Beyond Glamour

Chapter 7

            Dylan frowned as Whitney stopped in front of him where he stood under one of the thick pines that blocked the sun. He reached out with both hands to cup her face, his thumbs stroking just below her eyes. Eyes that were faintly purple and puffy underneath. “Are you having nightmares again?” he asked, staring down at her face.

            She leaned into one hand and sighed before nodding. They had time before ten and she didn’t want to spend that time having Dylan worry about her for things that were outside both of their control.

            “Are you dreaming about…about it?”

            Her eyes fell immediately, and she wished again that they’d never promised to be completely honest with each other. She nodded again, her head tilting down.

             He pulled her chin back up and forced her to meet his eyes. “Do you want to stay over at my place until they stop? We both fit in my bed easy enough and since I don’t have roommates, you don’t have to worry about waking anyone up if you scream again.”

            She shook her head. “Then both of us won’t be getting any sleep.”

            He smiled, pulling her closer to him as a cool breeze chilled the spot of shade they stood in even more and she shivered. “It’s better that than having you looking like you’ve seen a-like you haven’t seen your bed in a week. You’ve stayed with me when I had the nightmares so it’s only fair I do the same. Besides, I have earplugs.”

            That got a half-smile out of her, enough that he dropped his hands and pulled her into a hug. Whitney wrapped her arms around him, letting his embrace melt away the last of the nightmare’s hold on her. “Thank you,” she murmured.

            He squeezed her tighter for a moment. “You know I’m always here for you.”

            She nodded, her face rubbing against his chest with the movement. “So am I.”

            “You two are awfully energetic this morning.”

            Two heads snapped up and turned in the direction of the teasing male voice. Bract grinned at them, hand popping up for a mock salute. “Are you ready?”

            Whitney dropped her arms from Dylan, shifting around so she could face the other man, leaving one arm around Dylan’s waist just as he kept one arm around her shoulders. “Where are we going?”

            Bract noticed her eyes. “What’s the matter?” he asked, moving closer. “You don’t look like you’ve been sleeping. Is something keeping you awake?”

            “She’s having nightmares is all. Nothing you need to worry about,” Dylan replied, voice gruff as he gently squeezed Whitney’s arm.

            The Fae man shook his head. “Depends on the kind of nightmare. There are Fae who can control dreams,” he told Dylan before turning to look at Whitney. “What have you been dreaming about?”

            She met his eyes. “Not Fae. It’s the same nightmare I always have.”

            He nodded. “Good. I thought for a second one of the Court Fae had found out about you. They’re the only ones I know with the power to mess with a mortal’s dreams. But since that’s not the case,” here his expression went from concerned to grinning as if a tiny switch had been flicked. “Then we can head out. A lot of our people are interested in meeting you.”

            Dylan and Whitney exchanged looks before dropping their arms and grabbing each other’s hands. “Lead the way then,” Dylan said, his eyes cool as he looked at Bract.

            The horse-man gave no sign if he noticed, just grinned a little wider before prancing off ahead of them. He didn’t, as they approached the edge of campus, turn towards downtown and the rest of the city. Instead, he headed off down the sidewalk that led out of the student ghetto that surrounded their university and towards the nicer suburbs that were the next layer out.

            They said nothing as they followed him down the concrete path that wound along beside the weathered asphalt of the road. Whitney was grateful for the warmth of the sun, winter’s grip not completely gone despite the lack of snow. They passed apartments and houses, those owned by students obvious with their empty beer bottles and cans along with the occasional sign. One of those on a nearby roof had clearly been up all winter since Whitney remembered seeing the “Fathers, thanks for your daughters” sign during the first-year move-in weekend in September.

            Soon they were passing streets where children played in the streets, all of them enjoying the first sun in days much as their fellow students would once they woke up. She saw two little girls skipping together in the same rope and had to turn away, focusing her attention on the boy drawing what she guessed to be a dinosaur with sidewalk chalk.

            Bract didn’t look at any of the kids running about. His eyes were ahead, his pace increasing a bit as he had them turn down a side-street. Seeing the way the horse-version of him had his ears forward and tail flagged, Whitney assumed they were almost there.

            Seeing the empty, hilly lot ahead of them, one that backed onto a creek that wandered into a patch of undeveloped woodland that stretched even further ahead of them, she was even gladder for the nice weather. She didn’t think Dylan would have put up with standing around in the rain for long.

            As they got closer, she found her initial impression of an empty lot was wrong. What she’d taken for a hill were actually a low, circular wall and a roof, making her think that these buildings were half underground. Bract stopped at the edge, feet still on the asphalt and grinned at them both. “Welcome to Níos Lú Baile, headquarters for all of us who want a better, more fulfilling life.”