Warm hands rubbed my back, clearing that dream from my thoughts. I snuggled in closer to that warmth before drifting back into the land of snooze. The next dream hit me hard.
I was in a cave, long and winding, the air so cold I could see puffs of my breath. I marched along at a rapid rate. I knew where I was going, taking turns left and right and left again. Finally I could see an end, a wall, with some circular pattern right in the center of it. As I stepped closer, the image became clearer and I tried to understand what I was seeing. It was like … a compass, or something with four points. But the writing on there was not in English.
Shit, damn. Was this the tomb of the dragon king?
I seemed to know what I was doing, stepping closer until I could reach out a hand and place it against the frigid stone. Each of the four points had a divot at the end, the perfect size for a hand, and then lines ran down from each one. A thumping, dragging noise had me spinning, and now I was facing the way I’d come, my back to the stone. The sound reminded me of the way a dragon’s tail dragged when it was bouncing along behind. I braced myself, hands and back flat against the stone as I waited. Shadows entered the curve first, and then a snout followed around. It was definitely a dragon, but in shades of color unlike any I’d seen before. Red and orange, like a sunset.
“Jessa!”
A shriek tore me from my dream world. My eyes flew open as I struggled to free myself from the covers. I was trapped under the heat and weight of Jacob and Tyson. Mischa was standing on the end of the bed. She ignored the Compasses and crawled across the sheets to throw herself onto me.
“You’re safe, you’re safe.” She repeated it over and over.
I managed to wiggle an arm free and loop it around her, hugging her close. I thought moisture hit my cheek, but I couldn’t hear any crying, and when she pulled back a few minutes later her face looked dry.
“I was so worried. Where were you?”
The six of us stayed snuggled in the two beds – Tyson shifted to the side so Mischa could sprawl between us – while I quickly detailed our little side adventure to Faerie land. Mischa never interrupted me, her eyes wide, the green very light today. I decided there was no point reiterating the part when I found Maximus in bed with his new mate. Despite the fact we were all together, I could feel the tension between those two. I was pretty sure the vampire was only pretending to be asleep.
“Where have you been?” I asked Mischa when I finished my explanation.
Her eyes darkened to the murky color of moss, her face transforming from light and open into secrets and heaviness.
“I’ve made some new friends in here, I’d like you to meet them.” She crawled backwards off me, the warm sisterly feeling from before evaporating with her vague explanation. “I can see you’re busy right now, so later …okay?”
She spun and started for the door, only turning back at the last minute. “I’m so glad you’re okay, Jess, I’ve missed you a lot. I’m heading over to see Mom and Jonathon. Come find me when you get up.”
I gave her a nod and she left the room, closing the door behind her. I was sitting in the bed, my thoughts tumultuous. Something big was going on with Mischa. I’d been worried before, but now … now I knew it was bad. I needed to know what had happened with her and Maximus, and where exactly she had been spending her time the last three weeks. Maximus would have figured out that Cardia was his mate the day I disappeared, when he fed on her, so Mischa had been pulling away all of that time. She’d lost her sister and her sort-of-boyfriend in an instant.
I pushed down my worry for the moment. It was good for her to be with our parents. Jonathon was usually very switched on when it came to the moods of his pack members. I hoped he was aware and dealing with Mischa. I snuggled myself back down into the warm space between the two males. The Compasses remained silent, although I could sense some heavy thoughts.
I was still exhausted. I was pretty sure I hadn’t slept that long, and the dreams were not allowing me any solid rest. I really just wanted to sleep soundly for a few hours.
I started tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable, when Jacob reached out and captured my hand. He began to sing, a low soothing melody, and just like that I was unable to hold on to my consciousness. I don’t care what he said, there’s magic in the feys’ singing. This time when I drifted off, the dreams stayed far away.
Hours later I awoke naturally, sprawled out on my stomach, both arms under my pillow snuggling it toward me. I felt a thousand times better, refreshed, as I turned myself over, stretching my arms above my head, letting my body elongate right down to pointed toes. Nothing better than a good stretch.