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I shook my head. "The dreamscape has been compromised. They are in control. I was only allowed to do as they wished and let Lincos leave."
"We're trapped," he stated flatly.
"Until we find the people who took over this dreamscape and kill them, yes." I nodded confidently until a tremor of fear raced through me. "Where's Clawdia?"
Zaide paled, and we both scrambled toward the only closed curtain. Throwing it open, Clawdia was nowhere to be found.
"Where has she gone?" Zaide cried out. But I couldn't reassure him. My instincts were telling me all I needed to know.
They're coming.
I turned in time to see a shadow pounce but was too late to stop it from throwing me against the bedside table. It quickly turned into air as I righted myself and swung around. My fangs dropped.
I glanced to my side to check if Zaide was all right as more shadows poured into the tent. But he was gone. I was alone.
And then they attacked.
CHAPTER22
CLAWDIA
Ilanded, not with a painful thump on my backside, but onto a bed. A soft, fluffy bed. Pillows scattered as I landed, and I noted, dazed, I hadn’t come through the material draped over the four posts. I jumped onto my knees, looking around and seeing nothing to indicate how I got there but also nothing that should scare me other than not knowing where I was. The room was lovely. Spacious and airy, decorated with pastels and tiny trinket boxes on wooden shelves.
“Hello?” I yelled. “Baelen? Zaide? Where are you?”
“No need to shout.”
My head snapped toward the voice of a woman, who smiled at me as she entered the room. She was dark skinned with dark hair and red eyes.
"You're akari."
She smiled. "I am."
"Who are you? Where am I? Why am I here?"
"So many questions." She tapped a long nail against her lip. "Where to start? What to say?" she mumbled as she paced in slow circles in front of the bed. I watched her for a long moment, the rhythmic sound of her steps calming my heart and mesmerizing me. Suddenly, she missed a step and froze in place, her eyes clouded and distant.
My heart stuttered, and I scrambled off the bed toward her. “Are you all right?”
I touched her arm gently so as not to frighten her, but she didn't react. Her skin felt cold, and I went into nurse mode. I pulled the sheet from the bed and wrapped it around her shoulders. I took her hands and kept them tight in mine to warm them, occasionally blowing hot air on them and rubbing. I searched with my gift for her threads and saw they were a healthy green color. There wasn't anything to heal, so perhaps this was normal for her.
I waited for her to come back to herself, shifting from foot to foot as the minutes grew longer and longer. Finally, she blinked, and the color in her cheeks returned, as well as the glow in her red eyes. She looked down at me, confused and then amused as she noticed the blanket.
"You were freezing."
"Thank you, Clawdia. I'm fine now." She took the blanket from her shoulders and started folding it.
I blinked at the sound of my name. "You know me?"
She turned, placing the blanket back on the end of the bed, so I couldn't see her expression when she replied, "I've been waiting a long time to meet you."
"You have? Why?"
She turned around with a bright smile on her face. "Would you like some tea?"
"Yes?" I responded, feeling confused at the sudden change of topic.
She smiled and motioned for me to follow her into a sitting room that had a warmer tone to it than the bedroom. The furniture was darker, closer together, and books lined an entire wall. On the coffee table in front of the sofa sat two cups of tea, the steam still rising in curls above them.
