Page 70 of Dark Embrace

He could not do it.

His mind was made up. He turned to leave the dream, and he hit that invisible wall again. Furious, he pushed against it, again and again, to no avail.

“No one will ever leave this dream unless I allow it,” Moray said in quiet fury.

Aidan’s rage knew no bounds and it became savage. He let Brianna go.

“Aidan?” she whispered.

He didn’t really hear her. Every hackle raised, he faced Moray and snarled.

Moray’s eyes widened in alarm.

Brianna screamed.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

THE WOLF WAS ENRAGED, Brie thought. But Aidan didn’t think he had enough power to defeat his father. The Wolf had extraordinary strength, but it was an unthinking beast. She didn’t believe it a match for Moray. “Aidan, don’t.”

But it was too late. The Wolf roared and leapt at Moray. As the beast struck the demon, the layers of sleep crushing her down crumbled. Brie soared upward, opened her eyes and sat up in bed. There was no moment of sudden comprehension, when a person realizes that he has been dreaming. Brie knew she had been in a nightmare just as she now knew she was awake. But that dream had been strange, far different from all others; the dream world was becoming too powerful, too tangible…too real.

Aidan stood by the bed, immobilized. His legs were braced, his body was rigid and he was breathing hard. His eyes were glazed.

He remained in the dream, she thought. She could only imagine what was happening in the dream world—and she had died in a dream last night. She seized his arms. “Wake up!” she screamed at him, jumping to her feet.

He started, glancing into her eyes, his gaze becoming lucid. Relief covered his features.

Brie collapsed back onto the bed, shaking. “Your father trapped us in that dream. I think he was controlling it from start to finish,” she cried.

He sat down beside her, clasping her shoulders. “He’s gone. He fled the Wolf.”

Brie became terribly aware of his large hands on her shoulders and his huge body, inches from hers. She had gone to bed in her T-shirt and sweatshirt, and her legs were bare. She wanted to collapse in his arms, but instead she met his concerned and searching gaze.

“Are ye hurt?”

“You know I wasn’t hurt, but I’ll admit to being terrified. God, he is toying with us!” All she could think of was what Moray had wanted, and how he had tried to bend Aidan to his will.

Aware of her thoughts, Aidan started to pull away from her.

Brie seized his face in her hands, thinking of his son. “Evil is cruel,” she said slowly. “Evil is heartless, without conscience. Still…I’m appalled. Oh, Aidan!” She slipped her arms around him and tried to lay her cheek on his chest.

He jumped to his feet. “Ian is dead,” he said, but his tone was uncertain.

“Ian is a ghost,” she said as carefully. “And we were dreaming of him.”

His gaze flew to hers. “Yer nay certain.”

She trembled. “Aidan, he’s been dead for sixty-six years. If he were alive, he’d be a grown man.”

Aidan cried out.

She leapt to her feet and put her arms around him, but he instantly twisted away.

“Ye’ll be safe at Iona. We go by horseback an’ galley in the morning,” he said tersely. His glance slid down her legs.

He was blocking his emotions for her, but she knew he was filled with pain and anguish. “This is exactly what he wants—to instill fear in us and to torment you even more than he has already,” Brie cried. “These demons are worse than terrorists! We can’t let them frighten us and we can’t let them torment us!”

“An’ how should I be, then?” he shouted. “Should I pretend I didn’t just see an’ hear my dead son?”