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Daimon

Daimon’s shadows danced beneath the surface, ready to wrap them in a cocoon of safety and never let Evelina go.

As peaceful as it was to be safely tucked away into a dream realm, Daimon preferred to watch Evelina sleep. It was the only time the little crease in her forehead was smoothed out and relaxed. That much hadn’t changed, at least.

The only thing he had to offer her was a silly dream, a temporary fix for problems she would soon wake back up to face. It wasn’t much, but it was all he had.

He waited a moment before he joined her. He smiled to himself, thinking about how she was probably growing impatient with each passing moment. They used to spend hours in her dream world, their safe haven, where they could avoid their problems.

Then he had an idea.

Daimon grinned and closed his eyes as he let his Essence curl around his mind, letting sleep pull him into darkness. He awoke in her dream, already knowing what to expect. It was a world he’d crafted just for her—a spot on the moon.

By the time he finally arrived, he found her sitting among powdery dust and cracked craters. They were surrounded by a pitch-black sky and thousands upon thousands of stars.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” he asked, his eyes on her.

She whirled toward him, her forehead creasing in surprise. “You’re joining?” she asked hesitantly.

He scratched the back of his head and nodded, feeling heat rise to his cheeks. “I know it’s been a while since we’ve done this.”

She smiled softly. His heart squeezed as he was reminded of the ways he used to be able to make her smile.

“I’ve always wondered what it would be like to sit on the moon,” she mused aloud. “Do you think we could find a way to get here in the waking realm?”

Daimon walked over to her, sitting several paces away. He knew he was in dangerous territory already, letting his emotions get involved. But part of him hoped he could still, in some way, be a friend to her. She needed someone she could open up to. She stayed inside her mind far too often.

“Seems awfully lonely up here, don’t you think?” he asked.

She sighed and reclined, watching stars shooting across the sky. “What’s lonely about being alone?” The crease in her forehead returned. “Sometimes, I’ve never felt more alone than when I was surrounded by people.”

He smiled softly. “You love being a healer, though. I’ve heard stories of the Manor princess who healed others with so much respect, it seemed as if they were royalty and not her.”

She shrugged, dodging the compliment. “The soldiers are half-delirious when they come to me.”

Her wall was up, even in the dream realm. He ached to know the side of her she didn’t show people.

“I think it’s obvious you prefer to be alone,” he teased. “Do you remember when we were younger? You used to sneak off during parties and hide in the Mother Tree.”

Evelina let out a soft laugh. “And somehow, you would always find me. ”

I promised I would always find you, didn’t I? he thought to himself.

He looked down to where she was lying, her eyes now on him as he hovered over her. She didn’t say anything for a minute, so neither did he. He just stared at her, his thoughts jumbled and confused.

Her gaze quickly slid back to the sky, her eyes lining with tears. He racked his brain for what he could do to help her. The dream realm was supposed to be her escape—a way to relieve the mounting pressure so she could eventually sort through it.

An upside to being a Nocturna fae meant that Daimon could use his shadows in the dream realm to conjure memories, another rarity that he mostly kept to himself. Except for Evelina, that is. He always used to tell her things he didn’t tell others.

He lay down beside her and let his Essence build inside of him. When the memory he was looking for surfaced, he pulled it out and threw it above them. The memory stretched across the stars so they could watch it together.

While he could do this in his own dreams, it was strongest when both people from the memory were present. It allowed him to tug the view from each person and play it as if there were a third party watching.

Evelina let out a breath of air, a small gasp of excitement. “It’s been forever since I’ve watched a memory like this.”

“Now seems like a good time to watch one again,” he said softly. Having such strong shadows was both a blessing and a curse. Memories that would fade for most were vibrant as the day they happened for him. He could pluck a memory from when he was an infant and watch it play out—but with the good always came the bad. Selfishly, he hoped this could become a routine for them again. He wanted to find every excuse he could just to watch that little crease on her forehead disappear.

“Which one did you pick?” she asked, the sadness leaving her voice as the image of leaves and branches played out before them .

“Shh, just watch.”

He turned to catch her rolling her eyes, and something else too—a small hint of a smile tugging up her lips.