“Your mean little control plan worked for three years,” she murmured. She didn’t know why, but in her youth, she’d only been able to visit dreamworlds if Pax had been nearby. For a year after they’d last slept in the same room and visited a dreamworld, Pax had stayed away at night. Then he’d just stayed away almost all the time. It felt good to see him now. Odd little tingles fluttered in her abdomen. They were just friends. Best friends. Her body seemed to be confused. “How have you been?”
“Good.” He walked out of the water, and she had the thought that he’d gotten even taller than the last time she saw him—which was nearly a year ago. Sure, he’d emailed, but his messages had lacked personality. They were almost a report on what he was doing and seeing.
She looked way up at his face. “You missed my party.” The family had thrown her a big eighteen-year-old bash.
“Just got home last night,” he said, scouting the area.
The ping to the heart shouldn’t hurt, but it did. He used to call her the second he got home from one of his trips with his uncle. How long was he going to be mad that she hadn’t wanted to date him when they were fifteen? Irrational anger slapped through her. “I can send you out of here, Pax. Just say the word.”
His head turned toward her at the same time that his chin lowered, giving him a predatory look he’d never had before. “Don’t even think it.”
She blinked. Once and again. Maybe a third time. Those tingles full on exploded inside her. She swallowed and looked at him. Really looked at him. Long gone was the chubby, good-natured kid whose one goal in life was to protect her. In his place stood a hybrid warrior. One with an edge she hadn’t noticed in others his age. He was young, but his eyes held an ancient wisdom and always had. “So you didn’t miss me at all.”
“I missed you every second,” he returned, his chest wider than last time. Cut muscles formed down his arms, and he even had ripped abs now. Somebody had been working out. “But you made it clear where we stood, where we’ll always stand, and I needed some distance.”
“Three years is a lot of distance,” she exploded, kicking sand at him. “You about over your snit now?”
He stilled. Then he moved toward her, all grace and muscle, the clumsy kid gone. Her heart did some jumpy thing in her chest, and he kept coming until he towered over her, blocking out both suns.
This was new. She looked up into his determined eyes, and her mouth went dry.
He slowly, deliberately, planted both weighty hands on either side of her hips on the heated rocks. “Snit?”
She lifted her chin to meet his gaze. “You going all vampire dominant on me here, Pax?” Her voice only shook a tiny bit. Why was this sexy?
“You don’t understand dominance if you think this is close,” he murmured, his gaze dropping to her lips.
“Well, this is uncomfortable,” a male voice said.
Hope jumped and twisted to see her Kurjan friend Drake emerge from the trees with his cousin, Vero, at his side. She’d been meeting with Drake in dreamworlds most of her life, but his cousin was a new addition to the group. Drake was the prince of the Kurjans, and he was going to help her find peace for all of their people. He had to.
Pax only turned his head, remaining in place. “You have got to be kidding me. Did you call them?”
“No,” Hope murmured, taking inventory. In three years, Drake had gotten taller and broader, and his green eyes had a light purple rim around the irises now. His hair was all black with no red, so he could almost pass for human. Vero, at his side, was still a little chubby, but at sixteen or so, it looked like he was hitting a growth spurt as well. Kurjans were taller than any other species usually. “But if we’re back in the dreamworlds, it makes sense that they are too.” The dreamworlds belonged to all of them. As did the responsibility to avoid the wars to come. They’d always been able to meet here—the Kurjans and her people.
In fact, her mom and dad had met in dreamworlds before getting mated in real life.
Both Drake and Vero were in black cargo pants with matching shirts. But their feet were bare on the sand.
Drake tilted his head. His features were angular and sharply cut. “How about you take a step away, Phoenix? I’m not liking you that close to her.”
Hope’s eyebrows rose. This was new.
Vero cleared his throat. Last time, three years ago, he’d looked terrified. Now he just looked uneasy. “Why am I here? Again?”
Drake didn’t take his gaze off Hope. “We’re training in Iceland and sharing a tent. When Hope brought me in, you must’ve jumped on board. By the way, you talk in your sleep.”
Vero nudged him. “I do not.”
Drake rolled his eyes. “I’m not asking again, Paxton.”
Pax flashed his teeth. “Come closer so we can discuss it.”
Time for a distraction. Hope waved her hand, and a loud splash echoed.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Libby yelled, stomping furiously out of the water. All gazes turned to her. She wore a small white cami set, showing off her long, toned legs. Her blond hair was wet and her tawny eyes sparking. “I’m a cat. A feline. Stop dropping me into the freezing water.” She stomped up the beach, paused, and then her face cleared. “Hope!” She made a beeline for Hope and hugged her, elbowing Pax out of the way. Then she turned and jumped at him. He caught her and they hugged. It had been too long since any of them had met in person. This was as good as it was going to get, though. The shifters were withdrawing from the Realm, so Libby no longer lived at headquarters.
An uneasy feeling filtered through Hope at the sight of her friends’ embrace. She loved Libby and she loved Pax. Why shouldn’t she love the sight of them together? She shook herself out of it. “So. The gang is all here.” Then she paused. “Maybe. Let me try one more thing.” She centered herself and thought really hard about her cousin, and like a dream, he materialized right next to Vero.
Hunter Kayrs, true to form, looked slowly around the scene, taking in each of the participants, and then squared his shoulders. He was sixteen, looked twenty, and had the king’s stamp so hard on him there was no doubt of his lineage. “Why the hell am I in a dreamworld?”
It was a little off-putting, really. Nobody seemed happy to be in her dreamworld. Hope frowned. “I figured we’d have our first official meeting of the coalition that’s going to save the world.”
Hunter sighed and strode toward her, past Libs and Pax, to stand by her side. Flanking her. Protecting her.
She shook her head. Sometimes the guys just didn’t get it. “What are you doing?”
He cut her a look that was all Dage Kayrs. “I’m the only male here who isn’t planning to better himself by mating you. I must be your muscle in this charade.”