Lyric
Every night for the past month since Harmony left, I have had the same dream. I’m standing inside the castle; only it’s not the Knight Castle I know. This castle is dull and lifeless, cold and dank. Everything is covered in dust and cobwebs, as though the place had been abandoned long ago.
I walk the castle halls like a ghost, calling Thane’s name, though he never answers. It’s always cold here, but I don’t feel it, even though my feet are bare. I wear the same long, flowing white dress that hits my feet every night. The long sleeves touch the backs of my hands. My long hair is tied half up and half down, with curls hitting the base of my spine.
I don’t know what the dream is trying to tell me, but I hear someone whispering my name every night. I follow the sound, but it leads me nowhere other than back to where I started. It’s like I’m in a maze, and there’s no way out.
The screams in the distance put me on edge the most. There’s something so familiar about it, but I can never put my finger on why.
I always wake up confused, even more so when Thane asks me what happened to make me wake up gasping for air. I’m confused because I open my mouth to explain everything, yet nothing will come out at all. Like literally nothing! It’s as though there’s a block in my throat, or a padlock with a lost key, never to be found.
Why couldn’t I tell my mate about my dream?
But I couldn’t, so I’d shake my head and tell him it was nothing. Thane had no reason to doubt me, even if he did the first night. I took his mind off things with hot, steamy sex. Thane stopped pushing for answers after that night. Thankfully, because I couldn’t give him any if I wanted to, and I did want to.
My days are filled with making plans for when Astro finally shows his face, hiding my pregnancy, and spending time with my new family. I’ve spoken to Harmony a couple of times. Little Adam is beautiful, and Esme looks happy. I can tell, though, that Harmony isn’t doing too well. She’s missing Theo like crazy, and we’ve never been apart like this before. I have to reassure her every time that we’ll be together again soon. Each time we end our calls, I end up in tears. I blame hormones, but it’s more than that. Today, I went to bed early, feeling much more tired than I ever have before. It didn’t take me long to fall asleep and less time to end up in this same dream.
Why the hell does this keep happening?
I’m sick of walking through the same halls and getting nowhere. I open the doors but find nothing inside. Then there’s that voice again that calls me. ‘Lyric. Though it comes as a whisper to my ears, I finally know the direction from which it’s coming. I turn and follow the sound, walking through the dull and eerie halls for what feels like hours. The voice gets louder the closer I get to the dream version of Starr’s bedroom.
“Lyric,” I hear someone sing-song from behind the door.
Curious.
Why would my dream lead me to Starr’s room? Oh, well.
I open the door and step inside. My eyes land on Starr, asleep on her bed. Though she’s laid out like a dead body prepared for burial rather than someone asleep. She’s dressed exactly as I am, barefoot and wearing the same hairstyle. What the hell?
Why am I dreaming this?
“Because it’s not really a dream.”
I gasp, spin on the spot, and come face to face with the monster who has haunted me my whole life. “Astro.”
He smirks, and my heart hammers in my chest. I don’t know why I’m seeing him, perhaps because killing him is always on my mind. But even in my dream, seeing him has shaken me. It’s alright saying you’re not scared of the man who seeks to take you as his bride. But only a fool wouldn’t be shaken by finally coming face to face with him.
This bas.tard took my parents and my aunt from me. If Emori hadn’t blessed Harmony, Astro would have taken her from me too. But Harmony is safe in the Vampire Kingdom; I don’t have to worry. Even if she was here, this is just a dream, and I need to keep reminding myself of that.
“You look confused, niece.”
“No,” I cross my arms over my chest and sigh. “Just didn’t expect to see you in my dream.”
Astro smirks while flicking the bottom of his white robe behind him. “You think this is a dream? That’s sweet. This isn’t a dream. Well,” He huffs. “Not quite. This is your subconscious, Lyric, and I brought you here in your sleep because it was the easiest way to get to you.”
“What?” What the hell?
How is that even possible?!
I’m asleep!
“You are asleep.” Bas.tard read my mind! “Your mortal body is resting back in the living realm. But you will not wake up this time. For you see, the moment you walked into this room, your soul became mine.”
“I will never be yours!”
Astro laughs while raising his eyebrow.
Anger fills me, and I grit my teeth. Nothing about this is funny! I can’t speak to Aspen, she’s not with me here, nor can I contact Thane. I’m all alone here with no way out! “Here’s the thing, Lyric. Your soul belongs to me until I decide to free it, and I will when I get what I want. But that is not you any longer.”
I furrow my brow.
If he doesn’t want me, then why the hell am I here?
“I can answer that,” I growl because I hate that he’s reading my mind. “But I’ll get to that in a moment. First off, you and your fuc.ked up Lycans killed my daughter.”
“I doubt that; I don’t even know who your daughter is.” Taylen isn’t dead, their bond isn’t broken, and I won’t play this stupid game.
“You’ve already forgotten Emori?”
Emori?
She’s his sister; why would he refer to her as his daughter?
This man is even more mental than even I realized.
“She’d be very sad to hear that if she were alive.”
“Emori was your sister, not your daughter, you freak!”
Sicko chuckles. “I guess you could say she’s both.” He shrugs, and my stomach turns over. “Let me tell you a little story of a Fairy Queen and her son.”
“No,” I shake my head. “I don’t want to hear this!”
“There was once a beautiful Fairy Queen,” I open my mouth to protest, but I can’t speak. This monster took my voice! “She gave the King three children, a boy, and two girls. They were the pride of the Kingdom. The girls were the apple of the King’s eye, and he spent all his free time with them, neglecting his Queen. She sought solace in her son’s arms, and they became lovers.”
And I wish I was deaf! Astro is possibly the sickest bas.tard I have ever met! I’ll never be able to get this sh.it out of my head, nor the smug look of pride on his face.
“For eighty years, they lived in bliss. Laying in each other’s arms after hours of lovemaking. The lovers entwined whenever the King was away, becoming one in all things. Until one day, the Queen confessed she was with child. She and her son had created life, binding them together forever.”
I’m going to be sick!
“I cast a spell so the King would believe the child was his. But how could it be when they hadn’t been intimate for many years?”
I don’t know if that was a rhetorical question or not. But as Astro paces the floor, I have to wonder if he placed a spell upon his mother to force her to be his lover. Or perhaps that’s what she did to him. Either way, they were sick and twisted!
“A beautiful baby girl was born, and we named her Emori. Everything was fine; I pretended Emori was my sister as Mother wished. Though Father became curious as to why I loved the child so much. I was not that way with Emily or Elena, but Emori was my heart, and I couldn’t help showing it.
“However, I played Father’s curiosity off as Emori being much younger than the rest of us. It sated him, and Mother and I continued our affair for many years. That is until the day Father caught us.”
He sneers like he was so hard done by. I can’t and don’t want to imagine what the Fairy King walked in on that day. I always knew Astro was vile, but sleeping with and having a baby with his mother is something else!
“He murdered the love of my life in front of me!” My eyes widen when his turn red. “I wasn’t fast enough to stop him, but I made him suffer. I killed that bas.tard where he stood!”
Then he took it all out on Emori, not to mention Mom and Emily. Disgusting.
“You and your Lycans took my daughter from me. You killed the only part I had left of my mother! And if that wasn’t enough for you, you took my youngest daughter. Where is she?!”
Air rushes from my throat, and I’m finally able to speak.
“Yeah, we killed Emori,” I smirk, and his eyes widen in anger. “You shouldn’t have sent her to kill my mate! Sadly for you, she failed because I caught her. Maybe you should have chosen someone smarter. But you didn’t, and she was executed for her crimes. She screamed, you know? She screamed and begged, and my mate took great pleasure in tearing her apart!”
“You bit.ch!”
“Tut tut, Astro.” I walk backward, closer to the bed, closer to Starr. I’m scared that she’s really there. This is my subconscious, and Astro is capable of anything here.
“You took my parents from me, so I took Emori from you. As for your other daughter, I don’t have a clue who that is. But you’re stupid and sent another child into the Lycan’s den. I don’t know where she is, but if my mate finds her, she’ll be dead before you can blink. If she’s out there, call her home.”
I shrug and roll my eyes.
His eye twitches, and it hits me. “You can’t, can you? Emori’s death weakened you too much. That’s why you dragged me here like this. Because you don’t have the strength to do much in the real world. Oh, Goddess, this is priceless!” I laugh loudly. “Let’s see how funny you find this!”
Light emanates from his outstretched hand, heading toward the bed.
I turn my head in time to see Starr twist and scream. She’s really here! “Starr!”
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