Free Dark Side of Dawn: The Nightmare Chronicles by Kathryn Smith Page A

part of me that could slump did just that. “I think he needs to do what’s best for his kingdom, and his position as king.”
    Long, warm fingers touched my face—so softly tears burned the back of my eyes again. “You’ve said a lot lately about people doing what’s best for them or other people. What about you?”
    “He’s the only one with the power to unmake me.” I swallowed hard over the word. “If he can find a way to stop it, he will.”
    Noah leaned forward and kissed my forehead. “I hate that I can’t do anything to help you when I’m the one who got you into this.”
    I looked up. “I got me into this, not you. All I need is to know you’re there for me, that’s all.”
    A bitter smile curved his lips. “Once again you have to do it on your own.”
    Color me defeated. “Trust me, I wouldn’t if I didn’t have to. I really hate being put through a court marshal by myself.”
    “You have whatsherface on your side—the one with the freaky eyes.”
    So he hadn’t forgotten Hadria or her prediction. “Yeah. I sensed a shitload of power from her. Maybe she has some pull. The Warden would be really sorry that she had me unmade before I could save the world.”
    That got the grin I wanted from him. He stood and offered me his hand. “Let’s go to bed.”
    Yawning, I stood as well, taking his hand. “That sounds good. I want to go into Amanda’s dreams.”
    “Yeah?” He sounded surprised. “Haven’t you been through enough tonight?”
    I leaned against him as we walked through the living room, toward the stairs that led up to the loft. “I made a promise to her. I have to keep it.”
    Noah was silent for a moment, but he squeezed my hand. “You think helping her might help your case with the Council?”
    I hadn’t thought of that. Why hadn’t I thought of that? Probably because my brain had a tendency to turn to mush when it was overloaded. “Maybe. I guess it can’t hurt.”
    Then again, with my luck, it just might.
     
    I didn’t plan on spending a lot of time in Amanda’s dreams. Not only because I had other things on my mind—I wasn’t that selfish—but because I wanted her to be able to heal herself, to regain her strength and confidence on her own and take back as much as she could of what the rapist had taken from her. She wouldn’t thank me if I just handed it back—not in the long run.
    Noah insisted on staying up while I went in. I wasn’t sure whose benefit his attention was for, and I told myself that it was for both Amanda and myself. Maybe even a little bit more for me, because I knew he was worried I was going to get in more trouble for this.
    I didn’t open a portal. I was too tired, and that wouldbe noticed by my father and possibly others. I wanted to keep this as far under the radar as I could, so I was going to enter the Dreaming like any other human—in my sleep.
    I stretched out in bed, with the blankets tucked up around me and Noah reading beside me. And then I willed myself into sleep by humming a “dee-dee-dee” song in my head that my mother used to sing as a lullaby when I was a child. It was a great focus for me and pulled me into the world with relative ease—so long as I managed to keep my mind clear of other thoughts, which wasn’t as easy as it should have been.
    As darkness reached for me, the trappings of this world slowly dropped away, pulling me through the mist. This time neither tooth nor claw came at me. As the mist cleared I found myself standing on the street. I was uptown—a street where most of the buildings were walk-ups. It was late, I could tell, because it was relatively quiet and many of the buildings were in darkness except for the outside lights.
    Raising my face to the glow of the streetlight above, I took a moment to savor being so isolated and alone in this city. I could see why Amanda thought she would be safe. And I understood why her attacker chose this neighborhood. It was hard to imagine anything bad ever