Chapter 38
Dream Walker
Cora
I’d made it back. I was here with him once more and it felt as if a hole within my heart had been filled in a way I hadn’t noticed it lacked prior.
There remained so much I needed to tell him, but it wouldn’t be while everyone in his family gathered around to glare at me, because that was what was happening right now.
The tension in the room as we walked in was suffocating.
Raiden stood in the far corner, his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall, his expression guarded.
Bastian sat in one of the chairs, his legs crossed and his face expressionless.
Paine on one side of him, and Silv on the other.
She jumped up without a moment's hesitation, pushing past Cedar.
Her arms wrapped tightly around me before I could react or say anything.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” she whispered in my ear.
Wrapping my arms tentatively around her, I nodded before she let me go and returned to her seat beside Bastian and Paine.
The final one to complete the party was a female I never thought I’d see again. Unease ran through me as I watched my father’s sister approach me, a hesitant smile on her face.
“Did Rusor help you escape?” she asked calmly.
Silence filled the room as I stared at my aunt.
Aunt Zima looked around, taking in everyone's stunned expressions. “Rusor? He’s one of my top males. He infiltrated the castle years ago and he’s been working his way through the ranks ever since.
How else did you think I confidently told Raiden that I’d be able to get Cedar out if the need arrived? ”
I shook my head and looked towards Cedar, the shock clear through the bond.
“It makes sense. He was present at all of my sessions with Vega. If something happened, he’d be in the prime spot to dispose of any witnesses. He guarded you the entire time as well.” He shrugged.
The look on his face in the throne room when he marched me in there floated back to my mind. The disdain. The hatred. What happened to him to ensure he dedicated so much of his life to such a cause?
“He let me out. I went out through the carrier bird tunnels. Keres shouted to close them all, but Rusor left one open and I went through it. He’d even pointed it out to me prior to my shifting.
He’d had this look of… hatred for a split moment.
It was almost as if he knew I’d be able to escape that way, but I can’t imagine how. ”
“Did anything else strange happen while you were there? Any visitors? Any conversations we should know about? Anything that may be helpful?” Raiden asked, still not moving from the far corner of the room.
“I saw Oren while I was there. He was still shifted, but he’s alive. The only other thing I can think of was the conversation I had with the Fae male, Lovel.”
No one spoke as they waited, but Cedar held a strange look on his face.
“He arrived not long after Cedar was captured. I’m not sure where he’s from exactly, but he’s a guest of Keres.
I’d only ever spoken to him briefly prior to then.
Meetings and such. But I awoke to find him in my room, watching me.
He asked me… well, he asked me a question he shouldn’t have known.
Asked why I hadn’t told Cedar about it yet.
He said despite it all, he’s rooting for me.
I hadn’t much time to think about it since my meeting with Keres followed. ”
Cedar turned back to Raiden. “Do you remember what Rusor said when we left Whitbourne together?”
The shadow ruler nodded, his expression grim.
“Do you think it’s possible? Cora and I have been communicating through our dreams for months, Raiden. If it’s a possibility, it would explain how Keres knew to use me against her. Knew about whatever she hadn’t told me yet, and about Rusor’s warning.”
“What warning?” Silv asked the question we’d all been curious of.
“He said, ‘Be careful with your thoughts, bird. Even when you slumber, someone is always watching.’”
“Wait, no way. Really?” Bastian questioned, his eyes wide while Aunt Zima was silent.
“Do you think so? It’s been so long since we’ve seen one,” Paine added.
“Does someone wish to fill us in?” Silvana questioned, her tone annoyed at being left out once more.
Raiden nodded. “I believe Keres found himself a dream walker, my Ice Queen.”
“I’m sorry, what?” she replied as she turned around to look at him over her shoulder.
“I thought they were just legends, but I thought the Fae were as well,” Cedar added.
Raiden shook his head. “They aren’t legends.
They’re very real. From what I know, and that isn’t much—a great deal of mental magic isn’t highly documented for obvious reasons—but Micah and I met many winters ago when Valentine still ruled.
Dream walkers are typically Fae with the ability to walk the dreams of those close to them.
The levels of power vary though. Some need to be nearby, some need only to see their intended, some need to touch them to create the connection.
So, Lovel may have only needed to see one of you to create the connection.
From there he’d be able to walk within your dreams whenever he wished to. ”
Cedar reached back, taking my hand in his and squeezing. I knew he felt my mind beginning to spiral, and while I was trying to breathe, I knew it wasn’t working.
“I need to talk to you,” I whispered.
Still tucked halfway behind him, nothing else was going through my mind right now but that fact. I needed this news out. I needed him to know exactly what I did before we left this place and carried out whatever plan they’d created while here.
“There’s a room upstairs. We’ll talk and then everyone else can ask the rest of their questions.”
He glared across the room at Raiden, but the male just bowed his head slightly and didn’t speak. Cedar pulled me behind him as he walked towards the stairs. Once on the second floor, he pulled me into the first room he made it to and shut the door behind us.
It wasn’t a large space. Two windows overlooking the mountains, a bed big enough for the two of us, a small chest at the foot of the bed, and one side table that held a silver candelabra.
Cedar sat on the edge of the bed, his hands dropping to my waist as he stared up at me.
“Where do you wish to start?”