Nightmares and Daydreams: Prologue

When I believed I was human, I had dreams so powerful I thought there was something wrong with me. There was always lots of fire and flying. I would wake up in a cold sweat, my heart pounding so hard I thought I might die, unable to catch my breath. But it wasn’t the aftershocks that frightened me. It was the feeling that the dreams were real. I would have sworn that, for a little while, I was actually somewhere else.

“That’s not possible,” my best friend, Gigi, insisted. “You weren’t Awakened yet. You were, for all intents and purposes, human.”

“I know these spells are supposed to be infallible, but what if they aren’t? What if, even as a human, there were parts of my samhain DNA that worked anyway?” I didn’t even know why I cared so much. What did it matter if my old dreams were more real than I realized at the time?

Gigi frowned. It was a look that always struck me as wrong. Gigi had one of those personalities that lit up a room. She was, at all times, bright as the fucking sun. Blonde, blue eyed, impeccable taste, and an optimism that would have made Elle Woods do a double take. “So your theory is that you’ve been having shared dreams with Dray all along?”

That…wasn’t at all what I was thinking. But now that she mentioned it… “Maybe?” I flopped back on my bed and stared at the blank ceiling. “Every day our connection gets stronger. We’re sharing dreams and thoughts. It’s intense. But more than that, it feels the same. That vibration of the universe. My old dreams and the ones we have now, they all feel the same to me.”

Her frown deepened. “I don’t know what that means.”

“Neither do I. And that’s what’s bothering me. I’m missing something.”

Gigi laid down beside me, stroking my hair. “The more you try to figure it out, the more likely you are to miss the obvious. Relax. Don’t force it.”

“I feel like I’m forcing everything these days. I want to be done with school, I want this war over with, and I want things to start making some damn sense. Immediately.”

Gigi giggled. “You’re getting none of those things anytime soon.”

“I’m almost done with school. Remind me why I thought it was so important to get my degree when it will never matter?” That wasn’t entirely true. Human and samhain psychology weren’t entirely different. The minds all worked in similar ways; it was just the concepts of reality that were entirely different. Take our current situation. Gigi and I were having a nice conversation, but in the background there were the unmistakable moans of no less than three different hookups happening in the adjoining rooms. Here, it was totally normal for everyone to drop what they’re doing for an orgasm or five. Relationships had totally different meanings and sexuality was defined by almost nothing. There were very few rules at all. The only one that was hard and fast was that consent was required. After that, pretty much anything was on the table. No judgment, no opinion other than whether the sex was good.

“You’re like me.” Gigi pressed into my scalp and I let out a moan of my own. “You love learning. It’s why I keep studying and why, when this is all said and done, you will too. I’ve been able to scale back my research, so I don’t feel as torn.”

“Just a few more weeks,” I grumbled. The moans next door reached a crescendo. “I swear everyone is hornier than usual.”

“I agree, actually. I think it’s the intensity of everything. We’re all so stressed. It’s not normal for our kind.”

“And sex is a natural de-stresser. Got it.”

“How are you and Dray?” Gigi sat up and drew her knees under her chin. She looked more tired than usual.

“Really good. He’s made huge progress now that he’s trying to embrace his dragon half. And that has…benefits.” The sex had been off-the-charts for the last couple of weeks, which was saying something because our sex life was already more incredible than I had dared to ever dream of. “And Ryddyck?”

Her eyes went cold. “He’s not my mate. He’s not even from here.”

And yet their souls were intertwined and the chemistry between them was as hot as mine and Dray’s. “Someone—very recently—gave me some useful advice.” I grinned, knowing she was about to glare at me, maybe even punch me. It was so much fun getting a rise out of her. “And I quote: The more you try to figure it out, the more likely you are to miss the obvious. Relax. Don’t force it.”

Right on cue, her eyes went wide, her lips pinched, and she threw a pillow at me. “Do not use my own words on me!”

“If they were good enough to dish out, they have to be good enough to take!”

She stood up. “I’m leaving. Go enjoy your celebratory dinner with Dray. You two deserve it.”

I needed to get a move on if I wanted all the food prepped in time. Dray, as Head of House, had been swamped with work lately. I practically had to drag him out of his office most nights, but, after a very successful session with his dragon half, he agreed to come home on time and celebrate. “I just need to pop by the office and give him a one-hour warning.”

Gigi laughed. “I’ll bet you one chocolate cake that he still misses dinner. His head is fully in this war and not even your smokin’ hot bod can change that.”

I flushed from head to toe. “I’ll take that bet.” There was no way Dray was missing this. I promised all his favorite foods and to be naked and ready when he got home. If there was one thing Dray loved more than food, it was my naked body.

Gigi shook her head and sighed. “Oh honey. I look forward to my cake. Remember I’m on more of a dark chocolate kick at the moment. And I prefer my frosting homemade. That human store-bought shit is terrible.”

“It won’t be a problem because you’ll be the one doing the baking. I want chocolate chunks in mine, thank you very much.” And now I wanted cake, but there wasn’t enough time to get it in the oven and make dinner.

Maybe I could make cupcakes. In mugs. They were quick.