The Fae King's Dream (Between Dawn and Dusk #2) - Jamie Schlosser Page 0,7
gone through this. When will it stop? What if it doesn’t?
What if I’m stuck in a nightmare?
Professor Radcliff had cautioned me about this, too—ending up in dream where you can’t separate fact from fiction. Some people have the ability to dream so vividly that it’s difficult to know what’s real and what’s not.
But I’ve got to wake up sometime.
“Wake up, wake up, wake up.” I pinch my arm. Slap myself on the face. Pull my hair. Anything to get out of here.
Nothing helps.
Next time we round the mountain, something’s different. I see someone new.
There’s a man on the side of the road.
He’s only in my line of sight for a split second before we’re smashing into the guardrail, but I catch a glimpse of long blond hair and a handsome face.
I don’t know why I feel like he can save me, but as we tip over the edge, I turn around and lock eyes with him through the rear windshield. “Help! Help me!”
His mouth moves as he runs toward me, but I can’t make out the words.
Closing my eyes, I brace for the fall. Tumbling, rolling, jolting.
When the final impact stops the car, I wait for the inevitable restart.
Only it doesn’t happen.
Everything is so still. The car is slanted sideways, and the only thing keeping it from falling hundreds of yards down is the tree we hit.
I finally have a few seconds to look around. My mom’s lifeless body is crumpled against the driver’s side door. Her arm is dangling out the window and her neck is pressed against the roof at an unnatural angle. Dad isn’t moving, but his head is resting on her leg over the middle console. There’s a dark spot on her jeans. Blood. I’m not sure if it’s hers or his.
Aside from my panting, there’s just silence. Trembling, I reach up to take my headphones off, and when I lower them to my lap, my hands are coated with red.
“It’s just a nightmare,” I whisper to myself. “This isn’t real. Not real, not real, not real.”
Suddenly, the back door to my right is wrenched open. Since the entire car is busted all to hell, it takes an enormous amount of force. A manly grunt is followed by the loud creak of broken hinges.
I squint at the guy I saw on the road moments ago. He’s shirtless and even more beautiful up close. “You.”
“Whitley?” He breathes my name like a prayer. “You can see me?”
What a weird thing to say. “Are you supposed to be invisible or something?”
He half-grins, and my pulse skips a beat. “Yeah, kind of. Are you hurting?”
“Like hell,” I confirm.
Testing my body, I roll my shoulders and stretch my neck. I don’t have one specific pain. My entire being aches, inside and out, and my mind is a jumble. Disoriented, I try to remember what happened before this dream started. I vaguely recall packing for my trip, but I have no memory of leaving our house.
Maybe I took a nap. I could be safe at home. In my bed.
There’ve been a handful of times when I ended up in a stage of REM sleep and I had a difficult time rousing. This is confusing, though. When I urge my mind to consciousness, it’s like there’s a wall blocking me from making it through to the other side. My head feels heavy from the effort, and I’m suddenly dizzy.
Blinking, I focus on the stranger to steady myself.
There are dark shadows behind him, following his every move, almost like they’re attached to his body. When I peer closer, I see the distinct outline of gray-ish wings.
Whimpering from fear, I draw back. “Are you a demon?”
“What? No.”
“An angel, then?”
He laughs. “Hardly. I’m a faerie. We’re way cooler than demons or angels.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Like Tinker Bell?”
Clearly insulted, his face scrunches up. “That tiny thing from Peter Pot?”
“You mean Peter Pan?”
He snaps his fingers. “That’s right. I knew I was close. And no. That’s more like a sprite in my world.”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying,” I mutter quietly.
Pressing a palm to his chest, he does a slight bow. “You’ll have to excuse my poor manners. I’m Damon, king of The Dream Realm and your dream come true. Let me help you out of here.” Reaching down, he tries to grab my hand, but I pull back.
“I can’t leave without my parents. Even if it’s just a dream, I have to help them.”
His expression is sympathetic. “Will you at least let me try to touch