Page 23 of Awakened By Her Guardian

“I’m great. Thank you for waiting for me.”

“We wouldn’t go anywhere without making sure you were up and about,” her dad said. “Join us? I’m sure you’re starving.”

“Definitely.”

They helped themselves from the buffet line and settled in with their plates at the table. Her mom said, “We gave Santa the rundown of what happened, but he’ll want to talk with you when you’re ready.”

“That’s fine,” Ana said. She looked at Sandman. “Nightmare isn’t dead. We just chased him off.”

“Right,” he said. “As the humans like to say, we won the battle but not the war.”

“There was more to him, more to his magic,” Ana said.

Her parents nodded, and her mom added, “Because of Frost. That icy jackass made Nightmare’s dread magic stronger and sharper. It was so hard to fight because it felt like we were freezing at the same time. I could hardly concentrate.”

“And they were attacking us with waking nightmares,” her dad said, shuddering. “I’ve never been so pissed and so scared at the same time.”

“They’re dangerous separately,” Ana said. “But since they’ve joined forces, everything about them is worse. Nightmare and Frost trapped me together. I was frozen and locked in a nightmare.”

“If they continue working together,” Sandman said, shaking his head, “they could overwhelm the dream walkers entirely. Then there would be no good dreams, and people would be easy pickings for whatever they wanted.”

“What do you mean?” Gabriel asked.

“Well, I’ve been thinking about why Nightmare went after Ana specifically,” Sandman said. “She can cut off his nightmares and take their replenishment magic from him. If he turned her evil, she could do the same to us, but on a more powerful level, especially if she were being fed through his dread magic. I’m the most powerful dream walker, but my slumber magic doesn’t behave like Ana’s. I can’t feed my good slumber magic to the other dream walkers the way he can send dread magic to his evil followers.”

“He’d be unstoppable if I joined him,” Ana said. “And that’s frightening to think about.”

Gabriel hummed, his wolf growling a little at the end. “So he would turn Ana to darkness and use her to drain the good slumber magic from the dream walkers until they were essentially human. Then Nightmare could use his dread magic to force anyone to do what he wants, him and Frost, through bad dreams.”

“Indeed,” her dad said. “Imagine the threat of being killed in your sleep if you didn’t do what they wanted.”

“It’s like an ‘80s horror flick come to life,” Ana said.

“We’ll be vigilant,” Sandman said. “And our people won’t go out alone anymore. From this point forward, all dream walkers will work in pairs.”

“What about me?” Ana asked. “I’m up here by myself.”

“Santa said he had something that would protect you,” her mom said.

“Good,” Ana said.

They talked a little while longer about the battle, until the conversation grew heavy enough that her mom declared it was time to talk about other, sweeter things. Like a future wedding and babies.

Ana’s cheeks pinked and Gabriel growled softly in approval.

“We haven’t even known each other for a week,” she pointed out. But she nudged his shoulder with her own and grinned. “At least give us until Christmas before you start hearing wedding bells.”

“You got it,” her mom said.

After the meal, they walked with her parents and Sandman to the subbasement, where Pixie was waiting.

“Thank you again for your help,” Ana said.

“It’s no problem at all. I’m glad I can open a safe portal for your family, and anytime you need one home, holler.”

Ana hugged her parents goodbye and promised to text and call often. Pixie opened the portal with her ward and walked them through, then returned and closed it.

“I think,” Ana said, hooking her arm through Gabriel’s, “I’d like to talk to you for a bit.”