It happened again. I was in a dream, and I couldn’t wake myself up. I wasn’t used to not being in control, and I didn’t like it.
“Hello again,” said that melodic low voice that had enchanted me in my last dream.
I shot up in bed and stared at the woman standing at the end, her black hair full and as wild as last time, her eyes glinting with a challenge. Her gaze dropped down to my bare chest, barely visible through the swarm of shadows, but it lingered there as if she could see straight through them. Her eyes snapped up.
I smirked, then got out of bed and grabbed a black shirt off a hook that I shrugged on, though I didn’t bother buttoning it up. “You won’t be manipulating me this time,” I said to the woman. “Did you not learn your lesson last time? I took your companions’ shadows as punishment for that little stunt.”
“I’m not here to manipulate you.”
I peered at her. This curious woman. She had powers, strength, that she shouldn’t possess. She had a familiarity to herthat bothered me, that nagged at something in my mind, but I couldn’t quite grasp onto it. The answer was there, somewhere in my memories. I just hadn’t found it yet. But I would. And when I did, then I would figure out who she was and if she was a threat to my plans.
If so, then the solution would be simple.
“Why didn’t you take my shadow?” she asked. “You took my friends’ shadows. Why not mine?”
“That’s not for you to know.” The truth was I wasn’t entirely sure why I spared her. Maybe a part of me wanted her to visit my dreams again. Maybe a part of me thought if she kept visiting my dreams, using her powerful magic, I could figure her out more quickly. I took a few steps forward. “And if you’re not here to manipulate me again, then why are you in my dreams?”
She raised her chin, no fear flashing across her face. In the Era of the Gods, the mortals feared me, cowered before me. But she was not like them. In fact, I could’ve sworn I saw something like defiance flash in her eyes.
“Why are you letting us stay in your castle?” she asked, then gestured out the window. “What are you planning to do with us?”
“That depends on what I find out,” I said truthfully.
She narrowed her gaze and pursed her lips. “Find out about what?”
“You entered my dreams.” My shadows reached out toward her, slithered up her arms. She didn’t move an inch. “That shouldn’t be possible.”
She rolled her eyes, muttering under breath. “Maybe the elementals of this world are more powerful than those from your era.”
I’d hoped this would be more straightforward. That I’d be able to ask her a question and she’d answer it truthfully.
But I knew she was lying right now. It wasn’t that simple.
I may have been trapped for over a thousand years, may have been holed up in the castle for the last sixty, but I’d had access to the library, to hundreds and hundreds of books that taught me all about these elementals. I knew their capabilities, and those of the star court did not have power to rival a god. She shouldn’t be able to manipulate my mind like this.
It was clear she wouldn’t tell me the truth. Maybe she didn’t know the truth. But I had to understand where she’d gotten this power, if there were others like her out there. If there were, it could change everything.
I could torture her.
Screams of terror echoed in my mind. No. I was not that god anymore.
I could coax the truth from her. I could spend time with her, get her to open up. It was not a technique I’d ever tried before. Everyone was always so scared of me that I’d never been able to talk to anyone. Except for one person. But I didn’t know where he was. If he even still lived. Maybe part of me wanted to talk to her. To get to know her. To have someone to talk to after centuries of feeling so very alone.
“What is your name?” I asked finally.
Her jaw locked. “Bellamy.”
I tipped my head. “You can call me Kairoth.”
She sucked in a small breath, and it gave me pleasure to know that my name still had some power, even if it was long forgotten by mortals.
“Now that we got that settled, I’d like to go back to sleep?—”
“I need access to your garden,” she interrupted.
The garden again. That was where I’d first discovered her, crouching among the weeds. “Why?” I asked.
She opened her mouth, and I cut her off.
