Gray? She shook her head. Why has my world been gray?
"Lyana!"
"Come on, Cassi!" she shouted back to her friend. Up ahead, she spotted a crack in the landscape where the ground had simply fallen away. The sky bridge stretched across the opening, the clear stones glimmering in the sun. "We're almost there!"
"Lyana, wait!"
"I'll race you to the cave!"
Was that what they were already doing? She couldn't remember. Why had they left the crystal palace? What were they searching for?
Oh well. No matter.
She pumped her wings, a grin widening her cheeks as a wild thrill zipped up her throat. When she reached the canyon, she dove headfirst, cutting between two walls of sharp, uneven rock, her eyes on the gray fog blanketing the world below. The Sea of Mist. As usual, awe swelled inside her chest, along with the familiar ache of yearning. But there was something else too, something she couldn't quite place.
A memory tugged at the back of her thoughts.
Lyana landed just inside the shadows of their cave, her brows furrowed as she stared into the dark depths beyond. When she closed her eyes, the image flashed, of a man with brilliant blue eyes, and windswept black hair, and silky obsidian wings. Firelight flickered over fair skin as she pressed her dark hands to his back, his muscles writhing beneath her touch as though fighting a shiver. But there was something else there too, a subtle silver sheen rising up to meet the golden shimmer of her magic, two powers joining as one.
Rafe.
The name made her gasp. Recoiling from the darkness, she turned back to the light as Cassi swept into the cave. Behind her friend, the sky bridge loomed. It flashed red with blood, and a dragon sat propped on the stones, a beast made of onyx scales and fire, red eyes staring straight at her. But no, not at her. At the broken and bloodied raven clutched within its claws.
Rafe.
And the dragon.
And the trials.
And the House of Whispers.
And the mating ceremony.
And Malek.
The past few months came rushing back as she glanced at Cassi in mounting horror. Even her friend looked different now. Not sarcastic and spunky, her hip perpetually cocked to the side as she mocked Lyana's newest plan for adventure—but broken somehow, her eyes like a sword that had struck one shield too many, now shattered into pieces on the battlefield.
"I know you're confused," Cassi said, her voice warm and loving, yet teeming with fear. "It's always confusing the first time for someone with magic, someone strong enough to sense my presence in their mind. But you have to believe me when I tell you this isn't a dream. This is real."
"Oh, is it?" Lyana asked, her focus shifting from the rock beneath her feet, to the canyon outside, then back to her friend. "If this isn’t a dream, then how are we here? How are we home?"
"Fine, we're in a dream." Cassi rolled her eyes, and the sight instantly relaxed Lyana. "But not the way you think of them. I'm here, inside your head. I'm with you. For real."
"How?"
"Magic."
"Good one." Lyana snorted and crossed her arms. "You want me to believe my best friend had magic our whole lives and didn’t tell me?"
"Yes."
Lyana frowned as Cassi's gaze bored into her like a blade, cutting a fragile piece of her heart she’d never known she needed to protect. "I don't believe you."
"Has Malek told you of dormi'kine magic?"
How does she know that name? Lyana shook her head. This is all in my head. I know his name, so she does too. "No."
"We call it dreamwalking. It's the power to separate your spirit from your body, and to sink into other people's minds while they sleep to control their dreams. I have it. I've had it for my entire life, and I never told you, because I was using it to spy on you for my king."
"My father?"
"No," Cassi said, then swallowed, gritting her teeth as though trying to grind the truth to dust. "King Malek, the King Born in Fire."
"How do you…?" Lyana trailed off, shaking her head. "But you have wings. You're one of us."
"A trick," her friend offered slowly, as though worried she might run. "I was born beneath the mist, and at the age of three my mother walked into my room one night to find the skin above my heart glowing silver. My magic announced itself, and she did what any loyal soldier would do for the good of the world—she handed me over to the crown. Malek has probably never taken you to the aviary in Da'Kin, but they have birds from nearly every house, and they chose an owl for me. He joined our souls using his aethi'kine magic, then had his mages carry me to the world above, where his plan fell perfectly into place. You and I were best friends before I was old enough to even realize I was being used as a spy, and by then, it was too late. You know the prophecy. You know the stakes. So many times I wanted to tell you, but Malek swore me to secrecy. He said we had to wait until the arrival of your magic. He said we had to be sure. He said it was all in the name of saving the world, but lately…I don't know."
That sounded like him, dealing ultimatums.
But if this was true, it would mean her whole life had been a lie. Cassi was her best friend, her rock. She would never do this.
Would she?
"I don't believe you." Lyana choked on the words, her breath escaping her lips in rapid white puffs. She stepped back until her wings hit rock, and then back again until her feathers were crushed against the sharp edges. The pain kept her grounded. She felt like Elias, backed into a corner as his whole world flipped. She was caught in a rush of denial, staring at the broken pieces and certain she could make them fit. "This can't be real. It can't be."
"It is." Cassi was adamant, which left Lyana queasy. Her friend thrived on quick wordplay and playful banter. There was nothing she loved more than teasing and nothing she loathed more than brutal honesty. Perhaps there'd been a reason for that preference. "Please, Ana. What can I say to convince you I'm telling the truth? Ask me anything. Please."
"I— I—"
Lyana broke off, unsure. They'd grown up together. They'd spent their lives sneaking out of the palace, exploring the dove territory, sitting in her room braiding each other's hair, having entire conversations across a silent dinner table, needing nothing but the expressions on their faces to communicate. There was nothing she could ask this Cassi that her subconscious didn't already know, nothing except…
"Where have you been?" The words tumbled out before she could stop them, ringing with an accusation she knew wasn't fair yet was there all the same. Where had Cassi been these past few weeks while Lyana was in the mist? Why hadn't she come to find her? What had she deemed more important than going after her best friend? "Why aren't you with me?"
Cassi sighed. The sound trembled in the air, rife with heartache.
"I wanted to be," she murmured, the words more vulnerable than any Cassi had spoken before, not in the hours they'd spent gossiping in their rooms, or chatting in their cave, or scheming in the shadows of the crystal palace. The raw honesty in them made Lyana shudder, highlighting just how dishonest her friend's voice had been so many times before. Cassi reached for her hand, then paused, as though unsure if she still had that privilege. "I wanted to be there with you more than anything, Ana. In all the nights and days and years I spent trying to figure out how I would tell you the truth, I never thought it would be like this. I thought I’d be by your side, maybe in the wooden depths of a royal ship or in the castle overlooking Da'Kin. I thought we'd be two birds discovering a new world together. A world without lies. A world where you were finally the queen I always knew you'd become, and I was whatever you needed me to be—best friend, loyal follower, faithful guard. That was all I wanted. It's all I've ever wanted. But the day of your mating ceremony, things didn't go as planned. I was supposed to be with you. I was supposed to be there when you woke up, to help explain, to help you understand. I was supposed—"