In Her Dreams

by Bolryder, Terry

  I have dreams around Reve, and he makes my heart soar. But in reality, I’ve only known him a few weeks.

  Joey is my world. For ten years, it’s been him and me against everyone.

  So I just want to be with him right now and maybe watch a movie and eat dinner together.

  And let Reve think about what he’s really asking of me with that innocent, impatient face of his.

  Reve stares at me stubbornly, then lets out an impatient sigh and goes to get Jerrek.

  I hear Jerrek’s surprise. Then they talk, and then Reve is pulling Jerrek back into the living room.

  “She wants us to leave,” Reve says. “She doesn’t want us around her warrior.”

  His eyes are full of hurt.

  I sigh. “He thinks we could just go to some other planet—”

  “Dimension,” Reve says.

  “That’s not better!” I snap. “Look, you’ve already done enough today.” I exhale. “I do thank you for handling Mark, even though I didn’t ask for it. And I appreciate you being Joey’s friend, Jerrek.” My hands tighten into fists. “But you’ve still turned my life upside down, and I need a break.”

  Reve and Jerrek stare at me, then nod.

  Jerrek disappears in a poof of red smoke, and Reve sends me an uncertain look.

  “Can I still see you in your dreams?”

  My heart squeezes for a moment, but the dream sequences are only going to make me love him more. Harder.

  And I still need time to think.

  I shake my head slowly, and Reve’s eyes flash in pain before he disappears in a poof of teal smoke.

  I shake off the tension in my body as I walk down the hall to Joey’s room. Time for a dinner and movie night with just the two of us.

  I’m sure that will set me straight.

  I don’t live in a dream world. I live in this one.

  And I’m not sure that the ridiculously sexy fairy I’m in love with will ever understand.

  11

  Reve

  “Damn, what happened in the five minutes I was gone? You two fight?” Jerrek sits down in a comfy cloud chair, back in fae form with his long red hair over his shoulder.

  I blow out a breath as I pace over the clouds, looking up at the perpetually beautiful blue sky with soft white and pink clouds traveling across.

  “You sound almost human now,” I say to Jerrek. “I guess it’s hanging out with Joey?”

  Jerrek nods, and I have to admit I’m a bit jealous that he has a head start on getting to know my dream mate’s family. My family. “So what happened?”

  I groan, conjuring up a chair so I can fall into it. I lean back, staring up at the sky.

  If I were back in the dream realm, I’d be hunting nightmares, applying punishment, helping train other dream warriors, and serving my kingdom.

  Here, I spend many hours alone just waiting or doing nothing.

  And Jen seems miserable in her world, as does Joey.

  They deserve more than the small hovel they live in amongst cruel humans who will do nothing to protect them from men like Mark.

  And he’s far from the last who will be interested in a treasure like Jen.

  From her gorgeous flame-colored hair to her perfect curves and petite form, she will always draw those who want her. Those who sense her incredible strength also.

  She told me to go, and I did. But I hate being away from her.

  Already, I want to hold her again.

  “So what did you do?” Jerrek asks again, and I’m not even sure.

  “If I had to guess, I’d say it’s because I mentioned taking her and Joey back to the dream world.”

  Jerrek winces slightly. “Ah, yeah. That’d do it. Why did you say that? Isn’t it a bit soon?”

  I shrug. “I never meant to keep it from her. Why wouldn’t I want to take her from her broken world?”

  Jerrek sighs. “I mean, the human world isn’t terrible just because it’s not the dream realm.”

  “There are wandering, untrained warriors,” I say wryly. “And outright rape that goes unpunished.”

  Jerrek rubs the back of his neck. “Yeah, that doesn’t sit right with me.” He stands, pacing around the clouds. “But most of the humans are pretty decent creatures.”

  I let out a grunt in response.

  “You’re keeping surveillance on Sandra?” Jerrek asks, somewhat nervously.

  “Yes. But see? You don’t like your mate being in the human world either.”

  “Unprotected,” Jerrek says. “There’s a difference. You know you could stay here with them and protect them.”

  “I know that,” I say. “But I’m a warrior of the eighth realm. I don’t want to stay on Earth. Both of them would do better among their own people.”

  “Would they?” Jerrek asks. “Dream fae are accepting, but it’s not the world Jen and Joey know. Wouldn’t it be better to let them stay in the human world? At least until they’re both used to all of this a bit more?”

  I shake my head. “I never hid my intentions. I still can’t believe she thought I would stay here.”

  Jerrek rubs the back of his neck. “So you accept her having a son without a second thought, but her wanting to stay in the human world is the hard part?”

  I slant him a look. “As you said, Joey’s a bonus.”

  “Yes, but if you were going to be unreasonable, you could be jealous—”

  I shake my head. “I’m not. Would you change anything about your dream mate?”

  Jerrek shakes his head.

  “Me neither,” I say. “But that’s different than this. It’s my job to protect them. To serve them. Why would I give them pollution and wandering rapists in this world instead of perfect happiness in the dream realm?”

  Jerrek shrugs one shoulder. “Because it’s not your choice. Don’t you get it? Jen has made choices before you. Joey has a whole life here. You just acting like you could go to a new world, no problem, is kind of egotistical.”

  I think for a moment, a tight feeling in my chest. It feels like something non-negotiable, so I don’t know why I shouldn’t speak up and tell her the truth of my intentions.

  I don’t know how to negotiate. How to agree to stay in this bleak world.

  “You two don’t have to agree right now,” Jerrek says. “Maybe as things go on, both of you will see the other’s side. But I think, mainly, the important thing is the love. As long as you two have that between you, anywhere you go will be heaven.”

  “You’re right.” I stand to walk over the clouds to where he’s standing, watching more clouds move across the sky. “We still have time to see each other’s point of view.”

  “You have to be at least willing to consider her world if you want her to consider yours.”

  I nod. If it’s with Jen, I would at least try to stay here. Even if this world is dark, any world without Jen will be darker.

  But with all the danger and her having so little here, I just don’t see why she’s so set on this world.

  Jealousy flashes through me at the thought that maybe there’s someone here she doesn’t want to leave.

  Maybe another man.

  But that’s ridiculous, and I’m usually far from jealous, so I push the thought away.

  She wouldn’t keep anything from me like some ex or guy friend she’s attached to.

  But she did hide her son.

  “Whatever you’re thinking, you’re emanating literal waves of bad magic,” Jerrek says. “I promise, this is not about someone else.”

  “Why else would she want to stay here?”

  Jerrek throws an arm around my shoulders. “Reve, my boy, you have a lot to learn. The human realm is her world. We all try to do our best in the world we’ve been given. You need to at least try to understand that, despite your displeasure at the state of the human world.”

  “It’s not my displeasure,” I say. “Her world is full of literal nightmares. And she wants to stay here when she doesn’t have to, and I’m supposed to unde
rstand that and let her and Joey just stay in perpetual danger. For what reason?”

  “Because it’s what she wants,” Jerrek says softly. “And in the end, if you love her, you’ll do what she wants. Even if you don’t necessarily agree with it. Love is about compromise.”

  I nod at him, already trying to figure out how to make up with Jen.

  But I’m really hoping I can convince her to leave the human world.

  Because I don’t see how we can compromise on this.

  12

  Jen

  The train whistle blows, drawing my attention toward the dusty old station across the street from where I’m walking.

  I’m not sure how I ended up in a dreamscape like something from an old Western novel, but here I am.

  I guess I must have been reading one before bed.

  The sun is high in the cloudless sky, beating down with heat that makes it hard to breathe in the constricting clothing I’m wearing.

  A dress for traveling with undergarments and little buttoned boots and an old-fashioned hat on my head.

  My hair is back in a low ponytail.

  I look down at the suitcase in my hands, indicating that I must mean to travel.

  Ignoring the blinding sun, I cross the road as the second train whistle sounds.

  The dust crunches under my feet as I walk. Everything around me feels arid and dry, and just reaching the shade of the shabby old ticket office cools me.

  I watch, almost in third-person, as I slide my money across the counter and am handed a ticket.

  Is this a dreamscape Reve put on? I thought I told him not to show up.

  Given, I felt bad right after we fought, but I still can’t believe the sheer arrogance of him, that he would think he knows what’s best for Joey and me when he only just met us.

  When he couldn’t possibly already understand “our” world.

  I climb up onto the train, given a hand by one of the operators, and take a seat in what looks like the middle of the train. I sit down on the hard wooden bench and look out the streaky window as the train begins to pull away from the station.

  There’s a sense of loneliness but also of beauty as the wilderness flies by outside. Sparse grass covers wide-open plains, tumbleweeds fly by, and in the distance, rocky mountains rise, the tips still white with snow.

  It’s a beautiful scene, one I could only have concocted in my mind I’m sure.

  I lean on my armrest, thinking that everyone here looks normal and everything seems peaceful.

  So it doesn’t seem to be like the nightmares I was having before Reve showed up.

  I think I forgot what a normal dream felt like.

  Usually, my nightmares are all manner of different things threatening me, often that I can’t fight.

  But this is peaceful. No one is looking at me, and this ride seems to just go on forever.

  Then I hear shouting break out and think maybe not.

  People are moving to the side of the train to watch the windows, and I walk forward to see what’s going on.

  My skirt swishes and brushes against other people as I try to push in on the edge of the crowd.

  “It’s the Hedeger gang,” one man says. “Hide the women and children.”

  I raise an eyebrow. Was that the gang in the book I was reading? I think I read three in a row before I finally fell asleep.

  I think binge-reading is my talent.

  I walk back to my seat because I can’t get close to any windows by the crowd. Peering through my window and as far forward as I can, I can see a cloud of dust near the front of the train.

  Looking closer, I can see the heads of horses moving above the clouds of dust and men in hats above that.

  Shit.

  I sit back against my seat, closing my eyes. This should all be a dream. It’ll be over soon.

  Wake up. Wake up.

  I think of calling Reve, but I don’t even know how that works here.

  I shouldn’t have yelled at him. I shouldn’t have told him to leave.

  But I don’t see how I could just leave my life.

  I miss having dreams with him. Usually, my dreams are just my subconscious trying to torture me. This might be like that.

  My worst fears are confirmed when the train lets out a whistle and begins to stop, everything in the cabin heaving forward slightly, then back, as the train fully halts.

  There’s a breath as the dust settles for a second, then whoops from the gang outside the train and yells from inside the car.

  Even though I’m in a dream, it feels real, so I have concern for those around me, and my eyes dart around, searching for any kids.

  When I see two with their mother, looking terrified, I can’t help going over to them and trying to usher them over to the door that leaves the train. Not that I know where they can go from here, but we aren’t that far from the town.

  “Now wait just a second,” a voice booms out, and a tall man in a black cowboy hat enters our carriage. “No one needs to leave.”

  “These are children,” I say, stepping in front of them and pushing them and their mother behind me.

  Too bad this is just a dream manifested by my subconscious and not one I’m controlling, because I would just “poof” them out of here.

  Maybe I should have Reve teach me just a bit more about being a dream fae.

  Because though this is a dream, it’s frankly terrifying.

  “Hm, aren’t you a pretty one?” the man says, walking forward in his dingy western wear. “I think this is what we’re here for.”

  “What?” I squeak, trying to look for a place to run.

  “You’re the mayor’s niece, right?”

  I blink. “No.” God, please let me wake up now.

  I smell gunpowder on the man as he walks up to me, and I cringe back, but he grabs me by the front ruffle on my dress and jerks me in.

  I hate the smell of his booze breath as he holds me close. I struggle slightly, but it’s no use, and he tries to bring his lips over mine.

  “Don’t touch the merchandise,” another voice calls out.

  I gasp as I look up at the familiar voice, craning my head around to see who spoke.

  Another man walks into the carriage, tipping his white hat at me. His face is handsome, striking, and there’s a lock of teal hair falling out of the low ponytail he’s wearing.

  His teal eyes meet mine, a hint of something spicy there.

  I can’t tell if Reve is pissed off or amused.

  “You made me a villain?” He looks down at his outlaw outfit complete with vest and bandana around his neck. “Why?”

  I blink. “I didn’t do anything. This is just a—”

  A gloved hand shoves over my mouth, and the guy who was going to kiss me hauls me in against him as he turns to face Reve.

  Reve’s eyes light with fire, and he’s immediately there, putting a fist through the guy’s face. The guy lets me go as he falls back into a nearby chair, and Reve’s hand shoots out to catch mine.

  Then he pulls me in against him. Thank heaven he smells better. Like sugar cookies and… home.

  “Hm, since I’m a villain, what should I do with you?” Reve asks.

  “She’s ours to share,” his cohorts say, coming up behind him in the train car. “Let’s ride.”

  Reve slants me a look, then shrugs. “All right?”

  “What?” I ask, yanking on his hand, trying to free myself. “You aren’t seriously going to agree to this.”

  Reve sighs. “It’s your dream. I’m just here to enact it.” He puts his hands up. “Nothing I can do about it.”

  I try to run because he momentarily releases me, but his hand shoots out to grab mine again.

  “Does the hero really do this in the book you read?”

  I blink. “No.”

  “Hm, so I really am a villain?” Reve grins. “Interesting. I’ll play the role.”

  We walk out to where the horses are waiting, and Reve swings onto his, then pulls me up eas
ily with one hand into his lap in front of him.

  He grabs the reins and expertly moves the horse forward into a trot, then a gallop, and I hang on to the horse’s mane for dear life as the world begins to speed by.

  It’s bumpier than I would have imagined, and his hard chest and abs slamming into my back are definitely bruising.

  But it’s him.

  He’s Reve.

  And I’m here with him. I’m in this world, and I love it. The trees, the mountains, the fresh air.

  The adventure.

  Everything else just slips away as I ride with my cowboy.

  Then the horses veer away from the train’s path, up into the mountains. We make our way over craggy switchbacks and finally stop at a little camp where the men stop and tie their horses to a pole.

  The camp is small and dirty-looking with just a few tents.

  “We should have just robbed the train.”

  “Nah, the ransom will be enough.” The man Reve punched for me seems to have recovered, other than the occasional glare Reve’s way. “Plus, we can share her.”

  Reve, who has stopped but is still atop his horse with me, tightens his arm around my waist. “I thought I already showed you how I felt about that.”

  The man puts up both hands. “That was for me going out of line. I get that. You first. Then we share. Everyone gets a turn.”

  One of the men pulls off his bandana. “We’re all hot and sweaty. Let’s take her to the stream, and we can all cool off.” He grins lecherously. “Have a bath. Bring her too.”

  Reve looks from me to them, thinking. “I suppose.”

  I gasp, looking up at him as he hands me down from the horse to the other man.

  “Just a dream, right?” Reve asks. “Besides, you didn’t want me to intervene. You didn’t want me in your dreams or in your life. So I guess I should just play the role you want me to in your dreams?”

  I stare at Reve as the other guy grabs at my elbow. I bat him away. “What role is that?”

  Reve cocks his head, his hat looking rakish. “Villain. I’m supposed to just sit here and watch… whatever they do.”

  “Because of my subconscious?”

  “I suppose,” Reve says. “If I was a betting man, as these outlaws would say, I would think it’s because, in real life, you know things are bad, but you don’t want me to save you. Therefore, here I am, not saving you.”