Page 44 of Realm of Dreams & Shadows

Every rational thought screams at me to run. Chase and Griffin warned me about this King who commands the nightmare creatures. A heartless king who lords over mares like the lava babies and sand scorpions.

A king who is cold and ruthless. Who loves nothing but his rule and his power.

A king who needs me in order to be free.

I know all of that, and yet I’m not afraid. Because whoever—whatever—Adric is, he loved that dragon. And despite his crown, there was nothing the Nightmare King could do to save Soren. And that bitter truth tells me that Chase and Griffin are wrong. This man isn’t without a heart, he simply hides it deep.

“Cora,” he says, his voice cracked and raw. He extends a hand. “Stay.”

I step closer, craving his touch. “I can’t,” I whisper, even as the memory of our kiss at the cave pushes me closer and closer.

“Just one more kiss,” he says. “Solace for your king.”

“You’re not my king,” I say, but instead of moving back, I take another step forward. He reaches for me, and the moment our skin touches, fire races through my veins and settles between my thighs with an intensity that makes me gasp.

And God help me, I never want this feeling to end.

Chapter

Fourteen

“You’re sure this isn’t too much?” I turn in front of the mirror, examining Tia’s handiwork—black jeans, a black tank, the burgundy shirt worn open like a jacket, and black ankle boots.

“It’s perfect,” Tia assures me, applying a final coat of mascara to her already long lashes. “Mysterious yet approachable. Total main character energy.”

I laugh, shaking my head. “I’m not trying to be a main character. I just want answers.”

“So do I,” she says, pointing the mascara wand at me like a weapon. “Are you really not going to tell me what happened next?”

“I touched his hand and woke up.” It’s the truth, but I’ve left out the part where my entire body burned from his touch with a wild, heated energy that spread through every cell and culminated between my thighs. A heat that felt achingly familiar.

“And that’s all?”

“Pretty much.”

“Uh-huh.”

I just tilt my head and stare her down.

“And it wasn’t Chase?”

“We don’t know for sure that Golden Eyes is Chase,” I remind her, but even as I speak, I think about that sizzle. The one I feel with Chase here, in the real world.

She just scoffs. Because, yeah, of course, Golden Eyes and Chase are the same.

“What about your freaky monsters? Were there monsters with him?”

“No. He was in a beautiful throne room, all stained glass and stone.” I wave my hand as if I’m waving away smoke. “This was probably a real dream. I do have those on occasion. And I’ve been thinking about him ever since that kiss at the cave. It’s just my subconscious working overtime,” I say, with more certainty than I feel.

“Maybe?” She shrugs, then caps the mascara before leaning against the edge of her desk and facing me. “You need bling.”

“I do not need bling.”

She points to the plastic box that holds my jewelry. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

I start to protest, then sigh and give in when Tia crosses her arms and stares me down. “Fine, fine,” I say, picking up the box and plopping it on the foot of my bed.

Tia drops down to sit beside it. I stand, arms crossed.