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“Alea had a daughter named Azleah, and” –he calculated the years in his head– “thirteen years later, Alea died. Azleah disappeared at seventeen. That’s where the entry ends.”
Nix moved over to look once more. “I know that name.” He stood. “Shit. After the meadow at the inn. Tarley said it when she confronted her mother, asking whoAzleahwas.”
“Did Scarlett answer?”
Nix shook his head.
Luc looked down at the entry again. “Godblood. Proof—if we can connect them. Do you think this could be her line? The fifth era? But how?”
“How is Brinna Dream Walking?” Nix asked. He grinned. “Maybe we’ve found our best lead yet.”
“I will see if we have any more information on those names,” Sister Prudence said and left the table.
Lucian watched her disappear through the stacks.
“So, Lexa’s later?” Nix asked. “She might have some connection to the human records we need.”
It meant delaying dreaming with Brinna, which Lucian didn’t want to do. It wasn’t about the kiss— Okay. It was—but it was also about the new, nagging idea running under his skin that he wanted to deny.
He pressed his fingers to his heart, then retracted them quickly when he saw Nix notice.
Not dreaming meant Brinna would be left alone, and that, he didn’t like. But if it got them closer to breaking the spell, she would want that. So he nodded, knowing he was bound for trouble either way.
19
Auri’s dreamscape was unsettling. When Brinna entered, the dark landscape was strangely rounded and hazy at the periphery, while at the same time appearing sharp and dangerous at its center. Still unable to cross into Auri’s true consciousness, Brinna discovered she could walk over the surface of the dream. Her footsteps were like opalescent ripples on water, still apart, a disconnected observer.
“Auri?” she called out, hopeful, though she knew Auri wouldn’t respond.
The dreamscape rushed past her, pulsing until it was apparent her sister’s dream was complete darkness with only a pinpoint of light in the distance. Brinna kept walking, looking for Auri in the oppressive dark, but no matter how far she walked, the pinpoint of light seemed the same distance, if not further.
“Auri?” Brinna called once more, just in case.
A lump appeared, a shade darker than the darkness, so Brinna moved toward it. But the closer she came, the more the thing moved, until she realized it was Auri.
Her sister stood and glanced over her shoulder. She looked fierce, wearing darkness like a shield, her frown deep, but she was also no more than a glimmer of her true self, stooped and weighted with a burden Brinna couldn’t identify.
“Auri?”
Though Auri looked in Brinna’s direction, her sister’s focus wasn’t on her, but on something behind her.
Brinna turned.
A horrific monster loomed, giant and hideous. Its face was filled with a multitude of eyes and its distended mouth overfilled with too many teeth, dripping blood. The monster hunched, its bent legs ending with split hooves and claws. Its skin oozed pus and gore.
Brinna put a hand over her mouth, gagging, then screamed.
Neither the creature nor Auri responded. As with her mother’s dream, Brinna was merely an observer. It didn’t help her terror.
“You don’t belong here,” Auri yelled, turning.
“You have something that’s mine,” the creature said, its voice a horrible manifestation of anger that scraped against Brinna’s ears. She cried out, covering them in a desperate attempt to block the horrid sound.
“I sent you back,” Auri said, her voice somehow so brave that Brinna longed for that feeling herself.
“Oh, young goddess. You know nothing.”
“Goddess.” Auri straightened, clearly disarmed. “What?”
