Page 35 of Prisoner of Darkness and Dreams
“This is all a moot point anyway,” Esther sighs. “A man can’t become a god. It’s just nonsense. If he wants to chase after some pipe dream, let him. It’s not like it’ll lead anywhere.”
“We didn’t think a human could slow their aging,” Mal points out. “And yet Caledon found a way. The fact is, we don’t know the full extent of what he can do.”
Harman rises, shaking his head. “We’re just talking in circles now, and it’s getting late. Let’s all go to bed, and we can figure out what we’re going to do about this tomorrow.”
I frown. “Really? We only just got here.”
“Yes, but there’s no point rushing into any decisions.” Harman shares a meaningful look with Leon. “It hasn’t exactly served us well in the past. Let’s take our time, think things through.” He’s thinking about Bastion.
“But—”
“You’ve only just gotten back, Morgana,” he points out, a pleading tone in his voice. “You only justwoke uptoday, for Classitus’s sake. Rest, and we’ll continue this discussion tomorrow.” When I see how genuinely upset he looks, I can’t bring myself to argue anymore.
We file out, and I note that Alastor hangs back, talking to Harman again.
“Do you think Harman’s pissed with me?” I ask Leon when we return to our room at the Crossed Keys.
“I think he’s pissed with himself,” Leon says. “He was devastated by what happened to you, not to mention everyone else who was hurt or killed. He blamed himself for not realizing it was a trap.”
I think we’re all going to be blaming ourselves for that one for a long time. But dwelling on it won’t fix anything. I understand Harman not wanting torush into anything risky, but I don’t think we have time to be cautious, either. I sit down on the bed, kicking off my shoes.
“Have you noticed Alastor’s spending a lot of time with Harman these days?” I ask, distracting myself from my depressing line of thinking.
Leon pulls his own boots off, not looking at me. “Yes, I have.”
“You didn’t put him up to it, did you? I mean, it’s not one of your schemes to monitor my brother?”
“No,” he sounds vaguely appalled. “Absolutely not.”
“Alright,” I say, my grin growing. “I just wanted to make sure. So what do you think isactuallygoing on then?”
I want him to say it, to confirm my suspicions. Leon, after all, has known Alastor a lot longer than I have.
“It’s none of my business,” he huffs.
“Leon!” I nudge him with my foot. “Come on, that’s so boring. Give me atheoryat least.”
“My theory is Alastor will tell me when he’s ready, if there’s anything to tell,” he says, then grabs my foot to pull me across the bed toward him, making me descend into laughter.
Blades slice into my flesh, setting my nerves on fire. I’m burning, nothing but a thousand searing needlepoints of pain, until I hear an agonized scream that doesn’t belong to me. I turn, and there’s Kit. Face bloody, body broken and convulsing on the floor. His eyes meet mine, and I’m frozen in place, horrified and helpless.
“Save me, Ana, please,” he begs. “Don’t let me die.”
“I can’t,” I whimper.
Strong hands wrap around me, scooping me up.
“It’s okay, Ana,” Leon’s voice soothes. “I’m with you.”
I feel the touch of his sensic magic trying to pull me out of the nightmare. The room around me starts to fade, the edges blurring.
“Look away, Ana, look at me.” With effort, I wrench my head around, searching for his face. I find him standing over me, cradling me with fierce protectiveness in his eyes. “Nothing can happen to you while you’re with me. I won’t let it. You’re safe.”
The pain in my stomach loosens as the dream begins to collapse around me. Images split apart and dissipate, leaving only Leon, murmuring to me.
“That’s it,” he says. “It’ll be over soon. It’s just a dream.”
But it isn’tjust a dream. This really happened, and I know the memory of it will never leave me. Even as the dream finally blinks out of existence, leaving my consciousness to settle into a deeper sleep, the tortured screams of Kit still ring in my ears.
