Chapter 7 Chapter 7
KILLIAN
The cafe was bustling. As always
The same blues music crooned from the speakers. As always
There was a chess board on the table with all the pieces arranged on it. As always
The seat across from me was empty. Not as always.
I mean… I guess it was now an as always seeing as I hadn't seen her for a year now.
I groaned and let my head loll back, running my hands up my face. Mother wasn't going to show up today either. It wasn't the time she showed up yet—when she still used to—but I didn't think she was going to show up.
I didn't know why I still did this… dreaming to see her when she wasn't coming. The last time I saw her she’d brought up the fact that I’d been dream-walking to see her ever since the year she died and told me I needed to live in reality instead of dreams. I guess her absence was meant to drive her point home.
The clock chimed and I heaved a sigh, knocking over the king on the chess board and got up before walking out of the cafe. Since she wasn’t coming, I should wake up and get on with my day, but I decided to walk around again because my mother had been the one who built this dream world.
Even if she wasn’t here, there were pieces of her everywhere and I wanted to hold onto them tightly in case… in case she was never going to show up again.
I swallowed at the thought while making my way down the street, but before I could cross the road, something caught my attention. A scent.
I stiffened. ...Huh?
It wasn’t a bad scent; it was a very pleasing mixture of vanilla, jasmine and bergamot, but whether it was pleasing or not wasn’t the problem. I was dream-walking. I wasn't supposed to smell anything here.
Either something was very wrong… or someone had slipped into my dream. Neither option sat anywhere near the good end of a good-and-bad scale. Both were very bad.
I snapped my brows together and turned sharply, scanning the people on the street. The scent didn’t belong to any of them, so I walked back the way I came, stopping outside the cafe I’d just left. My frown deepened.
Someone had taken the king chess piece I'd knocked over.
It had to be the intruder because none of the people in this dream world were real people—they were just mindless constructs going through the same routines until the creator of the world decided to change them.
Irritation pricked at me. Only my mother and I could access this place; anyone else would need an invitation from us. The only way someone could come in without one was if they were a witch and the only thing I disliked more than my father was witches.
Whoever it was was most likely here to kill me.
Electricity tingled at my fingertips as I searched the cafe through the floor-to-ceiling window. Where the hell are you?
I figured the intruder had to be blending in with one of the ‘people’ in the cafe, and since I knew every face in this cafe—in this world—I wouldn’t have a hard time spotting the odd one out. A moment later, I did.
She wasn’t in the cafe. The lighting had turned part of the window into a mirror, so I could see her behind me, standing across the street and staring at something in her hand. And I’d been so wrong about her blending in.
She was bright… way too bright for this place. This place wasn’t dull, but she was like a burst of colour in a grayscale world.
I felt myself relax, barely aware I was doing it, as I stared at her, taking in her features. Curly dark brown hair, warm brown skin–
She suddenly lifted her head, her attention zeroing in on me, and I tensed. I whirled around before she could react, ready to hit her with the bolt of electricity dancing at my fingertips—
But a bus roared past, blocking my view of her. The next moment, the world tipped and the dream fell away, jolting me back to reality.
What… What the–
“You’re up,” Fabien said and I glanced at him in the driver’s seat, my brows furrowed as my mind replayed what just happened.
What the hell was that? Who was that? How did she push me out of the dream? Witch or not, she should not have been able to do that.
“We’re here,” Fabien added and it took me a moment to remember we’d been on our way to Eyrosa, the vampire city, when I fell asleep. I looked out the window.
Since the moon was in the sky, the city was alive. The streets were packed with people, and music and cheering filled the air.
Vampires weren’t the only ones who lived in Eyrosa; humans did too. Some because they worked in the palace or for other noble families, serving as attendants, while others took on the role of sanguines— people whose job it was to feed vampires.
“Please don’t sleep like you’ve been doing this past year when we’re in the palace,” Fabien said, and I snorted because he was right. Letting down my guard in a place I’d definitely get attacked was a bad idea.
My mind drifted back to the dream intruder and I frowned. I didn’t deal with witches—I haven’t done so in decades—so someone I did deal with must have sent her. Seeing as I had quite the list of enemies, I had no idea who that person could be.
Great.
I gritted my teeth, wondering if I should reach out to Celeste because I didn’t want a witch on my tail—especially one that could push me out of my dream—when we finally got to the palace grounds. As we pulled into a lot, I raised a brow at the sight of one of the people standing in front of the stairs that led into the main palace. It looked like they were waiting for me.
“What do you think, Fabien? Is he out here because he couldn’t wait to see me?” I asked while keeping my gaze fixed on Alaine, my half-brother’s cousin and captain of the guards.
“I doubt that, Your Highness.”
The car came to a stop and I got down, stretching my arms while Alaine and the guards walked over to me.
“What are you doing here?” was the first thing he said, his entire demeanor radiating fury, and I cocked my head before walking past him. My path was promptly blocked by his guards and I stopped, heaving a sigh.
These idiots.
“Don’t ignore me,” Alaine added, coming around to face me once more.
“Have I been stripped of my titles?”
His frown deepened. “It is my job to defend the palace from threats.”
“I can be a threat if you want me to be,” I replied flatly and some of the guards behind him stood straighter, like they were ready for a fight. It was rather funny.
“You’re not welcome here.”
“And who gets to decide that?”
A muscle in his jaw twitched.
Movement in a balcony on the second floor caught my attention and I looked up to see my stepmother watching me. She immediately stumbled back and Alaine grabbed my arm, drawing my attention back to him. His eyes were wild.
“You’re leaving–”
“Alaine!” a voice called out. It was Cederic, my father’s summoner. “Let go of the prince this instant. Have you lost your mind?” he added as he quickly walked over to us. The guards stood down.
“He’s not welcome here.”
“You’re neither royalty nor nobility. You’re in no position to say that.”
Alaine bristled at the statement before reluctantly letting go of my arm, standing off to the side while Cederic bowed.
“I apologize for the unkind welcome, Your Highness. Please do not take offence.”
“Father wants to see me?” I asked as he straightened.
“That is correct.”
“Let’s not keep him waiting then.”
I glanced over my shoulder, giving Fabien who was now standing outside the car a nod. Then I gave Alaine a wink before heading into the palace.
“He’s in the throne room,” Cederic said moments later, following closely behind me.
“Alone?” I asked and though he let out a nervous laugh, he narrowed his eyes at me. He was wondering if I came here to try to kill my father.
The corner of my mouth turned up and just as I faced forward once more, someone came around the corner sharply and ran into me. I raised my hands to steady her, but just as quickly as she’d run into me, she stumbled back, grabbing my arm.
My gaze dropped to her dress, skipping past her face. I’d thought she was a maid, but her dress told me otherwise. She was probably a sanguine.
Before I could dismiss her, that scent tickled my nostrils, and I blinked once. Twice. My eyes snapped to hers, locking onto the same features I’d seen in the window turned mirror while dream-walking.
Dream intruder. Witch.
I scowled. What the hell? Why is she–
She opened her mouth, and not wanting to give her the chance to cast a spell, I clamped my hand around her neck and slammed her against the wall.