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What the fuck was this?

Then a dragon soared into the air, the female astride the beast.

Purplish-black scales glinted in the sunlight, and the winged males took to the sky, crying out in anger. But the dragon was circling back, flying so low Tessa ducked as it flew overhead. She felt the gust of air as large, taloned wings flapped, the force of it nearly knocking her on her ass. When she lifted her eyes back to the sky, she found the dragon already high in the sky once more. There was a piece of faded paper floating to the ground, and she reached up to grab it. It contained only a few words she wasn’t quite sure what to do with:

Tell him to keep fighting.

Tell him Lilura lives.

These dreams were becoming too much.

It wasn’t really a dream, she supposed. She’d just been sitting in a chair near the window in the lounge, watching snow gently falling outside. She had a cup of tea in her hand, and to be honest, she was surprised it hadn’t spilled when the vision had assaulted her.

Dreams. Visions. It didn’t matter. Whatever they were, they were becoming too much. Every time she closed her eyes, she had another one. What was she supposed to do with them? Rordan and Elowyn had encouraged her to let them come, that it was a natural progression of her power, but they made little sense. The only one she’d had where she actuallyknewanyonewas the one where Theon always killed her. The rest were all people she’d never met and places she’d never been.

Theon had talked about taking her to see Cienna, but they hadn’t been able to make contact with the Witch. Axel promised he’d keep trying, but now they’d run out of time. The third Mark would happen the day after tomorrow. She really didn’t know how Solstice Day would play out.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Theon asked where he sat with a book and his laptop. He seemed to be attempting to translate something. She didn’t care.

They’d run out of time.

Then again, maybe they’d never really had time to begin with.

“No,” she said softly, looking down at her cold cup of tea.

“Do you see the same thing all the time?”

“No.”

“But you’ve had one of me killing you.”

It wasn’t a question, but he knew that. She’d told him as much before she’d realized what they were.

“Yes,” she answered. “It is the only one I have repeatedly.”

He nodded. “But the other visions are not that?”

She shook her head, turning back to the window. “Why aren’t they here yet?”

“They’re on their way, Tessa. Axel was giving them their kingdom Marks himself.”

“And they will stay here? So they will be safe?”

“They will stay here at least until the third Mark is in place, and we’ve all moved on from this.”

“What if?—”

“We’ll deal with it, Tessa,” he said sharply, and Tessa snapped her mouth shut.

Theon sighed, starting to say something, but then she heard the front door opening. She was on her feet in an instant, nearlytripping from getting tangled in the blanket she had draped over herself.

“Careful,” Theon muttered, but she was already out of the room and racing down the short hall.

She skidded to a halt, Luka giving her the same once over he always did. Then he stepped to the side, and she took them in. Lange with his pale blonde hair and sky-blue eyes. Corbin with his shaggy brown hair, brown skin, and hazel eyes.

“Hiya, sweetheart,” Lange said, his mischievous grin curving on his lips.

And she let out a laugh, a genuine one, as she closed the distance between them, flinging her arms around Lange’s neck. He lifted her off her feet, hugging her back. As he passed her over to Corbin, he said, “We better be watching the Chaosphere game tonight.”