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“I do not have time for riddles or technicalities. Release me.”
Roccurem’s six eyes opened, and he looked at me. “Love is such a dangerous and powerful emotion. The gods curse it, for it has power. Empires have fallen for it, reduced to sand and scriptures. Worlds have burned for it, and they will once more. Love has the power to touch even the untouchable. Use it.”
His form shimmered and vanished. I roared in frustration, power hot and blinding shooting from me, lighting this darkened room in shades of silver and white. I dropped my hand and saw that I’d had no effect on this illusion. Fuck. I scanned the space they had trapped me in, searching for a way to escape. I needed to get to her. My breathing became erratic as I ran from one area to the next. No walls, no door, just an endless empty expanse and haunting pieces of memories. Fuck. I was going to lose her. Fuck. I had to think, had to try. I took a breath, drawing air in slowly, then releasing it.
“Do not run off emotions, Samkiel. It makes you careless. Think. Think,” I murmured to myself.
Then it hit me. Dianna’s voice floated through the thick of them. A memory. A way out. Something she had said months ago.
“I believe with enough pressure that anything can break.”
I had already attempted to use my powers to no avail, but maybe I hadn’t used them all.
“Love has power. Use it.”
My hands brushed across my chest, right above my heart. The slightest flicker of flame glowed within me, and I reached for the light. A kernel of power danced across my palm, a small precious piece of her fire. It was the part of her that had crept past every defense or curt word, the part that held me during feverish nightmares. The part that warmed me, forcing me to live again. Her. It was the piece of her I clung to, filled with the hope of what could be.
I unleashed it.
Light, pure and blinding, shot from my eyes. The darkened room erupted in flames as I shot up, shoving past not just the barriers of this room but into reality. The dream eaters jumped back, but it was too late. They screamed as the light from my eyes cut through them, their bodies erupting into ash. Smoke and debris floated through my room. A thick slash, orange embers sparking at the edges, cut through my wall. The ceiling now had a fresh hole, the cold winter air rushing in.
The entire city had gone dark, but I could hear the low hum as the power tried and failed to turn back on. I rose from the bed in one swift motion, needing to find the others but stopped when I noticed the ring on my bedside table was missing.
She’d been here.
I growled, the lights in my room exploding as I portalled out and into Logan’s room. Empty. I spun and blurred through the building, breathing a sigh of relief when I found him and Vincent. Logan writhed in pain, the circular mouth of the dream eater standing over him wide open, a vortex of energy swirling within as he consumed the energy he’d ripped from Logan’s nightmares.
Vincent lay near him, another dream eater hovering over him. I summoned an ablazed weapon and rammed the blade straight through its skull. In the same movement, I withdrew the sword and flung it at the one that tried to retreat. Their bodies burned in a flash of flames, ash floating through the room.
Logan and Vincent jolted awake. Tears streamed down Logan’s face, his chest heaving as he raised a shaking hand and stared at the mark on his finger. I knew what Iassulyn they’d sent him to.
“Samkiel?” he asked, looking between Vincent and me. “What happened?”
“Dream eaters,” I said, looking down the hall. “Get up and search the building. Help the others.” They nodded and jumped to their feet.
I needed to check on Cameron and Xavier. I needed to make sure she hadn’t hurt them in her escape. The whole building seemed to be in a sleep-like state. I passed multiple bodies, but I could hear their heartbeats, the rhythms steady, and I knew they were asleep, not dead.
With every step I took, lights burst overhead. The heavy metal door wouldn’t slide open. I slashed at it, the ablazed weapon slicing smoothly but not making a big enough hole. The vibration rang through me as I kicked at it. The lights flickered wildly with each strike, rage spilling out of me in waves. I was panting when the door finally gave way, the hinges screeching when the mangled piece of metal flew into the room.
The cells were empty, the bars to hers gone. I passed Nym, her crumpled form lying on its side. The puncture wounds in her neck told me Dianna had fed before she’d left. Two more dream eaters stood over Cameron and Xavier in the far corner. I raised my hand, energy coalescing at the center of my palm. I focused and then released it. It hit the one above Xavier, blasting him into a thousand particles. The one above Cameron glanced up, his form shimmering before disappearing into thin air. I ran, sliding to my knees next to Xavier. I grabbed his face, gently tapping his cheek. Cameron rose to a crouch and screamed, not realizing he was no longer trapped in the nightmare.
“Cameron!” I snapped, infusing power into my voice and breaking through his terror.
“What the fu—” He stopped as he focused on Xavier and me.
He scrambled to Xavier’s other side and glanced at me. “Why isn’t he waking up?”
I summoned the blade to my ring before lifting his body and cradling his head. My free hand glowed as I pressed it against his forehead.
“Dream eaters will make you see your worst nightmares, forcing you to remain under enormous pressure while they feed off the agony of your memories.”
I didn’t need to look at Cameron to know his face had paled. We both knew what Xavier dreamed. “The sovverg cave.”
I nodded.
Sovvergs were long burrowing worm creatures that ate and ripped through flesh as fast as they moved. Kryella had sent Xavier and a few others on a mission soon after he was made, and they had ended up in a sovverg cave. Xavier lost much at the bottom of that damn cave before I found him.
“Wake him up,” Cameron demanded, panic lacing his voice.
