Chapter 98: Dreamwalking

Stefan's POV

The System chose that exact moment to chime in, bright and completely unhelpful.

[INCUBUS ASCENSION MISSION]

Protect Kara in any possible way.

Reward: Key to unlock the Incubus Vault

Failure is not recommended.

I stared at the floating text for half a second and felt a raw, incredulous laugh try to crawl up my throat.

"Now?" I muttered under my breath. "You want to fuck me over now?"

Kara was still standing in the doorway, her chest heaving, eyes wide with the kind of fear that didn't leave room for pride. Outside, the voices of the Flowers were getting closer, sharper, more certain.

I didn't have time to argue with the System because of that fear in her eyes, written all over her.

I grabbed Kara by the wrist, yanked her inside, and shoved her toward the small bathing chamber attached to my rooms. She stumbled but didn't resist. I pushed her in, pulled the door shut, and locked it from the outside in one rough motion. When I turned around the Hand was staring at me with wide, startled eyes, frozen in place like a statue that had forgotten how to bow.

I crossed the distance between us in two strides and pushed Authority forward hard enough that she actually flinched.

"You saw nothing," I told her, voice low and flat. "You heard nothing. You don't know what just happened. Do you understand me?"

She swallowed and nodded quickly. "Yes, honored guest."

The main door slammed open a second later.

Three Flowers stepped into the room, their weapons already half-drawn, eyes scanning every corner. Their gazes landed on me, then swept the space, clearly looking for someone smaller and faster.

"Where's the trespasser who came in here?" One of them demanded sharply. They had seen her enter.

I had maybe one second to decide how stupid I was willing to be.

I went with maximum stupidity.

"I'm the one you're looking for," I said, stepping forward with both hands slightly raised. "I was the one running from the Queen's quarters."

The Flowers stared at me like I had grown a second head. For a moment none of them moved. Then the tallest one exchanged a quick glance with the others, shrugged as if it wasn't her job to question miracles, and stepped forward. Rough hands closed around my arms. They dragged me out of the room without another word.

I didn't look back at the bathing chamber door.

~~~~~~~~~~

They took me straight through the corridors and into the outer section of the Queen's private wing. Dove was already waiting there, standing with her arms folded, expression carved from cold stone. When she saw me being hauled forward her eyebrows rose a fraction, but she didn't look particularly surprised.

"I suspected you were up to something. It seems I was correct." she said. Her voice was almost mild.

"I'd be glad to see you thoroughly punished." She added harshly as if she had even already decided what the punishment would be.

"Wait, shouldn't someone ask what I was actually doing in the Queen's quarters before we jump straight to the punishment portion of the evening?" I asked, trying to keep my tone reasonable even while two Flowers kept my arms locked behind my back.

Dove gave me a look that could have stripped paint.

"There is no need. You trespassed. You were seen fleeing. That is enough." she maintained.

"I was looking for my money pouch," I said quickly. "It must have fallen the last time I was brought in for an audience. I only wanted to retrieve it."

Dove didn't even bother answering. She simply turned her head toward the Flowers.

"Take him to the dungeon. He will remain there until Her Majesty returns and decides how she wishes to end him."

End him?

Not punish. Not question.

End? No, c'mon!

"Wait, that isn't fair. You should question me first. Then maybe punish me a little and..." I couldn't finish the sentence. The Flowers had already obeyed Dove and were dragging me away.

I gritted my teeth as they hauled me away. The walk down to the dungeon was long, cold, and silent except for the sound of boots on stone. The place they finally threw me into matched every bad story I had ever heard about dungeons.

There were no windows. No light except for a single weak torch somewhere far down the corridor. The air was damp and heavy and smelled of old stone and older fear.

The heavy door slammed shut. The bar dropped into place on the outside.

I stood there in the dark for a long moment, then let my forehead rest against the cold wall.

The cold of the stone seeped into my skin almost immediately, a slow, steady chill that crawled up from the floor and settled into my bones. I could still smell the faint trace of what could only be described as blood and old sweat that clung to the air, the kind of scent that never fully left a place like this no matter how many years passed.

Somewhere far down the corridor water dripped in an uneven rhythm, each drop landing with a soft, mocking echo. My wrists ached where the Flowers had gripped them too hard. I flexed my fingers slowly, testing for damage, and felt nothing broken, only the deep, throbbing reminder that I had once again talked myself into the worst possible option.

The darkness pressed in from every side, thick enough that even the weak torchlight from the corridor barely reached the edges of the cell. I closed my eyes for a second and tried to slow my breathing. Panic never helped. I needed a plan, or at least the beginning of one, before Dove's idea of "punishment" arrived.

"I should have stayed out of it, I should have let her get caught and saved myself the headache." I muttered. But a tiny part of me seemed to not like that, however I shut it down.

The system however, decided to show its face at that moment.

[It is the responsibility of an Incubus to protect his women,] the System replied, calm as ever.

"Shut up. Just fucking shut up."

To my mild surprise, it actually did.

"You dragged me into this with that mission. And the stupid me accepted to go through it because of that reward." I grunted. That was true too. The promise of a key had actually seemed exciting. I didn't know what it unlocked but what that pleasure device had been able to do had started getting me excited about more rewards.

I had thought it could be something more interesting than than pleasure device.

The system didn't say anything again.

I paced the small cell once, then twice, my hands opening and closing at my sides. There was no obvious way out. The walls were solid. The door was thick. The only furniture was a low stone bench that looked older than most civilizations.

After a while I stopped pacing and spoke into the dark again.

"Is there any way out of this that doesn't end with me losing my head?"

Silence.

Apparently the System was still obeying the shut-up order. Typical. Helpful when it felt like it, mute when I actually needed options.

I dragged a hand down my face and forced myself to think. There had to be something. There was always something.

If I could get through to someone outside... Maybe they would help me somehow?

Then the System chimed again, softer this time.

[Host may reach his First Pillar through Dreamwalking and request assistance.]

Relief hit me so hard my knees almost went weak.

"Finally. Something useful. How does it work?"

[Host must enter a natural sleep while focusing on the target. If the target is also asleep, the connection will form.]

I didn't need to be told twice. I lay down on the cold stone bench, closed my eyes, and tried to force my racing thoughts toward Jonquil - her face, her voice, the way she had looked at me that morning when she asked me to come back tonight.

Sleep took longer than I wanted, but it eventually came.

I opened my eyes in a space that wasn't the dungeon.

It was formless and gray, like standing inside a cloud that had forgotten how to move. There was no Jonquil. No cottage. No familiar gold eyes. Just empty, shifting nothing in every direction.

I walked for what felt like minutes, then longer, calling her name once, then again. Nothing answered.

I woke up back on the stone bench with a curse already on my tongue.

"What the hell was that? Where was she?"

[The target must also be asleep for the connection to stabilize,] the System explained, still infuriatingly calm. [Jonquil has not yet entered sleep.]

I stared up at the dark ceiling of the cell and let out a long, slow breath through my teeth.

"Just wow!" My emergency escape route required waiting for someone else to take a nap.

I knew Jonquil... That woman wasn't going to sleep anytime soon.

At that moment, I heard footsteps approaching the cell and a voice I was starting to loathe;

"We shall start punishing him before her Majesty arrives. He should know the gravity of his actions."