“Where do we start then?” I ask. “Do we have to find my power in here somewhere?”
“Something like that.”
“And how do we locate it?” I ask.
“In the past, your magic has shown up to defend you,” he says. I shift as I start to guess what might be coming. He proves me right with his next words. “We have to put your mind on the defensive,” he says—and charges at me.
I only have a second to move before his arm catches me across the chest. It knocks me clean off my feet, and I smack my head against the forest floor as I go down.
Pain blossoms in my skull, and I try to suck in a wheezing breath. Even though I know this is a dream, every sensation feels sharp as a knife.
“Fuck!” I shout when I’m finally able to speak. Then I roll onto my side and stagger to my feet. Leon is a few feet from me, totally unruffled.
“I didn’t think princesses cursed like that,” he says, amused.
I ignore his joke, rubbing the back of my head. “Why does this feel so real?” I demand.
“Pain is just a message your body sends to your brain, Ana,” he says calmly. “To your mind, this pain is as real as any other.”
“Don’t call me that,” I snap.
He cocks his head. “Why not? It’s what you like to be called, isn’t it? The boy in the inn called you Ana, and you seemed friendly enough with him.” Leon takes a step toward me.
“Exactly. He’s myfriend,” I say, sidestepping to keep him from getting too close. Soon we’re doing a dance, circling each other as we talk. “You’re not that, you’re…”
I look for the word I need. Does “enemy” fit? Maybe not. But neither does “ally.”
“I’m someone who’s going to help you find your power,” he says. Then he strikes again.
His blows come thick and fast, first striking me across the face so hard I’m sure he’s broken my nose, then across my ribs, where I feel a sharp crack. I scramble to remember Will’s lessons from long ago, when he taught me the basics of defending myself. I throw my arms up to protect my face, then kick out. My foot connects with something, and I hear a sharp intake of breath that tells me I’ve actually managed a counterstrike.
But then Leon wraps his hands around my ankle and yanks it upward. I’m falling again, and I prepare to hit the ground, bracing myself for more pain…
Instead of hard earth, something soft hits my back. The trees are gone, and so is the smell of plants and the sound of birds. Instead, I find sheets rumpled beneath my hands, and a familiar, dark bedroom around me.
No.
Water pours across my face, soaking the pillow beneath me and streaming into my mouth. I’m back in the manor, and Leon looms over me, but even as I focus on his gray eyes, his face changes—morphing into a monster.
It’s Bede who’s staring—leering—down at me. His teeth are as pale and shiny as the whites of his hungry eyes. I won’t let this happen again, I can’t.
I reach out for my power, searching for the heat that should run through my veins, searing and unstoppable. But I can’t find it. Instead, I’m cold as ice, frozen in place. No one’s coming to save me, and I can’t save myself.
This is just a dream. This isn’t real.
I’m trapped in the nightmare, and I latch hard onto that reminder.
I cough, fighting the liquid bubbling in my throat, managing to dislodge enough of it to scream.
“Stop this! Leon, get me out of here!”
I can’t fight this, buthecan. And as soon as I have that thought, something pulls me away, a strong force tugging at me in the darkness. I don’t resist.
I open my eyes. The sunlight filters through the trees, hitting the edge of my cloak where I lie on top of it. I gasp in the fresh air and sit up, putting a palm to my chest where my heartbeat is still pounding.
My hand is shaking. I squeeze it into a tight fist.
“You were stuck there,” Leon says. He’s still crouching beside me, looking like he hasn’t moved this whole time. “So I pulled you out.”
