Page 38 of Court of Bone and Amethyst

She nods slowly.

“I think—I think this is just a dream…” I stammer. But I look down, and I can see my boots on the marble floor, can feel the hardness of it beneath them. I lift one hand and wave it in front of my face.

“Was it a dream when I saw you last night, then? In the cathedral?”

I go still. “That was… that really happened? You are High Priestess now?”

She nods, tears forming in her eyes.

I close my eyes for a moment against the intensity of the pain that washes through me. “I never meant for you to take my place.”

“Where are you? Are you…dead?”

Her words make my eyes fly back open. “Dead? No.”

“They told us that the goddess rejected you and sent a demon to carry you away.”

“No…” I shake my head. “I’m in another realm. My magic transported me here.”

She bears a look of confusion on her pale face. “Then how are you here, in Eldare?”

“I don’t know… my dreams somehow brought me here.”

Lilette climbs out of bed and takes a tentative step toward me. Her long nightgown swishes around her ankles. She stretches out a hand, and I reach out and take it. I can feel her. The softness of her skin, the bones and muscles beneath. Flesh and blood.

Her brow suddenly wrinkles. “You shouldn’t stay. Some of the priestesses, they’ve disappeared, as you did. The High Priest says that we’re being punished for not producing enough magic. The king and queen are furious, and I don’t know what they’re going to do.”

Horror rises in my chest. “Do not trust him, Lilette. He has lied about everything to do with our magic.”

She blanches. “What do you mean?”

The room suddenly starts to get darker, as if something is seeping into the air. Panic spikes through my veins. “Lilette!”

But her hand slips from my fingers and I am back in my tent again, the icy air frigid against my skin. I jerk upright, a cry rising from my throat. Zyren is up, weapon in hand, in less than a heartbeat.

“What is it?” he growls.

I can’t speak for several moments. “Lilette. I saw her. Ivisitedher, was there in her room. She could see me.”

Zyren’s brow wrinkles. “You’re certain it wasn’t just a dream?”

I shake my head vehemently. “We held hands. I could feel her, Zyren.”

“Dreams can be incredibly vivid.” He drops his gaze a moment. “In the ice forest, did you see Lilette? When that creature had you?”

“Yes, but do you think…” I trail off, uncertainty filling me. Could the demon somehow be controlling my dreams?

Zyren sighs, a slow and weary exhalation of defeat. “I think we’re all going to have nightmares for a long time. That’s an ordeal one doesn’t easily recover from.”

I look at him until he returns my gaze. “What did you see? When you were with her?”

He shakes his head, looking down before finally looking at me again. “I saw you. Dead. Over and over again.”

My heart goes still. “And you dreamed of it tonight?”

“Yes. So, perhaps when you saw Lilette, that’s all it was… a dream.”

“I don’t know…”

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