Then there was also the question of what Selene was potentially doing with her growing gift to those around her. Did she know? Was that the source behind her nightmares?

Damien rubbed the back of his neck as he opened the door to his bedchambers. So many questions. So many decisions to make. But it would have to wait until tomorrow. At the moment, he could barely hold his thoughts together.

The fire across the room had burned down to glowing embers. The room was still warm, but a chill clung to the corners.

He shut the door quietly and made his way to the changing screens. As he passed his bed, Selene moved beneath the mound of quilts and furs.

“Damien?” said a groggy voice.

“Yes, it’s me.” Just hearing Selene’s voice did things to his heart. Light, what do I do if her gift is hurting others? His throat tightened at the thought. She must have fallen back asleep because moments later, there was the soft sound of metered breathing. He sighed and stepped behind the changing screens.

Shortly afterward, he crawled beneath the thick covers and furs. Sleep was already pulling at him. But before he succumbed, he reached over and felt for Selene’s arm underneath the covers.

Her skin was warm and soft to his fingertips. He smiled in the darkness and settled down across the pillow, his hand along her arm. “Good night, Selene.”

She didn’t answer.

Damien closed his eyes and let go of the physical world.

Images began to play across his mind: the gentle waves of the sea on a summer morning, bits of conversation with Taegis, camping under a starry night. His body relaxed in sleep’s embrace.

Suddenly, an invisible rope tightened around his waist and hauled him forward, sending his head and legs flying back. He flew through the darkness, dragged by the invisible rope. Then the pressure around his waist disappeared, and he found himself plummeting down, down, down—

He landed in a crouch on the balcony outside the throne room in Northwind Castle. At least, it looked like Northwind Castle. The edges of his vision were hazy, as if going in and out of focus. The area was completely dark, and yet he could still see, like gazing into a bank of fog at twilight. His mind cleared the longer he stood there, going from a dreamlike state to clarity.

What’s going on? What’s happened to me?

Damien turned and glanced at the door that led into Northwind Castle.

Why am I here? Is this . . . a dream?

He stepped forward and entered the door. The layout of the castle wasn’t like he remembered it. The rooms seemed to shift fluidly. First he was in his throne room, then he found himself in the kitchens. The dream changed, and he was standing beside Taegis near the dining hall.

“Taegis?”

Taegis lifted his head, his eyes half-lidded as if he were sleepwalking. Then he slipped away like an apparition. Others appeared and disappeared around the castle in the same way Taegis had.