes flashed. “No one can kill the mate of a Queen.”
“But I’m not the Queen,” I whispered. “And he blocked our bonds. We don’t know what Dante is capable of.”
Orion shifted closer to me, his lips a breath away. I could forget this entire conversation and get lost in his embrace. Feel his lips against mine and pretend like none of it was fake. That this dream was more, like he said it was.
“I refuse to believe he could so easily tear us apart, my flower. I refuse to let him have so much power over us.”
The sting of tears grew harsher as I blinked. “You’re dead, Orion. You’re already gone.”
His lips quirked into a smile. “Or maybe, you don’t know how powerful our love truly is. Maybe, I slumber waiting for your kiss to wake me.”
“That would be a nice fairytale, but that’s all it’ll be.” A cold chill wrapped around me, burning my skin. I pulled away from Orion sharply, tearing my eyes from his to stare out over the landscape. “I need to go,” I whispered. “I won’t let him find us here.”
“You are so much stronger than you think,” Orion murmured. My eyes snapped back to his as he released me. “Finish what you started. Then, come find me again.”
I frowned, but the dreamscape darkened. I rose from the chaise and ran out of the pavilion as the sky turned black. The cold seeped into my skin, burrowing into my bones as I made my way to the tunnel. Around me, the flowers bowed to the ice.
When I made it to the mouth of darkness that would take me back to my waking world, I chanced a look back at Orion. He stood in the pavilion with his hands in his pockets, eerily calm. Nothing like the male who had taken over my dreams before.
Something about this felt different. Strange.
I turned back to the dark tunnel and drew in a breath. I would not let Dante find this place.
So, I left the safety of the dream and returned to pain.
The icy burn was quickly replaced by literal fire. The moment the dream fell away, delivering me back to whatever new hell Dante had in store for me, I felt the shift in the air. The different magic.
It wasn’t even subtle. Since losing my power to the collar, I hadn’t really felt the difference between what I knew was the wrong magic and what was natural power.
But now, the dark, altered magic coiled around me, at war with what was natural, born within all creatures of Nyx.
Dante’s magic was ice. It was cold and painful, tearing through my body like shards of glass. I bit down on a cry as my entire body froze at the dark way it slithered through me.
But then there was the fire. It was something else entirely. Its warmth rushed through me in a different way; warm fingers brushed through my hair, dancing lightly across my skin.
It was like a war of which magic would win. And I feared what would happen if either did.
Orion’s words echoed in my ears as the pain became too much. Finish what you started. But what? There was too much left incomplete. The search for the crown meant nothing. And the skull was in Dante’s grasp. I wouldn’t be able to get it back while also being under his control.
The ice receded from my body, leaving pain behind. It burrowed into my bones until every muscle, every joint, ached. It was only then that the warmth also fled, leaving me feeling…
Nothing.
I opened my eyes. I wasn’t in my cell, but I wasn’t with the female doctor, either. The space was unfamiliar, but at least it wasn’t the cage from my vision.
I’d been placed on a slab in a room with tall ceilings and Roman styled pillars.
There was no light, except for a few witch lights in the edges of my vision, though they didn’t give off enough of a glow to illuminate the space.
If I had to guess, we were in what remained of a temple, though there were no remnants of Nyx anywhere.
The only hint that it might have once been a place of worship was an engraving on the wall to my left of a male I didn’t recognise.
I tried to shift, but my arms and legs were trapped in what I assumed were chains. The collar seemed to tighten around my throat in warning.
“She’s awake,” a female sang, her voice high and grating. “My King, would you like her to sleep once more?”
Dante grunted. He was close to my ear, but I couldn’t turn my head to look at him. “No, it was useless.”
“Oh.” Somehow, I could imagine her pouting.
A chair scraped back, one I assumed Dante had been sitting on. My body locked up again despite the aches rushing through me. From the corner of my eye, I watched him round the side of the slab. I dug my fingers into the cold stone, like it could somehow anchor me—protect me from whatever he’d done.
When he appeared in my line of sight, I felt my muscles loosen. He wiped a hand over his face, which smudged blood over his lips. “Have a nice sleep?” he seethed, slamming his palms into the stone. “I had a nice chat with your mates.”
My blood ran cold, heart dropping. But I couldn’t bring myself to respond. Blood rushed in my ears, matching the pounding beat of my heart.
Dante leaned in closer, blood darkening his lips, and he bared them. “Quick to turn on one of their own, it seems. I wonder how long it’ll take for them to completely betray one another.”
Bile rose in my throat. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of an answer. I knew my mates; they wouldn’t betray each other. Not when the stability of all the realms relied on them to be the team I knew they were. Not when I needed them to stay together for my sake.
I gritted my teeth to stop myself from replying. The only thing I could have mustered was a giant fuck you, which I doubted would go over well considering the rage dancing in his blue eyes.
Dante pulled back enough to look at someone standing behind me, but I didn’t take my eyes off him. “Take her to the cages.”
Cages? My vision flashed across my mind as I tried to shake my head. But no words would pass my lips.
Dante didn’t even look at me as he straightened.
I felt the presence of another nearby. One that sent shivers down my spine.
“Only bring her back when she’s not so combative. I want to see what the Seer is hiding.” Dante stepped back, eyes flickering down to meet mine. “Busy, busy witch indeed,” he sneered.
I tried to pull at my binds, but the collar only tightened the more I fought. My breaths became laboured, harsher in my ears.
“I need to speak to the Order,” Dante said, his voice so low I knew I wasn’t supposed to hear him. I looked back to the carving, finding the male staring at it. “Emris needs…” Dante trailed off, walking away with no one around him to listen to his commands.
His departure forced me to take in my new captor. The one who would take me to the cages.
Dead, unfocused eyes looked at me without actually seeing me. Dark eyes I once thought I could fall into because of how rich they were. Eyes that’d drawn me down a path that led to him breaking my heart repeatedly.
Hawk Nash stared down at me, almost unrecognisable.
The vampire beside him sneered. “Finally.”
I said nothing. I wouldn’t give either of them the satisfaction. I just prayed I could go back to the dreamscape again before the worst arrived.