Free Dark Flame by Caris Roane

She didn’t want Brannick to die. She feared if she pressed him again, he’d take the last step and disappear from her life completely. Only then had she come to understand that despite the hidden quality of their relationship, he’d come to mean a great deal to her. She refused to call it love. She wouldn’t go that far. But he had eased her loneliness.
    She knew that courage came in many forms. She wasn’t a powerful witch like Emma, who had taken out a monster of a wizard just a month ago. Emma was the kind of woman Juliet admired tremendously.
    But Juliet had her own brand of courage as one who helped women escape Roche’s domination. The powerful fae still didn’t seem to know what she was up to, though she suspected the attack on the bridge could be a hint that he’d caught wind of her activities.
    She released a sigh then turned away from the soothing canal waters and the balmy evening breeze.
    Moving back into the house, she decided it was time to make another push to bring Brannick back from wherever the hell he’d gone.
    What she knew in her spirit was that Brannick belonged here, in Five Bridges. He was needed.
    She’d long since pushed the bamboo and glass coffee table out of the way to give herself access to him. He lay supported on his side by a pillow in front and one behind him, his lower half covered with a soft blanket. She knelt close to him and shifted the front facing pillow out of the way. Fresh blood stained the white bandage wrapped around his chest.
    Her heart sank. Bleeding indicated he wasn’t healing himself. All alter species could self-heal to some degree. The more powerful the man or woman, the better the healing. Brannick should have been well on his way to restored health by now.
    She placed a hand on his hip and another on his shoulder. She closed her eyes and entered her dreamglide world. She loved the initial entry moment, because she felt free, something she rarely experienced in her night-to-night fae life. Her normal existence felt bound up as if by ropes. She lived with a certain amount of tension every day, especially from the time Roche had tried to hijack her in a dreamglide.
    But for this moment, as she entered the half-world most often associated with sleep and dreams, she was at peace.
    Within the dreamglide she rose up from the side of the couch and watched Brannick closely. His breathing became regular though he didn’t open his eyes. At least in the dreamglide his eyelids were fully closed. In real-time they were half-open, an indication of his proximity to death.
    Brann? Would he be able to respond?
    Juliet? Her name returned very faintly, though in real-time Brannick was still out cold.
    Juliet’s heart rate soared. The intuitive fae part of her knew he wasn’t dead. But hearing his telepathic voice was a powerful confirmation that she had a chance right now to bring him back.
    But how?

CHAPTER FOUR
    Brannick’s head hurt. That was his first thought as Juliet’s voice penetrated his mind.
    He lay in a dense, dark gray air. He couldn’t see anything except wisps of smoky mist that clung to him, entwining around his arms and legs, pulling him toward the ground. A terrible fatigue had settled into every bone. He wanted to sleep, to fall into a slumber so deep he’d never wake up again.
    Brann? Can you hear me? I need you to come back to me.
    He wanted to respond, but couldn’t. He remembered that his wife had visited him. She kept encouraging him to do something, but he couldn’t remember what.
    He forced himself to think, to figure out where he was and what had happened to him.
    He’d been severely wounded, that much he knew. He could recall the blade point of a sword protruding from his abdomen, then disappearing. He’d felt nothing and passed out.
    But, where was he now?
    The dark mist tightened around him, pulling each limb hard. He had to get up. Had to fight this thing, but what was attacking him?
    Some of the fog began to dispel, and he recognized