“You aren’t wrong. I had the fastest time of anyone in the competition. Twenty-seven seconds all the way around the city.”

  Draven scooped me up in a deep embrace. “I’m so proud of you,” he said, “I knew you’d wipe the floor with them.”

  “I wasn’t so sure, but I guess I’m pretty nimble in the air. Thank you for training with me.”

  “You’re welcome.” He brushed my white hair out of my face and stared into my eyes, a hungry grin across his lips.

  “Yes?” I asked, “Is there something I can do for you?”

  Draven pinned me against the balcony edge. “I could think of a couple of things…” He kissed me deeply, and I returned the kiss, biting his lower lip in a moment of desire. I burned for him; my whole body burned for him. I hitched one of my legs up and wrapped it around his abdomen and he grabbed my thigh, his hand slowly working its way up along my leg.

  “We could get caught up here,” I whispered.

  He kissed where my neck met my ear, then my collar, then my chest. “If we did get caught, would you rather be eating, or doing this?”

  “This,” I whimpered, “Gods, this.”

  Draven quickly dropped to his knees and propped my leg up over his shoulder. He kissed around my inner thigh. He wrapped his hands around my waist. I worked my fingers through his hair as his lips moved closer and closer to where I wanted them to go. When his tongue brushed up against me, my entire body quaked and shook.

  The memory must have been powerful enough to shake me loose, because when I opened my eyes, I was in my bed with an audience staring at me. Rolling my eyes, disappointed, I let my head rest against the pillow and sighed.

  “You’re awake,” Felice said.

  “Yeah…” I said, my voice trailing off.

  “So? Are you insane yet?”

  “No… not yet.”

  “Good dream?”

  Another sigh. “It was going to be.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  It was difficult to keep that memory, that dream almost, away from my thoughts. It was probably going to be much harder to keep it hidden from Draven considering we worked so closely together. I didn’t think he’d be happy to know I’d gone behind his back and tried to regain some of the memories of our time together without him, but he hadn’t exactly left me with any choice.

  What was I supposed to do?

  Fate was still under even after I’d regained consciousness. I pressed my fingertips against her neck, feeling for her pulse. It was there, but it was slow.

  “Any idea when she’s supposed to wake up?” Felice asked.

  “None… Romeo didn’t exactly give me instructions,” I said.

  “Romeo?” Ness asked, struggling to contain her laughter, “Your mage contact is called Romeo?”

  “Yeah, I guess it’s his stage name too.”

  “Stage name?” Felice asked.

  “He’s a rapper, or something.”

  “Good for him. He should definitely learn a couple of things about dealing with customers, though. No instruction manual?”

  I arched an eyebrow. “You ever bought drugs on the street? The dealer doesn’t exactly give you a pamphlet with literature to look over. Not that I’d know. I don’t do drugs.”

  “You know a lot about the process.”

  I shrugged. “If you lived where I lived, you see it often enough.”

  “I could… I could probably cook something up to help Fate regain consciousness,” Ness said, “I think I have some Sharproot lying around.”

  “I don’t know… I don’t want to risk waking her up earlier than she’s supposed to. What if that makes her insane?”

  The conversation was moot, because Fate started to stir on the bed. I looked over her, careful not to disturb her too much. When she opened her eyes, it took her a second to stop blinking and adjust to the natural light in the room. She rubbed them hard with the backs of her hands, then stared at me, at Felice, and at Ness.

  “Can I help you guys?” she asked.

  “Are you alright?” I replied.

  “I think so… holy hell, that was a trip.”

  “What did you see?”

  She shook her head. “I saw… home. My home. The mountains. Seline, they were beautiful. Snowcapped and cold, the air was always crisp and clean, and there were flowers, too—amazing, bright pink flowers that grew all over, even through the rocks and the snow. It was incredible.”

  “Seline snuck her boyfriend into her city when her parents weren’t looking,” Felice unhelpfully put in.

  I elbowed her in the ribs. “Shut up, you. Did you meet anyone, Fate? Parents? Friends?”

  Her lips pressed into a thin line and she let her head fall on the bed. She shut her eyes hard. “I didn’t have parents,” she said, and then she let the weight of what she’d said hang in the air before continuing. “I did have a mentor… we were like monks. We lived in temples and studied most of the day… when we weren’t studying, we were cleaning. My mentor was like my father and my mother rolled into one. She took care of me, taught me, showed me the way of our people.”

  “Do you know what happened to your parents?”

  “No. Do you?”

  I shook my head. “No… but I know I had parents, and siblings. I’ve seen them before, in other visions.”

  “What about you?” Ness asked Felice. “Do you want to know more about your life before you fell?”

  “Don’t much care for where I came from,” Felice said, “It’s where I’m going that’s important, now.”

  “I can respect that,” Ness said, “I mean, I totally get how important it is to want to move forward. I think I had a good life where I came from, but I can never go back, so in a way it doesn’t really matter who I was?”

  I disagreed with her, but I wasn’t about to start a conversation about it. I didn’t just want to know who I was, I needed to know who I was. That was all that mattered to me right now. I was someone important where I lived, I was a fast flier, and I had kithe. Even though it felt like a dream, I could almost still feel them attached to my shoulders.

  They were glorious, radiant, and full. For the first time since I could remember, I felt complete. I felt whole. It didn’t matter that the memories were exactly that; just ghosts of the mind. If I was complete then, then it meant I could feel complete again. That was all I wanted. To feel like the real me.

  “We should probably call it a night,” I said, “Thank you for keeping watch for us, Felice.”

  She nodded. “Anytime. I should be heading back to my room, too.”

  “I’ll catch you tomorrow.”

  Felice made her exit, leaving Ness, Fate, and me in the room. “I should probably get some sleep too,” Fate said, “I don’t know what it was about that dream stuff, but I’m exhausted all of a sudden.”

  “That’s because you didn’t really sleep,” Ness said, “I was monitoring you guys. Whatever that was, it wasn’t restful.”

  I got up and headed for the door. “I need to talk to someone before I turn in for the night, though.”

  “Where are you going?” Fate asked.

  “I want to talk to my cat.”

  Both girls stared at each other, then back at me. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  I left my room and the girls behind in search of Rey, processing not just what Fate had said but what I’d dreamt about. It felt like a dream, only this time the details weren’t slipping from my mind. I could still, if I tried hard enough, taste the fruit in my mouth. I could feel the cold of the wind chill when Draven opened the door. I could remember the warmth of Draven’s lips.

  It was more than a dream, more than a memory. It was vivid, and raw, and my body tingled from it still. I wanted more, even if I understood diving deeper into my mind would bring me pain. I knew my home was destroyed. Aaryn had told me as much. But maybe I knew what had happened to it. Maybe I’d be able to find some kind of closure.

  “My ears were twitching, so I came to you instead,” Rey said, startling me.

  I jumped at the sound of his voice. “Will you stop doing that?”

  We were in the hallways near my room. Rey had stepped out from the corner he’d been hiding behind, sat in front of me, and started licking his paw, pausing to speak. “Well?”

  “Well what?”

  “What do you want? I was in the middle of something important before you decided to come looking for me.”

  “Important… here… what could a little tabby with a big attitude have to do that’s considered important around here?”

  “I didn’t say anything about here.”

  I shook my head. “Whatever. Look, I came to find you because I have something to tell you.”

  “Go on.”

  “I relived some of my memories… some of my real memories.”

  “When?”

  “Right now… but you already know that, don’t you?”

  Rey stopped grooming his paw and looked up at me. The silver tabby’s blue eyes burned into me. He narrowed them. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said in a low voice.

  “Really? Okay, let’s talk about what I saw for a moment. Do you have time? Are you busy?”

  “Actually, I am. I really should—”

  “—awesome, okay. So, this memory I relived. It’s like a dream, and it isn’t. I’ve never experienced anything like it. It was like I literally stepped into the other world and lived through the dream.”

  He went to stand. “That’s very good for you.”

  “I swear, if you leave I’m gonna chase you down and put you in a bath.”

  Slowly, he sat back down. “I’m only doing this because I want to. Not because I think you’ll catch me. Two legs.”

  I placed my hand on my hip. “I’m gonna ignore that and carry on. So, in this dream thing I learn a bunch of things about where I came from, and that’s awesome. The sights, the sounds, the smells… it’s almost like I’m there, except, something was out of place.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “A tiny thing brushing past my legs as I made a dash through a secret passage.”

  “Maybe it was a stray pet.”

  “I thought about that, but then I remembered… my home was on a city floating way up in the clouds. Pretty sure dogs and cats wouldn’t like the air up there, so I’d doubt if there were any.”

  A pause hung between us where we examined each other. Rey was only a small, silvery tabby cat, but he was also much more than that. I’d heard him call himself a dream wizard. I’d heard him talk to a minotaur like he knew him. Hell, the fact that he could talk made him way more than just a cat.

  So, what was he?

  “Just what are you implying, Seline?” he asked.

  “Were you in those memories?” I asked.

  Another pause. “Well… now that you’ve asked me directly, I can answer. No, I wasn’t part of that memory… but yes, I was in there with you.”

  “In there? In where?”

  “The dream. I’m a dream wizard, remember? I can’t help it. When people dream, their minds reach out to me and sometimes they pull me in.”

  “And I guess you don’t do a very good job of resisting the pull, then?”

  “Not always, no. I would say I’m only human, but I’m not.”

  I took a deep breath. “What were you doing in my mind?”

  “Watching. Experiencing. It was a pretty intense ride for me.”

  “I don’t exactly like the idea of your eavesdropping on my personal trip through my own past like that. Especially considering the content.”

  Rey licked his paw and rubbed it along the top of his head. “Yes, it was a little R-Rated. Oh well, too late for that now, huh? It’s already happened. Anyway, I should go.” He went to leave, but I spun around him and stopped him. His hackles went up. “What now?”

  “You’re lying.”

  “Lying about what?”

  “I wasn’t dreaming. Ness told me I wasn’t even asleep, I was more… unconscious.”

  “And?”

  “People don’t dream when they’re unconscious. You didn’t just hear my mind calling out to you, you burrowed your way in there like a little rat. Didn’t you?”

  “Cat, and yes. And I didn’t lie to you, I misdirected.”

  “Why would you do that?”

  “Because you aren’t ready.”

  “You’ve said this before. What aren’t I ready for?”

  “All of it, Seline. When you’re ready, you’ll know.”

  I advanced on him, and he retreated slowly. “Can you pull my memories out of me?”

  “I can.”

  “What the hell! Why haven’t you already done this for me?”

  “Because I won’t. We’ve talked about this. There are rules I have to follow, and as much as I know you finding yourself is important, I can’t help you dive into your mind. Having said…”

  I waited for him to continue speaking. “What?”

  Rey’s eyes narrowed. “You should keep digging…”

  “Why?”

  “Because you’re going to find pain in your memories, I promise you, but you’re also going to find so much more than you could even imagine. You need to keep digging. That’s all I can tell you.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t get it… what the hell are you? Why do you keep doing stuff like this?”

  “I promise, Seline, it’ll all become clear in time. You just aren’t ready.”

  Rey turned and bounded off, this time moving before I got a chance to act. I could’ve tried to follow him, but I wouldn’t have caught him, not without having to use a whole bunch of magic—and the stone was in the vault.

  I exhaled deeply. Once again, Rey had left me with more questions than answers. I hated that he could do that. I hated even more the thought that he could do something about my situation, and wouldn’t. What the hell were those rules he kept talking about? Whose rules?

  Shaking my head, I returned to my room to find Ness still awake. Fate was gone, most likely off to get some sleep.

  “Are you okay?” Ness asked when she saw me enter. “You’re pale.”

  “I’m fine, just really tired now,” I said, kicking my boots off. I sat down on the bed and ran my fingers through my hair. Bastet had said nobody would notice the little lock of it she’d snipped out, but somehow, I noticed it now. A rough space where she’d made her snip. It was subtle, but it was there.

  “Did you find what you were looking for?”

  I looked up at her and sighed. “No…” I trailed off. “But I’m gonna get there.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  I had to wait until Ness was asleep before I could do what I wanted to do. I could’ve gone and found a quiet place in the fortress to go on my trip, but I decided doing it in the safety of my own bed was probably a better idea. There was every chance something could go wrong, especially now that I wouldn’t be able to rely on Ness’s anti-crazy drink.

  I waited almost an hour after she’d started lightly snoring before sitting up and getting started. I had the bowl on my lap, the one filled with leaves and twigs and pieces of paper. In my hand I held the small bag Romeo had given me. There was only half the amount of powder in there than I’d started with, but I knew it would be enough to get me to where I needed to go.

  I opened the bag and readied myself. “Kyro,” I whispered at the bowl, and a small spark ignited inside, catching on the paper. It went up in only a manner of seconds, the soft orange ember becoming a full-on flame. I set the bowl down on the end-table now, positioned the bag over the flame, and emptied its contents inside.

  The flame changed color, and I breathed the smoke in like I had the first time; only this time, things got weird, fast.

  Sharp pain stabbed the side of my head, and I went down hard on the bed. Groaning, I pressed my hand against my head and waited for it to pass. It didn’t. I opened my eyes, immediately regretting my decision to do this and hoping I could wake Ness up before this pain ended up killing me, only I wasn’t in my room anymore.

  I was in the secret tunnel Draven and I used to meet in.

  It was dark, quiet. I couldn’t see myself standing there. Draven wasn’t there either. What the hell? I couldn’t understand what I was looking at, what I was supposed to see. Then I heard footsteps, someone hurrying toward me. Guards? Shit. There was nowhere to hide, and if I got caught…

  I made a run for the door leading out of the castle thinking it would be easier to jump out and hide outside than face whoever was coming, but I couldn’t move. It was like being trapped inside a nightmare where you want your limbs to work, you want your throat to work, but nothing happens. You’re trapped, helpless, waiting for the monster to come.

  Only it wasn’t a monster. It was a woman running down the stairs, entering the secret corridor. A woman with bright, white hair hidden under a black hood. Mom? I stared at her as she approached. She couldn’t see me, didn’t register my presence. Instead she kept her head down and kept running. She was carrying something—a small package, swaddled in a golden blanket.

  A child.

  I tried to speak, but I couldn’t. She moved right through me like I was a ghost, invisible, not present. When she reached the door, she pulled it open and let the cold, outside air in. I watched her wait for a moment, her cloak billowing behind her, until a dark shape arrived in front of her; a shadow with wings.

  She handed the small package to the shadow, and the shadow swallowed it up before racing away into the night, never to be seen again.

  For the third time I tried calling out, this time I reached for her too, but the world around me turned to color and light, and everything changed. I was in a garden, bathed in warm sunlight and surrounded by tall flowers and plants. Above me, the crystal dome loomed, its glass panels shining against the sun’s brilliance.

  I spun around on the spot looking for my mother, but she wasn’t there. I was lost in the flowers, flowers that were taller than I was and densely packed. I started moving, picking my way between them, searching for an exit, when I heard a voice.

  “Ready or not! Here I come!”