“Pisces designation,” I explained, tapping my temple. “Dream-walking. It’s sort of my thing.”
“This is a dream?” She looked around the room, shaking her head, and understanding slowly dawned in her eyes. Then she narrowed her gaze at me again. “Get out of my head, James.Now.”
Oh, she waspissedthen.
“I would if I could, butyoupulled me in. Your emotions are... very intense.”
“So this is my fault?” She crossed her arms.
I sighed, running a hand through my hair. “Look, I’m really not trying to spy on you. Pisces magic is weird. Strong emotions act like a beacon. I was just minding my own business, having my regularly scheduled nightmare, when your dream practically dragged me in.”
Her gaze shifted to Gretchen. “And the bird?”
“Gretchen. My familiar.”
Jupiter’s eyes widened. “You have a familiar bond? Those are incredibly rare.”
“Says the woman who talks to snakes.”
The corner of her mouth twitched, almost forming a smile before she caught herself. “Still doesn’t explain why you’re still in my dream.”
“If it helps, I can change the scenery. I can make it less...” I gestured to the barren, cold room, the tear-soaked shirt.
She looked around, as if seeing the dream with fresh eyes. A flash of pain crossed her face. “Please,” she whispered.
I closed my eyes, concentrating on reshaping the dream. The dormitory room dissolved, walls falling away, ceiling becoming sky. The floor beneath our feet transformed into solid rock. It was a cliffside overlooking the dense forest surrounding Imperium. Above us, stars glittered in a clear night sky, the moon casting everything in silver light.
When I opened my eyes, Jupiter was standing at the cliff’s edge, looking out over the treetops. The tension had eased from her shoulders. Her long, silky hair blew in the dream wind and it took everything in me not to reach out and touch it.
“Better?” I asked, moving to stand beside her, careful to leave space between us. I didn’t like touching people. Didn’t bloody trust it.
She nodded, wrapping her arms around herself. “How much did you see?”
“Enough,” I admitted. “You don’t have to talk about it.”
“Good, because I don’t want to.”
Gretchen launched herself from my shoulder, wings spreading wide as she soared on dream-currents above the forest. Jupiter watched her fly, a small smile finally breaking through.
“She’s so beautiful.”
“She knows it, too. Vainest familiar in the world.”
‘I heard that,’Gretchen’s voice echoed in my mind, and I knew Jupiter couldn’t hear her.
“So,” I said, leaning against a boulder that hadn’t been there a moment before until I needed it. “Want to hear about the time I accidentally walked into Professor Winters’ dream and found her ballroom dancing with a sentient armchair?”
Jupiter blinked, then let out a startled laugh. “You’re making that up.”
“I wish I was. There are some things you can’t unsee.” I tapped my temple again. “The curse of the Pisces. We see everyone’s weird shit.”
She leaned on the boulder beside me, still keeping a careful distance. “Do you do this often? Invade people’s dreams?”
“I prefer ‘visit’ to ‘invade,’ but not usually, no. I try to respect privacy. But sometimes, like tonight, I don’t have much choice.”
We sat in silence for a while, watching Gretchen perform aerial acrobatics against the dream-sky. The forest below us shifted occasionally, trees rearranging themselves, the canopy dancing under the moonlight.
In my years of dream-walking, I’d seen countless nightmares, fantasies, and memories, but Jupiter’s raw pain had pulled me in like nothing I’d experienced before. Despite her obvious reluctance to discuss what I’d witnessed, I wanted to know more about her. The real her, not just the wounded axis or the powerful Ophis.
