But I was back there in my mind. Back where it was dark and cold. Darker and colder than any other place I’d ever been.
Damp stone, hard beneath my butt and back as I huddled against the wall of the cell. By memory, my gaze was trained on the place where the door was located. Not because I had any hope of escaping—there was no hope of escaping the Monster’s dungeon—but because I longed to see light when it finally opened.
Unlike my two fellow prisoners and only friends, I wasn’t afraid of the door opening, no matter how bad it was on the other side. I could be the one they dragged away next, but I didn’t care. I was so desperate to see light that I’d take the risk that they’d choose me next.
“How long have we been here?” whispered the girl next to me.
I’d only ever caught glimpses of her face in the flash of light from the door. Enough to know that she had pale skin and red hair and was roughly my age. I was about fourteen, I thought. That was the last birthday I remembered. Draka had been the only one there. My chest ached to see her again.
I reached for the girl’s skinny hand and gripped it tight. “I don’t know.”
“We’ll get out,” said another girl. Her fingers closed around my other hand.
She had brown hair. I tried to picture her face as I’d seen it in a brief flash of light, but that was all I could remember.
“But how do we escape?” I asked. However long I’d been in here, the time had stolen my hope of getting out.
“I don’t know,” she said. “But we’ll do it together.”
I squeezed her hand tight. Her words gave me a flicker of hope. No matter what happened, we were together. I wasn’t alone.
I leaned my head back against the stone wall and stared up at the dark ceiling.
I dozed off, as I often did. It was my only escape.
At first, I thought the flash of blue light was my imagination. But when the familiar sense of warmth and the smell of sweetness struck me, my heart raced. The air swirled with a blue glow.
Draka!
My friends whimpered and drew back, but I leapt up and raced into the middle of the small cell. The blue glow coalesced to form Draka’s dragon form. She wrapped her shining wings around me. Warmth and comfort surged through me, driving out the hunger and cold. We had a connection, Draka and I, forged by some magic I didn’t understand. She was always there for me. My true family.
“I’m here to take you home,” she said in my mind.
The ether tugged at me. Draka began to spin around me as a blue haze, igniting her magic. Pulling me away from my friends!
“No!” I cried. “I can’t leave them. They must come.”
“I cannot,” Draka said. “I am not strong enough.”
The ether pulled harder as Draka tried to use her magic to pull me away. I could’ve escaped! Gone home! Though the idea of escape made my heart sing, home was a much more frightening concept.
But it was better than this nightmare.
“Don’t hurt her!” one of my friends cried.
It snapped me back to reality.
“I can’t leave them!” I resisted Draka’s pull. I didn’t know where I was or how to get back to save my friends. And I couldn’t leave them here—not after all we’d been through. We were a team. I wouldn’t abandon them.
“Come back when you can save us all,” I begged.
“I cannot.” Sorrow echoed in Draka’s voice. “You must come now.”
I fought her, unwilling to abandon my friends. When the door to the cell burst open, blinding light flashed into the dark room. The guards shouted, throwing something toward us. Light burst again, this time from some sort of weapon. My skin stung wherever a fine mist hit it.
Draka hissed and disappeared.
No!
I jerked upright in bed, gasping. Tears streamed down my face, and sweat stuck my hair to my neck. The memory of the dream made my heart pound like an elephant’s galloping footsteps.
With a shaky hand, I pushed the hair off my forehead and glanced at the clock. Seven in the morning. I groaned and let my head thump back against the headboard. Pain shot through my skull and I winced.
I was a mess.
I climbed out of bed on trembling legs and dragged myself to the shower. The hot water blasted away some of the shakes that made me feel like a noodle, but my mind was still racing by the time I got out and dried myself off.
I pulled the fluffy robe off the back of the bathroom door and tugged it on. It was covered in little cartoons of dancing seals, but the familiar sight didn’t make me smile as usual. I’d just stepped out into the living room when a knock sounded at the door.
I frowned. It was way too early for Cass or Nix to be up.
“Who is it?” I called. No one else had access to the green door that led up to our apartments.
“Roarke.” His deep voice carried easily through the wood.
My heart leapt, and I hurried to the door and yanked it open. Who’d let him in? Probably Cass or Nix.
Roarke stood on the other side, two paper coffee cups and a paper bag in his hand. He grinned, so handsome in his black jacket that my head swam a little.
Mentally, I kicked myself. I really needed to get it together. Twenty-five years of not losing my head over a dude had given me weak resistance muscles. Ever since I’d decided I trusted Roarke—which wasn’t that long ago, in fairness—I’d been a freaking ninny about him.
“Hey.” My gaze roved from his dark hair down to the boots on his feet, taking in the height and muscles that made my blood race every time I saw him. We’d only ever kissed and shared a couple of exhausted, chaste nights in the same bed, so my stupid hormones were in overdrive.
This guy was making me act like a teenage boy.
He raised his brows. “Can I come in?”
“Uh, yeah.” I stepped back awkwardly, realizing that I’d been staring at him for who knew how long.
But hell, I wasn’t going to kick myself over it. After that shitty dream, I’d take whatever distraction I could get and be grateful for it.
Roarke stepped in and set his stuff on the table, then turned to me and pulled me close. My heart jumped as he leaned down and pressed his lips to mine.
His kiss was firm and soft all at the same time, so perfect that my heart raced, and I had to grip his shirt to keep my balance. The sandalwood scent of his magic swirled with the fragrance of the soap he used, making my head spin.
He pulled away and leaned his forehead against mine. “I found that I missed you while I was gone.”
A smile tugged at my lips. “I missed you, too.”
And I had. More than I’d expected. Whatever was between us was casual. At least, it should’ve been.
Maybe it wasn’t.
Roarke pulled away, and his gaze met mine. Concern turned his dark eyes fully black. “Are you all right? You look a bit pale. I didn’t think my kissing was that bad.”
“Oh, it’s not.” I scrubbed a hand over my face. “Just a dream. I’ll be better with some coffee. Is one of those for me?” I pointed to the cups on the table.
He picked up the smaller one and handed it over. “Double shot of espresso. Motor fuel.”