Chapter 10
Ana woke slowly, feeling as if she’d been napping in sunlight. Every inch of her body felt warm and sun-kissed. For a long moment, she didn’t move, letting her body slowly come back to wakefulness.
She knew she was still in Northernmost and that Gabriel was nearby. But she wasn’t sure how long she’d been asleep. Everything after the street was a blur.
Her magic no longer felt depleted, so the sunshine warmth she was feeling must have come from the Well.
Opening her eyes finally, she found a plain white ceiling and soft lighting.
Movement to the side caught her gaze, and she turned her head slowly to find Gabriel on his phone. His gaze snapped to hers, and his lips split into a wide grin.
“You’re awake!” He shoved his phone into his pocket, rose to his feet, and crowded onto the bed beside her, the metal frame creaking with his added weight.
She laughed and put her arms around him, welcoming the familiar warmth of him against her. “Where exactly am I?”
“Medical center.” He nuzzled her throat, then sat up and swung his legs around to dangle off the bed. “I was still in my wolf form, so your dad carried you in here after your magic was replenished at the Well. How are you feeling?”
“Like I took a long nap.”
“Four hours, give or take. I shifted back an hour ago.” His expression turned serious. “I was scared as hell when I felt you losing power and couldn’t see you. I knew you and the others were there, but it was awful not being able to help.”
“I wish I could cloak you in slumber magic,” she said. She rose onto her elbows. “I was pretty damn scared too. But then you came to me and saved me. By biting me. Again.” She lifted her wrist and saw the puncture wounds from his bite. “I thought they’d go away with my healing.”
“Trouble, one of the elf healers, said they may fade in time, but they might have scarred over because of the magic between us.”
“I like it,” she said, twisting her wrist slightly in the overhead light to look more closely. “It’s like another marking.”
He wiggled his brows. “I’ll mark you anytime, but let’s not have it be because you’re in danger.”
“Got it. I’ll try not to get myself into any life-threatening situations.”
They talked for a little while longer, and she asked about the sigils.
“They both shattered,” Gabriel said. “Santa said they did what they were supposed to do. And I’m damn thankful we had them.”
She brushed her lips over his. “Me too.”
Trouble walked in and told her she was free to go as long as she felt like herself again.
“Sometimes we just need a good rest after stress like you endured,” Trouble said. “If you need anything, call us.”
“Thank you,” Ana said.
She and Gabriel left the medical center and found her family in the cafeteria with Sandman. Platters of food and baskets of rolls filled the long table, and her family cheered when they saw her.
Ana rushed forward and hugged her parents.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Ana said. “We didn’t lose anyone in the fight, did we?”
She looked at Sandman, who shook his head. “Things were getting dark there at the end, but no, we all made it. The rest of the guild is home resting, but I wanted to stay with your parents until you woke. Plus, the food is incredible here.”
“Thank you!” an elf called out behind the buffet line as they prepped for dinner.
Her mom hugged her a second time. “All’s well?”
“I’m great. Thank you for waiting for me.”
“We wouldn’t go anywhere without making sure you were up and about,” her dad said. “Join us? I’m sure you’re starving.”
“Definitely.”
They helped themselves from the buffet line and settled in with their plates at the table. Her mom said, “We gave Santa the rundown of what happened, but he’ll want to talk with you when you’re ready.”
“That’s fine,” Ana said. She looked at Sandman. “Nightmare isn’t dead. We just chased him off.”
“Right,” he said. “As the humans like to say, we won the battle but not the war.”
“There was more to him, more to his magic,” Ana said.
Her parents nodded, and her mom added, “Because of Frost. That icy jackass made Nightmare’s dread magic stronger and sharper. It was so hard to fight because it felt like we were freezing at the same time. I could hardly concentrate.”
“And they were attacking us with waking nightmares,” her dad said, shuddering. “I’ve never been so pissed and so scared at the same time.”
“They’re dangerous separately,” Ana said. “But since they’ve joined forces, everything about them is worse. Nightmare and Frost trapped me together. I was frozen and locked in a nightmare.”
“If they continue working together,” Sandman said, shaking his head, “they could overwhelm the dream walkers entirely. Then there would be no good dreams, and people would be easy pickings for whatever they wanted.”
“What do you mean?” Gabriel asked.
“Well, I’ve been thinking about why Nightmare went after Ana specifically,” Sandman said.
“She can cut off his nightmares and take their replenishment magic from him. If he turned her evil, she could do the same to us, but on a more powerful level, especially if she were being fed through his dread magic. I’m the most powerful dream walker, but my slumber magic doesn’t behave like Ana’s.
I can’t feed my good slumber magic to the other dream walkers the way he can send dread magic to his evil followers. ”
“He’d be unstoppable if I joined him,” Ana said. “And that’s frightening to think about.”
Gabriel hummed, his wolf growling a little at the end.
“So he would turn Ana to darkness and use her to drain the good slumber magic from the dream walkers until they were essentially human. Then Nightmare could use his dread magic to force anyone to do what he wants, him and Frost, through bad dreams.”
“Indeed,” her dad said. “Imagine the threat of being killed in your sleep if you didn’t do what they wanted.”
“It’s like an ‘80s horror flick come to life,” Ana said.
“We’ll be vigilant,” Sandman said. “And our people won’t go out alone anymore. From this point forward, all dream walkers will work in pairs.”
“What about me?” Ana asked. “I’m up here by myself.”
“Santa said he had something that would protect you,” her mom said.
“Good,” Ana said.
They talked a little while longer about the battle, until the conversation grew heavy enough that her mom declared it was time to talk about other, sweeter things. Like a future wedding and babies.
Ana’s cheeks pinked and Gabriel growled softly in approval.
“We haven’t even known each other for a week,” she pointed out. But she nudged his shoulder with her own and grinned. “At least give us until Christmas before you start hearing wedding bells.”
“You got it,” her mom said.
After the meal, they walked with her parents and Sandman to the subbasement, where Pixie was waiting.
“Thank you again for your help,” Ana said.
“It’s no problem at all. I’m glad I can open a safe portal for your family, and anytime you need one home, holler.”
Ana hugged her parents goodbye and promised to text and call often. Pixie opened the portal with her ward and walked them through, then returned and closed it.
“I think,” Ana said, hooking her arm through Gabriel’s, “I’d like to talk to you for a bit.”
“Lead the way, sweetheart,” he said with a growl.
Beneath Northernmost, inside the apartment that would be her home for the foreseeable future, Ana and Gabriel fell into bed together in a flurry of hastily removed clothes and deep kisses.
When they were tangled together under the covers and coming down from the heavens, she rested her head on his chest, listened to his heartbeat, and said, “Today was a lot.”
“That’s an understatement,” he said with a chuckle, his fingers tracing aimless patterns on her shoulder.
“You know what? I love your wolf.”
“Yeah? He loves you too.”
She smiled. “I realized something, though.”
“What’s that?”
“I didn’t get to see you shift.”
“I can fix that.”
“Yeah? I’d love to see it.”
“How about tomorrow night? After we spend the day together and have an incredible date.”
“Incredible, you say?” she asked, tilting her face to smile at him.
“Only the best for my mate.”
They lay in sweet silence for a while, then eventually made their way to the shower for another quickie before bed.
She didn’t know what would come from Nightmare joining forces with Frost, but she knew she could count on Gabriel, and that meant she wasn’t standing alone.
She had her sexy wolf by her side. They’d handle whatever happened, together.