Page 113 of Dream Reaper

Prince Haryk prodded him awake a while later, dragging him out of disjointed dreams. He’d been dreaming about trying to find Ava in a decrepit tower—he could hear her calling out for him, but no matter where he looked, he couldn’t seem to find her. She was always two steps ahead of him, hidden in the shadows.

Jerrid dragged himself to his feet, scrubbing at his eyes. “How long was I asleep?”

The words hurt, his throat raw and irritated. He took the water skin the prince offered him and eagerly swallowed.

“About three hours. I would have let you sleep longer, but I have a feeling we need to get moving.”

Jerrid slanted him a look, wondering what he meant by that. What kind of feeling? Was he prone to premonitions, or was this just his nerves making him want to get back into the air?

Either way, it didn’t make Jerrid feel any better.

“I’m glad you woke me,” he muttered as he secured the lid onto the skin and shoved it into the satchel. “We probably shouldn’t have even lingered this long.”

He shook himself and called for the shift. It came more easily this time, his mind too weary to put up a fight. The prince took several quick steps backward as Jerrid’s body grew and lengthened, taking up more space.

“Sorry,” he growled as he hunkered down to let the prince approach. “I didn’t mean to push you.”

The prince held out a hand until he bumped into Jerrid’s side. His agile fingers ran over the harness and down to the bootstrap. It took him a minute to haul himself onto the saddle, but not nearly as long as the last time.

They were getting the hang of this.

A broken shifter and a blind prince. Some rescue party they were making.

But hopefully, it would be enough.

“Did you secure the buckle?” Jerrid asked as he stood and tilted his head toward the treetops.

“Yes,” the prince replied, his legs tightening around the saddle. “How are you going to get back up there?”

Jerrid eyed the thick canopy above them. He had no idea. They couldn’t go back up the way they had come down—falling was a lot easier than climbing. And dragons weren’t built for climbing trees.

“We’re going to have to find an opening,” he growled in frustration. “I’ll head north, and hopefully we’ll find a break in the trees.”

He lumbered into the woods, trampling rotting logs and brittle weeds as he went. A knot tightened in his stomach as he resisted the urge to take flight immediately, but the blind prince wouldn’t be able to spot thick tree limbs about to decapitate him on the way up.

He didn’t know if his urgency was just anxiety or some strange dragon sense he hadn’t yet learned to hone…but he agreed with the prince.

They needed to get to Ava, and quickly.

They’d already been gone far too long, and he dreaded to think what had been happening in his extended absence.

He forced his legs to move faster as he smashed through the undergrowth, plowing over small saplings and knocking aside fallen trees in his haste.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that the hourglass had run out of sand.

CHAPTER 27

AVA

On the second night, a mere hour after the sunset, the shadow found a way into the keep.

Ava and Brynja stood outside the door, staring at one another in horror as gleeful laughter ricocheted through their thoughts.

I’m coming, it whispered, its voice crackling with power. You can’t hide any longer. I’m coming.

“What do we do?” Brynja rasped as she tightened her grip on her spear. “Jerrid won’t make it back in time. We’re on our own.”

Ava’s blood chilled, but she’d already come to that conclusion herself. It wasn’t news to her, but a bitter taste rose in the back of her throat as iciness surged through her body, robbing her of coherent thought. What options did they have left?