by Noree Cosper
He looked back to me with his eyebrows bunched together in confusion. “Why’d you stop me?”
I turned my attention to the Mara. “How did the Dreamless get in?”
The Mara studied her squirming captors with narrowed eyes. “It appears we have a traitor in the tower.”
A chill went through me. “But you don’t know who it is.”
“I intend to find out.”
“You’re just going to ignore me,” Colin asked. “Seriously?”
Morphy perched on the couch. “Leave it, Colin.”
Colin’s jaw tightened and he turned to the Mara. “So, you’re going to torture them.”
I glanced at the Dreamless. “I doubt they’ll tell you anything. Nimue has a pretty tight hold on them. Nightmares don’t work on them.”
The Mara’s voice took a dark note. “Oh, I have many more methods than nightmares.”
A shiver worked up my spine. I tried not to think about what she meant.
“In the meantime, we just have to wait here for the next attack?” I asked.
“Bring it,” Colin said. “This time I’m not letting that guy get away.”
I shot him a glare.
“No,” The Mara said. “Perhaps it’s time you left.”
“Finally.” I staggered, rubbing my face with my hand. “I…”
I gripped the edge of one of the chairs and fell into it. My head felt like it was three times its size and was getting impossible to hold up. A halo of tiny rainbow lights danced around Colin, Morphy, and the Mara.
Colin rested his hand on my shoulder. “Hey, are you all right?”
“I guess the powder is kicking in.” My tongue kept getting in the way when I tried to form the words, so they came out slurred.
The Mara kneeled by me and held my face in her fingers, pushing up my eyelids. The light flared and I flinched. My heart pounded in my ears. I’d just gotten over this. I didn’t want to sleep again. Not when it was proven this place wasn’t safe.
“Colin, go to the training room and get me the rest of the maca root,” the Mara said.
I pointed a shaky finger. “It’s in the bedroom.”
“Very well. I will get it.” She stood up. “Colin, go collect your things. Once I counteract the sleep powder, the two of you need to leave.”
“What about The Prince?” Colin asked. “He’s not going to be happy if we leave without his permission. I don’t want to have to avoid his soldiers as well as Nimue’s Dreamless.”
“I will handle the Prince’s anger.” The Mara’s voice drifted away as she moved into the bedroom.
After a few moments, she came to stand over me with a glass of milky liquid in her hand. She thrust it out to me. “Drink.”
I swallowed the bittersweet liquid in a few gulps. Within seconds, my mind became clear. I sat up straight.
“Better?” the Mara asked. “Good. Gather your things.”
Giddiness filled me, warring with the heaviness sinking in the pit of my stomach. The Dreamless had found us, but I’d managed to escape their attempt to capture me. I’d let Dylan get away though, which meant they’d be after us again soon. He’d have more Dreamless with him next time, and I was still no closer to finding out how to break Nimue’s hold over him. Colin and I needed to hurry to the Well. I dressed and packed in record time. Ten minutes later, I emerged with my backpack on and the Mara’s book in my arms.
While I had been packing, she had inscribed lines of runes in the frame of the bathroom door with some sort of red ink. Colin stood near the couch with his arms crossed and Morphy next to him.
I held the book out to the Mara. “For what it’s worth, the spell worked.”
She glanced at the tome with a smirk. “Keep it. The two of you will need it. Now, step back.”
I joined Colin by the couch. He wouldn’t look at me. The heaviness in my stomach increased. He was angry now, but I couldn’t avoid the questions he would have for long. Morphy sat on my right shoulder, curling his tail around my other one. The Mara lifted her hand facing the bathroom door with her palms spread out. She muttered words in a language I didn’t understand. The cracks between the door and the frame glowed blue for an instant.
The Mara turned to us. “Go, but remember our deal. Nimue is mine.”
I walked to the bathroom door and opened it. A blast of icy air hit me, crawling through the openings of my clothes. I shivered and stepped forward, followed by Colin. I turned in time to see the door disappear, leaving a view of the mountain that held Bedlam.
It was time to head to the Well. Hopefully we’d find it before the Dreamless found us.
19
I had a few hours of peacefully trudging through the snow before Colin asked the question I’d been dreading. He’d waited until Morphy had flown ahead to scout out our position.
“So, who was that Dreamless guy from before?”
“No one,” I said.
“Didn’t seem like no one,” he said. “You stopped me from killing him.”
My mouth went dry as guilt twisted my stomach into knots. How was I supposed to explain my long, warped story to him?
“Someone I knew, once.” I pushed through the snow to move ahead of him.
He caught up with me and grabbed my arm. “Your boyfriend? Is that why you didn’t want me to kill him?”
I flung his hand off me. “What does it matter? You and I are just enjoying each other, right? Nothing more.”
His eyes narrowed and he returned his hand to his side. “It matters because he’s going to keep chasing us. It’s dangerous if you keep stopping me or hesitate.”
“They’re all going to be chasing us,” I said.
“But you don’t have emotional ties to all of them, do you?”
I bit my lip and stared at the horizon, a field of white as far as the eye could see. “There might still be a way to save him.”
“That’s what you’re holding out for?” he asked. “What about last night?”
“Last night was fun. Nothing more,” I said. “Don’t tell me you’re not used to that.”
“You’re right. I can’t say that.” His face drained of expression and his voice held an edge frozen like the snow around us. “We should keep going.
He marched forward, making his way to two hills ahead of us. I slogged behind, trying to blink back the tears that hung in the corners of my eyes. What I’d said had been true. Last night was meant to be a fun, no strings attached kind of thing. So, why did my chest hurt? I couldn’t be developing feelings for Colin. He was half Fae, after all.
Aren’t you almost the same? A tiny voice whispered in the back of my head.
I pushed the thought away. It didn’t matter. Colin had plenty of witches waiting on him at the Respite. The triplets in particular would be waiting with a hot and steamy welcome. A burning sensation filled my chest. Ugh. I didn’t want to think on that either.
My mind turned to the problem of Dylan. I wanted to save him, but what about afterwards? He’d been the one to talk me into to going to Nimue to exchange our dreams for comfort. I hadn’t wanted to, but I’d gone along to make him happy. Now he was a slave, chasing me by her command. But had my feelings changed for him? My heart squeezed in my chest. I didn’t know how I felt about either Dylan or Colin anymore.
I was so lost in my thoughts, I plowed right into Colin. With a huff of surprise, I stumbled to the side, tripping over a small branch buried in the snow. Colin grabbed me before I fell, but he wasn’t looking at me.
“Looks like your boyfriend brought more company.” Colin nodded to the top of the hill.
Dylan stood with his mask pulled down and his goggles resting on his hat. His hand rested on the right side of his abdomen, like it hurt for him to breathe. Beside him stood two more Dreamless. The sound of crunching snow echoed around us. A chill ran up my spine as I slowly turned in a circle. Twelve Dreamless surrounded us.
Colin drew out a small gun from a holster on his belt. “If it comes down to him
or us, I can’t promise to keep him alive. You understand, right?”
I pulled out my bow. “Let me deal with him, then.”
“How? It’s not like you can put him to sleep.”
“I’ll think of something.”
I raised my bow and aimed it at one of the other Dreamless. I could take down probably three or four before they advanced on us. Except, they weren’t charging forward. Instead they raised their hands, and their eyes glowed violet. I launched at the nearest Dreamless. The arrow veered to the side and hit the snow. A shot rang out from Colin’s gun, followed by a curse from him.
“Did it swerve?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “Looks like we’ll need to get closer.”
The wind swirled around us, picking up the snow, and forming into a huge cylinder around the Dreamless and us. On it rode the sensual feminine voice of Nimue speaking in a language I didn’t understand.
My fingers tightened on my bow as I started up at the growing tower of wind. “This isn’t good. Can you tell what she’s chanting?”
“I think she’s creating a portal,” Colin shouted.
“How are we supposed to fight this?”
He pointed to the Dreamless. “We need to take them out. They’re acting as conduits for her magic to work remotely.”
“Let’s do that.”
I drew my knife and rushed forward, only to be knocked back by an invisible force. I hit the ground and bounced, snow spraying every direction. Its cold wetness slipped through between my sleeves and gloves. Colin pulled me up and we turned as one back to the Dreamless.
“They have some sort of barrier. How are we going to get past it?” I asked.
He pressed his lips together. “I think we’re trapped.”
A whimper escaped my lips before I could stop it. This couldn’t be it. After all this, we’d been caught in an ambush. There had to be a way out. I scanned the hill. One of the Dreamless had to be controlling the barrier spell. If I could find him…what? What would I be able to do if he was behind the barrier like the rest? My bottom lip trembled as heaviness filled my chest.
“She’s either coming here, or pulling us to her.” I reached behind me and gripped Colin’s hand. “When she sees you, pretend to be Fae.”
“If she killed my mother…”
“Don’t say your Rhydian’s son,” I said. “Do what you have to do to buy time.”
“I’m not sure how well that will work,” Colin said. “She probably knew they had a child.”
The ground rumbled beneath us. I grabbed onto Colin’s shoulders to steady myself and glanced around. Was this a part of her spell? A crack in the side of the hill formed and grew larger. Snow and rock tumbled to the sides as an opening to a cave formed inside the barrier. No, this wasn’t Nimue. The landscape of the Wyrdlands was shifting. I gasped as Morphy’s small figure appeared from inside the cave.
“Come on,” he called. “Before she finishes.”
I took Colin’s hand again and raced toward the entrance. Nimue’s words sped after us, as if she sensed our escape. We dashed inside the cave, and continued through a narrow tunnel. We stopped several feet in. I rested my hands on my knees, trying to suck in deep breaths of the dusty air. The rock walls shook and shifted around us and the light disappeared as the entrance sealed.
A small purple glow emanated from Morphy, casting strange shadows along the wall. “This way.”
“That was you?” I glared at him. “Why didn’t you tell me you could shape the Wyrdlands?”
“I’ll explain when we get there,” he said.
“Get where?” Colin asked.
“To the Well of Dreams.”
“Wait,” I said. “You could have done this without us walking through the snow?”
He sighed. “This takes a lot of energy. More is being wasted while you stand here questioning me.”
I ground my teeth and followed behind him with jerking steps as he led us through the winding tunnels. Morphy had been hiding a lot more than those connections he’d claimed to have in Bedlam. Once we reached the Well, I planned to pry every secret from those scaled lips.
20
I couldn’t tell how long we traveled underground. It could have been one hour or several. The lack of light and the narrow shafts played tricks on my mind. Eventually, Morphy created an opening to the surface.
I stepped out into a sea of green, raising my hand to block the bright light of the sun. A copse of trees, all lush with leaves and fruits of every kind, surrounded a pool with a mirrored surface. Beyond the trees, a circle of mountains stood. The warm air carried the scent of citrus and the songs of birds through the grove.
“Welcome to the Well of Dreams,” Morphy said. “The Faction’s most sacred place.”
He flew to the center of the pool of water. He hovered with his wings out-stretched and began to glimmer. His form grew and shifted into an amorphous blob. What was the well doing to my familiar? With a yell, I took a few steps forward with my hand outstretched. I stopped as the blob continued to shift. The blog grew to around six feet tall and pieces began to form into four limbs.
“What the hell is going on with your dragon?” Colin voiced the question that I’d yet to get from my mouth.
I just shook my head, still unable to find my voice.
The blob took the shape of a male Fae. His pointed ears peeked from the fine plane of white hair that flowed to his waist. A robe of starlight, clasped at his right shoulder, hung to mid-calf, leaving part of his chest bare. His face was a map of sharp angles, high cheekbones, and a pointed chin. His eyes caught the rays of light, like gold in the sun.
Colin let out a low gasp and knelt.
“What are you doing?” I asked as he tried to yank me down.
“That’s the Sandman,” he hissed. “The King of Dreams.”
The Sandman’s thin, pale lips curled in a smile. “It is a relief to finally greet you in my true form, daughter.”
The wheel in my brain came to a screeching halt. “What? I don’t understand…Where’s Morphy?”
“I am Morphy…At least it was the form I took when you lost your mother.”
“That can’t be right,” I said. “Fae can’t be familiars…can they?”
“I prevented your familiar ritual from working and took the place of what would have come. We already had the father-daughter bond.” The Sandman nodded to Colin. “Much like the one Colin has with his father. You may rise, by the way. No need to be so formal when we’ve traveled this far together.”
Colin rose and dusted himself off. “Thank you.”
I closed my eyes and rubbed the bridge of my nose. “You can’t be my dad. Mother told me he was a witch.”
The Sandman’s smile turned sad. “Your mother and I needed to keep your true parentage a secret. Even from you.”
“I’ve been lied to my entire life?” My fingernails dug into my palms as the pit of my stomach boiled. “Why the hell would you need to do that?”
The Sandman sighed and pointed to the Well. “When Earth was lost, our world became the frozen wasteland it is now. We Fae brought what human survivors we could, in hopes their energy could help revive our world. However, all the ones we brought over we changed. They possessed magic of their own.”
“They became witches,” I said.
“Either the events on Earth or the crossing into the Fae changed them. However it happened, we were unable to take energy from them to fuel our world the way we always had,” he said. “We argued over how we could keep our world alive. No one could agree on which the best way was.
“We split into factions, each deciding to try our own methods. Our faction developed a way to feed from the emotions harnessed from dreams. In order to do this, we had to pool our magic together as a collective. This became the Well of Dreams. All Fae are connected to it. Each time a Fae feeds, their power is sent here to the Well. Eventually, we became those dreams.”
I crossed my arms. “Not seeing what this has to
do with me.”
The Sandman stared off into the distance, his eyes unfocused. “I never wanted things to turn out like they have. The witches weren’t supposed to be slaves.”
“What did you expect?” I snapped. “We are food to your kind.”
“Not you,” he said. “You are hope for the future, as is Colin.”
“How are we hope?” Colin gave a quick bow as he asked.
“Once I saw how the Fae treated the witches, I withdrew to search for a new way for our races to survive,” the Sandman said. “I grew fascinated with the way witches’ energy replenished naturally. So, I set out to create a half Fae, half witch. I succeeded with you, Aneira.”
“That doesn’t answer his question,” I said.
The Sandman sighed. “I suppose the Mara never told you how she is able to access her Fae magic?”
“We depend on our parents.” My eyes widened as I looked at The Sandman. “Oh, that’s how I could always use Fae magic. You were near me the whole time.”
“Yes,” he said. “But the Mara isn’t connected to her mother any longer. She was given the tattoo connected to the well, but she doesn’t need to feed from dreams to add to the well.”
I tilted my head. “What?”
“She has her own dreams.”
“Wait,” Colin said. “You’re saying if we had gotten our tattoos we wouldn’t have to feed? Why aren’t there more half-breeds running around?”
“They are a rarity. Most are never connected to the Well. When they are born, the Fae tend to hide their shame.”
Colin hung his head. “Like my father.”
The Sandman gave him a gentle smile. “I think he didn’t tell you to keep you from feeling ostracized. Many Fae already knew about you, such as my son in Bedlam.”
Colin’s eyes widened as he glanced at me. “Wow, that makes you the half-sister of the Prince of Darkness and the Prince of Dreams.”
“Don’t.” I gritted my teeth and turned to the Sandman. “Even if you had more half-breeds, you think the Fae would be willing to give up the political power they hold over the Dreamlands?”
