The Fae King's Dream (Between Dawn and Dusk #2) - Jamie Schlosser Page 0,81
try to stay asleep, but it’s no use.
My eyes snap open.
“What the hell was that?” I whisper to myself, my words coming out in heaving exhales.
As my heart hammers inside my chest, I stare at the patched hole above me. Wooden boards have been tacked over it, along with scraps of a canvas tarp to keep rain out.
The mattress is soft under my back, but there’s no comfort here. I’m alone. I can hear a few of the guys talking on the top deck. Their voices are a low rumble. If I close my eyes, I can pick Damon’s out. While I can’t understand what he’s saying, his words sound light. Happy, even.
I want to run up there and tell him what just happened, but I need to go to the dungeon. That’s where my answers are. And if I tell him where I’m going, he’ll insist on accompanying me.
He wasn’t there in the premonition for a reason. No one else was.
I need to find out why.
Quickly getting up, I change out of Damon’s nightshirt and find a clean dress in the suitcase we’ve been keeping under the bed. I choose a blue one on the plainer side—it’s the same one I was wearing in my dream. After slipping it over my head, I fit my feet into new shoes since the ones I wore earlier were ruined and had to be tossed overboard.
As quietly as possible, I open the bedroom door and peek out into the hallway. Empty. Holding my breath, I shuffle toward the dungeon. I pass the other bedrooms, hoping I don’t wake anyone.
When I make it to the trap door, I stop as a thought comes to me.
What if this is the Caller’s work? He could be doing the same thing to me that he did to Isla. Remembering what she said about being unable to resist his orders, I take a few steps back. I kick my legs out and bust a few moves of The Macarena.
Okay. I don’t think I’d be able to do that under his control. Besides, I have the mind protection spell in place. Even if he was at full power, he shouldn’t be able to influence me.
Feeling better about it, I lift the rectangular piece of wood. A putrid odor immediately stings my nose. The dungeon smells worse than it did earlier today. Like piss and impending death.
Before I have a chance to chicken out, I turn, climb halfway down the ladder, and shut the door behind me.
At least the floor is cleaner now. When I get to the bottom, it isn’t sticky or wet. Picking up the hem of my dress, I move toward the cell, and just like my dream, there’s so much suffering. I can actually hear the quiet sizzle of the prisoners’ skin being burned by all their restraints.
This time, when the Caller opens his eyes, I’m not startled. However, he doesn’t say what I expect.
“Have you come to taunt us while we die?” he rasps.
Stunned by his assumption of cruelty, I open and close my mouth a couple times. “No.”
“Then what do you wa—” His question gets interrupted by a wheeze, then he coughs.
Droplets spray from his mouth, landing on my skirt in a pattern of dark polka dots. Black blood.
“You have information I need,” I say, straight and to the point.
“And what would that be?”
“I… don’t know. You tell me.”
“It could be one of a thousand things.”
This is interesting. Our conversation isn’t playing out like it did in my dream. My premonitions have always been exact, but this time it’s almost as if I saw inside this guy’s mind.
I saw what could be. A possibility.
Maybe I’m experiencing heightened powers because of the mate bond? Or maybe my abilities are more refined in Valora.
Either way, he has a missing puzzle piece I need. Trying to lead him in the right direction, I say, “Think of a secret. Something important.”
“Why don’t you spill your troubles, and I’ll let you know if I can help?” Another wheeze. “But beware. Nothing is free.”
“Right. You’ll want to make a deal.” I’m not in a position to say no, so I nod as I grip the bars of the cage. “Hypothetically, let’s say the king is in danger.”
“What kind of danger?”
I hope I’m not giving away too much. “Iron poisoning.”
He laughs, but it turns into a gurgle. “I had a feeling the rumor would help me someday. I thought it might save my own life. Unfortunately, I was wrong.”