Dream King by Elise Knight

15

Asteady silence descended between us, leaving me unsure of what to do or say next.

My body hurt in places I didn’t even know I had body parts, but my leg that had been mauled by the wolveries was what pained me the most. Every movement I made, even small ones, sent shooting pains up from my calf, through my thigh, and then radiated out everywhere.

I shifted again on the sand and tried to make eye contact with Dream. He was whittling something with his knife. The knife I’d used to kill those creatures.

“So you are a king?” I said, finally growing bored of the silence. I needed something to take my mind off my own body that was threatening to consume me with pain.

He reached up and touched his crown in answer, then went back to whittling.

“Who are your subjects if the wolveries aren’t?”

“Why must you continue to make conversation? It is like you are incapable of keeping that mouth of yours shut for a second.”

I shot him a stare and huffed.

“Maybe if everything didn’t hurt so much, I wouldn’t have to make conversation. Maybe if you would tell me anything about what is going on, I wouldn’t have to ask so many questions.”

He placed the figure he was carving down next to him, and I saw for the first time it was Raven. He was doing a good job with it. I noticed that the real Raven was sitting in the tree above him.

“Having answers will not keep you safe; therefore, you don’t need them.”

Right.“So what will keep me safe then?”

He held his hands out as though it was obvious. “Are you not still alive?”

God, he was so infuriating and completely up himself.

“Let me get one thing straight. I’m alive because I killed two monsters. Not you. You are also alive for the same reason, so you don’t get to tell me that I’m here and safe because of you. If it wasn’t for you, I’d be home watching TV, not bleeding half to death on a black sand beach with you and your bird.”

“The wolveries would not have killed me. You saved yourself.”

I snorted. “Right, because it didn’t look like that when one of them was sitting right on top of you trying to eat you.”

He shook his head as though I was talking garbage. Then he ran the knife down the flesh on his forearm.

My mouth fell open as blood began to pour from the wound, dripping onto the sand just as mine had earlier. Unlike mine, it soon stopped. The line of flesh knitted back together until all that was left was a smear of blood that was already beginning to dry.

“Satisfied now?”

“No,” I grumbled. “Not in the slightest. So you have healing magic. Bully for you. It only makes what I did all the more amazing because I jumped onto that wolvery’s back, knowing full well I might die. I’d say that my bravery far outshined yours!”

He licked his lips slightly. “I didn’t believe this was a talk about bravery. I never said that you weren’t brave. Indeed, what you did impressed me immensely. I thought we were talking about you still being alive and breathing. You are; therefore, you need not ask any more questions.”

I scrunched my fist. “Your logic is bullshit. I’m tired, I’m hungry, I stink, and my leg feels like it has been ripped from my body, which it practically has. If you don’t want to tell me about your petty little secrets, then don’t, but don’t give me any more bullcrap about me not needing to know. This isn’t about me. It’s you and your pathetic attempt to come across as all mysterious, when in fact, you are just a loner. The crown is probably made of plastic.”

It wasn’t. I could see it was gold, but I was pissed off and not going to give him the satisfaction of admitting it. Anger tugged at his lips. He threw the knife down where it landed blade down in the sand, then stood up and crossed the short distance between us. His face was dark as thunder. As he bent down to pick me up, I thought that I’d finally pushed him too far, and he was going to end the job the wolveries started.

He grabbed at my bra and tore it off. Literally ripped it from my body. Cheap, shitty material. Next came my knickers, gone, just like the bra, until I was completely naked save for my shirt tied around my leg.

“Oh, no, you don’t, you fucker!” I screamed as he picked me up and hauled me over his shoulder. This time, there were no wolveries chasing us. It was just the two of us on the beach save for Raven.

I rained blows down on his back, punching him as hard as I could. I’d have kicked him if my leg didn’t hurt too much to bend. The pain shooting through me was unbearable, and yet, it was better than what this monster had in store for me. It was keeping me alive, awake. And if he laid one hand on me, I was going to fight him so hard that he’d wish death would come to him when he got injuries.

I didn’t see which direction he was taking me until I felt the cool chill of water on my toes. He splashed into the water until he was up to his waist, then he gently pulled me from his shoulder and lowered me down, tearing the threats right from my throat.

The water was unlike anything I’d ever felt before. An inch below the surface, I couldn’t see my own body, only the glittering water around it that moved with my movements. But the feel of it soothed me in a way that normal water would never be able to do.

Now that I’d stopped thrashing, I let him lower me in until I was up to my neck, floating just below the surface. He was still standing on the sandy lake floor, so I could only see above his waist.

I closed my eyes and laid back, letting myself float on the surface. If heaven were a thing, this would be close. The pain, though still there, was almost sucked out of my body so that it was barely an ache. The parts of me that hadn’t hurt before, now tingled pleasantly.

“You were right.” Dream grumbled, breaking me from my moment of pure heaven as he carefully undid the blood-soaked shirt from my leg. “You did stink. Plus, you were probably going to get an infection in that leg. The water will help you keep infection at bay.”

I splashed around a little while I decided what to say next. Sorry seemed like the most opportune word, but it didn’t seem enough. What I’d thought he was going to do to me was a far cry from the path he’d actually chosen. He was helping me. Ok, he was doing it for his own benefit. He was probably sick of sitting so close to someone who hadn’t bathed in forever, and he was definitely sick of listening to me; he’d made that clear. But he hadn’t been about to rape me nor injure me further, and those were the two things that had sprung to mind when he’d ripped my clothes off and carted me over his shoulder.

I peeked at him through my eyelashes. He stood in the water up to his waist, looking for all intents and purposes like a naked Greek god, but he wasn’t enjoying it the same way I was. His eyes were narrowed, scanning the shoreline, the same expression of seriousness he always wore on his face.

“I’m sorry I hit you,” I finally said, deciding to be the bigger person. “I thought...”

“I know what you thought. That’s why I didn’t throw you in here and drown you. It crossed my mind, believe me.”

Lovely!

I’m so glad I decided to be the bigger person!

I turned on my stomach and started to swim. My leg still pained me as I took deep strokes through the water, but it was a hell of a lot better than it had been. A rush of excitement hit me as I cut through the water. Swimming in the ocean in the summer was one of my few joys. Partially because it was free and I couldn’t afford to do much else, but partially because of the freedom it gave me. Even back in Vancouver, when I wasn’t being held captive by some supernatural asshole, I still liked how free I felt when I swam through the water. As though I could keep swimming forever. I swam toward the center of the lake, away from the shore. Every so often, I checked over my shoulder to see if he was following me, but his gaze was turned from me toward the tree line. Maybe this was my chance. I was a strong swimmer. Sure the lake went on for miles, but there was every chance I could turn left or right and swim to another shore.

He’d never find me. But more wolveries might. Not to mention the other nightwalkers that were apparently worse than armored wolf killing machines.

Plus, there was the small matter of my nakedness. It didn’t matter when I was in the water. The blackness of it swallowed me whole, but I’d have to get out sooner or later, whether I tried to escape or not.

Which meant that going back to him would mean he’d see me naked. Really see me. I didn’t think he was paying much attention to me when he’d ripped my bra off, despite my first thoughts on it. He’d been too intent on getting me in the lake. I should probably be offended at that thought, now that I came to think about it.

I had no other clothes. I’d been wearing the same outfit for weeks, doing my best to wash it in the stream when I could. No wonder he threw me in the lake. If he hadn’t done it, my clothes might have got up themselves and voluntarily thrown themselves in.

Not that any of that helped me. My grotty bra was now in pieces, my knickers ripped in two, and goodness only knew what had happened to my pants. They’d disappeared at some point between the wolvery ripping them to shreds and me waking up on the beach.

I swam in a small circle, debating which would be the worst death. Eaten by a supernatural monster in the woods or the complete mortification of walking back to the doors completely naked with Dream by my side. It was a difficult decision. One only decided by the fact that if I did die in the woods, my mother would surely die too.

I turned back toward Dream with the intention of swimming back to him and hoping he was good at walking with his eyes closed when I saw that he was no longer there. Panic filled me as I traced my eyes along the coast. The magical fire was now gone, but the pile of my discarded clothes was still just about visible on the sand. Where was he?

I swam quickly, taking broad strokes back to where I’d last seen him. The water was smooth, as was the sand below it. If he’d drowned, he’d have had to be extremely unlucky or extremely stupid. The water wasn’t even up to my breasts, and he was much taller than me. I stood in the spot, spinning in circles, feeling below the water line, frantically trying to feel for him. Now that I was closer to the shore, it was clear he wasn’t there. I’d only taken my eyes off him for a minute, surely not enough time for him to wade back to the beach and run into the woods, even at his speed. And why would he? He wouldn’t. No reason to bring me here to heal me, then leave me here. What was the point? If he wanted me dead, he could have left me with the bodies of the wolveries.

So the logical conclusion was that he was under the water somewhere, and if he was, unless he had some water magic or was half merman (because why the fuck would that not be a thing), he would be drowning. I took a deep breath and ducked under the water. In the pitch black of the water, I couldn’t see anything, so I was swimming blind. I dove to the sandy bottom and then back up again in wider and wider circles, coming up occasionally to take another breath. With each dive, my pulse increased as the panic at not finding him amplified. A human couldn’t stay underwater for more than a couple of minutes. Even a professional diver couldn’t go more than five minutes or so. Dream had to have been under the water longer than that.

I hated that he had me so worried. Ten minutes ago, I’d been thinking of running—or swimming away from him, and now, here I was filled with anxiety about him dying. Could he survive? He survived the wolvery attack without a mark on him, but being underwater for so long was a different beast altogether. Why did I even care? He had made it abundantly obvious that he didn’t care about me. I tried telling myself that it was because he was my ticket home. I didn’t know my way back to the doors. And whatever I’d thought earlier, I was safer going through the forest with him by my side.

I thrashed about until my own oxygen ran out, at which point I ascended to the surface with the knowledge I’d not found him.

He stood watching me at the shoreline.

Not in the water at all. Not drowned. Not dead. I let out a long breath as relief flooded me, though, in my addled mind, I had no idea why.

“You complete and utter fucking asshole!” I croaked out as I took another shaky breath and started walking back to him.

“What?” he asked innocently.

“How long have you been standing there watching me thrashing around in the water? I thought you’d drowned!”

He cocked his head to one side. “Why would I have drowned? It was three feet of water at most.”

I gritted my teeth. “Because you weren’t there! What did you think I was doing swimming in circles?”

“How should I know why you do anything? All your human exploits have so far confounded me. Why should this be any different?”

I rolled my eyes and waded back to the shore, covering myself as best I could with my hands. The water was brilliant at hiding anything below the surface, but it dripped clear once I was out of it, not leaving any black residue at all. Not so great for covering oneself.

I was almost upon him when he handed me something.

“Where did you get a towel?” I asked suspiciously as I took the fabric from his hand and wrapped it around me.

I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. A towel was excellent. I was in no mood for him to be ogling my lady goods, but it was hardly as though there was a towel and soft fabric store anywhere nearby.

“Does it matter?” he snapped. “I’ve gotten you some clothing too. It would be nice for you to thank me once in a while rather than question everything I do. It’s becoming quite irksome.”

I gritted my teeth again, swallowing a clap back. Why did he have to be so infuriating?

The pile of clothes sat neatly near to where we’d been sitting half an hour before. I plonked myself down next to them and began to towel myself dry.

Dream came close and began to pull the towel away from my legs. This time I didn’t jump to any conclusions, just let him do what he was doing. He took my foot in his hand and turned my leg slightly.

“It’s looking a lot better,” he announced, running a finger down my leg near where the flesh was still sore.

My body shivered at his touch. He was so gentle with me in every way but in his words. I let him gently pat the bloody mess with the towel. The water had healed some of it, but it wasn’t a miracle cure. I was still in pain. Still bleeding. He picked up something then began to unravel it. Gauze.

“This will help stem the bleeding,” he said, carefully wrapping it around my calf. “The lake water should stave off any infection.”

I nodded slowly as he missed my knee, allowing it to bend, then carried on wrapping up my thigh. Winding the gauze around. The pain was manageable now, but the way his fingers grazed over my thigh with every wind had me holding my breath. The towel was parted almost right up to the top of my thigh. If he went any further, everything would be on show. My body reacted to his touch in the most embarrassing way. I was turned on. It had been a long time since anyone had touched me between my thighs and certainly not in such a way. I let out a breath when he stopped and tied the gauze off.

“You should get dressed,” he said, pointing to the pile of clothes.

Disappointment flooded me when he turned around and picked up the wooden raven he’d been whittling half an hour ago.

I’d felt something when he’d touched me. He obviously hadn’t. I was such an idiot. The guy hated me. I hated him. Why did my body not know that? I’d have to keep myself in check from now on. I turned and picked up the clothes. They were like nothing I’d ever worn before. For a start, there was no bra. Just a long dress similar to the one I’d seen Aethelu in, only much less pretty, and a pair of long underwear I could only describe as bloomers. I’d be winning no fashion awards, that was for sure.

The dress was a dull beige color, but it fit perfectly, and at least it covered me. Not once did Dream look my way as I put it all on.

“What now?” I finally asked once I was dressed. I was fed up and grumpy. “We go back to the doors?” I didn’t want to. The doors were in the forest, which was in perpetual darkness. This place was dark too, but at least here, I could see the stars, the glittering lake, the white snow on the distant mountains.

He mused on it for a couple of seconds. “I don’t think your leg is up to it yet, and I don’t want to carry you. We’ll spend the night here and see how you are feeling tomorrow.”

I was surprised. In all the time I’d known him, he’d barely left those doors. He worked all the time, barely stopping to rest. He had no meal breaks, no pee breaks. He worked tirelessly, and here he was announcing that we could stay away another day.

“Are people able to dream without you?” I asked. “I mean, doesn’t the whole world collapse if you don’t go through the doors?”

“I will go back to the doors while you sleep.”

“What?” I sat up in a panic. “What if the nightwalkers come back?”

He glanced up to the tree above my head. I followed his gaze.

“Raven? You expect Raven to save me if they come back?”

He shrugged his shoulders as though my fear wasn’t his problem. “You pointed out earlier that it was you that killed the last two. I have every faith that you can do it again if need be.”

I gritted my teeth. “Are you fucking serious?”

“You don’t need to worry. There won’t be more wolveries tonight. Are you hungry?” he asked, changing the subject.

I wanted to ask him how he knew that the wolveries wouldn’t be back, but what was the point? I wouldn’t get a straight answer. I was hungry, though. I really was. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten. Easily twenty-four hours ago. In all the pain with the leg and the stress of the wolveries, I’d not thought about food until he’d brought it up.

“I’m starving,” I admitted.

He nodded and got to his feet. “Do not move. I will be back shortly with dinner.”

He took off in the woods, and once again, the darkness swallowed him whole. At least I had Raven for comfort.

“Is he always like this?” I asked. Raven hopped down from the trees and landed close to me on the beach. He didn’t caw, but he let me stroke him for the first time. I took that to mean that yes, his boss or companion or whatever he was, was always an insufferable ass and also that he had forgiven me for throwing a stone at him. It felt like the two of us might become friends, after all.

I lay down on the sand, my bad leg out straight, and gazed up at the stars. Right above me, a shooting star flashed across the sky then puttered out.

I closed my eyes and made a wish. Superstition and wishes had never been my thing, not even when I was a kid. I was the only kid I knew not to make a wish when blowing out birthday candles or throwing money into a wishing well. I figured someone would be down there stealing all the money. I was a cynical little git as a child, a trait that had never quite left me. And yet, wishing on a star seemed more appropriate right here. I’d seen real magic, so why not wishes? I started small, wishing for a plate of chili cheese fries. You had to start somewhere, right? And fries covered in gravy and cheese curds was only about as insane as anything else in this place.

I laughed when he came back with a dead animal that looked like a cross between a squirrel and a monkey, with a long furry tail and big rounded ears.

Dream pulled his knife from his boot and began to skin the animal.

“What is so amusing?” he asked, catching my grin.

“I was expecting something a little different.” I shrugged. “A four-course Sunday dinner, perhaps. A plate of cheese on toast. A can of cold spaghetti sauce. Some berries and leaves?”

“I can’t get to the doors without walking a couple of hours; therefore, I can’t bring you the food you expect. Human food. This will taste good enough.” He fashioned a spit out of some branches and put the skinned animal on the fire.

The meal was meager but delicious. I groaned in pleasure as the warm fat dribbled down my chin. I mopped it up with the towel.

“You should sleep now,” he insisted after we’d eaten. It was the first time I’d seen him eat anything at all. “Sleep is the best healer of all.”

I hated to admit just how tired I was. The pain in my leg had dulled to a low ache, but it had taken it out of me, as had the swim and then the food. I closed my eyes and lay down on the soft sand before drifting off into a peaceful sleep.

Sometime later, a noise woke me. My heart began to hammer as the thought of wolveries or other nightstalkers filled my mind, but it wasn’t a nightstalker at all. Dream was in the lake. The moon bounced off the glistening water, showing all the ripples of glitter where Dream swam. In a pile near me were his trousers and armor. On top of it all was his crown. It was the first time I’d ever seen him without it.

He was skinny dipping, just as I had earlier. Although his was voluntary, not forced upon him. Without moving, I watched him swim. How I could ever have thought he had drowned seemed silly now, as I watched how masterfully he cut through the water. He almost seemed to be enjoying himself. Another first. It occurred to me that I didn’t know him at all. He kept so much of himself private, hidden, and yet he was someone who lived when the mood took him. I had a feeling that he’d have not been enjoying himself so much if he’d known I was watching. I kept my breathing quiet, not able to take my eyes off him. This wasn’t the cold-hearted bastard I’d come to know and detest; this was a person who had to go through life alone. Whether it bothered him was a question I bet he’d never even asked himself. He just did his job because he had to. I wondered why that was.

My eyes never left him as he walked out of the water, and I couldn’t help but suck in a breath as his whole body was revealed to me. I felt like a peeping tom, watching him, but he was so beautiful; it was hard to ignore the cut of his muscles, the way the moonlight bounced of the glittery water that clung to his body. And his cock. Oh my god!

I should have closed my eyes. I shouldn’t be looking at him...no, perving at him, but I couldn’t help it. I licked my lips before I realized what I was doing and brought my tongue back in my mouth where it should be. Sleeping girls don’t lick their lips, and it would only take a brief glance my way for him to see he was being watched.

I pressed my lips together for fear I’d do something else involuntarily, like drool or wolf whistle. Ok, I wasn’t going to do either of those things...probably, but just like before, my body was responding to the vision before me. My lips weren’t the only things clamped together. I had my legs squashed together too. In fact, I didn’t dare move a muscle. Any movement would give me away, and I wasn’t ready to break this spell. He brought the towel I’d discarded earlier to his chest and began to towel himself down. I murmured quietly as he brushed it across his chest, then brought it lower.

Was it wrong to be jealous of a towel?

Bloody hell. I didn’t even like the guy, so why was I watching him?

Because he has the body of a Greek god, the face of a sexy angel, and the cock of a horse. Cough

Fuck!

His eyes darted my way, and yet another part of me was then clamped together, This time my eyelids. I pulled in a breath then let it out slowly as though I was heavily asleep. All was quiet, and I wondered if he’d caught me watching him. I opened my eyes a sliver again to find him toweling off his feet with the bottom of the towel. His midriff, completely covered. There was a laviscious grin and a look of pure mischief on his face as he toweled between his toes. This time, I closed my eyes and really did try to get some sleep.