The dream that followed was unexpected. She was in a dark place and couldn’t find her way out. There was a light, and she flew toward it, but she wasn’t a dragon. She wasn’t sure what she was. She only knew that she had to go toward the light or she would perish.
She could hear Dane, but he was far away and couldn’t save her. Her heart raced as she flew faster and faster but seemed to go nowhere. The light got no closer, but the voices did, threatening to do her harm. They were coming for her, and she couldn’t get away. Dane couldn’t come for her, and she knew this was the end if she couldn’t find a way out.
She fought for the light, desperately trying to get to it even as her enemies closed in. She considered going a different way, down one of the dark corridors nearby, but she didn’t know where they might lead. She didn’t know if there was a way out, so she kept heading into the light. An explosion sounded behind her, and it propelled her forward. The sliver of light was suddenly a flood, and she was moving toward it at great speed, heat behind her.
She shot upward, into the daylight and away from whatever was chasing her. Moving at top speed, she kept going, leaving Dane behind even as her heart broke for him. She could feel him gone. She could feel a piece of her destroyed. She flew hard and fast, but the light was suddenly shut off, the large wings of a dragon flying overhead, its dark talons dropping closer as it swooped down to grab her.
She screamed, but it was only in her head. The small creature she had become was unable to make a sound beyond a squeal. The light went out, and she saw a new one, one coming from a distance. She approached it, but something had changed. She had changed. She was no longer flying. Instead, she was back in human form, walking slowly toward a light that grew brighter with every step.
She could feel the warmth and she closed her eyes to let it wash over her, but she stepped forward and was suddenly falling, falling, and falling. She screamed, but she couldn’t stop her descent. She couldn’t shift, and there was nothing to grab hold of. A vibration began to shake her, at first just lightly, but then more forcefully.
Adriana opened her eyes and found herself looking at Dane, who appeared just as frightened. She looked around, taking in her surroundings for a moment before realizing she was in his penthouse and had been having a bad dream.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yes. I was having a nightmare, I think,” she replied.
“What was it about?”
“I don’t know. Darkness and light. Good and evil. Something like that.”
“You were screaming.”
“I was falling. I couldn’t stop falling,” she said.
“Well, you’re back here with me now. It’s probably just a reaction to the drugs. They’ve likely not worn completely off yet.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” she told him.
Dane kissed her and curled back up around her, but she lay there in the darkness for quite a while before falling back to sleep. The dream had seemed more like some sort of warning than just a mere nightmare. She wasn’t sure what it meant or if such premonitions were even possible, but it had left her feeling frightened. After a while, she settled back into Dane’s arms and drifted back into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.CHAPTER TWENTYDane
Dane woke up with a clearer head now that Adriana was out of danger. He knew exactly what he had to do. He slipped out of bed to shower, letting her sleep off the remainder of the drugs they had given her. By the time he was dressed, she was stirring about, propped up on one elbow and watching him from her side of the bed.
“What are you doing?”
“I have a meeting,” he told her. “I know you don’t listen to anyone, but maybe today I can talk you into staying in—at least until I get back?”
“You’ll get no argument from me. I feel like death warmed over. I could use the rest.”
“Good. Make yourself at home. There is food in the kitchen or you can order in. I’ll leave a card on the counter for you to use.”
“I don’t need your card,” she said with a smile.
“Good point. I’ll leave it anyway, just in case. Security found your bag in the bathroom. It’s on the bedside table, but I don’t know if anything is missing.”
“Thanks,” she said, swallowing hard. “Ugh. I feel so nauseous.”
“I’m going to have Berta send my doctor up to see you. He’s a shifter, so you’ll not need to keep any secrets from him. Let him know you were in mouse form after being drugged. The small stature might have made the drugs even more potent.”