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Her eyes darken, staring up at me, and all I can do is hope she doesn’t ask me to elaborate. I don’t want to know what she saw, but considering how quiet they were before she screamed, I don’t think it showed up as someone she feared. I’m even more certain when her cheeks flame and she looks away from me, but I pretend not to notice.
“You should rest. It’s been a lot today.” My head thunks against the headboard and I close my eyes, hoping she’ll take the hint that talking time is over, and that the back of my eyelids can help me trick myself into believing I’m anywhere else but in a bed with her.
“Goodnight,” she whispers, while I think of a dream to give her. She might not want my help, my magic, but she’s going to get it anyway. For both of our sakes. Once she’s deep in sleep, I should be able to nod off, too. My presence should be enough. It was for Elaria, but until my body can filter out whatever tsunami of libido my dragon set free, it’s what’s best–her asleep, so I can’t do anything I’ll regret.
Settling on a dream, I focus my energy, picturing her face, the arch of her dark eyebrows, the slight wave to her hair, the way her gold eyes have flecks of dark embers, the slight up turn of her nose and the faint freckles that are scattered there.
Slowly, Calamity’s soft exhales become more spaced out, deeper, and she falls asleep. I push my thoughts into her head, the dream I prepared for her, the card game in the cavern. Onlyit doesn’t play in my mind like it always does when I use my magic. I push a bit harder, still staring at the back of my eyelids. Then the darkness fades into stone walls, to iron bars, as I’m sucked into her headspace.
Dream walking… I’ve done it before, hundreds of times, but never accidentally. But this is unmistakable. Calamity’s headspace, which looks a lot like the king’s dungeon. I search for anyone, but the cells are all empty and Calamity is nowhere in sight.
Chapter 18
Loric
Turning in place, I examine the cell. It’s like a bedroom has been moved here from inside the castle. There’s a shelf of books, a small bed, but it’s the paintings on the stone walls that draw my eye–that shock me the most. I recognize them, and they’re so vivid, so lifelike it’s like I’m staring at the real thing. The crystal castle, complete with its dragon’s blood crystals. The mountains in Frost Forge. The furies depicted as dragons, one red, one white, one black, soaring through the air. There’s a waterfall that seems to flow off the edge of the world, turning to mist, just like the one in Lythanar. They’re almost all places in the dragon realm.
Hinges whine and I whirl to find Asmo opening the gate to the cell, Calamity walking beside him. There are no chains, no shackles around her wrists, yet she walks inside and lets him close the door behind her. Her brows furrow together, a slight crinkle forming between them.
“The king will be here soon,” Asmo says, but she doesn’t seem to hear it, staring at me like I’m a ghost. Then he disappears into thin air.
“What are you doing here?” She takes a tentative step closer, and I’m not sure how to answer that, let alone make my mouth move after seeing this… These paintings.
I didn’t intend to enter her dreams, if that’s what this is. I’d only meant to ensure she had a good one instead of a nightmare, but I’m here and after seeing this, I have questions.
“I’m not sure,” I say, my gaze roaming the walls. “Is this yours?”
She gives me a curt nod, inching closer to the bed. “Did Asmo bring you here?”
I twist my lips, letting them go with a pop. “I mean, someone did.”
“Why? He’s never had me share a cell before. Not since…” she trails off, looking off to the walls.
“Since who?”
She shakes her head, as if clearing her mind. “No one.”
Pausing, I debate what to do next, what to ask… I don’t want to scare her or pry, but there’s no way she should know about these places, not without learning about them from one of my kind.
“Do you know who I am?” I ask, deciding to start there.
“Loric, but yourfriendscall you Lor.”
I nod. “What’s this?” Playing dumb, I point to the crystal-covered castle.
“It’s the dragon queen’s castle.” She crosses her arms, her lips tugging up into a half smile. “It’s the newest painting I made.”
“The dragon queen’s?” I arch a brow.
Calamity moves to stand beside me, tilting her head as she scans the painting. “If you look closely, you can see the symbols, the runes.” She points to a wall, and sure enough there are little etches. It’s our language, well, that of our history. The history of all the realms, not just that of the dragons.
“And where did you get the idea for this?”
“A friend told me about them, she described it so vividly, this came to my mind.”
This is more than just someone giving a description. It’s like she’s been there, seen it. Every detail is correct, down to the kinds of trees to the angles of the crystals.
“Your friend, did you meet her here?”
