Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 424

Chapter 424: Anyway
Mia rushed to Ford’s side. He’d kept her invisible during the skirmish, but let her go to run off and fight the feisty little acid-spitting creatures.

She hated that.

Now that she could see him again, she took his hand, firmly, and shot him a glare to let him know of her displeasure.

He shrugged and raised an unrepentant brow.

What could she do about it?

Not a thing.

“That was uncalled for. We’re in this together,” She told him. Wanted to harangue him further, but remembered that, while he had declared an intention to propose, he hadn’t actually done so.

She had no real claim on him, and didn’t want to nag him into leaving before she did. So she clenched her jaw and looked at her aunt.

“I’m so sorry, Aunt Annie, I interrupted you while you were telling us how things went.”

“It wasn’t you, dear, it was those creepy things,” Anaisa replied with a wave of her hand. “But now that Grandpa and Martin are here, I might as well begin again.”

“That would suit me well,” Grandpa slid down Webster’s leg and stretched out on the coverlet. “A good update is just what I need.”

“In summary,” Anaisa looked at the old man with a wry expression, “Trace took Ben and myself into the Emperor’s dream to try to calm him down and negotiate peace between humans and… well, him. The tree was stolen ages ago in violation of a treaty, so he believes humans to be the scum of the earth.”

“I suppose he isn’t wrong about some of us,” Grandpa glanced at Denholm.

“Shut up, you worthless old coot,” Denholm snapped. Webster took a menacing step towards the man, and he glared, folding his arms in a childish pout. “I hate all of you.”

Mia snickered behind her hand, unreasonably delighted to see the odious Denholm humbled.

“Mutual,” Grandpa said easily. “Go on, Anaisa.”

“It didn’t go perfectly. Ben was able to convey that nobody alive today was involved in stealing the tree, but he was… very angry. So we got out of the dream before Trace’s powers gave out. I suppose we’ll try again once he’s rested and ready.”

“And every now and then, I gather, dangerous things just tend to pop up around here?” Grandpa gestured towards the pillow area.

“Pretty much. It’s not exactly fun, guarding the dreams of an Emperor, but that’s our role here, for now,” Ford put in.

“Ford got hurt a little, but he’s all right now,” Mia didn’t want to breeze past his heroic injury, but Ford looked chagrined.

“Sorry, Grandpa. We had to kill Webster’s friend, over there.”

“A less handsome cousin of his, I wager,” Grandpa observed.

Mia stifled a grin.

“Ugly cousins are quite a burden,” Ford murmured under his breath with a sharp look at Denholm, and Mia laughed so hard she began coughing.

As awful as it was to have the man around, the jokes at his expense were giving her great pleasure.

Still, he wasn’t fangless. Given the right chance, he was treacherous and evil and would act in his own best interests, no one else’s.

Simply because the world’s survival was in his own best interests for the moment didn’t guarantee anything in the long run.

“So, plans for the next dream run,” Anaisa interrupted Mia’s line of thought. “We should, I believe, be able to find him more quickly, and hopefully talk a bit longer. He didn’t seem receptive to our presence, but I think that given some time to dwell on the fact that this wasn’t our doing, he may calm down gradually.”

“Earliest I would dare to try again would be tomorrow,” Trace warned. “I don’t think he’ll calm any quicker than that.”

Mia sighed, wishing she could be of more use. Now that they’d arrived, it seemed like she wasn’t doing any more good other than as bait for the creatures that escaped, and a subpar warrior against them.

Ford even prevented her from being proper bait in that regard, since he rendered her invisible when the creatures appeared.

“Should we take turns getting some rest, then?” She looked around at the group. She had no idea what time of day it was, or even what day it was.

Adrenaline had kept her going through the attacks of various creatures, and telling Trace everything that happened was important enough to keep her mind alert, but now that the danger was past and there were more people around to help…

“You rest first,” Ford told her gently. “I’ll be here.”

“You need sleep, too,” She protested. He’d been through plenty. He was even hurt, his wound from the flowers had finally slowed, but not quite stopped the bleeding. “And let me rebind that.”

“With more petticoat?” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “You’ll run out.”

Pink flooded her face, and Mia looked away.

“You’d like that, would you?” She whispered back in revenge, causing him to go red as well.

The other adults, thankfully, weren’t listening to the exchange or Mia might have melted from embarrassment. His comment was borderline at best, but hers was clearly beyond what was socially acceptable.

“You really need to rest first,” He replied at last. She snuck a glance at him. His eyes were alight with a mix of mortification and amusement. “Clearly you’re far more tired than I am.”

“Clearly,” She responded drily, taking the out he had given her. “It must have been days since I’ve properly slept. My mouth has run away on its own.”

“Hm,” His grunt of response was noncommittal, but he was pressing his lips together in an apparent attempt to contain a further comment.

Mia chose a place on the bed that was not singed by acid or wet by blood, then slowly lowered herself.

The coverlet was soft, despite its ever-present shimmer. The sparkling made it seem like it might be sharp, but on the contrary, it was soothing to the touch.

“I’ll be right here,” Ford sank down to a seated position and held out his hand.

Sleepily, she looked up at him.

“I’m not using my powers all the time anymore,” Mia said quietly. “You don’t have to…”

“I know,” He interrupted. “But I want to, anyway.”