Page 104 of Fallen Nocturne

I reach for it.

He goes still.

My fingertips find the edge of the mask at his temple. Its surface is smooth and warm from his skin. I trace the rim down to where it meets his cheekbone.

In every other dream, he has stopped me.

This time, he does not move. He barely seems to breathe.

“Let me see,” I whisper.

His eyes search mine. Then he gives the faintest nod and slowly closes them.

I lift the mask.

It comes away easily, as though it has been waiting for this moment. I place it on the pillow beside us and look at the face beneath it.

My heart stops.

Not Landon.

There are no sharp fae features or warm amber eyes. Nothing beneath the mask resembles the face I have imagined since the first dream. I had convinced myself that the man haunting my sleep must be my mate, that the golden bond was somehow drawing us together across the distance between waking and dreams.

But this face is pale, framed by dark hair. The sharp cheekbones and familiar mouth belong to someone else.

Dark eyes slowly open and meet mine.

I know him.

The face staring back at me belongs to the vampire.

Arescaine.

The dream shatters.

Chapter 14 Rhianelle

It was only a dream.

I repeat the words until they begin to lose their meaning.

Only a dream. Nothing more.

The man beneath the mask was not truly Arescaine. My mind simply borrowed a familiar face. I have spent too much time around him lately, watching him work in the forge and following him into danger. It is hardly surprising that he found his way into my sleep.

Landon has been gone for a week, gathering intel on the Hunt’s movements, and I miss him. The golden string between us hums steadily, proof that he’s alive and well, but it’s not the same as having him here. I miss his companionship, his laugh, the way he hooks his chin over my shoulder when he reads over my arm.

This is just loneliness twisting itself into something ugly. That must be why my mind created something so shameful.

I press my palms against my eyes and try to unsee it.

Yet every time I close my eyes, I see Arescaine lying beside me. I remember the moment the mask came away and his face appeared beneath it.

Guilt twists through me until I can barely breathe.

Should I tell Landon?

The thought makes my stomach clench. It was only a dream, something I could not control. But it still feels like betrayal. Somewhere inside my own mind, I chose another. Even if none of it truly happened, I remember wanting him.