The trees were thick here. We ducked under branches and around trunks. Chipmunks darted over the path in front of us. We stepped out of the woods, and the ground was covered with rocks. Mountains rose up all around Cougar Lake. Their peaks were snow-covered. The air was cool and crisp.
Cody led us to a picnic table. “How do we get rid of him?” He sat down.
“Everyone says I need to find who controls him.” I positioned myself across from him.
He stretched his hands across the table, and I slipped mine into them. “Your powers?”
I squeezed his fingers. “That’s why I tried to get into his head. I was hoping I’d be able to catch a glimpse of who summoned him here.” I looked down at our hands. “I also wanted to see if he was telling the truth.”
“Seth thinks so.”
“It doesn’t matter.” I shook my head. “I don’t want him here, Cody. I only want you.”
“Yeah.”
The wind blew across the lake. Goosebumps lifted the hair on my arms. “I’m scared.” I rubbed my arms, trying to warm them. “Will he kill me? Take me away? Use me to fulfill the prophecy and destroy the world?”
“You won’t let him.” Cody stood up and moved next to me, pulling me against his side. I rested my head on his shoulder.
We stayed at Cougar Lake until I heard Malcolm’s voice in my head. We are back.
I teleported us to my room. Dan and Samantha sat on the couch. He was playing video games, and she had a pen tucked behind her ear and one in her hand, working on homework.
Malcolm stood by the window with his arms crossed over his chest. “It seems your demon lied. The elder council scanned all of our memories, and none of your guards are responsible.”
I sat on the edge of the chair with my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands. “So maybe it’s a dragon that’s not guarding me, or maybe it is the Nephilim.”
“Or maybe Mavros is a liar just like I’ve been telling you all along.” Samantha slammed her book shut and shoved everything into her backpack. She snatched her pen from behind her ear and pointed it at me. “He’s a demon. He’s not to be trusted. Ever!”
Chapter 16
Living My Dreams
Mavros and I sit on the bench where Damon and I had spent so much time together. He looks perfect. The most beautiful man I’ve ever seen, not a hair out of place, not a speck of dust on his black clothes. I, however, am here in my pajamas. My hair pokes out in every direction from sleeping, and I’m freezing. The nights are getting colder, and for some reason, when he comes to me in my dreams, the actual weather comes into play.
He hands me his coat. It smells like him, warm summer nights and sulfur. I pull my legs up and drape it over me like a blanket. “Why can you control me when Draconian couldn’t?”
Mavros laughs derisively. “Draconian didn’t have the power of Hell backing him. I do.” He turns on the bench so he’s facing me, pulls one of my curls straight, and releases it so it springs back up. “There is so much I could teach you, so much more you could learn if you would just let me. Your power would be unfathomable.”
He doesn’t try to control me, but there is something compelling in his voice.
“But at what cost?” I pull back from him.
He kneels in front of me and stares up into my eyes. “I will pay the cost, Dacia. There will be none for you. I will give you my true name and let you control me.” He smiles at me, not his seductive grin or his sardonic smirk, but a genuine smile. “You are incurably moral. You would hold a tight leash.”
“I—” for a moment, words were lost to me “—I’ve seen you resist your master’s control.”
“For you, Dacia.” He holds his hands over mine, and his jacket slides to my lap. His obsidian eyes beg me to believe him. “I only resist to protect you. You took my pain away when I was hurting. You helped me realize I can do good things. You are my shining light in the darkness, my savior.” He lowers his forehead onto my knee. “I’ve never begged before. Please don’t give up on me now.”
My heart goes out to him. What would it mean to him to be free from the Abyss? I could do it for him, but Cody would never forgive me. The dragons and Nephilim would never forgive me. They’d probably both try to cage me or kill me for that.
I pull my hands away from him and drag them through my hair, clutching it at the back of my head. I don’t know what’s right or wrong. I don’t know what to do. He’s been trying to help me, but does he deserve more time on Earth as a reward? Would he manipulate me and somehow cause the prophecy to come true?
“I … I don’t know, Mavros.” I lift his coat up so it covers my arms and legs again. “The dragons were sent to the elders, and they saw no evidence that one of them summoned you.”
“How?” He slumps back.
“I don’t know if I can trust you or your memories.” Tiny snowflakes land on his coat. Their shapes are visible for just a moment before they melt. “Is it possible it’s a different dragon, not one of my guards?”
He pants, and his body convulses. He throws himself back, putting distance between us. Stretching out his neck, he roars.
The sound raises the hairs on my arms and along the back of my neck.
He stares at me, and his eyes are a swirling inferno. His fingers are tipped with claws.
“Wake up,” I say
