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“Yes, I’m sure you are right.” Nodding, she lifted her face and brushed her lips briefly over mine, our foreheads resting against the other.
“But Tharion is still pretty wild as far as I can tell.”
We chuckled.
“Have you figured out a way to get through to him?”
“Not yet. But, Kingston took me to the Lost Kingdom tonight.”
That got her attention, and she pulled away, staring into my eyes. “To theHall of the Forgotten?”
I nodded. “He found a trunk that belonged to my dad there, and pulled his journal out of it. It’s supposed to contain everything Dad learned about—” A yawn interrupted my words, the exhaustion finally taking over my being. “About Dragons. Sorry. He thinks it will help me.”
An even bigger yawn followed, and I pulled Evie back to me, spooning her when my eyes closed. I swore I didn’t know what they made those mattresses with, but they were the most amazing and comfortable thing I had ever laid on in my life.
“I hope it helps, especially for tomorrow.”
Nodding, I answered in the only way I could. I was as good as gone.
“Brax… I… wanting… talk… something…”
Evie’s words were lost in the recesses of my mind as I succumbed to the sweet relief of sound sleep.
Green fire raged all around me, swiftly engulfing the walls, pictures and rugs of the only home I ever knew, just as another explosion reverberated in my ears.
The back door soared towards us from the force, but Dad pushed my mom out of the way, stopping it with both hands. The wild flames instantly jumped onto his arms, rushing over my father’s body.
“Get Braxton out of here!” Dad yelled, almost seeming unhinged as the blaze burned through his skin.
“No. I can’t leave you!”
“Dad!” The scream ripped from my throat, fear gripping my entire form. Swirling smoke and tears stung my eyes as the heat waves licked my skin, but my terror-fueled gaze flew to the glowing slitted eyes behind the sweltering door.
A new stream of all-consuming fire burst into the house.
“Get him out. Save him! He’s all that’s left...”
Mom’s cries of horror mixed with mine as we watched my father be consumed by the green flames…
“No!” I swallowed the scream as I awoke from the nightmare, stumbling out of bed.
“Brax!” Evie rushed to my side as I struggled to get oxygen into my lungs, the raging blaze still engulfing my reality. “What happened? Are you okay?”
“Don’t—” I stammered, pressing myself against the wall to get away from her—my body shaking. A hand lifted to stop her while I blinked madly, trying to erase the image that had haunted me my entire life. Except, the glowing slitted eyes behind the flames didn’t leave me.
“You are not there anymore,” she whispered soothingly, remaining distant. “It was a nightmare. You are safe. Here, with me.”
Seconds passed, my hands fisted with the effort to stop the quaking of my muscles, but I didn’t answer her. I couldn’t.
“Brax, please…” The anguish and fear in Evanna’s voice finally pierced the hold reliving Dad’s death had on me, and her face slowly began to surface through the vicious green blaze.
“Can you hear me?” Emotion caught in her throat with the question.
The raging fire and Dragon eyes within it gradually vanished, until the walls of the room returned. Evie stood across from me, fear and ache for me streaking her face, and the sight broke the remnants of my nightmare. When my gaze finally connected with hers, urgent steps took her to me and I stepped away from the wall.
Erasing the space between us, I pulled her into my arms. My lungs expanded once more, freely breathing as I held her fiercely. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered against her ear, burying my face into her hair. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Was it the memory of your father’s death again?” Her voice trembled as she clung to me, returning my zealous embrace. Unfortunately, the nightmares from my childhood had returned, and it was not the first time Evie had witnessed the toll they left behind on me.
