Page 80 of Centaur Bolt

Cara had been scraping eggs onto her plate, but I saw the flinch run through her. I avoided her eyes.

“Taller than me, and younger,” she answered. “She has an earring, more of an ornament of sorts, on one ear. Same long hair.”

“In my dream—more a nightmare, really—I was chained, and there were other captives. Two women, one with blonde streaks in her hair, the other had a Watcher’s white, but I didn’t see any ornament on her ear. And a tall, thin dude with red eyes.”

She stopped moving altogether. “Red eyes? Did he have long white hair?”

“Yep, he did. And black teeth. I thought at first he was like you, but he was different.” As if that made any sense.

But to Cara, it did. Her mouth straightened and her eyes glowed. “His name is Finn.”

Startled, I glanced at her. I’d never heard such venom in the Watcher’s voice. “This dude is real?”

“I wish he wasn’t. In this dream, were you seeing through the captive’s eyes?”

“Yep. The woman with blonder hair was—well, she had her mouth on him. He was turned on, but also disgusted.”

While Cara went statue-stiff, Kiko interjected with a snort. “I’ve been there. The things I’ll do to recharge.”

Oddly, Cara stared hard at the Satyr before returning her gaze to me. “Did this dream seem as real as the ones you’ve had of Marcus?”

I tried hard to remember. “It was seen more in glimpses. And I couldn’t do anything, I was seeing through his eyes.” The Watcher’s gaze pierced clear through me, and I added, “You don’t think it was real, too, do you? She called him Rafael.”

Her face spasmed. Then, moving very deliberately, she plunked sausages on her plate. “Yes,” she said, eventually. “I do.”

“But who was he, then?” Kiko asked.

I watched Cara closely. “Marcus mentioned that Rafael set him free. Is this the same dude?”

Her jaw clenched, just a little, before she said, “I believe it is.”

“If he is helping her, too, then why is he a captive?” Kiko seemed puzzled. “Did this Isobel get mad at him?”

“It is an excellent question,” Cara conceded, rubbing her temple. “And one to which I do not have the answer.”

I pushed the eggs around. “If he’s real, why did I dream of him?”

The Watcher met my gaze and offered a tired smile. “Because Fate, my dear, does indeed work in mysterious ways.” She waved at my plate. “Eat up. If you have any more dreams, please inform me. I am going to participate in your special abilities class today. You have no idea of the power of which you wield, and this time travel thing needs to be eliminated from your repertoire. ”

She held my gaze until I nodded. Mostly because I had no intention of doing any more leaps across time.

But if it meant rescuing Marcus, Jumping to dream images was still on the table.

I thought about Rafael, and my heart constricted. He’d seemed so lost in chaos. Tormented.

Maybe Marcus wasn’t the only one requiring rescuing…

25

Marcus

When we finally hit the road, I started to make better time.

Even then, despite galloping for miles, the mud stubbornly stuck to my hooves and legs. With Havoc’s bulk in the saddle, I’d sunk deep into the swampy ground.

I managed to grind his balls into the horn at least four times, until he learned to brace one hand against it. Very satisfying.

As revenge schemes go, it’s rather childish,Iskar theorized.

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