“This is a dream,” Mary whispered.
“Yes.”
The direct response to Mary’s statement had her sucking in a breath, her attention drifting to the man her mother conversed with. Tall. He must be very tall. She could tell by the way his long, slender legs hung over the arm of his chair. If he stood, her nose would probably be level with the center of his chest. With Tucker, her nose usually landed in his throat and her vampire was tall, as well. So this man must be even more so.
Black hair. She knew that color, because it was all that had existed to her until now.
He stared back at her, amused.
Hadrian.
Mary wasn’t sure where her certainty came from. Maybe there was something about the cold power in his eyes. Or the fact that he was in her dream—perhaps even causing it?—that made her limbs lock down with fear.
“What is this?” she whispered, her voice echoing in her head. “Am I dreaming?”
Tilda turned abruptly and walked to the fireplace, facing it unmoving.
“Let’s not put the cart before the horse,” said the man smoothly. “Are you enjoying your new pair of eyes?”
The way the question was posed made her skin crawl. “Are you Hadrian?”
“Why yes. It is I. Your fiancé.” That last word was said mockingly. He rose to his feet and took a long drink from something on the table, scrutinizing her closely over the rim. “You don’t seem very impressed.”
If he only knew how much willpower it was taking not to stare at the dogs. At the fire. At the painting behind him that depicted a large group of men sitting at a table, some of them focused on the man in the middle, others seemingly arguing. There was something ominous and arresting about the scene and she ached to examine it closer, but she didn’t want to give this man the satisfaction, because it was obvious he’d brought her here. If this was Hadrian, if everything she’d heard about him was true, he certainly had the power. Not only to give her sight, but to transport her to this place.
Away from Tucker.
Oh God, he had to be losing his mind out of worry.
More than anything, she wanted to tell her vampire that she could see. It was physically painful to her that he wasn’t present for this moment in her life so she could share it with him. She wanted him there to identify colors and objects in that Tucker way. The way that never made her feel left out or burdensome. The way that made her feel like she could already see and his descriptions of their surroundings were just for their own personal fun.
“Shall I make more of an effort to impress you, Mary?”
His silky voice shook her from her thoughts. “No, thank you.”
“No?” He leaned back against the table, swirling the contents of his drink. “I know we are not to be partners in the traditional sense and this is more of a…” Air quotes. “Business arrangement. But it behooves a man to woo his intended, does it not?”
Was it getting colder in here?
She wrapped her arms around herself more securely and clamped her back teeth together, trying to make them stop chattering. “Please end this dream. I’ve seen enough.”
Without taking his eyes off her, he set down his drink carefully. “So eager to return to your lover?”
Mary said nothing, though her blood had turned to pure ice. What could she say? If she told Hadrian she wouldn’t be helping him form the alliance after all, he might never release her from this dream. Might not allow her to return to Tucker.
Every fiber of her being demanded she protect Tucker at all costs.
“He’s not my lover.”
Hadrian tipped his head back and laughed. “Now there’s no need for lies. Intimate congress was not a part of our deal. After all, I have no plans to partake of only one female for the rest of my life, because hell, it is a long. Life.” His gaze started at her neck, traveling slowly to her thighs and back up. “Though I might be open to negotiations.”
“I’m not.”
“Now, now.” He smiled, showing off the tips of his fangs, the black of his eyes bleeding out slowly to eclipse the white. “Don’t anger me, Mary.”
Fear pulsed wildly in her neck.
It didn’t help to tell herself this was a dream.
Not when it felt so real.
Were parts of it imagined and others genuine? She could feel the ground beneath her feet, had the ability to register the temperature. What if she’d actually been transported from the Impala to Hadrian’s manor? Was there a way out?
“Where is my mother?” She pushed the question through lips numb from the cold. “Is she with you? Or is she just a part of the dream?”
Hadrian’s mouth spread into a grin. “I can’t give away all my secrets, can I?” He pushed off the table and sauntered in her direction. “Mary, you will arrive here tomorrow and cement this alliance with the fae or I will personally slaughter your lover. I’ll take great pleasure in it and there will be nothing left of him when I’m done. And if you need any more convincing…” Hadrian snapped his fingers and there were no longer in the fire-lit room. They were on a cliff, so close to the edge that she screamed in her throat and fell backwards, scuttling away.