Vale of Dreams (Fey Academy for Spies, #2)

by C.N. Crawford

But what, exactly, would my beautiful lover do if he learned that it was all a mistake? That I was the one on his kill list? Would he murder me, too, or would he sheathe his blade?

“You recklessly came to break me out, just like I couldn’t let you get captured. Because the only thing on my mind was you. And now the only thing on your mind is me.”

The candlelight dances over his carved muscles. “There’s only one woman for me, and she is a figment of my imagination, a voice in my thoughts.”

He can hear her thought too

“Why is your heart beating so fast?” he murmurs. I curl my fingers around the blankets. “Don’t you know everyone is scared of you?” Silence falls in the darkened room. Outside, lightning cracks and thunder rolls over the horizon. “Yes,” he says quietly, “but I didn’t think you were.”

“Nia,” he says softly. “If you want to keep your secrets, you can.” “Why?” “Because I trust you.” I blink. Strangely, my eyes are misting. “Why would you trust me?” “I don’t know. For some reason, I feel like I know you.”

“I need to know what the assassin looked like.” “He was dressed as a soldier.” “Shall I have them all killed, then? Every soldier working last night? Their entrails drawn out of them until someone confesses?”

“Tell me if you want me to stop,”

My breath stills, and shock courses through me. The words aren’t spoken in Fey. He’s speaking English. And it’s a phrase that I know very well. Where your fairytale comes to life is the slogan of the bookstore where I worked back in LA. My mind reels. All this time I was hearing his thoughts, I never imagined he was hearing mine, too. I lie awake until dawn.

It happens without effort when my fingers touch his skin. Unlike my encounters with others, there’s no pain, and his thoughts drift closer to me like toy sailboats floating on a stream. It’s effortless.

“He’ll be designing your wedding dress. I can’t marry Arwenna if I’m already married.” He’s searching my face, but I’m not sure what he’s looking for. “I’m afraid we only have a few hours until we wed. Nia, this is the only way.”