What if she never loved him?

Light, what do I do?

The fire popped and crackled in the fireplace.

Love her.

Damien heard the words as clearly as if they had been spoken in his ear.

Love her.

Could he do that? Could he learn to love Selene, even if she never returned his love?

12

Amara sucked in a breath as she emerged from the old gardener’s mind. Petur groaned and turned on his side, curling his legs up to his chest. Pale moonlight shone through the small window, leaving a square of light across the ground. She clenched her hand into a fist and punched her thigh. Why couldn’t she do it? Why couldn’t she change the dreamscape?

Her mother emerged moments later, and Amara could feel the heat of her anger. She stood to her feet and glared down at Amara. “Come, Amara. Morning is almost here.”

“Yes, Mother.” She stood and followed her mother outside of the small hovel and across the servants’ quarters. She clenched her hands again, so hard that her nails dug into her palms. What did Selene have that she did not? She worked harder and wanted this more—much more than Selene ever did. And yet her elder sister was the gifted one.

And then she threw it all away when she left with the grand lord of House Maris. Amara clenched her hand. Why?

Her mother led the way back into Rook Castle, moving along the corridors like an apparition. When they reached the west wing, she stopped.

“You will continue your physical training. And you will continue to dreamwalk every night. I expect to see a better performance than I saw tonight in two weeks from now. You will prove to me why you deserve to inherit the mantle of House Ravenwood. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mother.” Amara carefully concealed her features, but inside she burned.

Her mother turned and left without a word, leaving Amara standing in the middle of the dark and silent hallway.

A lump filled her throat as her shoulders sagged. Was it like this with Selene? Mother pressuring her to achieve more and more with their gift? Amara snorted and headed for the secret training room below the castle. Probably not. Everything always came easily to Selene. She was able to dreamwalk the first time flawlessly, and she still had Mother’s respect, even after leaving in disgrace.

She slipped into the sitting room and headed for the fireplace. She placed her fingers in the three small indents beside the stone mantel, twisted her hand clockwise, and listened to the gears deep within the wall as the hidden door opened.

Like a cat, she slid into the narrow passageway and closed the door behind her. Pitch-black pervaded her senses, but she was used to it. With practiced hands, she lit the first torch, then used it to light the other torches along her way.

As she headed into the bowels of the castle, her mind churned with questions. With everything at her fingertips, why did Selene run away? Did she secretly love Lord Damien? Perhaps. She had seen the way her sister’s face had changed when she looked at him. But the cold, calculating sister she knew would not simply throw everything away for an infatuation. There had to be something more that had caused Selene to make such a drastic decision.