AllFreeNovel
Share Us
No, this couldn’t continue. Theyhadto agree to meet.
Ultimately, the anger between the agathos and daimons, which had then overflowed into the human world, had started because of the enmity between two sisters. An enmity that had spiraled out of control, because no one wielded the knife quite like family when it came to cutting you down.
But there had to be an end point, and ideally that end point came before the end of the world. The prophecy had sidetracked me—no matter what I was meant to do on that front, nothing could happen until Gaia and Nyx came to some sort of truce, or in a moment of anger, either one of them could undo everything we’d worked towards anyway.
Therehadto be peace between them. But at what cost?
I blinked in confusion, looking around the inky black garden I’d found myself in, wondering how I’d ended up here.
This wasn’t a dream. It was too neat, too detailed, too perfect.
No, this was a dreamscape. Except that shouldn’t have been possible anymore. If Bulletwasmessing around with the dreamscape again, we were going to have serious words about him putting his health at risk.
It didn’tfeellike Bullet, though. This place was too moody, too dark. Not that Bullet couldn’t be those things at times, but the dreamscapes he concocted were light and beautiful, designed for me.
“Bullet?” I called hesitantly, picking a direction on the stone path and committing, my fingers lightly brushing over silken petals as I went. My subconscious must have been feeling dramatic today—I was wearing a sweeping black gown with sheer beaded sleeves and a scandalously plunging neckline. The flagstones felt cool beneath my feet, and I idly wondered why I’d foregone shoes.
“Bullet, where are you? I’m getting a little nervous now…”
He’dneverleft me alone in a dreamscape before. We’d played hide and seek sometimes when we were kids, but this felt different. Ominous.
“Oh my, little agathos. You are very lost.”
I shrieked in surprise at the sound of the cool feminine voice, spinning clumsily on the spot to try to find the source. The dark flowers seemed to reach for me, leaning in as though they were sniffing me, and I shrank in on myself, wrapping my arms around my waist.
Wake up,I ordered in vain.I don’t want to be here. I want to wake up.
A woman—a goddess—veiled in black with a magnificent silver crescent moon crown on her head materialized in front of me, and I knew in my bones it was Nyx. I dropped to my knees instantly, grateful that the motion of bowing gave me a second to hide the terror on my face.
How on earth had I ended up here? Where was Bullet?
Nothing about this signaled anything good.
“Usually, I don’t reveal myself to mortals in their dreams—except for the Oneiroi who are meant to bear the weight of my presence—but you shouldn’t be here, so clearly you can handle more than the average mortal.”
Could the Oneiroi really handle more? The fact that they didn’t live beyond thirty suggested otherwise.
Either way, it justmade me more eager than ever to get away from here. To get back to Bullet and make sure he was safe because the last time he’d tried to visit Nyx, it had nearly killed him.
Then again, while I was here…
“You are quite the puzzle, little Prophêtis,” Nyx remarked, sounding bemused. “I summoned the Spirit of Dreams. Did you choose to come in his place? This is my personal domain; it is not the sort of place one stumbles into by accident.”
“I don’t know,” I whispered, still prostrated on the ground, hesitating for a moment before deciding to say more. “It wasn’t a conscious decision, but if I had a choice to come in his place, I’d take it. Bullet nearly died the last time he tried to speak to you.”
Nyx hummed thoughtfully, the train of her long gown sweeping along the ground in front of me as she wandered between flowers, my gaze still trained on the ground.
“That is why I summoned him, of course—you snatched his mortal thread from the scissors of the Fates, something that shouldn’t have been possible. You used the bond the Fates gifted you to forge a stronger connection between you, a different kind of connection. Perhaps one that is symbiotic.”
Symbiotic? That was good, wasn’t it? We were helping each other. Then again, Bullet looked so exhausted…
“Am I draining him?”
“You’re sustaining him,” Nyx corrected softly. “And it’s clear you rely on him heavily in return, but you won’t be able to do it forever.”
I swallowed thickly, pushing the thought aside as best I could and cautiously glancing up at her. “It won’t matter if we all freeze to death on a lightless planet.”
Nothing about the goddess’ body language was apologetic. “If the earth freezes over, there will be no more awful mortals to ruin it. Once they’re all gone, I can simply allow the sun to shine again. A paradise free of you polluting, ungrateful creatures.”
