Come. You must free me.

The deep voice echoes into my mind, male and resonant. I’m sure it’s coming from inside. A compulsion to step farther tugs at my body. I have to go in there. I have to free him. Free the king.

My feet move of their own accord, and I’m scrambling into the dark, one hand on the jagged rock to guide me. My breathing hitches, my heartbeat rockets. If I can just get far enough inside.

Yes. Come, the voice says.

A light flashes in the darkness ahead. Starting as a pinprick glitter in the air, then expanding. Silvery white Flame bursts into a writhing ball of fire. The face of a woman coalesces, shaped from its curling depths, her hair a streaming halo of fire. Her eyes blaze with dancing silver.

This is one freaky dream. I hope this isn’t death because it’s bloody weird.

Michael.

Her mouth moves, but the words enter my mind—the soft, mature tones of an older woman.

You are not ready.

Impatience twists in my chest. “I have to get in there. I have to free him.”

It is not yet time. Return to the Guardians. Learn the strengths of your bloodline.

“Bloodline?”

An elegant hand reaches out from the fire, and the image softens, becoming more like the real face of a woman. Beautiful, older, long dark hair, and metal-gray eyes gentled by sympathy. Her palm presses against my chest.

“I must return this to you,” she says softly.

Warmth pulses from her touch, traveling through my body in a wave of blissful tingles. A light bursts behind my eyes.

The image of a scrap of paper with three words written in cursive script opens inside my mind.

Lancaster. Blackriver. Sabel

Grief rushes through me, an old sadness I’d forgotten. Choking fury soon follows as the memory of jade-green eyes and stinging pain returns. He took it. The only clue I have to my parents’ identity, and Quinton stole it from me.

“The witch protects you. But be wary, for he serves another.” The woman’s face fades again, changing into dancing silver Flame.

“Who are you?” I ask.

“We will meet soon. Follow your heart, Michael, not the words of those who would use you.”

Dizziness disturbs my sight, and I grasp my forehead. A sucking sensation tugs on my chest. My whole body seems to be folding in on itself. “What’s happening?”

Return to your lover. The True Grounder will help you with your gift.

“Not yet. I need answers.”

I grasp the rock, but the cave spins away from me as if sucked through a straw. I’m dragged downward into a tight, heavy space. There’s a popping sensation. Then the physical aches and pains of the body crowd my awareness again.

“I’ve got a heartbeat. His eyes are flickering.” Laasya’s voice. “Michael. Michael, please come back.”

Chapter 29

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