Waffling? Take her in hand? Oh, he had a harsh reality coming his way. “What? You just want me to take off my clothes and bend over?”

“If I want you bent over, I’ll bend you over.” He straightened in his chair. “However, I’m willing to follow the queen’s two step, two night plan.”

“Meaning what?” Grace snapped.

“Meaning, come over here. Tonight, I’ll bite. Tomorrow, I’ll mate.”

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Hope settled down in her bed, her head hurting from crying. Libby snuggled next to her, already sound asleep, while Paxton lay in a sleeping bag across the floor. They didn’t have sleepovers much anymore, at least not with Paxton, but his even breathing relieved her. Why hadn’t she known about his dad?

She’d been so dumb. At the very least, she should’ve made Pax tell her the truth. He was a much better liar than she’d thought, and that just made her sad.

It was her job to protect him; to protect everybody. She was the prophet, even though she didn’t know exactly what that meant. She was also the Lock, and sometimes nightmares revealed what that might mean.

For tonight, she needed sleep. So she let herself drift off, keeping a firm hand on her imagination and her mind, knowing tonight was the night. With Libby and Pax in the room she felt safe, and somehow, she was stronger.

Sleep took her, or maybe she took it.

She was soon standing on tall cliffs, watching a gray ocean throw up spray before her. The sky was dark and the water mysterious. She rubbed her hands down her chilled arms and took a step back, her bare feet scraping across rocks. There’d been a change in the air, in her body, the day she’d turned thirteen, and power flowed through her in a new way. She’d figured this would be part of it.

“Hope?”

She partially turned, not surprised to see Drake emerge from a cave in the rock. She blinked, looking up the cliff to high above. Huh. She hadn’t realized she stood on a ledge. The dream world used to include pink sandy beaches and warmth. “Hi.”

Drake looked around, his greenish-purple eyes taking in the area, his body tense. He’d grown, a lot, since she’d last seen him. His hair, all black, was cut shorter to wisp at his shoulders, which had widened considerably. The new play of muscle was nice. Interesting. He was a full Kurjan but his skin wasn’t as pale as most, and his features were more human. Even his eyes could pass for green if one didn’t look too closely. Now that he was a teen, he looked even more human, except for his height. “How are we in a dream world again? Weren’t they destroyed? How did you do this?” he asked, moving closer, his gaze on the ocean below.