“Ben?” she breathed, gaping at me as though she had seen… a ghost.

She moved toward me across the sand, slowly and cautiously, as one might approach an alien. She reached a hand tentatively up to my face, and… I felt her. Her fingers against my jaw. Her soft touch. I reached up my hand and closed it around hers. I was able to hold her hand.

Taken by this revelation that a ghost could feel in dreams—even if it was just the illusion of feeling—I dipped my head down and pushed my lips against hers. Her breath hitched, and then her arms wrapped around my neck, pulling me in closer as my tongue parted her lips.

I lost myself in the moment, relishing her touch. Touch I’d thought that I might never be able to experience again… But although I could’ve continued kissing River for hours, or however long her dream lasted, I had to tear our lips apart.

She gazed deep into my eyes. Her beautiful features were still marred with a frown.

“Which one is you?” she whispered, casting her eyes over her shoulder to where the second me had emerged from the submarine and stood with her near the jetty.

“This is me,” I assured her, gripping her head in my hands and planting a firm kiss against her forehead. “I promise.”

My hands slid down her shoulders and gripped her hard.

“You must listen to me,” I said, my eyes boring into hers. “My parents and grandfather are in danger. Jeramiah is on the island with the witch, Amaya. He’s planning to round up all three, take them to the cluster of rocks—near The Shade’s port, but outside the boundary— and hand all three over to the hunters. You need to warn them urgently. He could strike anytime between now and 3PM.”

Her eyes filled with fear as they shot back over her shoulder toward the dark island.

I forced her attention back to me. “You must tell them to stay near witches at all times, and they need to smoke Jeramiah and the witch out of The Shade. His base was in the old farmhouse near the potato fields. I don’t know if he’ll return to that house, but there is a chance that he might. The two have been roaming the island beneath the protection of an invisibility spell, but you’ve got to find them.”

River nodded fiercely, even as she looked panicked. “O-Okay,” she said. “I’ll go right now! You should come with me, too!”

“You need to wake up, River,” I said. I pushed my mouth against hers in a short, passionate kiss. “Wake up. Wake up now.”

“But your parents!” she exclaimed, glancing again at the island. She took a step back and, gripping my hand, began attempting to race toward the Port. “There’s no time to lose.”

“Yes, but you have to wake up first.”

I reeled her in and pulled her against me, even as she tried to keep moving forward. I clutched her shoulders and shook them hard, harder than I would have liked to, but I reminded myself this was just a dream. And I had to jolt her into wakefulness. If I let her go wandering off, she would only keep dreaming.

Finally, my firmness worked. The scene around me faded away, along with River, and the feel of her shoulders in my hands. Now, with my eyes still closed, all I saw was blackness. River’s dream had ended.

Chapter 20: Ben

My eyes shot open. I looked around, my consciousness returning to the dark forest surrounding me.

Now that River was awake, I had to pray that firstly, she would remember the dream, and secondly, she would find it in herself to act on it. Sane people didn’t act on dreams. Why would they when dreams were, for the most part, nonsensical fabrications of the subconscious? I had to hope that, somehow, River would be able to sense that this dream was different. That I had infected her with my urgency.

I left my spot beneath the tree and began to race toward the Vale. Dashing along the streets, and arriving outside River and her family’s townhouse, I walked through the closed front door. As I entered the hallway, I heard voices coming from the kitchen at the end of the corridor.

I hurried through a second closed door to see Jamil and Nadia— who looked much better than when I’d seen her earlier— sitting around the kitchen table, bowls of pasta in front of them, while River stood leaning against the counter. She wore the same day clothes she had changed into earlier. Were it not for her mussed hair and bleary eyes, I wouldn’t have been able to tell that she had just taken a nap. She had dark circles under her eyes, and she barely looked more refreshed than the last time I’d seen her.

I walked up to her and tried to take her hands in mine, as I would’ve been able to do in the dream. As my fingers drifted right through her, I stared down at her, watching every expression that crossed her face intently.

Come on, River. Come on. Remember what I told you.

She reached a hand up and clamped it around her shoulder before rolling her neck slowly. There was a restlessness about her demeanor, and that gave me hope.

“I didn’t mean to doze off, actually,” River murmured.

“You needed it, honey,” her mother said, eyeing her with concern. “Go sleep some more if you’re tired.”

River shook her head. “No,” she said. She left the counter and took a seat at the table, opposite Jamil.

“Won’t you eat something?” Nadia asked.

“Maybe a bit later,” River replied vaguely. She breathed out, leaning her elbows on the table and rubbing her fingers against her forehead. “I had a strange dream,” she admitted finally.

That’s it. Come on, River.