Chapter Seventeen

 

Mesmerized

 

With a sharp intake of breath, Sebastian awoke in the perfect darkness of his room. As he listened to the thunderous galloping of his heart, his mind spun as he tried to understand what had happened in his dream.

He trembled as he regained more consciousness, and though he willed himself to stop, the tremors continued to pass through him, wave after wave. It was no use to fight them, and he finally resigned himself to their grasp, gritting his teeth in frustration that he had lost control of himself.

Fragments of the dream washed through his mind. He had found himself in the middle of a clearing in a moonlit forest, in a form he had not taken in countless years. Feeling his wings on his back, the familiarity of their weight and the wind rushing over them in the coolness of the night had brought back memories both comforting and terrible. He had stood there, looking around him, wondering why he was there, and why he was no longer in human form. Before he had the chance to form any answers, he saw her. He thought of the luminescence of her skin as she walked from the shadow of the trees, the faraway look in her eyes before it came to her who he was, and the gaze of adoration in them after she did.

He recalled the warm flood of an emotion he had not felt in so long. It overcame him, radiating from his very soul as she glided to him, her golden wings gently folded behind her back. He hadn’t fought the feeling, but had welcomed it, even enjoyed it as it filled him.

It wasn’t likely for him to let his guard down in waking life, but those who worked in the Unseen knew dreams were another matter. His dreams were an opening, a means to get his attention when there were few other ways of doing so. They certainly held his attention now.

Closing his eyes tighter as he remembered his dream, he fought with himself. He wasn’t ready to let emotions weaken him, as beautiful and tempting as they might be. Yet part of him wanted nothing more than that, to let the tenderness he felt from her wash away the bitter hurt in him, to be freed of his burden by the touch of her lips on his. It required trust, and that was something he wasn’t sure he had to offer.

Something was going on in the Unseen, something with remarkable importance. There was no other explanation for it. There was too much going on in too little time for it to be anything but guided by the hands of those who had once been his brothers and sisters. He knew Annaleah was a central part of it, but why her? Why was this beautiful woman-child so important?

And beautiful she was. Though his heart was scarred and he had all but forgotten the tenderness of raw, unadulterated emotion, the powerful elation he felt when he saw her in the dream was undeniable. He remembered how he had wanted to rush to her, to sweep her up in his arms, to kiss her until there was no more doubt in his heart. He would have done so, if he could have taken his eyes off of her. There had been a power and intensity when their eyes met, a linking of the spirit in a way that was more intimate than the touching of flesh.

As Sebastian remembered their kiss, he parted his lips, trying to relive the moment when her mouth had first pressed over his. His heartbeat quickened once more, and momentarily forgot his vow to himself to never love, to never trust again. For just this brief moment of time, he told himself, he would allow for this simple pleasure, this gift from the Unseen.

Something changed in him as he did so, and in his mind’s eye he envisioned a silver blue feather gently falling through the air, illuminated by the moonlight.

Then Sebastian knew, it had been a dream sent by the arch angel Gabriel, the Dream Keeper.

If Gabriel had taken the time to send this message to him, whatever else it might mean, Sebastian knew one thing for certain.

War was coming.