Page 164 of Moonlit Fate

“Good. Now, push back. Keep me out.”

Her inner walls quivered under my touch, but she was trying, really trying. The first attempt was feeble, and I slipped through easily.

“Again,” I instructed kindly.

She gritted her teeth, her brow creasing as she concentrated. The second time, her mental walls were stronger, more substantial, but they wavered, faltering under my persistent pressure.

“Concentrate. You can do this,” I coaxed.

Her frustration was an unmistakable crackle of energy. She pushed harder, her mental barriers flexing, but again they buckled. Sweat beaded on her forehead.

“Once more,” I encouraged. “You’ve got this.”

She gathered herself, pulling at every ounce of strength she had left. This time, her resistance was formidable, a true testament to her willpower. Yet, it wasn’t enough. I nudged at her defenses, and they crumbled.

Aria’s shoulders slumped in defeat, her energy spent. The exhaustion rolled off her in waves, her body nearly at its limit. Without a word, I slipped one arm beneath her knees and the other around her back. I carried her toward my room, her head resting against my chest, her breathing shallow. She was out cold.

Gently, I laid her down on the bed and stretched out behind her, my body curving protectively around hers, an instinctive need to shield her from the world.

“Rest now,” I whispered, though she was already deep in slumber, oblivious to my words.

The rhythm of her breathing lulled me, the rise and fall of her chest a silent song that echoed the beating of my own heart. There, entwined with the only person who’d managed to breach the walls around my soul, I finally let sleep take me.

I blinked, and the world around me changed. The rugged reality of my rogue life gave way to a landscape soaked in twilight hues. I was dreaming again, the kind where the past clung to every sense, refusing to be forgotten.

“Again?” My word bounced back at me, hollow in the dream’s expanse.

The familiar contours of the pack lands I’d once roamed as a child stretched out before me. It felt distant, like a faded photograph. Shadows grew long and played at my feet, darting around as if they had a will of their own.

“Where are you leading me?” I asked them, half-expecting an answer.

Nothing. Just the soft rustle of leaves and the whisper of wind through the grass. I walked on, my boots crunching over the terrain of memories. Repressed images danced at the edge of my consciousness, teasing, always just out of reach.

“Come on, show me why I’m here,” I muttered, feeling the pull in my gut. An invisible thread, woven by some unseen hand of fate, tugged me forward. I didn’t understand it, but I followed it. I always followed.

“Something buried,” I said, remembering fragments from the waking world. “Something important.”

The glow around me softened, turning everything into shades of silver and blue. It was calm here, serene in a way thatmade the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Danger often lurked behind the guise of tranquility.

“Is this what you wanted me to find?” I called out to the dream, to whoever might be listening. “Am I close?”

Only silence greeted me, but it wasn’t empty. It was expectant, filled with anticipation for something only dreams could understand. I pushed on, drawn irresistibly toward a purpose that eluded me.

The air shifted, turning colder. I wasn’t alone. A figure emerged from the shadows, her form hazy but familiar. My mother. She didn’t speak, just nodded. Together, we walked on.

“Where are we going?” I asked in a low murmur.

Instead of answering, she placed a hand on my back, warmth seeping into me. It was enough. I trusted her.

We came to a glen, the rest of the landscape fading as if it never existed. Magic sizzled in the air, vibrating against my skin, speaking in tones only my blood could understand.

“Here,” she said, her whisper echoing off the very leaves.

Herewas an unremarkable stone, but the ground beneath it hummed with secrets. I crouched beside the stone, the chill of the ground seeping through my jeans. It was just a rock, mossy and unassuming, but I felt the pulse beneath it.

“Here lies the key.” Her voice was so clear it startled me. “Buried beneath this stone is an artifact of great power, one that can turn the tide against the darkness.”

I glanced at my mother. She looked back with eyes full of stars and secrets.

---