In Her Dreams Bolryder, Terry (top 10 motivational books TXT) 📖

“What happened? I thought you might be grateful or interested,” he calls through the door.

“I just… I’m moving on completely,” I say. “I’m going to stop letting Mark have visitation as well.” I don’t need to mention that I’m doing that through relocation to another world and not the courts.

There is silence from the porch, and I pull back from the door to catch my breath and think for a moment.

When I look back through the peephole, Adam is gone.

“What the…?” I trail off, thinking to myself, and then I hear Joey yell from his room.

As I run toward the hallway, I hear Joey’s door slam open, and Adam comes out holding Joey under one arm as Joey tries to fling his whip around.

My heart stops in shock. “Put my son down!” I rush at him, but Adam simply puts out a hand, and a rush of something cold throws me back onto my butt on the ground.

“Cute,” Adam says, watching Joey’s wild whipping as Joey yells to stay away from his mom. “Go to sleep now.”

I watch with horror, trying to get to him fast enough to stop him from shoving a needle in Joey’s arm, but I’m too late.

Joey goes to sleep instantly.

“I’ll kill you if you hurt him,” I say, something hot and fierce building inside me. I’ve never been that strong physically, but seeing my son in danger, I feel like I could obliterate this man in sheer rage.

I think inside me, begging for my whip, and am shocked when something warm and hard appears in my hand. A whip handle. I start to fling it out toward Adam, but he just catches it midair and yanks me over to him, grabbing me against him with the arm that isn’t holding Joey.

“Two for one,” he says. “I like it. You know, I’m not Mark’s real brother. I’m adopted through distant family. Then again, that was all an illusion too because I’ve actually been hiding here among the humans for hundreds of years.”

“What?” I ask, dazed, my whip nowhere in sight, my body pinned to Adam’s chest.

“I guess I’m what you’d call a nightmare,” Adam says. “I didn’t think Mark’s little child bride mattered in the big scheme of things. I used to kick the shit out of Mark as a kid, though. I wonder if that contributed to his anger management issues. Hilarious.”

“Wait.” I struggle against him, trying to gain my bearings. But there’s something about him that’s just… foggy and confusing.

No wonder I felt weird after seeing him that last time.

“I didn’t think anything was amiss until Mark was in the hospital, raving about some guy decimating him with a whip. I thought, ah, dream fae involvement. Mark’s little bride must be more special than I thought.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I realized that you must have dream blood to be that important to some roving dream fae warrior that he’d use his whip to keep you safe. So I knew that your son must be something unbelievably valuable.”

“What?”

“A child fairy,” Adam says. “Their blood is so potent their magic could feed a thousand nightmares and still keep them alive. They’re closely protected in the dream realm. Anyway, you’re not trained enough to fight me, so please just cooperate. Other than draining you and your son as needed, I promise to treat you right.” He throws back his head and laughs. “Then again, you might wish you were dead by that point.”

22

Jen

I struggle against Adam as he drags me toward the door, carrying my unconscious son as he kicks the door open with shocking ease.

“I told you to cooperate. Now I’ll just enjoy draining you even more,” he says flatly. “Maybe play with you a bit first.”

“Let me go,” I say again, louder, hoping someone on the street will hear. But as he pulls us past two pedestrians who walk by, ignoring us like nothing is happening at all, I get the distinct impression something is going on so we can’t be seen.

He grins evilly down at me. “Would it shock you to know those people would probably have the same reaction to our little domestic display if they saw what I was doing right now? Humans are sheep.”

“Where are you taking us?” I’m going to have to call for Reve, but I wish we could have made up first. I don’t know how mad he is. I don’t know what this guy could do to him.

But I know that for myself and my son, I need to ask for help.

I just hope he still loves me and comes.

Reve, help me. I need you right now. I call it out with all of my soul.

“Just a bit farther. Far enough so I can—”

There’s a jolt of teal lightning that shakes the earth only feet from us, and I see Reve standing in front of us on the sidewalk. He’s already in bright, glowing armor that radiates multicolored energy, and his expression is furious as he appraises my predicament.

“Unhand my soul bonds, nightmare!”

With surprising speed, Adam wraps an arm around me and leaps backward. I feel air, then cement on my feet as he lets go of me roughly and sets Joey down. I rush to Joey’s side, glad to see my son is still breathing as I watch Adam snap his fingers in front of me.

“Figures these tasty snacks wouldn’t come so easily,” Adam mutters. Around us, a large dome of something that looks like purple crystal expands to surround the city block. I glance around but don’t see any pedestrians, and the deep-blue and purple hue being cast over us gives me an otherworldly feeling as if this isn’t my neighborhood anymore even if it looks like it.

Reve, teal eyes tense with rage, teeth clenched, yanks something from his back, and I see his whip uncoil in a long line around his feet.

Only it’s nothing like what I saw when he whipped Mark. This time, it’s glowing teal, bright and pulsing