Half-Blooded | The Dark Child Prophecy Series [✔️]

Intermission: Dreams

He opened his eyes slowly, the world no longer smelling of pine trees and earth. There were no sounds of crickets or the delicate scent of moonflowers. He stared up at the hazy night sky above him, noticing the stars didn't appear as they should. They had mutated into new constellations, combining both the stars above Meadowlark with the stars above France.

It took him a moment, but then he realized he was no longer asleep in his round armchair that had always reminded him of a bird's nest. Jason sat up in the tall grass, looking around. He was back in the dream meadow, but she wasn't here with him. He swiveled around to look behind him, scanning the clearing for any sign of her blonde hair and her white dress.

"Serenity?" he called, continuing to look around. He got to his feet, wiping his eyes with flat of his forearm. They stung, as if he had been crying before falling asleep. He blinked several times and turned in a slow circle. The meadow was foggy, mist creeping across the ground.

Stinging irritation had begun to circle his wrists and he looked down at them to find blistering hives on his skin.

"What the hell?" he breathed, quickly scanning the meadow again. "Serenity!" Jason hollered again, hoping she was somewhere within the tree line. He looked at his wrists again. He inhaled slowly through his mouth, feeling the air cause his tongue to tingle. It tasted odd and he inhaled more deeply through his nose, sniffing the air. He was assaulted fully as his nostrils felt like they were on fire.

Silver.

The thought came to him immediately, knowing the feeling of the skin allergy immediately once he smelled the metallic scent in the air. He looked down at his hands again, knowing the marks were caused by handcuffs. But he wasn't the one wearing them in his reality.

Jason looked around, trying to pick up her scent. She had to be here if he was; but was it possible her unconscious mind had simply thought about the meadow without being conscious enough to communicate? Their bond was strong enough now that he was feeling her sensitivity to silver through the tie. She was somewhere, handcuffed with silver.

Where are you? he thought, his eyes closing as he projected the words mentally. Fear began to fill him when there wasn't a single piece of her influence that responded.

"Jason?"

He spun around, looking for the sound of the voice. "Serenity?"

"Jason!"

The king alpha jolted awake in his chair when Maria shook his shoulder. He jerked, trying to get his feet flat on the ground, the sensation of falling hitting him as he transitioned back into reality from the dream's parallel dimension. He gripped the sides of the chair until he felt settled back into his body a few seconds later.

"I'm sorry, Jay. I didn't mean to scare you," Maria said from above him, a concerned look on her face.

Jason looked down at his wrists, seeing they were now only minorly irritated. But there were no burns from the silver or hives. He frowned, flipping his hands over to check the back sides.

"Jay, I just got a call from His Highness Gabriel Mezdor-De la Vega," Maria went on, watching him inspect his hands. She waited for him to pause and look up at her. "He heard from Serenity," she finished.

Jason blinked, frowning. "When? Where is she?"

"That's the odd thing, he said that she didn't tell him. He called her to see if she would be arriving at their European summit. When she answered, she wouldn't give him any details... Just something about code for a family house in a different area of Ireland than where the home actually is. His Highness thought perhaps it was a secret hint."

"Did he say what it was?" he asked.

"He said it had something to do with where the clan enemy is located, the Moon Worshipper vampires," she said slowly as she watched him look at his wrists again. "What's wrong with your hands?"

He frowned again, his brow furrowing. "I think she just gave me a hint, too," he responded. "I was there, and it wreaked of silver. I was having a reaction to it on my wrists, like 'cuffs..." He looked up at his cousin again. "Would the Moon Worshippers know about Serenity's allergy to silver?"

The petite brunette frowned. "I'm not sure. I don't know much about the coven beyond their hierarchy."

Jason looked down at wrists again. "Then there's another enemy who knows about our shared weaknesses."