Page 16 of Black Hearted (Cursed Fae #4)

Lorelei

I’d been pacing in the darkness of my dream void all night, searching for a door to anywhere. Were Mother and Father not sleeping? I’d tried to reach them time and time again, to no avail. Even my eldest sister wasn’t available.

It hit me then—maybe I couldn’t reach anyone because I wasn’t sleeping during normal hours.

I was imprisoned and now blinded, although thankfully, that didn’t extend to my dream state.

But I had no idea what time of day or night it was.

If I wasn’t sleeping when anyone else was, I’d never be able to reach them.

Panic began to swell in my gut just as one of the dream doors I was monitoring popped up in front of me. Without hesitation, I rushed through it, not even knowing who it belonged to, and was relieved to see Zane.

He was in a saloon, holding a hot bowl of soup and looking out at a band playing. As I sat down at the table next to him, he turned and looked over.

“Lorelei?”

I quickly reminded him that I was a dream walker and that this was real. He shook his head slightly, as if to clear it, then nodded.

“Right. I don’t know that I’m ever going to get used to this, but I’m glad you have this magic.” Turning in his seat, he faced me fully, sincerity filling his eyes. “I’m on my way to the Spring Palace. I sent a message ahead to your parents so they know I’m coming. I’m going to find you.”

“Did you tell them who you are?” I asked, a knot forming in my gut. The last thing I needed was for Zane to show up at the Spring Palace and for my mother to kill him on sight.

“Not exactly,” he said. “I told them I was a friend, but I didn’t tell them I was an Ethereum lord.”

I chewed on my lip but nodded. I didn’t know if that was the right decision or not, but now I really needed to reach my parents. I had to explain about Zane before he showed up at their door. Still, I could deal with that later. Right now, I needed to get some information to him before he woke.

Without thinking, I reached out and grasped his hand. “I tried to escape yesterday. I was captured again, but I got a look at where I am. They’re holding me somewhere east of the Turtle Mountains. My mother will know the general direction. Make sure you tell her.”

He nodded. “I will. I promise. I won’t stop until I find you.”

He squeezed my fingers to emphasize his point, and I blushed, realizing I was still clutching his hand tightly.

Embarrassed, I pulled my hand free and reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear.

He was very sweet, but I reminded myself that Zane was still very much a stranger. I shouldn’t have been so forward.

“I’m … not sure how much time I have left,” I said, forcing myself to look into his blue-and-brown speckled eyes. “I made Queen Liliana mad, and she …” I hesitated, chewing my bottom lip, unsure if I should tell Zane about my blindness.

I looked down, but Zane placed two fingers under my chin and gently tipped my face up.

“She did what?” he asked.

I opened my mouth to answer him honestly when the saloon around us began to dissolve.

No. I’d only just gotten here. But I needed to leave before he woke.

“Just hurry,” I said, bolting from the chair and running for the door.

“Lorelei!” he cried out.

I ran through his dream door, but his growled words followed me before it shut behind me.

“If Queen Liliana hurt a hair on your head, I’ll kill her.”

Relief and joy swept through me at his words. I was counting on that. Because if I’d come to realize anything during these days of captivity, it was that Queen Liliana had to be stopped. And I didn’t think I had the strength to do it myself.

I waited in the darkness for what felt like forever, praying that my mother’s or father’s door would appear. Just as I was about to give up hope, my mother’s door materialized. I bounded through it without hesitation.

My mother was well versed in my dream walking, so the moment I burst into her dream, she grasped me and pulled me into her arms. We were in her bedroom, at the makeup vanity, where she got ready every morning.

“Lorelei, I’ve been worried sick.” She held me tightly. “Daisey said you visited her and that you’ve been taken by Queen Liliana. She told us she was taking you for training. I’m so sorry we believed her lies. We’ve been looking all over for you, but we don’t know where you are.”

I pulled away, and I saw her face was wet with tears. Her grief and sorrow made my heart ache.

“It’s not your fault,” I said. “She deceived us all.”

Her face started to fade in and out, and I realized I was on the verge of wakefulness. But through sheer willpower alone, I forced myself to remain in the dream. There were things I had to tell her—my life and Zane’s life depended on it. I knew I had only moments left, if that.

“I don’t have much time,” I said quickly. “Queen Liliana is draining my magic so she can go through the mirror portal herself—”

“What?”

“Mother, listen. A man named Zane is coming to you. I know he sent you a message, but you need to know that he’s an Ethereum lord.”

Her mouth fell open. “An Ethereum lord? But … they’re evil.”

I shook my head, desperate for her to believe me. “He’s not. I promise. You have to believe me. Zane is on our side. You need to trust him, and you can’t hurt him.”

The thought of something happening to Zane caused a stab of pain in my chest, but I pushed forward. If I didn’t leave before I fully woke, I might be lost in my dream void for days.

“Zane will help you find me, and together, he and I will destroy the curse.”

I felt myself waking. The pull was stronger now.

“Check my nightstand drawer for a letter from Dawn,” I said urgently. “It’s all been a lie. Don’t hurt him, Mother. I …”

I love him didn’t feel right. I barely knew him.

“He’s good.”

A tug at my navel told me I was out of time. I pulled myself from her grasp and ran for the door just as my feet began to disappear. A moment later, I was yanked from sleep.

I heard the sound of scraping metal and sat up screaming. My heart pounded frantically against my chest as I blinked rapidly, to no avail.

I was blind.

I clawed at my eyes, desperately trying to summon my magic to heal the loss of vision, but nothing happened. I was drained, and this place was barren—there was no life force for me to pull from.

I started to hyperventilate. It was terrible knowing that Queen Liliana was capable of causing so much injury and that, right now, I was helpless from stopping her from doing anything to others and myself.

But I reminded myself this was only temporary.

As a royal, I would naturally heal. It might take days, but my sight would return.

Even a short time without vision was terrifying, but I had to try to keep calm.

“I told you not to disobey me,” Queen Liliana said from somewhere in front of me.

“You’re insane,” I spat, kicking out but connecting with nothing. “I wonder how Dawn would feel if she knew just how deranged you’ve become.”

There was a whooshing of air, and then her hand gripped the back of my hair firmly. I whimpered as she forced me into a standing position.

Her hot breath spread over my neck as she said, “One of my spies sent me a raven. Your little Ethereum lord is here in Faerie, seemingly making his way to the Spring Palace, and then I’m sure he’s going to come look for you. I do hope he arrives swiftly, so I can carve his heart from his chest.”

Zane. Panic spiked through me at her threat.

“This is perfect,” Queen Liliana went on, “because by now, the curse will have taken effect on his magic.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused. What would Zane’s magic have to do with the curse?

Queen Liliana chuckled, a dark sound that sent shivers down my spine.

“I’ve been learning all sorts of new things about the curse,” she said, her voice dripping with malice. “Not just how to use your dagger to get to Ethereum, but I also uncovered an interesting tidbit of information buried in an old scroll.”

She paused, as if savoring the moment before delivering her next words.

“If an Ethereum lord were ever to venture to Faerie, the curse would begin to pull on the magic of his black beating heart, weakening him. By the time Zane arrives, he may be completely depleted of his magic, making him all the easier to target.”

I gasped. If he were to face off against Queen Liliana, Zane was going to need his magic. Fear for Zane squeezed my heart painfully.

“If you hurt him,” I warned, but I knew the threat was baseless—and so did she.

“You’ll do nothing,” she sneered. “And if Zane doesn’t make his way here, I’ll just go to Ethereum and cut out the heart of a different Ethereum lord. I’m not picky.”

I growled, bucking and kicking against her until her fingers wrapped around my throat, cutting off my airway. I went limp, submitting to her grip.

“If I were you, I would think long and hard about the decisions that got you to this point,” she spat.

“You don’t have to do this,” I choked out, struggling to speak with her hand still wrapped around my throat.

But my words seemed to fall on deaf ears as she threw me to the ground, and I landed hard, my head slamming painfully against the unforgiving stones. I lay there stunned as she left the cell, the sound of the lock engaging echoing in the silence. Her footsteps retreated down the corridor.

Zane.

I needed to talk to him, to tell him that not only his life was in danger but possibly his brothers’ as well.

The only problem was, sleep wasn’t something you could force, and at that moment, I was wide awake.