Page 17 of Realm of Dreams & Shadows

The woman—I know her!—pulls me close, her violet eyes examining me as if I were a stray cat she’d found in her yard.

“You are no threat,” she whispers.

Then she releases me, and I’m falling, my throat raw from my screams—until I land soft as you please at the mouth of that familiar cave carved from obsidian.

Dozens of yellow-eyed creatures that look like red-black chess pieces shaped from molten lava line a worn path, and though their creepy eyes follow me, they make no move to attack.

Somehow, their restraint is more frightening than violence would be.

“Walk,” the woman’s voice commands from somewhere above, the flapping of her dragon’s wings stirring my loose hair.

I do as she says. I don’t really have a choice.

I recognize the small pool at the cave’s entrance. Beyond it, a tunnel stretches into darkness, lit by flickering torches. And from that darkness, a man approaches, tall and straight, with a dark coat that seems woven from shadows fluttering behind him with each long stride. The silver-eyed man from my dreams. And my mother’s.

There’s something hypnotic about him. Something compelling, and I find myself stepping forward without thinking, and when I realize I’m moving, I have to fight not to continue.

The man is charisma personified, every molecule oozing with self-confidence. Even from a distance, I can see the silver of his eyes—eyes that haven’t simply noticed me but have utterly captured me.

And there, on his left cheek, is the scar that’s a perfect mirror image of the one I’ve seen on Golden Eyes.

“Who…” I begin, but the word dies on my lips as he stops inches away, his breath a whisper of heat against my skin.

“I am King Adric,” he says. “And you, Cora, are mine.”

Then he pulls me close and captures me in a kiss so wild and deep that it shatters reason and steals time, until all I know in the world is this man and this touch and a soul-burning need that I’m afraid will render me to ashes before my next breath.

When he finally pulls back, I’m completely undone, my mind a flurry of questions I can’t seem to grasp.

“King?” I repeat, remembering the entry in my mother’s journal. “King of where?”

He silences me with a finger to my lips, his silver eyes hard on mine, full of longing and something that looks strangely like hope.

“I don’t understand. Why am I here?”

His thumb brushes my lower lip. “You must choose my love. Choose rightly, and all the answers will be yours.”

“Choose?”

His expression shifts—frustration, or maybe calculation—flickering across those stunning features. Unlike Golden Eyes’ scar, which seems to reflect the price of many battles, this man wears his like a badge of honor.

I don’t know him, and yet I do. And in that moment, all I want is to turn and run. I want it as much as I want him to pull me into his arms and kiss me again.

Clearly, I’m losing my mind.

His sigh stirs my hair. I should be terrified. Freaked out. At the very least, confused. But all I can feel is the echo of that kiss still burning through me. A kiss that felt far too much like coming home.

Before I can ask what I’m supposed to choose, the woman’s voice cuts through the moment. “My lord, the Hunter’s dragon circles above.”

The king scoffs. “You fear for no reason, Kali. Let him search all he wants. It doesn’t matter now. The time is not right.”

Adric steps back, and while I mourn the distance, I can also breathe again.

“Go back to him, my love, my queen.”

“Queen?” I repeat. “What are you talking about?”

He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear with heartbreaking gentleness. “Accept your destiny, Cora Lyte. And when you’re ready to embrace true power…” He trails off, his smile devastating. “Well, you know where to find me.”