Bright sunlight flickered through the trees as Tiago walked through the forest. Everything seemed intense—the colors, the scents, the feel of bark under his hand as he brushed against a huge trunk.
Where am I? This wasn’t the woods surrounding Shadow Valley. Something tickled at the back of his mind, but he couldn’t get a grip on the thought.
He made his way down the narrow path until he came out into a clearing. The sweet smell of grass and wildflowers filled his nose. At the other end of the clearing, a figure stepped from between the trees and stood obscured in shadow. Even without being able to make out its face, Tiago knew it was studying him.
“Hello?” Unease tightened his stomach.
The figure shifted, moving closer. As the shadows fell away, he could make out a woman with long, flowing hair a shade of bright red. Her skin was pale green, and she wore a light brown dress. “Come closer, young one. I will not harm you.”
Tiago took two steps but then stopped. This was too weird. “Who are you? Where am I?”
“This is a dream, young one.” The woman moved two steps closer as well.
“A dream?” Hearing the words made everything click into place. He’d only been aware while dreaming a few times, usually right before waking up. This was different though. “But you’re real, aren’t you?”
“I cannot hold our connection for long, so I must be brief.” The woman took three more steps. She was maybe a dozen feet away now. “You know the one called Aiden, yes?”
“Yeah.” Now he recognized the scents around them. The forest smelled almost exactly like Aiden’s magic—sun-warmed leaves, rich earth, and something floral that didn’t smell quite like any flower he knew of.
The woman smiled, then turned to beckon at the tree line. “He knows your child.”
What?
Another woman came out of the woods, running. Her hair was long too, but dark brown and woven with flowers. Tiago tensed, worried she might barrel into him, but she stopped just short, staring at him with wide and desperate eyes. “You know my son?” She lifted a hand, and magic tingled over Tiago’s body. “You carry a taste of him. Are you his lover? You have… exchanged fluids?”
A blush burned his cheeks. She didn’t seem upset about it at least. “You’re Aiden’s mom?” This was all so weird.
“Yes. I have been searching—”
“Quickly now,” the red-haired woman said. Tiago realized the colors around them had started to fade. “We have but a moment.”
Aiden’s mom—could she really be?—looked at him with pleading eyes the same blue as Aiden’s. “You must tell him to remove the iron from his bed. The dream walker cannot bring me to him unless it is gone.”
“The iron? What are you talking about?” The woods looked like a pale watercolor painting now.
“He will know. Please, you must.” Aiden’s mom grasped his arm. She was sharp and clear compared to the fading world around them. The trees were turning black and white.
“Okay. I’ll tell him.” Aiden had mentioned a few times how he wished he could find his birth parents and his human brother. If Tiago might be able help, he’d do everything he could.
“Thank you, shape-shifter.” She squeezed his arm, and everything went black.
* * *
Tiago was unusually quiet on the ride to school, staring out the window with a thoughtful frown.
“You okay?” Aiden asked.
“Yeah, I just…” Tiago glanced at Dylan before turning to Aiden. “I had a weird dream this morning.”
“Something bad?” Aiden reached over to take his hand. They always rode together in the back now.
“If it’s a sex dream, I don’t want to hear it,” Dylan said from up front.
That got a little laugh out of Tiago. “No, although now I’m tempted to make one up just to watch you squirm. This dream was so real, and I knew I was dreaming. This woman came up to me and… Well, she said she was your mom.”
“What?”
“Not your mom.” Tiago waved a hand. “Your birth mom. The fae one.”
An ache filled Aiden’s chest, just like it did whenever he thought about his other family. It wasn’t real, just a dream. But what an odd thing for Tiago to dream about. Had they been talking about it yesterday?
“Weird, I know. She said to take the iron away from your bed and something about a dream walker.”
A cold bolt of fear went through Aiden. Was it Morgan, playing some kind of trick? Trying to get to him through Tiago?
“Dream walker?” Dylan said, his voice tense. “Isn’t that…?”
Tiago looked between them. “Is that something bad? Is this thing for real? What’s going on?”
“Oh God.” If Morgan was contacting Tiago, they needed to tell him who the dark fae was. But it was Dylan’s secret to protect. Aiden swallowed, torn between keeping Dylan’s secret and protecting his boyfriend. “Dylan, should we tell him?”
“Shit, now you guys are scaring me.” Tiago squeezed Aiden’s hand.
They reached the school parking lot, and Dylan yanked the car into a spot. He turned, leaned over the back of the seat, and studied Tiago for a long moment. He blew out a breath. “I guess I can trust you, Cat Boy.”
“Are you sure?” Aiden wanted to tell Tiago. It was hard keeping such a huge secret from his boyfriend. But he also didn’t want Dylan to regret sharing this.
Dylan took another breath. “Yeah.”
So they told Tiago about Morgan invading their dreams. Aiden let Dylan take the lead on how much they should share, and to his surprise Dylan told Tiago everything. Even the part where he hurt Aiden when Aiden tried to stop him.
Tiago tensed at that. “So the training accident story was a lie?” That was what Aiden had told him to explain how he’d developed panic attacks and a fear of magic. The same story Aiden had told Ms. Yang and the school counselor.
“Yeah,” Dylan said.
“But he apologized.” Aiden put a soothing hand on Tiago’s arm. “He’s really sorry, and he feels super guilty about it.”
“If you want to give me a good punch for it, go ahead.” Dylan didn’t look like he was joking.
“No one is punching anyone.” Aiden worried Tiago might take Dylan up on the offer.
They’d been talking in the parking lot for a good long while. A flicker of guilt that they would all be late for class shot through Aiden, but this was more important. He and Dylan finished the story, with them and Mr. Johnson closing the portal and the warden making them promise him a favor.
Tiago looked between them. “Is that why you’re training to be wardens? Is that the favor?”
“Yeah. Irony, right? Or karma. One of those things,” Dylan said.
“I knew there had to be something more. You hate them.” Tiago shook his head. “Hell of a thing to force you into.”
“My parents don’t believe it either. They don’t know what actually happened or about the deal.” Dylan gripped the headrest, leaning closer. “You can’t tell anyone, Cat Boy. No one.”
Tiago held up his hands. “I swear. I know how to keep secrets.” He flashed a grin at Aiden.
That look could still make his insides flip. “Now you know why we freaked out when you mentioned a dream walker.”
Tiago nodded. “So this Morgan guy is a dark fae, like the one you fought?”
“I think he’s worse.” Aiden didn’t have concrete evidence, only a sense that Morgan was more powerful than the man who’d come after them sophomore year.
“Yeah.” Dylan agreed, which didn’t make Aiden feel any better.
“Crap.” Tiago was quite for a moment. “But the women I saw weren’t this creepy Uncle Morgan guy.” He went over his dream—how real and sharp everything was, what the women had said, what they looked like. “She had your eyes,” Tiago told Aiden.
Aiden’s heart squeezed. What if it was really her? His birth mom, trying to contact him? Aiden had hoped for this since Mr. Johnson showed up and told him he was a changeling.
“This has to be a trick.” Dylan shook his head.
“What if it’s not?” Aiden said. Tiago wrapped an arm around him. “What if I can finally talk to my mom? And my brother and dad?” Ask them why he’d been abandoned in the human world. If she was looking for him, then she hadn’t rejected him. Or maybe she had and now she regretted it. Aiden wanted answers so desperately it hurt.
“You’re really going to move the dagger and leave yourself vulnerable? On a chance?” Dylan asked.
How bad was this idea if Dylan was being the cautious one? “I have to know.”
“Even if she’s really your mom, what if you sleep without the dagger and Morgan gets to you first?”
Fear rolled in Aiden’s guts.
“You don’t have to decide now,” Tiago said gently, rubbing Aiden’s arm. “We can try to come up with some safety precautions.”
“Maybe Mr. Johnson—” Dylan started.
“No!”
They both looked at Aiden in surprise.
“He’ll just tell me not to do it.”
They kept staring at him with worried expressions.
“Guys, it’s my family. I… I have to know.”
“I’ll help you. Anything you need.” Tiago kissed his cheek.
“For once you have the crazy plan.” The corner of Dylan’s mouth turned up. “I’m down with that.”