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“The mists are coming across the bridge. Not by a lot, but they’ve definitely shifted closer. Oberon has no idea why. He’s frantic about it, and the courtiers are demanding answers. They think the barrier might be failing.”
Kalen stilled. “The mists have moved.”
“Do you know what it means?” I asked. “If you aren’t the one doing it then—”
A shiver stole down my back. It was that same feeling as before, when it had felt as though someone’s eyes were burning holes into my back. I shifted to face the wind that tugged at the wild strands of my hair, and a clap of thunder tore through the star-studded sky.
“Tessa,” Kalen warned just as he grabbed my hand.
“What’s going on?” My pulse ticked faster.
“Pookas are coming. Three of them. We need to run.”
Pookas—the shadow fae’s name for the monstrous shadowfiends that hunted in the mists. How were they here?
I narrowed my gaze at the shadowy landscape, and yes, just there…in the distance, three large forms were hurtling toward us. I took a step back, bumping up against Kalen, and his hand tightened around mine. But even the warmth of him could not chase away the sudden chill in my bones.
“I don’t understand. They can’t hurt us, right?”
“I don’t know,” Kalen growled. “I didn’t bring them here. I’m not in control.Again.And I will not risk your life to find out just how much damage they can cause. We need to go. Now.”
The pookas grew larger, and they were close enough now that I could see their elongated fangs flashing in the moonlight. Memories from the mists stormed through me, bringing a sick feeling into the back of my throat. It was as if a giant’s fist had curled around my heart and was choking the blood out of it. I knew I needed to run. But I couldn’t force my feet to move.
“Tessa.” Kalen pulled me toward him. “We have to go.”
My feet were as heavy as stone, but something in Kalen’s words got them moving. He pulled me after him, and I stumbled in his wake, my vision drowned in a haze of mist. This couldn’t be happening. We were safe here. The shadowfiends—the pookas—shouldn’t be able to invade our dreams.
We raced from the field and into the dense woods, plunging deep into the brush. Leaves crackled beneath our hurried steps, and twigs snapped like the breaking of bones. As we ran, I focused on Kalen’s steady strength, the determined set of his shoulders, the way his hair curled across his neck. The pookas screamed in the distance, a sound that scraped through my soul. They were gaining on us fast.
When we pushed out of the woods, we reached the chasm edge that separated this part of the fae world from the rest. Kalen’s brows furrowed as he gazed down into the murky depths. “This shouldn’t be here. Not in this dream. I didn’t conjure this.”
“What do we do?” I asked. “Where do we go?”
Kalen glanced over his shoulder as the shadowfiends crashed through the forest. Any moment now, they’d be on us, their fangs and claws ripping through our flesh. Would we ever wake again?
He turned back toward the chasm and looked down, and then he turned to me, his hand still holding mine. “Do you trust me, Tessa?”
My heart kicked my ribs. “Why? What are you going to do?”
“Do you trust me?” he repeated.
I stared up into his eyes and swallowed hard. “Yes.”
As a pooka lunged from the depths of the woods, Kalen pulled me to his chest, wrapped his arms around me, and…leapt. Wind shook around us as we plunged into the chasm. A scream built in my throat, but my terror held it there like a lump of molten rock. Heart throbbing, I buried my face in his chest, breathing in the scent of ice and snow, willing this to stop.
But on and on we fell.
Kalen suddenly twisted to the side, angling his body toward the chasm floor. I opened my mouth to scream at him to stop, but the ground slammed into us. The whole world shattered, and chunks of rock stormed around us in a whirlwind of deadly debris.
And then everything stopped.
Thirteen
Tessa
Isucked in a gasping breath as I sprang up from the dream, my blanket falling off my trembling body. My mind tried to make sense of the gray walls and the bars that surrounded me. Nellie clasped my hand and pushed the damp hair out of my eyes.
“Tessa,” she whispered fervently. “Don’t say anything.”
