Page 84 of Demure
The words were out before Sierra even realized it, and the fact that the last part was something her mother had always said when she had been struggling in school made her heart clench. She pushed the feeling aside. She could mourn the past and the decisions she had made later.
“Let’s start by taking a catalog of what we have,” Sierra suggested.
“You mean absolutely nothing?” Aislan snapped back.
Sierra’s eyes searched his beaten face before drifting to Kaye, who hadn’t said anything else. “That’s not true at all,” Sierra insisted. “First of all, we have each other, so that is something. I can almost guarantee they won’t consider how powerful a team can be when everyone works together.
“Second,” she continued, pausing as a wave of pain rolled through her midsection. The pain overall was lessening, and she hoped that meant she was healing. “Aodhan said most Fae have gifts. Aislan, you can sense emotions, right?”
“Yes, but I don’t see how that is going to help.”
“Just listen,” Sierra said, she was getting a little annoyed by Braan and Aislan’s negative attitudes. “Braan, what is your magic?”
Braan didn’t even lift his head. “I’m a dream catcher.”
Sierra’s breath caught. “A what?”
“Dream catcher,” he said again. “I can see other people’s dreams. I can also send dreams or stop certain dreams from happening. Back when the magic was stronger, those with my gift could also make changes to dreams as they were happening. My father could, but I have never mastered that aspect of the magic.”
Sierra breathed out. “Do you think you could send Aodhan a message through a dream?”
“I don’t think so. I need to be fairly close in distance to use my talent. Though the distance does increase when I am trying to affect the dreams of someone I know well.”
The wheels in Sierra’s mind were turning at full speed. They obviously hadn’t noticed yet that she was also Fae, or if they had, they hadn’t said anything. But either way, they had more variables at hand than they thought.
“Okay, could you affect the dreams of Conlan, maybe?”
“Possibly,” he answered. “I’ve been sending dreams to Slaine—that’s how we’ve been communicating with her.”
“Hmm…” Sierra thought out loud.
She didn’t know if it was the confidence in her previous statements,but Braan finally looked up, his eyes immediately settling on her ears.
“You…changed…”
At his words, Aislan and Kaye lifted their heads, and Sierra grimaced at the sight of Kaye. Being human, it was clear she was not able to sufficiently heal between beatings, and she looked worse off than both Braan and Aislan. She didn’t say anything before lowering her head, probably because she couldn’t see Sierra anyway.
“So, what is your magic?” Braan asked.
Sierra wasn’t really sure how to explain what had been happening, but she figured if anyone could put a name to what she had been doing, it was Braan. “I’m not sure,” she started, “But when I was making my way here, I was able to…communicate with the elipags in the forest.”
“So, you can communicate with animals,” Braan surmised.
“Something like that.”
Now Braan was the onehmming as he, too, realized their situation may not be as bleak as they originally thought.
“Also,” Sierra added, “When I was captured, I was at Fia’s house, and she wasn’t there. I assume that means she saw what was going to happen and escaped. So, we aren’t the only ones that know we are here.”
Silence settled over as the four of them began to consider the possibilities. Aislan spoke up first. “I have an idea.” Braan turned to look at him. “There’s bound to be an animal, such as a rat, around. Perhaps Sierra could communicate with it and get it to bring the keys.”
“That could work,” Braan commented before Sierra could even get a word in. “But I don’t really like the idea of leaving our future in the hands of a rodent.”
“I agree,” Aislan continued, “Which is why, in the meantime, you’ll be sending dreams to whoever you can reach. If you can reach the guards, you could send them good dreams to distract them and increase our chances of any key they have on hand beingstolen. You could also send dreams to Slaine; maybe she could help on the other end somehow.”
Sierra had to admit, Aislan was definitely on to something. “Could you at least try to send dreams to Aodhan and Fia? Maybe if they are nearby, you could send a dream of us here, so they know where we are.”
“I can try,” Braan replied. “I was never close to Fia, but I have met her a time or two, which could help if she isn’t close, but I also feel she likely already knows, so it might be better to concentrate my efforts on Aodhan.”
