Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 278

Chapter 278: Dreamwalker’s wife
Anaisa looked between the father and daughter, but refrained from any further advice. She may have butted in too much already.

If Trace were here, he would tell her for certain.

Anxiety welled up, and she tried her best to shove it away. Still, its sticky tendrils were entwined around her heart like an ever-tightening noose.

She would not give in. She couldn’t, not now. There was a long journey ahead, in a direction she’d never traveled. There would be much to tell Trace about what she saw on the way, and a lot to hear about what he’d experienced.

Of course, probably nothing much phased him. They’d shared more than ten years of dreams now.

She wondered if the dragons that stole him away looked anything like the creations she and her husband had ridden together over a lake of diamonds at sunset.

Trace made such beautiful sunsets, and sunrises. She never tired of looking at them, each one a unique work of art.

Sometimes, though he could not bring her to other people’s dreams, he showed her images from their children’s nighttime imaginings. When Daniel became old enough to tell about his own dreams, and show them with his own magic, it had filled Anaisa with new appreciation for the unique gifts bestowed upon her family.

Since Trace had left to help bring Mia home, her dreams had been lonely. It was second nature to her now to control her own dreams readily upon entering them, and yet, she couldn’t quite rid herself of nightmares without his help.

In fact, her lucid dreaming sometimes backfired. Last night, for instance, and the dream she’d described to Mia. Once Anaisa realized she was dreaming, she had turned the dark, dank floor of the cave into a sandy beach along a riverbank.

Smiling at her success, she’d gone a step further and brightened the sun in the sky, warming her face. Noticing the sand was still black, she glared at it until it turned a happier color. That was better! Suddenly became worried. She knew how physical sensations could alter dreams. Maybe she was having a nightmare because someone was robbing their camp?

Perhaps whoever was sitting up keeping watch right now had fallen into some kind of distress, and the noise was giving her nightmares? If so, she needed to wake up immediately!

And so, she’d gasped awake, angry at herself that the logic of her dream had not allowed her to remain calm and continue resting. This happened more than once in the night, where she took control of her own dream before having an anxiety attack and waking herself.

That was likely why she had the distinct feeling someone was following them. The occasional pings of rock being disturbed couldn’t be entirely from their own horses, she thought, but they had to be! Her anxiety over Trace was robbing her of sleep and making her paranoid.

With a sigh, she closed her eyes. There had certainly been days in her life where she wished she’d made a different choice and taken a jewel from the tree, but never more so than now.

If she had some useful power to save her husband, it would be worth it.

The feeling nagged at her again, and she moved to turn around and look behind their group. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mia flinch slightly.

How strange.

There was nothing behind or… or was there?

Anaisa clamped her eyes shut and opened them again. She’d definitely heard another rock get kicked out of place somewhere far behind them.

It could have been an animal, but the feeling that they were being followed was all the more clear. Now that they were in rockier terrain surrounding the canyons, there were far more places for someone to hide. They didn’t have to linger as far back to remain unseen.

“It’s bothering me,” Anaisa admitted softly to Seth, who was still riding beside her. “The feeling.”

“It has to be Ford,” He whispered back to her. “That boy’s stuck on Mia, I know it. And now that he can be invisible, I only know one way to stop him.”

Anaisa’s eyebrows lifted. It wasn’t like Seth to be this angry. Mia’s disappearance must have affected him more than she realized for his words to be so dark.

“You can’t kill the boy,” Anaisa said. “From the story, it sounded as if he saved Mia’s life, and didn’t harm her in the least. Could he be such a bad choice for her?”

“I don’t think she’s telling us everything,” Seth frowned. “He’s gotten into her head. She won’t say anything against him.”

“And you won’t say anything for him,” Anaisa noted. “So in between the two of you, there must be a fair assessment of his character somewhere.”

Anaisa considered the matter. The power of invisibility would be unbelievably valuable in scouting unknown places. Would it be so bad if Ford were the one following them?

“What if I held back a little, and tried to talk to him?” Anaisa asked. “He can’t be terribly afraid of me, and I’ll keep in sight so that you’ll know if I’m in distress.”

Especially when it came to rescuing Trace from the wights… if they had him in some sort of jail, an invisible spy who could sneak in and get the keys, why… it would make everything that much easier. She had to try.

“I don’t like it,” Seth muttered.

“Well, you’re not in charge of me, I was just running it by you to make you feel valued,” Anaisa shot him a cheeky grin and reined in her mare, turning around and heading back a short way.

This plan was not fully formed in her mind, but then again, when did she ever fully plan anything? She smiled a little sadly. Trace was excellent at improvisation, and she would very much like to have him along for whatever she was about to do.