Page 86 of When Storms Collide

Nik led me towards the bed and we settled on top of the covers, my back against the headboard. He climbed onto the sheets with me, clasping my hand in his.

“I will be right here, your anchor. Always.”

I gave him a soft smile as I squeezed his hand in mine. “Thank you.”

I took a deep, steadying breath, pulling the piece of paper Alastir had given me out of my pocket. The first step was to imbue it with my magic, which was fairly simple. I clasped the paper between my fingers, letting my magic flow into it and back into me, as if it were an endless loop. Once I sensed the energy within the paper, recognized it as my own magic, I nodded.

“I’m ready.”

Nik nodded, a reassuring smile across his lips. Intentional dream walking sounded fairly simple. I only prayed tothe Mother that Donika was alone and not with Corian. Or Zachariah, for that matter. I had seen enough of that to last a lifetime.

I closed my eyes, focusing my energy in my core as Alastir had instructed. I didn’t allow it to flow down my arms and towards my fingertips as I usually did. I let it simmer right beneath my breast. I sensed its warm presence against me as I pictured Donika.

Her black, endless eyes. Her flowing blue and white hair. Her chiseled cheekbones. Her perfectly painted red lips.

I could sense the intention swell within me and I pushed the magic outward. Behind my closed lids, I could faintly see Donika, the outline of her body, the silhouette of her hair against the night sky.

I pushed once more with my magic, harder this time, and as Alastir had said it would, the dream snapped into place.

Donika stood on a terrace, her perfectly manicured nails gripping the iron railing before her. Her hair was bound behind her in a braid down her back, but strands of it had come loose and were whipping across her face beneath the wind. Her eyes were narrowed on the scene before her. My gaze traveled with hers, dread filling my core when her view became mine.

She was gazing down on the field in front of the castle, and though it was the middle of the night, it was far from empty. Rows and rows of soldiers were lined up, their helmets secured, their breast plates donning the white wolf and her sigil. There were too many to count from this far up, a fine mist coating the sky and obscuring my line of sight towards the trees and the forest beyond.I had seen this field once before. In a vision the grimoire had sent me.

When Annelise had been fleeing The Stone Palace—my body tightly wrapped against her as she ran.

Movement in my periphery caught my eye, and I realized it wasn’t only her soldiers that were lined up before her. The Araneoch were pacing back and forth among the tall grass below, their black grotesque bodies visible even from up here.

I quickly counted them off.

From what I could see, there were about twenty or so. I had thought her numbers were greater than that of her Noctani since she had indicated that they were easier to make, but maybe that wasn’t the case. Or was this not all of them? The monsters were huge, with poisonous stingers we would need to be wary of. One Araneoch brought the might of at least five trained Nightshade soldiers, if not more.

I didn’t immediately see her Noctani on the field, though I was sure they were here somewhere, blending in among the soldiers.

Thankfully, Corian was nowhere to be seen.

Donika’s lips curved into a smile as she glared down on them, assessing her own numbers. I wasn’t sure if this is where she was keeping the Araneoch, but this was as good a place as any to leave the token. I could always create another token, imbue another item with more magic to leave in another location on another night. I would easily be able to come back here to spy, even if Donika wasn’t present. I moved towards the stone wall, slipping the piece of imbued paper in between the stone and pushing it until it disappeared between the rocks.

I might not have gotten lucky enough to dream walk to the exact location she was keeping the Araneoch, but I was lucky enough that she was assembling her soldiers at this moment.

The sight of them lined up among the dark and mist had my heart beating rapidly in my chest, nausea rising up the back of my throat. Zion was confident in the numbers of the resistance… but seeing her army before me like this… I wasn’t so sure.

“I’ve brought you here to prepare for the war ahead.” Donika’s voice rang out across the field as if it were amplified by a spell.

A resounding cheer emanated from the crowd below, soldiers raising their swords in the air.

“The battle is imminent. My spies among the resistance have seen what is to come, and the Stormshade bitch will march against us before the next full moon.”

Fuck.

She still had a spy somewhere in the resistance, and they had told her what we planned to do. She didn’t knowexactlywhen—which was to our advantage—but to some degree, we had lost the element of surprise. I stepped up to the railing beside her, placing my hand on the iron mere inches from hers. I could see her clear as day. As if she were truly before me, and she had no idea that I was here. I wished we had consulted Alastir about this earlier… this ability to spy would have been incredibly useful.

I shook my head as if to clear the thought. There was no use ruminating on the past anymore. The only path left now was forward.

“I don’t know about you,” Donika mused, her voice laced with a hint of humor. “But I crave Stormshade blood!”

The soldiers roared once more, jeering and clashing their swords together. The raucous had me clasping my hands over my ears, squeezing my eyes shut. Were these soldiers truly hateful, or were they simply brainwashed by Donika? Did they not see that there was another way where Istmere could live in peace withallShades?

Donika leaned over the railing, her braid swaying in the breeze behind her. Shadows snaked out from her, creeping down the stone walls of the castle and up towards the tall spires, until the entire castle was swathed in darkness.

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