Page 44 of Cursed Dreams (Shadow and Dreams #1)

Vaelith stepped forward, firelight catching on his face, his skin glowing from within. His silver hair burned white as the hottest flame. His eyes were no longer just molten but searing, sun fire trapped behind shattered glass. Fear held her in its grips, her chest burning .

His voice came out ragged, stripped of every shield he usually wore.

“You don’t understand. You never did.” His chest rose and fell with the force of his breaths. “You want to save a prince who was never meant to be freed. A creature who was meant to be locked away.”

“You talk like you know,” she whispered. “Like you were there.”

“I was there,” he growled.

And then his voice broke, more honest than she’d ever heard it.

“I fought in that war. I burned for it. I bled for it.”

Thalia stared at him, the truth blooming in her chest like wildfire.

“You…” Her voice caught. “That’s not possible. That would make you—”

His smile was broken glass.

“I told you I helped build the lock.”

The shadows at his feet curled tighter. A low rumble echoed in the space between them. Not magic. Not magic at all. It was something older something primal. Thalia took a half step back.

“What are you?” she asked, the words dry and barely audible.

He met her eyes, and for the first time, there was no mask. No pretence. He looked broken and resigned.

“Dragon fae,” he said, with a voice that carried the weight of centuries.

Thalia staggered back like the word had knocked the wind from her lungs.

Her mind reeled, spinning, struggling to match the image of the man before her, Vaelith, sharp-tongued, moody, infuriating Vaelith, with the impossible truth unravelling in her chest. A dragon.

One of them. Not extinct. Not gone. Standing in front of her.

Watching her with the eyes of something ancient and furious—and achingly vulnerable.

Thalia stared at him; her breath caught somewhere between her lungs and her throat.

Her mind screamed denial, but her body already knew.

Had always known, deep down, that there was something ancient curled beneath his skin.

She had felt it the first time they met, the shadows, the heat, the way he moved.

The way he’d known what would save Aric.

A dragon fae.

A dragon.

“Are you scared?” Vaelith asked, voice cutting like obsidian. His smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Is that it? You’ve finally seen the monster, and now you’re going to run?”

She didn’t answer. She couldn’t answer. Her limbs were ice. Her heart thudded in panic. She took a step back. A flicker of something raw crossed his face before the bitterness returned like a shield.

“I warned you,” he snarled. “From the beginning. But you were too busy chasing dreams in the dark to see what was right in front of you.”

“Stay back,” she said hoarsely, her voice trembling. “Just—don’t come any closer.”

His eyes flickered. For the briefest moment, he looked like she’d struck him.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Thalia,” he said, quieter now. “I would never—”

“I don’t believe you,” she whispered.

Silence crashed between them.

Her throat ached. Her chest heaved.

“I don’t know what you want,” she said. “I don’t know who you really are. But I do know what you are, and you’re the enemy. You always were. And I was too stupid to see it.”

Vaelith’s face was utterly still. For a heartbeat. Then two. Then his jaw clenched, and the gold in his eyes flared like a dying sun.

“You want an enemy?” he asked, his voice hollow. “Fine. But don’t forget you chose this !”

He turned his back on her, and in the space of a breath, the shadows rose and swallowed him whole, leaving nothing behind but the echo of heat on the stone floor.

Thalia stood frozen in place, chest rising and falling in ragged breaths, her heart pounding like it was trying to escape.

The enemy. He was her enemy. She closed her eyes. But all she could see was his face.

Not angry. Not cruel. Just—hurt. And that somehow for some reason she couldn’t quite explain it made it worse.

Thalia ran. She wasn’t even sure when her legs had started moving, just that the shadows of the temple corridor stretched and twisted around her as she sprinted, heart hammering in her chest like a war drum. Her lungs burned. Her hands shook. And still, she ran.

Down the long corridor. Past the quiet sanctuaries and cold stone alcoves. Through the courtyard where the moonlight pooled like silver ink on marble tiles.

He’s a dragon.

The thought kept slicing through her like a blade.

Again and again. Every time she blinked, she saw his face, twisted in fury, radiant with power, older than time and etched in pain.

The way his eyes glowed like twin suns. The way the shadows obeyed him like they were alive.

Something in her chest felt like it cracking.

She turned the last corner and practically threw herself through the door of her dormitory, slamming it shut behind her, pressing her back to the wood as though it could keep all the truths from bursting in.

The room was dim and quiet except for the distant crackle of a torch from the corridor and the muffled sound of someone breathing in the next room.

Thalia’s legs finally gave out. She slid down to the floor, arms wrapped tightly around herself as though she could somehow keep everything from falling apart.

He’s a dragon fae.

The pieces wouldn’t stop shifting in her head, sliding into place in ways she didn’t want them to. His temper. His strength. His shadows. His impossible knowledge. His rage when she’d mentioned Caelum. His refusal to let the prince be freed.

He said he fought in the war.

Her stomach twisted.

The war. The one from the stories, where dragons had nearly destroyed the world. Where the high fae had sacrificed everything to stop them.

And he had been there. He had stood on that battlefield.

A dragon. A creature she’d grown up fearing.

Loathing. A villain in every tale. Yet he’d also been the one to check on her after Aric.

The one who stood by her when she’d broken.

The one who said she was more. The one who’d held her when she cried.

The one who’d kissed her like she was the last spark of light in the dark.

Her throat tightened. Had any of it been real?

Or was she just another piece in some ancient game she didn’t understand? A tremor rippled through her.

You want an enemy? Fine.

His words echoed in her ears, over and over again. She buried her face in her knees.

I don’t know who to trust anymore.

But even as the fear wrapped around her like a cloak, something stirred beneath it, a flicker of rage.

Of determination. Because he’d tried to scare her.

He’d tried to shut her down. But that didn’t erase what she’d seen.

What she knew. Caelum. The Temple of Kek.

The Forgotten Forest. She would not be frightened into silence.

Not by Vaelith. Not by the dragons. Not by anyone.

Her breath hitched, chest rising and falling in shallow gasps as she slumped back against the wood, fingers trembling so violently she thought they might never still.

Her skin felt cold, her limbs numb, but her mind burned, images flashing too fast to catch.

Caelum’s fading form. Molten gold eyes in the temple shadows.

Claws concealed in soft-spoken words. Vaelith’s words.

Lies. He had to be lying. He was a dragon.

She couldn’t believe anything else. She was bonded to Caelum.

She felt it. Whatever Vaelith claimed, it couldn’t be the truth.

She would find him. She would save him. The thought steadied her breath even as her chest burned with white-hot pain, the bond thrumming through her with renewed clarity.

Slowly, she forced her scattered thoughts into order, pulling herself back from the edge.

But something still nagged at her mind, just out of reach, a piece she couldn’t quite grasp.

As though she was missing something, something important.

She didn’t hear Nyla’s soft footfalls until her friend appeared in front of her, blinking sleep from her eyes.

“Thalia?” Nyla’s voice was quiet, groggy, concerned. “Are you okay?”

That was all it took. Thalia burst into tears.

“Gods,” Nyla gasped, hurrying to her. “Thalia, what happened? Are you hurt? Did someone?”

“I need your help,” Thalia choked out, clutching Nyla’s arms. “Please. And I need you to believe me.”

Nyla’s face instantly shifted, serious, sharp, but calm. “Of course I believe you. Just tell me.”

Finally, she did. She told her everything.

Not neatly, not calmly, but in shaking, breathless pieces.

The strange dreams. The pull toward Caelum.

Their meetings. The soul bond. The truth about the High Fae, erased from history.

The temple of Kek. The Forgotten Forest. The dragons.

Finally, she told her about Vaelith. When she finished, she stared at Nyla waiting for her rebuke, but instead her friend looked shocked, she stood pacing the floor .

“Vaelith?” Nyla asked.

Thalia nodded, her eyes wide and wild. “He found me. Tonight. He, he knew. He knew about Caelum. About everything.”

She swallowed, throat burning.

“He was there, Nyla. At the end of the war. He fought in it.”

Nyla’s eyes widened in disbelief. “The war? The one against—”

“The war.” Thalia’s voice cracked. “He told me what he is.”

She looked down, almost unable to say it.

“Vaelith is dragon fae.”

Nyla’s face paled.

“No,” she breathed. “No, that’s not possible. That’s a myth. A story.”

“I saw him,” Thalia whispered. “I felt it. His magic. His fury. The way he said Caelum’s name like it was poison on his tongue. The look in his eyes, Nyla, he’s not like us. He’s not like anyone.”

A long silence stretched between them.

Nyla slowly sat down, like her legs couldn’t quite hold her anymore. “That’s… that’s terrifying.”

“I know.” Thalia moved beside her. “I know.”

“But, Vaelith? He’s been at the temple for years. He’s practically revered by the priestesses. He led troops during the border conflicts. He saved people, Thal.”

Thalia’s voice dropped to a whisper. “He’s been hiding in plain sight.”

Nyla pressed a hand to her mouth, visibly shaken. “And you think, he’s keeping , The Fae Prince, Caelum trapped in the dream realm? You said he called it a prison?”

Thalia nodded. “He told me he wouldn’t let him out. He said I was being played. That Caelum isn’t what he seems. But I know Caelum, Nyla. He’s kind. Gentle. He guided me when no one else could. I think he saved Aric, he helped me, he found a way to heal him.”

She hesitated. “And the way Vaelith reacted tonight… it was like a mask broke. Like I finally saw what he really is.”

“Gods,” Nyla murmured. “This is—this is huge Thal, what are you going to do ?”

“I don’t know what to do.” Thalia’s voice cracked. “I think Caelum’s realm was destroyed. I think the dragons burned the Temple of Kek and buried every trace of the truth. And now he’s trapped, and Vaelith’s watching me like a hawk, and I’m terrified. Terrified, Nyla.”

Her voice broke completely on the last word. Nyla didn’t hesitate. She grabbed Thalia’s hand and squeezed.

“Okay,” she said. “Then we figure it out. You’re not doing this alone.”

Thalia stared at her.

“Even if it means facing down dragons?” she asked weakly.

Nyla let out a shaky laugh. “I mean… I’ll probably scream the whole time. But yeah. Even then.”

Thalia let her head fall onto Nyla’s shoulder, tears welling again, but softer this time. She finally had someone who believed her. Someone who would fight beside her. And she knew, without doubt, that she would need it.