Shadows (Book Two of the Accalia Series)

Dream Walker

Ava's POV — Present Time

Two weeks. That was how long it had been since we last saw Brandon — and since I last saw my mate.

The whole castle was on high alert. Brandon had been taken from right under us without a trace. He was a fighter. With his wolf, he was extraordinarily strong. How had something like this even been possible? Samael and Jasmine had gone through every inch of the security system. Nothing. No breach. No entry. Nothing.

Harmon wasn't herself. She spent most of her time in trees across multiple counties, not returning calls or responding to links from Samael — though I had the feeling Samael knew exactly where she was and was choosing not to say. I didn't know when I would see her again until she appeared at the castle doors, clawing at her chest.

"He's gone. He's gone," was all she could say.

Her wolf, out of the two of them, was somehow the more present one — still responsive, still communicating, even through the devastation. She told us what had happened: she and Brandon had been jumping through trees in the east of England when she felt the bond between their wolves snap. Clean. No warning. No final words. Just gone. She had thought she was feeling his frustration through the bond — and then there was simply nothing.

He was dead. That much was beyond doubt now.

None of us, other than my father and Samael, had known the specific agony of a mate bond breaking. There wasn't much any of us could have said.

Two days later, we felt Harmon's ties to the pack break. Her room was cleaned out. Letters for everyone. In them, she said the heartbreak was too much and that she needed time away — that she was going back to the Amazons to heal. We all knew better. I had known Harmon for years. I recognized what revenge looked like when it was wearing the face of grief.

My father and Jessica spent most of their time with Samael and Jasmine. I didn't mind being alone. Though I wished I had someone to talk to. Well — I did. But he didn't want me. I couldn't understand why. He had saved my life. That had to mean something.

Ugh. This is exactly why I never wanted a mate.

I pushed the thought away as I headed back to my room, managing a brief smile for Jessica as I passed her in the hall. She tried sometimes — to talk, to connect. I appreciated it, but I already had a mother. She died to save my life. Just another thing that seemed to be my fault, when I turned it over long enough.

Another week passed with no word from Harmon. Samael and Jasmine left on a tip — someone claiming to have seen Brandon walking in the streets of a city two countries over. They both believed it was an imposter using his face, the same way the Foul One had used Atlas's. My father stayed behind to manage the castle, which he did as though he had been born to it. Because he had, I supposed, even though I had never met his parents.

One day, he always said.

I slipped out to one of the abandoned buildings on the far edge of the castle grounds — the spot where I practiced without risking hurting someone. I took off my mother's necklace and tucked it in my pocket. The moment it left my skin, my energy rushed back through me like a door opening, wrapping me in gold light. I opened her spell book to the locating spells, gathered a few strands from Brandon's hairbrush, and began.

The spell lifted me. The map materialized around me, circling, following the pull of my energy — until it stopped. A portal opened.

On the other side, a man was crouched over a small girl's body, feeding from her. This wasn't Brandon. This wasn't anywhere close to where Brandon should be. I moved to step through and end it — and a woman with red hair and purple eyes stepped directly into the portal's frame, c****d her head, and smirked. She snapped her fingers. The portal slammed shut.

She had felt familiar. Something about her tugged at the edges of my memory in a way I couldn't place.

I tried the spell again immediately. By the time the portal reopened, they were both gone. The child was on the ground. Dead.

I stepped through, made sure the area was clear, and ran a tracing spell over the girl's body to find where they had gone. Nothing held. I located her family through a separate spell, closed the portal behind me, and carried her home. The family's reaction unsettled me — no questions, just relief that she had been found. As if something had been working on them.

I returned to the castle and put my necklace back on, feeling my powers dim to their usual baseline. My father was waiting.

"If someone can breach these grounds and take one of our own, what made you think it was safe to portal yourself to another country alone?" he said.

Jessica's hand was on his back. Her eyes on me were sympathetic. I knew she was the only reason he wasn't louder about it. He didn't give me space to explain the little girl, or the red-haired woman, or any of it. He was frustrated. Harmon was gone. Brandon was dead. Harmon was as much his daughter as I was.

When he finally paused, I kept it simple.

"I thought I could find Brandon's body. I was wrong. I'm sorry, Dad," I said.

"Keep the necklace on unless you need it for something specific. The next time you leave these grounds without telling me, I will have a witch bind it permanently," he said.

My wolf reacted before I could stop her. My father growled and made her submit. I looked at him, turned, and walked to my room without another word.

Great. One more thing to add to the list.

I got into bed and tried not to think about Atlas. My wolf had other ideas. She was reaching for him before I could pull her back, that low, constant call she sent out whether I wanted her to or not.

I fell asleep and dreamed of him.

He was in what looked like a gym, moving through a workout with music in his ears, wearing a white t-shirt and basketball shorts, his black hair a little disheveled — the kind of tired that came from not sleeping rather than from exertion. I wanted to touch him, but in the dream I could only watch.

My wolf sent out her call again. He stopped mid-movement and turned around, looking directly at me.

As a dreamwalker, I had full awareness inside my own dreams. I knew I was asleep. I knew I could control what I did here. So why had my subconscious brought me here, of all places?

"Ava?" he said, his voice low and deep in a way that did absolutely unreasonable things to my composure. I smiled and nodded, stepping toward him.

An orange glow surrounded him. His face moved through several expressions before landing on one.

Anger.

"Get out of my dreams, Ava," he said.

An invisible force shoved me backward. I hit the ground. He reached toward me — and then I was awake, staring at the ceiling of my room.

He had seen me. Which meant only one thing. He was a dreamwalker too.

What kind of creature was he? And what exactly was his problem with me — that he pushed me away even inside his own head?

I had saved his life. He had saved mine. We were even, as far as I was concerned. I should just let it go. I had more than enough to deal with already.

My wolf told me it was going to be harder than that.

Fine. Then the goal was Brandon. Finding his body, giving Harmon something to hold on to. That was what I was going to do. Everything else could wait.