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But him invading my dreams made me hate him even more. One minute I’d be dreaming about fighting iron demons, and the next he’d have pulled me into his dream, or jumped into mine. Like an asshole. With no consideration for what I wanted.
Maybe he didn’t stop dream sharing with me because I never told him what I thought of him. Maybe because our relationship was that of a prince and king, not that of a father and son. I didn’t know. Still, these dreams with Cassia are vivid enough to be real, like the ones I unwillingly shared with my father. Dreams of seducing a woman, I should be trying to save. And they put me in just as much of a weird headspace as the ones I shared with my father, which I hate.
I shake my head, trying to clear my mind of the memories of my family. When we find her,Ifwe find her, I just have to hope these dreams stop torturing me. Not that I want to think about the possibility that we might not find her.
Life is hell without her. The only place she’s been is in my dreams. A fact that is becoming more frightening by the minute. I spend all day and most of the night searching for her and worrying, and I spend the little bit of time I do sleep having wild dreams about her. It’s about as miserable a life as a person can have.
I’m a man with a bride who despises me so much she might have run away.Or, a woman who was taken or hurt because I made this deal with her. Both options are equally terrible.
Prince Cobar and Zane throw open my door and walk into my room, uninvited, not caring the least bit about my nudity, and looking like shit with their hair all disheveled and lines on their faces from their pillows. Zane’s long white hair has been tied back from his face, a face with bags under his eyes. Cobar’s prized curly locks are loose, tangled, nearly as bad as a stray dog’s fur after being found by its owner. Neither is the pretty picture the ladies have spent so long falling over.
Basically, they look the way they feel, which is the same way I do. Horrible.
We’re crumbling like a building on a bad foundation caught in a storm, and it’s not just our looks that are suffering. Cobar lost his easy smile the first day of Cassia’s disappearance, and Zane’s cold demeanor had faded away over the days until now he wore his emotions nearly as poorly as Cobar’s himself. Then, there was Forrest. If I thought he was an asshole before, I was wrong. He was a damn prince compared to the miserable wretch he is now.
They shut the door behind them and head to where I sit on the bed. There’s no hope in their strides like there was the first day. They look… exhausted.
”You slept?” Cobar asks, his eyebrows raised expectantly.
“Yeah, a little.” I answer, keeping the dreams I’ve had about Cassia the last three nights to myself.
The only thing more embarrassing than having hot, erotic dreams of our missing bride would be admitting it to the men. Hell, Cobar might bring some ladies in here to watch me get excited in my sleep. Even in this state, I wouldn’t put it past the bastard.
“Same,” Frost says.
“Fuck this,” I grumble, running my hands through my hair. Trying to keep control.
Cobar sits next to me on the bed and claps me on the back. “Some sleep means we’ll be fresh today to continue our search.”
I stare at him. “Fresh?”
“As a daisy.” He flutters his long eyelashes.
It’s hard not to smile. Cobar can find the good in any situation. The fact that we’ve all managed a few hours of sleep is shit, but I guess it is better than nothing. I just hope it’s not the only good thing about today.
Zane’s quiet. The dark circles under his eyes are at such odds with his pale skin that it makes the circles look even darker. It draws further attention to the harsh lines of his face, giving the impression of a man made from ice. More than that, he radiates a dangerous air, like one thing could push him over the edge.
I wonder if I seem the same way.
“Did you get any sleep?” I ask them both, even though I already know the answer.
Zane takes a seat at the bench at the foot of my bed. “A little.”
Cobar gives him a look, lifting a brow.
Zane rubs his face in the most unexpected display of vulnerability. “I just… couldn’t sleep knowing she’s out there. And when I finally did, my guards woke me up with an update.”
I sit up straighter and face him. “What did they tell you? Do they know where she is?”
My heart hammers so loudly that I’m afraid I won’t be able to hear him. I take slow breaths until my heartbeat calms, watching him. Waiting. Hoping.
“No one’s seen her,” he begins, hanging his head. “No one has heard from her. We’ve questioned all the staff here, anyone she used to work with especially. The most powerful fae have used their powers to do what they can. Still, nothing. It’s like she’s just vanished into thin air.” Zane’s pained face stares back at me.
This is probably why he didn’t wake us with the update. The update is basicallyfuck all of you, there’s no word of her, and not even a dash of hope that you’ll find her, you love sick idiots.
If I thought my heart hurt before when the iron demons knocked on the defenses, I had no idea what pain could mean, but I swallow the feeling down. This is exactly that: no update. At least from the Winter Fae. It doesn’t mean no hope.
I turn to Cobar and raise my eyebrows, hoping the Spring Fae had come up with something more.
