Dayton looks like he wants to respond, but he wavers on his feet before slumping against the wall.
“We need to get you home. How do I work this thing? Farron?” She turns back to me, but my muscles still feel frozen. “Farron, snap out of it. I need you.”
I need you.
It’s like those three words ignite a fire under me. Rosalina needs me. I surge forward, stumbling over my own feet, before straightening before her. “Y-yes?”
“Work your magic on this enchanted mirror thing,” Rosalina says. “We need to send our new friend back home.”
“Right.” I cough then take the fae woman by the shoulders. She looks like she’s going to punch me… or be sick.
Taking a deep breath, I place a hand upon her forehead and feel for the deep magic within Castletree. Every day, as the curse strengthens, the tree weakens. Even now, I have to strain to bring the slightest bit of magic to my fingertips.
“This is but a dream. When you awaken, you will remember this as a figment of a fitful sleep,” I whisper. The wisps of autumn magic—the decay, the falling leaves, the ending that lies within—seep into her mind, muddling this memory.
She blinks, her eyes foggy.
“Now, think of your bed. Can you picture it? Can you see it?”
“Yes,” she murmurs.
I point her toward the mirror. “Very good. Keep that picture in your mind and walk through. You’ll find yourself exactly where you want to go.”
“Such a strange dream,” she mumbles as she steps into the mirror. Her body ripples with shimmering light. And then she’s gone.
I turn to see Dayton sitting on the floor, his head nodding against his chest.
I know why he does it. The same reason Keldarion won’t leave the castle. The same reason Ez prefers to be the beast instead of the man. The same reason I lose myself in research. We’re all trying to escape.
But damn if it doesn’t break my fucking heart when he does.
“Is he okay?” Rosalina asks, walking over and poking his chest.
He swats her hand. “I’m awake.”
“Sorry, Rosie,” I say. “I know you were telling me something exciting that you found, but I think I’ll have to cut our research session short. I’ve got to get Dayton to his room.”
“Can I help at all?” She looks so genuine, concern painted across her features.
“No, trust me. This isn’t the first time,” I say.
“And it won’t be the last,” Dayton slurs before his head falls to the side.
“Okay. I’m going to keep looking at that book you found,” she says.
I squeeze her hand, wanting one last piece of contact between us before she leaves. “I’ll be in the Summer Wing if you need anything.”
She nods and leaves, her wide hips sashaying up the stairs and out of view.
I blow out a huge breath and tell my cock to get on the same page as my head.
And right now, that means dealing with the two-hundred-and-fifty pounds of drunk-ass muscle before me.
“You’re an idiot,” I snap as I lean down to heave Dayton’s arm around my shoulder.
“You like her,” he says in a sing-song voice.
I haul him to his feet. Stars, he’s heavy. “What?”