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At first, I wasn’t sure what woke me. My first thought was that the sun’s ascent roused me. My vampire instincts were fine-tuned for detecting the evil orb’s arrival. When it rose, I felt a twinge in my gut, almost like a cramp. My second thought was that it was a mistake to sleep on a hard stone floor. My spine felt like it had been compressed by an industrial vise. I rolled over, trying to ease the kinks out.
That’s when I heard the laughter. Opening my eyes, I realized that sound—so foreign after all these months—is what had really woken me. I sat up slowly, hope blooming in my chest.
Rhea stood over the pallet, her body frozen in shock. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw me rise. She put a finger to her lips. I nodded and padded across the floor to the dais. Closer now, I finally saw the wide smile on my sister’s lips. Her eyes were still closed, but whatever she was dreaming was making her happy.
Tears sprung to my eyes. We’d done it. Or rather, Maisie had done it with a little divine intervention.
A few moments later, Maisie’s smile faded and she rolled to her side, a move that signaled her exit from the dream world and into a state of deep sleep once more. The move exposed the star on her left shoulder, so like my own. A symbol of our mixed heritage and the bond we shared as twins.
Rhea pulled my sleeve and we retreated to the far end of the altar.
“That was amazing,” I whispered.
Rhea reached for me and pulled me into a tight hug. Against my ear, she whispered, “Praise be to the gods.”
When she pulled away, her eyes shone with relief and happiness. “We need to move her back to her room before she wakes.”
“Why?”
“If she wakes here, she’ll realize she was manipulated and it will undo all the progress we’ve made. It’s better for her to believe she did it on her own.”
“But surely she’ll remember drinking the wine and passing out,” I argued.
Rhea shook her head and glanced over to make sure Maisie was still sleeping. “Not necessarily. The sedative is strong. She might remember being in the dining room but not the passing out part. We’ll just tell her exhaustion finally caught up with her and we moved her to her rooms.”
I sighed. “Okay. Let’s do it quickly though. It would really suck if she woke up midtransport.”
27
Two hours later, Maisie found Rhea and me sitting at the breakfast table in the kitchen. She wore a pink silk robe and her hair stood up in odd tufts. She yawned as she entered but stopped when she saw us.
“Good morning,” she said, sounding dazed.
“You look like you slept well,” Rhea said.
“You know, I think I did.” Maisie’s eyes squinted as if she was trying to figure out how that was possible. “What happened last night? The last thing I remember is Sabina getting here.”
My eyebrows rose. Rhea wasn’t kidding about the power of that sedative. But it was fine by me if Maisie didn’t remember our argument. “You gave us a bit of a scare,” I said. “One minute you were talking and the next you nosedived into your soup bowl.”
Maisie’s cheeks turned pink. “Really?”
Rhea rose and put an arm around her shoulders, guiding her to a chair. “And it’s no surprise. You looked like death warmed over. You must have been exhausted.”
Blue eyes shot to mine. As far as she knew, her lack of sleep was our secret. “I haven’t been sleeping well,” she evaded.
Rhea forced an awkward laugh. “Looks like that isn’t a problem anymore.”
I poured my sister a cup of coffee. “Must be something about the beds here,” I said. “I haven’t slept that hard in days. I don’t even think I had one dream.”
Maisie took a sip of coffee, totally unaware she was being played. “Not me. I had this really strange dream.”
Rhea and I both spoke at once. “Oh?”
She nodded. “I was alone in a dark forest. A white stag with red horns jumped out at me.” Her body shuddered like someone walked over her grave. “But all of a sudden this big black dog jumped out of the shadows and attacked the stag.” Maisie busied herself buttering a piece of toast as she spoke, so she missed the look that passed between Rhea and me. “At first, I thought the dog meant me harm, too, but then it scared the stag away.”
“That’s weird,” I said, trying to sound casual. “What happened next?”
“The dog got hurt in the battle but managed to limp over to me. Then it—” She paused and shook her head like she was embarrassed to go on.
“It what?” Rhea prompted; her hand clasped her mug so hard her knuckles were white.
Maisie smiled sheepishly. “It talked to me. Said it was there to help me.” She shrugged. “It led me to this underground cavern with a large lake. The dog told me that if I drank from the water I’d feel better. When I knelt at the edge, the water turned to blood. I was scared at first, but for some reason I trusted the dog. And suddenly I realized I was thirstier than I’d ever been. I drank and drank until my stomach was so full I thought I’d burst.”
I blew out a breath. “Wow, Maze.”
She nodded. “But that’s not the weirdest part. After I finished and thanked the dog, he said, ‘Tell your sister she owes me big-time.’ ”
My knife clattered to my plate. As happy as I was that our experiment seemed to be a success, I wasn’t looking forward to my comeuppance from Asclepius.
“Sounds like a positive dream,” Rhea said quickly to cover my reaction. Then she shot me a keep-it-together look.
“It was,” Maisie said. “That stag always scared me.”
Rhea put her hand over Maisie’s. “From the sound of things, it won’t be returning.”
Maisie bit her lip. “I hope not.” She polished off her toast. “I think I’m going to grab a shower and head to my studio.”
“Oh?” Excitement and hope rose in my chest. “Does that mean you had a prophecy?”
“Maybe.” Maisie sighed. “It’s been so long, it’s hard to tell. I’m hoping some time alone with my paints and canvas will help.”
“I think spending an afternoon painting will do you some good,” Rhea said. “Even if you didn’t have a vision last night, maybe the door is open for them now.”
Maisie made a noncommittal sound and rose. “Will you be around today, Sabina?”
I looked up, surprised at the interest. “Actually, I’m beat. I might crash in one of the bedrooms until the sun goes down.”
