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“A few nights ago,” I replied, swallowing hard. I wanted to forget all about Donika and Nik’s father in bed together. “Zachariah was… with Donika.”

“What do you meanwithher?” Saanvi asked.

“I mean… in bed.”

“Ah yes, daddy dearest bedding the ex-girlfriend. That’s not gross at all,” Puck chimed in, his gaze on Nik.

We all shot him a glare.

“It isn’t news to me… unfortunately. Donika didn’t bother hiding her comings and goings with me while I was Noctani. She thought I was entirely devoted to her, and it had never even occurred to her that there might be a cure. She thought her secrets were safe with me for eternity.”

“And did you find this… disturbing… as Noctani?” Puck asked.

Tess kicked him hard under the table.

“Let’s spend a little less time psychoanalyzing the situation and a little more time focused on what we are trying to accomplish,” Alastir offered.

“Agreed.” I shot Puck a glare, and he raised his hand, miming that he was zipping his mouth shut. I doubted that would last long. “Her Noctani numbers have been greatly reduced since we saved Nik. Anyone in his band of allies was killed in the battle. Isaac included.”

Alastir’s expression was grim. “That I already knew, the Mother had shown me.”

“The Mother is awfully discerning in her visions, isn’t she?” Puck asked.

“What happened to zipping your mouth shut?” Tess asked, cocking her head to the side with a playful smile.

Puck gave her a grin that showed all of his perfectly white teeth. Alastir sighed, running a hand through his thinning hair. I could have sworn I heard him mutterchildrenunder his breath.

“What we don’t know is how many Araneoch she has managed to create,” I replied, bringing us back on topic. “Corian,her right hand, has managed to dream walk and pull me into a dream before because he had left a token in that location. We are trying to figure out how to do the same. How we can dream walk to wherever she is keeping her Araneoch to analyze her numbers. To leave a token behind to ensure that we can check back any time we need to.”

Alastir sat back, stroking his long, grey beard. “That’s quite simple,” he replied.

“Simple?” I asked, my voice incredulous. “We have been poring over these books for days, and weeks before that the last time we were here in Siraleth. We haven’t been able to find anything.”

“Do you know much of the magic of dream walking?” he asked, his tone indicating that he already knew the answer… and that it was no.

“No,” I confirmed sheepishly. “Only what we have been able to discern from these books.”

“Well, dream walking in a certain place is quite simple—” Before he could finish speaking, I interrupted him.

“The problem is I don’t know how to intentionally dream walk at all. Every time I have, it’s been my subconscious pulling me into The Stone City.”

Alastir shook his head, covering his eyes. “We will need to start at the beginning, then.”

“I hate to cut this short, but my time is better spent elsewhere. Training and making battle preparations,” Puck said, pushing back from the table. “Anyone care to join me?”

Saanvi and Kenna raised their hands, eager to get out of this history lesson.

“Nik?” Puck asked, his gaze turning towards him.

“I’d like to stay. I want to support Diana however I can.”

Puck nodded, exiting the library with Saanvi and Kenna to make their battle preparations. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was only going to clean and shine his Katana for the next hour to escape Alastir.

That left Zion, Annelise, Amiyah, Tess, Nik, Alastir and me to congregate around the library table. The sun had set, and I was thankful that Tess had already lit all the library lanterns to illuminate the space.

“Back to business. How do I dream walk intentionally?” I asked, leaning across the table towards Alastir.

“All you need is your magic, and an anchor. The anchor can be a person, or a place.”