Alex's head began pounding once again, as if the very mention of Reylor made her blood rush, but she wrenched her hand out of his, her rage rising.

If Treyan sensed her discomfort, he didn't show any signs as he continued to press his point. "This is beyond you hearing him in your apartment—you're acting like you've seen him before. Like you've met him." He peered at her a moment longer. "As if you're scared of him."

His voice was harsh, panicked, and urgent, and she took a defensive step away. He said don't tell him her dreams, but did that involve not discussing those she saw in them as well? "No, I've never met him," she finally admitted once she found her voice.

"But you have seen him." Not a question.

"I don't know if I've seen him, in person, per say, but—"

Treyan cut her off. "Where?"

Alex knew her response was going to sound ridiculous any way she spun it, so she shrugged it off. "It could have been during that dream I had last night..."

Without warning, Treyan grabbed her arms tightly above the elbow, and pushed her back against the nearby wall. His blue eyes raged as she felt the stone of the wall dig into her back before she could attempt to maneuver out of his strong grasp.

"Was it Reylor in your dreams?" he inquired through clenched teeth.

She swallowed and cleared her throat and bared her teeth. "You just told me not to tell anyone my dreams," she snapped, not appreciating his force or tone.

His hands held her tighter. "Let go," she ordered.

Instead of acknowledging her request, he shook her as if in an attempt to regain her attention on the subject at hand.

"This isn't a game, Alex," he growled. "I need you to answer me. Was Reylor in your dreams?"

"I'm not playing a game, Treyan," she hissed as she once again struggled against his grasp. "Let go of me. Now."

He wasn't having any of it. The fire in his eyes would have engulfed her if she let it. His face was close to hers now, his grip still tight on her arms with an almost inhuman-like strength that she knew she wouldn't be able to break no matter how hard she tried.

But she still tried.

"You need to show me," he finally demanded.

"What? Show you my dream? And how the hell do you expect me to do that?"

Growling, he closed his eyes and leaned his forehead on hers. Despite appreciating his touch in the past, she flinched away this time. This wasn't the Treyan she had come to know, and she wasn't certain she truly knew him at all. But being this close to him, she could inhale his clove and spice scent, and feel his deep breathing brushing against her face, as though he was trying to calm himself.

Perhaps he's finally realizing how much of a prick he's being, she thought as she attempted to remove herself from his grip. "Treyan—"

Just when she thought his tirade was over and she considered letting her guard down, as soon as his name escaped her lips, his eyes flew open and locked on hers.

"I'm sorry."

"What for?" she asked carefully.

With his head against hers, he brought his hands up to hold the sides of her head, and once again she heard him mutter those damn, foreign words that sent her tumbling into the uncontrolled darkness.

Alex woke with the feeling Treyan's hands still pressed against her cheeks; exactly how she remembered falling asleep, so it didn't startle her as much as it should have. Only once she felt a hand on her upper thigh and an unwanted weight upon her did she quickly open her eyes.

Now that she could match a name with the face, she was certain it was Reylor above her. She tried to wrestle away from his touch but the grip of his fingers tangling in her hair held her head in place, and the weight of his body against hers pinned her to the bed beneath him. She could feel his passion building between his legs within his pants, and she struggled like a hunted animal, desperate for a way out. But beyond the heaviness of his body upon her, there was something else that kept her on that bed— some unseen force holding her against her will. She didn't know what terrified her more.

Those haunting red eyes were assessing at her as he looked her over.

"You told him," he snarled.

"Enough, Reylor. Move away from her. Now."

Alex's breath caught in her throat as the sound of Treyan's voice filled her ears, and she allowed just a sliver of relief flood through her, even as Reylor still hovered over her. It all came back to her then—his demands, her dream.

He had brought them into her dream.

Reylor groaned as he finally released Alex, all but throwing her back onto the bed. "Come now, Treyan, breaking your own rules now, are we?" He crawled off of Alex and removed himself from the bed, standing to his full height as he stood to face his brother. "Whatever will the Councillor think?"

"Let her go."

Reylor shrugged. "You act as though I'm keeping her here against her own free will. When last I checked, this was her dream."

A blue bolt of power whizzed pass Reylor's head, colliding with the wall above the bed. Alex had to close her eyes and move her head away so as not to suffer damage from the falling debris.

"Hopefully that will jog your memory," Treyan warned his brother.

Reylor shook the dust from his dark shirt. "It is always fire first and ask later with the Empire, is it not, Treyan?"

With a snap of his fingers the unknown power keeping her on the bed seemed to dissipate, and Alex sat up immediately, backing away from Reylor and making sure she was still decent in the process.

Treyan stood, battle-ready and almost emanating an aura all his own. He stood at the end of the bed as Reylor cautiously kept his distance. In his right palm, Treyan controlled a ball of what appeared to be blue flame like the ones Alex saw that night in her apartment.

The first time she'd met Treyan, and the first time she'd heard Reylor.

"It is nice to see you again, brother," Reylor mused as his hands rested at his sides as though unconcerned that any additional threat would be aimed at his head.

Alex took advantage of the standoff to finally observe Treyan's brother. He wore a loose black shirt, tight breeches, and not much else. His blond hair was loose around his shoulders, with his red eyes piercing through the strands falling in his face. The attractive family resemblance was unmistakable, and she wondered what the future would have held for him if he hadn't betrayed his Empire.

"How did you do it?" Treyan's demanding tone broke into her thoughts.

A smug smile crossed Reylor's face. "Do what?"

"You know what."

"While you were out playing errand boy for the Empire, some of us found the need to spend their time focusing on more...serious practices."

"Do not play with me, Reylor," Treyan warned as he took another step toward his brother with his flaming hand aimed at his twin's head. "Not now, and not about this."

"No, Treyan. It is you who should not play with me. I assure you, I am far beyond playing games with you."

To add emphasis to his threat, he held his hand out toward Alex, his own red ball of flame growing between his fingertips, and suddenly Alex found herself in the middle of the fire fight. "Treyan," she warned as she finally scurried off of the bed, trying to get as far away from the threat of that outstretched hand as possible. If he was going to run his mouth and piss off his brother, she did not want it to be at her expense.

Treyan went still, as if every muscle in his body seized as he assessed the threat that was now directly aimed at her, even as his eyes remained on his brother. "You won't harm her, and we both know that. You would never have gone through all of this trouble to just have it end here and now."

"Even so, it's more than enough to capture your attention," Reylor growled. "Remind me, how long have you been waiting for this?"

"Enough of this. The Empress and I are leaving."

"Answer me!" The rage in his tone increased the intensity of the glowing red power in his hands, still aimed toward Alex. She backed away as far as she could, pressed against the room's curtained balcony doors with nowhere else to go, afraid to move any further lest Reylor's temper explode.

Treyan glanced at her as if debating his next move. There seemed to be more going on than Alex could comprehend, so for her sake she hoped Treyan answered his brother correctly.

Treyan set his jaw. "Since the day Mother told us of the Prophecy."

"And when you finally submerged yourself into her world? Did you stalk her in the Otherrealm, or patiently watch her from afar like a coward for all those years?"

Alex paused. Watching her? Her gaze turned toward Treyan, whose intent concentration gave away nothing—no tells that his brother may have just revealed one of his greatest secrets. Was that how he knew it was her birthday, or that she was going to be celebrating that night? That he had been watching her, and not just for the evening?

"You know that's not how this works."

"And then what?" Reylor's rambling continued. "What happy ending do you have in store for the Empress, now bound by honor to the Empire, her service the Council, and her duty to the Crown Prince?"

"More than you could ever give her," Treyan countered through clenched teeth.

"I was never given the chance to give her anything!"

Reylor brought both of his hands forward and immediately shot red flames toward Treyan, his apparent anger causing him to act without hesitation.

The movements shook her from her contemplations about Treyan's true intention, and she shouted out a warning, but Treyan was already waiting for his brother's advance. Another blue light emerged from his opposite hand, covering him like a shield, just in time to deflect the flames racing toward him.

Alex used the distraction to her advantage and crouched down, keeping low to the ground as she hugged the wall and moved away from the center of the brothers' conflict to find the best way to get away from the bed. Keeping her eyes on Treyan while she crawled on her hands and knees, the brothers continued their assault. Reylor continued to throw his magic at Treyan while Treyan used his own to defend himself. But the Crown Prince was beginning to show signs of tiring, his chest heaving and sweat glistening on his brow, though his power and resolve never seemed to waver.

Suddenly, the protective shield of light expanded and flung its growing power back toward Reylor, forcing him off his feet and crashing his back into the nearby wall. The impact must have stunned him for his body slumped to the ground and remained motionless. The exchange was almost instantaneous, but Alex couldn't keep her eyes from the unconscious brother, or her thoughts from considering the extent of Treyan's power to render him as such.

Taking advantage of her distraction, Treyan ran over to Alex and urgently grabbed her by the arm, pulling her to her feet next to him. His eyes raked over her desperately, as if he was looking for signs of harm.

"I'm okay," she assured him, but his hold on her didn't let up. If anything, her words had him holding her closer. He brushed tousled hair from her face and ran a hand over her arm, giving her a final inspection in the aftermath of Reylor's infiltration of her mind.

"Treyan, I'm fine," she insisted. And glanced over her shoulder at where Reylor remained slumped against the wall, uncertain how long he would remain.

Without another word, he regained her attention by bringing her face back toward his, and he kissed her with an almost unexpected and passionate force. His mouth melded into hers, as if the very creases of their lips were predestined to match one another's. Her arms reflexively wrapped around his shoulders as his other arm reached around her, his hand resting at the nape of her neck, his fingers curling into her loose auburn hair. His eyes were intense when he withdrew his lips from hers, eyes burning into her like an azure beacon in the darkest of nights.

Her heart was pounding as hard as the returning pain within her temples, and she wasn't certain she was breathing even as he whispered that damning mantra.

With the taste of cloves lingering on her lips, Alex's dream faded to black.