Reign of Ice (Forever Fae #4)(39)

“Are you okay?” he asked, wiping the sweat drenched hair off my forehead.

I nodded and rubbed my neck from where the sorcerer had cut off my air. Nothing was sore and that proved to me that he couldn’t physically harm me in the reality sense, but in the dream it actually felt real. The room was still cloaked in darkness as the night sky filtered into our room. My eyes felt heavy, except I knew sleep wouldn’t come easily for me now. Especially, knowing the sorcerer could come into my dreams and wreak havoc.

“I’m fine, Brayden. How did you know what was going on?” I questioned curiously. “I tried to scream your name in my mind but I didn’t know if you’d hear me.”

Gritting his teeth, he said, “I heard you, angel. When you screamed my name, I woke up not knowing what was going on. You were thrashing against the bed, and when I tried to calm you down you wouldn’t wake up. I pushed into your mind as much as I could and that was when I could feel him there.”

He pulled me into his arms and held me tight. I could hear his heart thumping erratically in his chest and through our bond I could feel his anxiety and anger about not being able to protect me. “You did protect me,” I murmured gently. “You pulled me out of the dream.”

“But I wasn’t fast enough. I knew he hurt you in the dream because I could feel your pain. What did he do to you?” he demanded.

Sighing, I closed my eyes and reluctantly showed him what happened. “He’s threatening to unleash his mortal army at our gates if I don’t let him take my power. If they bring over mortal weapons from their realm we won’t stand a chance. It’ll poison our land and our people will die,” I cried.

“Dammit,” he hissed, running his hands angrily through his hair. He stormed out of bed and stalked over to the window, placing his hands on the cool, clear glass. The muscles in his back tensed and he lowered his head. “We’re running out of time,” he murmured regretfully.

I nodded even though he couldn’t see me. “He said he would give me until the next new moon to give him my power. If not, then the war will begin.”

“The next new moon,” Brayden repeated incredulously. He turned around to face me with wide, concern-filled eyes. “That’s only two weeks away.”

Gazing down at the ring Brayden gave me to show his love, I knew in that moment what I had to do. It was a decision my heart had already made, but my stubbornness wanted me to take more time. However, time wasn’t on our side. Slowly sliding out of bed, I ambled over to Brayden and took his face in my hands, running my fingers over his tensed muscles.

I opened my mind to him fully and let him feel what my heart desired and wanted. Groaning, he clutched me tight with his arms wrapped around my waist and lowered his forehead to mine. “Is that truly what you want?” he asked.

“Yes,” I whispered across his lips. “I’ll be ready when the time comes.”

He leaned down and closed the distance between our lips, lingering for a few seconds while he responded silently to my reply, “So will I, angel. I have never been more ready for anything in my entire life. We will get through this.”

I had no doubt.





MORNING CAME, AND Brayden and I had yet to fall back asleep after what had happened in my dreams. As soon as we approached the palace doors, Coran came ambling out holding a handful of letters. “These came for you, Your Highness,” he said quickly, rushing toward us.

Brayden grabbed the papers and handed me half of them. The letters I held in my hands were from the Fall Court and Durin. I read over them quickly, and was happy to see that Durin was going to try to get the dagger finished within the week and bring it to us. I breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. Calista’s letter was good news as well. Nixie had consented to help everyone travel here undetected, and Elvena believed she could find a spell to keep the dark sorcerer away from me for the time being. They were going to be arriving later in the day.

I held onto the letters while Brayden finished reading his. Sighing, he handed them to Coran and took my hand, leading me inside the palace. “What did yours say?” I asked inquisitively.

“Kalen said he’s sending Kamden here today so we can tell him what happened. His family is going to want to spend some time with him while he’s here, so he will probably stay for a while. Everyone else, including your parents, requested we send for them when it’s time for Durin to arrive with the dagger. What news did Durin send?” Brayden inquired, gazing down at the letters in my hand.

I handed them to him so he could see for himself. When he read over the letters, he lifted his head and grinned. “This is just what we needed. If Elvena can buy us time with a protection spell for at least another week, we can get everyone here and formulate a strategy for attack.” We stopped outside of the throne room doors and stared at each other. Brayden bit his lip and tucked a strand of my blonde hair behind my ear before asking softly, “Did you want to tell everyone what we decided to do?”

I smiled and shook my head. “I think it’ll be fun to surprise them, don’t you? They wouldn’t expect anything less from me.”

He narrowed his gaze, and smirked. “I’m starting to believe everything I had heard about you is true,” he teased.

“Oh yeah, and what is that?” I asked incredulously.

He kissed me on the lips and chuckled. “That I am going to have my hands full when it comes to you.”