She smelled flowers.
Aria opened her eyes. She stood in a meadow filled with them. And in the center of it knelt a man.
Nikolai.
* * *
Nikolai lay in the straw and drifted.
He wasn’t sure if it counted as sleep, or not, but his awareness was muted, and he considered that a good thing. He didn’t want to remember the events of the day. Or those of his life over the last few weeks, either.
He could feel Lucas.
The Morph was like a permanent, warm presence in the back of his mind. Something Nikolai now clung to as the last trace of normal in the chaos.
Like having someone living in your brain was normal.
He was so immersed in the presence that at first he didn’t notice when his surroundings drifted away from the harsh reality of chains and straw. Encased in fog, he wasn’t sure where he was. But then the fog cleared, and he sat as a human in a meadow, surrounded by tall grasses and flowers and bees and birds.
By life, in all its complexity. Guess he hadn’t been here long enough to ruin it.
“Nikolai?”
Her voice literally set his heart on fire. It leaped like a startled deer, and he jumped to his feet.
“Aria?”
She ran to him. “Oh, I can’t believe this worked.”
He had to be dreaming. Although her arms closed around him, they were cold, not warm. And when he wrapped his around her, they sank into her, as if she weren’t quite solid.
But the moment he touched her, it was as though anything were possible. Her life essence flooded through him, bringing every nerve back to pulsing, electric life.
She wasn’t alone. Behind her stood Lucas, the emerald gleam dancing in his eyes. He was much more solid than Aria.
And with him, was a Unicorn.
She—it was a she, Nikolai was certain—glowed a white so pure it was hard to look at, and yet she also wasn’t solid. The trees and flowers shone straight through her, as though she were a ghost. Her blue eyes, however, shone brightly, and they touched something deep in his soul.
Dangling from her horn was a crystal on a thong. His amulet.
“Cara,” he guessed.
“Yes, Nikolai. We may not have much time. This link is still so young, and as yet, weak. I am here to show you how to disable the runes.”
Nikolai’s eyes widened. “Disable them? But then I’ll be able to use my power.”
“You have to regain control, Nikolai. We cannot let your father use you like this.”
If he was freed—he looked around him at the meadow. He was a monster. He’d suck the life out of all of it.
“No,” he said.
“What do you mean, no?” Aria pulled back from him, her amber eyes searching his.
He reached with a careful finger to trace her jaw. “I was never meant to exist, Aria. I am a threat to everything that lives and breathes.”
Her brows drew down. “What are you saying?”
