“I’ll be awoken any second. You need to pull the other dreams. She was a Seer. Did you know she could also manipulate minds with her power?”

“All demons can manipulate minds.”

“It wasn’t the same, at least from what I saw in the dream. She spelled you—or something of the sort. She did it to others, as well. Think about it, Marrok, you have one of the strongest minds of any Sundari, and yet you can’t remember a single instance of seeing her do something so odd.”

“Evelyn, stop.”

“I don’t know her motivations,” she continued. “I do think she loved you, so whatever her plan was I doubt it was to harm you. She was desperate. Couldn’t you feel it? I know you saw what she cut from her skin. You can’t tell me it’s mere happenstance she bore the mark of the group that poisoned my mother. That infected Kellan’s father with sleeping sickness. And now Nora’s been poisoned. I’m being given these memories as some sort of message. A warning. Something!” she wailed, her voice escalating higher with each word.

“I said, stop!” he shouted. “Just, give me a moment to think.”

Evelyn gripped his hands, imploring. “Pull the memories, Marrok, I think someone’s waking me.”

“You want me to believe that mywifemanipulated my mind? No, I don’t think I want to pull that from your head.”

“Marrok, please—”

She disappeared. Marrok tried to wake himself and couldn’t. He paced angrily. An hour ago all was right in his world. Now it was all turning to shite.

He needed to get out of the dreamworld. Evelyn was being pulled from her bed to ride off to Goddess-knew-where. Edward would send them into hiding and Marrok wouldn’t know where she was.

He conjured a blade and sliced it down his forearm. He’d cut it deeply in his haste.It’s just as well. I deserve to feel the pain.

He did it again, breathing through the burn. He could feel himself coming back into his own body. He jumped out of bed, yelling for Lazlo.

The door flung open and Lazlo’s hulking figure stood in the doorway. “Sire?”

“Fetch Favin. Ready the horses. We leave for Gwydion immediately.”

Laszlo spun, turning into Favin who was running towards the King’s chambers. Jumping to the right and avoiding the near collision, Favin moved speedily into the room.

“Sire,” he greeted Marrok.

“Favin. It’s time to retrieve my mate.”

“We have a problem …” he scowled, seeing that Marrok was wrapping his arm. “Why are you bleeding?”

“It’s nothing. What problem?”

“The gate to the colony. Someone’s blown it.”

“Bloody hell!” he growled in frustration. “They had to do it this night? Of course they did. It’s like the damned universe has conspired to make any sort of victory impossible.”

He’d just found out his deceased wife might have been part of some immoral brotherhood of assassins, which he’d basically accused his mate of lying about despite the fact he could hear a lie if she spoke one, or, in this case, dreamed one.

An attempt had been made on Nora’s life, an elemental currently sitting on the throne of Burghard. Evelyn might also be in danger and was now being moved to an unknown location where he could not protect her.

To top it all off, his mind chose now, in the midst of his fit of rage, to logically sift through Evelyn’s dreams. Fate would only show her things of importance. The last few, and the timing of them, were probably the most important.

Melena must have promised Bogdan her place in Sephtis Kenelm, which meant the group did not die out under Kellan’s sword. It also meant, if he claimed her, Evelyn would be a target. Fate had sent a warning.Many of them.

Marrok picked up the closest thing to him and threw it against the wall. Then he did it again. This time, it was a vase. It shattered easily, its blue and white pieces clinking against the stone floor.

Melena’s vase. One of the few things of hers he’d kept in his room. He grabbed two fistfuls of hair and roared at the ceiling.

“Are you done?” a rumbling brogue called from the doorway.

“Danil, I swear if you come in this room with your usual drivel I’ll rip every single one of your white hairs from your giant head,” Marrok threatened.