The Fae King's Dream (Between Dawn and Dusk #2) - Jamie Schlosser Page 0,37
to angry. “How can you say that?”
“I had a gift. I could see the future. Instead of embracing it, I pushed it away. If I hadn’t been so obsessed with controlling my dreams, maybe I would’ve seen the crash coming. Maybe I could’ve stopped it.”
“You will not blame yourself,” Damon orders like the king he is. Sliding his arms around my middle, he props me up so my head is resting against the back cushion.
“You’re right. Maybe it wouldn’t have mattered if I knew about the accident,” I say miserably. “All the other times I tried to prevent the things I saw, I failed.”
Gripping my shoulders, Damon softens his voice. “The witches are responsible for your parents’ deaths, just like they’re the reason for so many other tragedies.”
“Like the murder of my biological parents?”
“One good thing came from that,” Astrid interjects cheerfully, seeming totally unaffected by my sadness. “Whitley’s body is twenty-one years old. Her fertility is at its prime. If they’d left your mate here, she might’ve found someone else by now. She definitely wouldn’t be able to have children.”
Damon looks bewildered. “Twenty-one Earth years. That’s over seven thousand years here.”
I blink at him. “Are you saying I’m seven thousand years old?”
“You’re not. But you would’ve been if you’d stayed here.” Damon jumps to his feet, leaving me with no support, and I barely catch myself from falling face first to the stone. “Astrid, do you realize what this means?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Um, I don’t.” I struggle to raise a shaking hand. “Would someone mind explaining it to me?”
Astrid sends me a tight smile. “The coven stole you for a reason. I’m guessing they didn’t want you and Damon together. But there’s a timeline discrepancy. The provoking attack on the witches that led to the curse happened just over two thousand years ago.”
Although my mind is jumbled, the pieces connect. “So, they knew about me five thousand years in advance?”
Fidgeting, she shakes her head. “They couldn’t have. None of them were alive then. A troll’s lifespan is only about four thousand years, on average. Someone in their bloodline saw the future—the very distant future—and decided to act on their behalf.” She turns to Damon. “This is more elaborate than we thought, your majesty. We’re talking about generations of preparation.”
Damon rubs his lower lip. “I need to think on this. But first, Whitley needs to rest.” He bends down to caress my cheek. “Can you walk?”
Just lifting my foot is like trying to wade through wet concrete. “I hate to be a wimp, but no, I don’t think so.”
“Then I’ll carry you.”
When he scoops me up, the physical contact is soothing to my aching heart. His touch absorbs my grief like a sponge. I barely know this guy, but I already feel like I can’t be without him.
Without him.
A terrifying thought comes to me.
As Damon walks toward the door, I use all the strength I still possess to press a hand to his jaw. Even though I know he can’t see me back, I turn his eyes toward mine. Because I need him to listen. Because out of everything I just learned, this is the most important part of all.
“Last night—it wasn’t just a nightmare. It was a premonition, and we saw how you die.”
Damon
“Another road trip while murderous witches are running amuck. Just what I wanted in my life,” I spout sarcastically.
“Don’t think of it as a witch hunt.” Kirian bumps my shoulder as he loads supplies into the storage trunk on the back of the carriage. “It’s a destination wedding.”
In response, I just grumble at his optimistic outlook. I have to admit, it is a good cover story. The coven won’t suspect foul play. I’ve found my mate—it’s to be expected that we’d want to get hitched right away.
“Plus, this time is different,” Kirian continues. “Now we know who our enemies are, and thanks to your Seer, we know where we’ll find them.”
“And we also know they’ll kill me there,” I quip.
“Not necessarily. Seeing the future can help us change it.”
I grimace. “Whitley doesn’t seem to think so. She’s tried that in the past. Regardless of what she did to prevent what she saw, the premonition always came to fruition.”
Kirian pauses. “You’re sure I wasn’t there with you in the dream?”
“Not that I could see.”
“Well, I’ll be there. I swear it.” His oath causes a flutter in my chest. “That right there should prove the ending will be different. I won’t let anything happen to you.”