Page 95 of Revenant

Alicent’s soft breaths reach my ears like a calling card, pulling me toward Elias’s bedroom. She faces away from the door, her long red strands fan across her pillow. The subtle rise and fall of her form tells me she’s still sleeping.

That and the fact there hasn’t been a murderous scream ringing through the west wing.

I round the foot of the bed with light steps, only stopping once her face comes into view. Her lips are slightly parted, her hands tucked beneath her chin with the blanket. My brows pull together as something strange and unknown presses in on my chest.

Suddenly I’m thrown back into the memory of when I forced my fangs into her carotid. Something in me just…snapped. It was more than the hunger—though excruciating—it was something much more carnal—and I can’t explain it. It gnaws at my insides day after day, not understanding what this infatuation with her is.

It’s a madness I can’t seem to shake. No matter how much I long for it to shatter, how much distance I put between us—it festers.

Her features morph from a blissful sleep to discontent in a matter of seconds. Her skin, already porcelain ivory, turns pallid—ashen in a way the living usually aren’t. Alicent’s head jerks up, then thrashes to the side, her arms unraveling from the confines of the blanket in search of something more secure.

Shuttering breaths turn ragged, and I can’t help but feel compelled to reach for her. My finger pushes down where her brows attempt to meet, tracing over her temple and down to graze over the constellation dotted on her flesh.

What could you be dreaming about, little wraith?

I close my eyes, intrigued and something that strangely resembles worry commanding my next move.

Instantly, her dream transports me to the forest. Alicent stands just feet away as I stay hidden behind a tree trunk. She’s rigid, completely paralyzed as she stands before a pack of wolves.

Her tattered breathing matches the same as before I entered her dreamscape—completely and utterly terrified. My head cocks to the side, watching the interaction unfold.

“Pl–please. What do you want from me?”

A cynical chuckle sounds from beyond the pack. “Isn’t it obvious? They want you little Calder.” I know that voice. It belongs to a person we all thought could be trusted.

She’s dreaming of the wolf attack.

My gaze travels from her to Reed, who waits yards away with a wolf who obediently stands by his side. My molars grind together, every muscle in my body begging for permission to snap his head clean off his shoulders.

A twig crunches beneath her foot as she takes a step back, needing to create as much distance as she can between her and the beasts.

Little does she know she’s backing toward a whole different monster.

Her hand twitches at her side—a move I know all too well—trying to conjure a flame in her hand. But only sparks ignite, before settling into the dirt at her feet.

“Whatever do they see in you? A pathetic excuse for a witch, let alone one that’s supposed to be so powerful,” Reed quips, disgust smearing over his face at the mere sight of her.

“I’m trying—I’m...” Alicent stammers, her words jumbled together as she attempts to keep her composure.

“Try as you might, it’s not good enough. You’re not good enough.”

A soft sob escapes her as she tries to wield her power again. The wolves advance toward her, slow and steady like they’re stalking their prey. Teeth bared, saliva dripping from their jowls as if she’s going to be their next meal.

The front line comes at her at once, and she screams out in horror. Arms flying up to cover her face as if that would be enough to stop the attack.

Something takes hold of me, constricting around my heart that no longer beats, as though this feeling is what’s needed to make me whole again. My pulse quickens, body tensing, and right before the wolves make contact, they disappear.

All but one.

Alicent lowers her arms, straightening her form after a few moments. I don’t have to see her face to know she’s both shocked and confused.

Her head tilts down, finding a wolf, dark as midnight, lying at her feet. She looks around the forest and I quickly move fully behind the tree, not wanting her to know that I’m here.

The wolf stands cautiously, not wanting to spook her more than she already is. Alicent’s heart beats a mile a minute, anxious, but curious all in the same breath. The wolf bows its head at her, an open invitation and sign that it poses no threat.

Alicent holds her hand out, cautiously, and the wolf nudges its head into her. She gasps, as if petting the animal sparks familiarity.

She tentatively lowers herself to the ground, and the wolf does the same, and rests its head on her leg.