Cassandra felt a sudden, almost childish impulse to reach out and touch the dream goddess to see if D'Aria was made of flesh or something else.
"You two met in your dreams?" D'Aria asked Wulf.
Wulf nodded. "Was it real?"
D'Aria cocked her head slightly as she thought about that. Her pale eyes held a faraway, fragile look to them. "If you both recall it, then yes." Her gaze sharpened as she looked up at Wulf. "But it wasn't from any of us. Since you are under my care, none of the other Oneroi would have interfered with your dreams without telling me."
"Are you sure?" he asked emphatically.
"Yes. It's the one code we are all careful to follow. When a Dark-Hunter is given over to one of us to care for, we never trespass without a direct invitation."
That all too familiar frown creased Wulf's brow. Cassandra was beginning to wonder if the "real" Wulf was capable of any other expression than that sinister, intense look. "Since I'm under your care, how is it that you didn't know about the dreams I've had with her?"
D'Aria shrugged in a gesture that looked rather awkward for her. It was obvious the shrug was a practiced expression. "You didn't summon me to your dreams, nor were you hurt or in need of my healing. I don't spy on your unconscious mind without cause, Wulf. Dreams are private matters and only the evil Skoti go where they're not invited."
D'Aria turned to look at her. She held her hand out. "You may touch me, Cassandra."
"How do you know my name?"
"She knows all about you," Wulf said. "Dream-Hunters can see right through us."
Cassandra tentatively touched D'Aria's hand. It was soft and warm. Human. Yet there was a strange electrical field around it that was similar to static electricity, only different. It was oddly soothing.
"We are not so different in this realm," D'Aria said quietly.
Cassandra withdrew her hand. "But you have no emotions?"
"At times we can, if we have been recently inside a human's dream. It's possible to continue to syphon emotions for a brief time."
"Skoti can syphon for longer periods," Wulf added. "They're similar to Daimons that way. Instead of feeding off your soul, the Skoti feed off your emotions."
"Energy vampires," Cassandra said.
D'Aria nodded.
Cassandra had read about the Dream-Hunters extensively. Unlike the Dark-Hunters, there was a ton of ancient literature that survived about the Oneroi. The gods of sleep appeared throughout Greek literature, but there was seldom a mention of the evil Skoti who preyed on people while they slept.
All Cassandra knew about them was that they were highly feared in ancient civilizations. So much so that many ancient humans were afraid to even mention the Skoti by name lest they incur a midnight visit from the sleep demons.
"Would Artemis have done this to us?" Wulf asked D'Aria.
"Why would she?" D'Aria countered.
Wulf shifted slightly. "Artemis seems to be protecting the princess. Could she have sent her into my dreams for that purpose?"
"I suppose most anything is possible."
Cassandra seized on D'Aria's words with zeal and a rare glimmer of hope. "Is it possible that I don't have to die on my next birthday?"
D'Aria's emotionless gaze held no more promise than her words. "If you are asking me for prophecy, child, that I cannot give you. The future is something each of us must meet on his or her own. What I say now may or may not be truth."
"But do all half-Apollites have to die at twenty-seven?" Cassandra asked again, desperate for an answer.
"That, too, is an Oracle question."
Cassandra closed her eyes in frustration. All she wanted was some hope. A little guidance.
One more year of life.