Summer of Frost (20 page)

I couldn’t stop myself from breathing him in
if I tried. His scent was so familiar, and it only took a second to
realize that my body gave off the similar smell of Summer. Why did
it do that? Drake slowly released me from his arms, but I stood
there frozen and confused like a statue.

“
I don’t understand,” I muttered under my
breath, gazing down at my golden skin. “I was too tired to notice
when I was awake, but I honestly don’t feel like a Winter Fae
anymore. Alston said my skin changed after I took the
potion.”

Turning around, I noticed Drake clenching
his jaw, and I could feel the fury radiating off of him. “That was
all a lie, Sorcha. Alston is the one who took you away from me,
away from your family. The potion he speaks of was forced down your
throat by the dark sorcerer. That was the deal he made with
Alasdair. He traded his fealty to your court in return for erasing
your memories of me and our time together so he could take you
away.”

Exasperated, I said, “This is crazy. Alston
would never do that to me. This is just a dream from all the stress
I’ve been through.” I turned my back on him and began walking back
to the water. “I seriously think I just lost my mind.”

I didn’t hear Drake approach, but in the
blink of an eye he had me by the shoulders, turning me around to
face him. The electric shock from his touch made my heart flutter
rapidly in my chest, and my knees go weak. I never in my life had
that sort of reaction to a man, not even Alston. Drake’s stormy
gray eyes never wavered from mine, and for the life of me I
couldn’t look away. His gaze dropped hungrily to my lips before
descending and closing the gap between our bodies. He kissed me
greedily, and my body helplessly complied. His hands cupped my
face, holding me there, while he devoured my lips with his frantic
kisses. Even if nothing made sense, there’s no harm in getting a
little lip action in my dream. After all, it couldn’t be real.

When he pulled back, he studied my face.
“Do you remember me yet?” When I shook my head, he groaned and
continued, “I’m sorry, Sorcha, but Alston
did
turn on your
people and take you away. Your family is desperate to get you back;
I’m desperate to get you back. Please tell me where you are in the
mortal realm.”

I shrugged. “I couldn’t tell you that even
if I wanted to because I have no clue. We’re in a house somewhere
in the middle of nowhere.”

He visibly deflated and closed his eyes. For
some reason I wanted to console him, to tell him I’m all right, but
I chose not to. “What has Alston told you?” Drake asked.

“
He told me there was an attack at the
palace and that my parents told him to take me to the mortal realm
so the dark sorcerer couldn’t find me. We’re supposed to stay there
until my family comes for me or sends word.”

Drake huffed and paced along the shoreline.
“They’re not going to find you because they have no clue where you
are!” he shouted. He took a few breaths before asking, “What’s the
last thing you remember?”

Closing my eyes, I concentrated on the last
thing that came to my mind. “I remember picking out my dress for
the Winter Solstice Ball with Sarette, and watching all the people
in my court dance around preparing for the party.”

“
Let me guess,” Drake started, “You
picked a blue evening gown for the occasion, and you wore the
crystal necklace your mother gave you for your sixteenth birthday.
I remember your dress dipping low in the front, exposing the tops
of those beautiful breasts of yours. Anger couldn’t begin to
describe how I felt when I watched every man ogle you from afar. I
do know this though, I was mesmerized the first moment I saw
you.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but closed it
only to do it again. No one has ever said anything like that to me.
Curiously, I asked, “If what you say is true about my memories, how
long has it been since the Winter Ball?”

His reply was instant, and without
hesitation. “It was ten months ago, and after that you visited my
dreams every night.” I swallowed thickly and glared at him for any
sign that he could be lying. His words seemed sincere.

“
Are we lovers in these dreams of yours?”
I asked, still doubtful. I just don’t know if I can believe this.
It’s not exactly farfetched, but it would be a suicide mission for
Alston if he did what Drake said he did.

Drake took my hand and gazed into my eyes.
“We’re so much more than lovers in our dreams, Sorcha. You’re going
to be my queen, a leader of the Summer Court. You can already see
the change to your body. If there’s anything you take from this
dream, let it be this … please, under no circumstances trust Alston
or let him touch you. You’re mine, and I can’t bear it if he uses
you and takes you to his bed.”

“
Okay,” I drawled out. “First off, that’s
just weird. I’m not going to discuss my sex life with you, and
second, I’m going to need more proof if you expect me to believe
this stuff you’re saying to me. You knowing about my dress color
doesn’t prove anything.”

Drake’s wolfish smile gleamed brightly,
showing off his perfectly straight, white teeth. I’m sure he had
the women in the Summer Court falling all over their feet for him.
“You want proof, I’ll give it to you. One, you secretly play the
harp, and by the way, I love the song you wrote for me. You usually
play it to lure me into the dream realm, but since you can’t
remember it now it’s kind of a moot point.” My eyes went wide in
shock and he smiled. Only a couple of people know about my love of
the harp.

“
Two,” he continued, “you love to travel.
You love your home in the Winter Court, but you desire the chance
to see the world, our land and the mortal one. We spent many of our
dreams travelling to exotic places together, and lastly, I know
your guardian calls you ‘ai dulin,’ his little bird.”

Hearing that about my guardian made me want
to believe, but I couldn’t seem to wrap my brain around the truth.
Drake took my hands and turned them palm up, tracing along the gash
lines on both hands. I never noticed they were there until then.
“What are those from?”

He kissed both wounds and said, “These marks
are from your unbound courage that you willingly gave up to help
save your land. You sacrificed giving your power to the dark
sorcerer to get the sacred scroll. You see, we found a way to
defeat him, but Alston helped him get away with the scroll after
you sacrificed your own blood. You may not believe me, but use your
truth seeking abilities on him. Search for it, but do it
discreetly. We all fear of what he’ll do if he knows you doubt
him.”

“
He would never hurt me.”

“
He better not,” Drake added darkly. “It
would only add to the different ways I planned on killing him.” The
dream realm suddenly shifted, alerting me that our dream was almost
over. His eyes widened and he frantically took my face in his hands
and kissed me gently. “The dream is about over. You’re smart and
cunning, Sorcha. Listen to your heart. If you doubt me, and I’m
sure you do, go to Oren in your next dream. He will tell you what I
say is true.”

As my body began to fade out of the dream
realm, Drake took me in his arms and whispered in my ear, “I love
you, beautiful, and I’m going to find you.”

“Sorcha, wake up!” Alston uttered, shaking
me by the shoulders.

Groaning, I rolled over. “Leave me alone. I
just went to sleep.”

“Yeah, about fifteen hours ago,” he informed
me. “I was getting worried about you.”

Rubbing my eyes to clear them, I gazed up
into Alston’s serious face. The dream slammed into my mind and I
tensed, but immediately let it go. “I guess I was tired,” I said,
yawning.

When he reached up to brush the hair off my
face, I latched onto his hand and held it to my face. I had to know
for sure if he was telling the truth. “Alston,” I murmured, trying
hard to concentrate. “Do you think my family will come to get us
soon?”

“I don’t know, baby, but I’m sure it’ll be
soon. Until then, we should just enjoy ourselves here.” His eyes
showed sincerity, but something lacked behind them. What really
concerned me was that I couldn’t feel any truth from his words …
nothing. It was all blank, like something was blocking me.
Interesting, and not what I was expecting,
I thought.

“Well, let’s not worry about all of that
right now. I made you breakfast, and I thought we could explore the
land for a while, and then maybe explore this bedroom a little more
when we come back. I’m dying to feel those legs wrapped around me.”
Drake’s warning in my dream rang clear in my mind, and my heart
lurched with guilt just thinking about Alston and I in bed
together.
How was I going to keep my distance until I found out
the truth? Could Alston really betray me like that?
I
wondered.

“I need to get dressed,” I pointed out,
hoping it would change the subject.

He grinned and tilted his head toward the
closet. “There should be some clothes in the closet for you. Your
armor is in there as well, but I don’t think that’ll be appropriate
in this world.”

“I would think not,” I teased, hoping it
didn’t sound forced. “Just give me a few minutes to get dressed,
and I’ll meet you downstairs.”

“As you wish, Princess.” He kissed me hard
against the lips, and before he left the room he looked back once
and smiled. My heart ached with doubt, but I knew I only needed to
get through the day before night came when I could find Oren. If
there was anyone I could trust, it would be him.

Before going to sleep the night before, I
was pulled in two different directions. I wanted to keep searching
for Sorcha, but there was a part of me that wanted to try and sleep
to see if Sorcha would come to me. I had a feeling she would, and
luckily so, she did even if it was unconsciously done. I jumped out
of bed and hastily put on my gear before banging on Oren’s door. He
answered it in a matter of seconds.

“What happened?” he asked, hopeful. “Did she
come to you?”

“Yeah, so get dressed. We have more
searching to do.”

Ten minutes later we were entering a portal
into the mortal realm … again. “I’m running out of ideas, Your
Highness. After these next two stops I’m not going to know where
else to look,” Oren informed me.

“Let’s just hope one of them is where
they’re at. She’s been alone with him now for two days. There’s no
telling what that bastard is doing with her.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, what happened
in the dream?” Oren asked curiously.

“I told her everything about Alston being
involved with the dark sorcerer, and that the potion was what
erased her memories. Of course, being the Sorcha we both know and
love, she had to question everything and demand proof. I told her
some secrets that only she and I shared, and it looked like I might
have made some headway with her, but I don’t know for sure. She was
pretty adamant that Alston would never betray her like that. I told
her if she doubted me then she should visit you in her next dream.
She trusts you and she knows you would never lie to her.”