19

Dranian Evelry and the Present Issue of Never Sleep

Coffee was not enough. Dranian spent the whole evening restlessly trying to distract himself so he wouldn't fall asleep. He spent most of the time in his bedroom pacing. Finally, he went to the kitchen and nibbled on cookies, he did stretches, he played fetch with Dog-Shayne until Dog-Shayne fell back to sleep. He finally caved and called Cress in the twilight hours.

"What in the faeborn-cursed human realm are you calling me for at this hour?! I thought once Shayne left I'd finally get some sleep!" Cress's loud complaints came through the phone before any kind of greeting.

"I can't come into work today," Dranian stated.

"Why ever not?" Cress asked through a yawn .

"I've avoided slumber all night. I'm ill." Dranian waited for the verdict.

After a few seconds, Cress released a growly moan. But then he said, "Fine. Get better."

Dranian laid back on the couch and thought that over. It was clear Cress hadn't a clue Shayne had snuck off. Apparently, Lily hadn't told anyone about what she'd discovered from her phone call to Greyson.

So, Dranian called Lily next.

"What's wrong?!" Her voice was panicked, desperate, and raspy from sleep. "What happened, Dranian?!"

Dranian made a face. "Nothing faeborn happened," he said dully.

Lily let out a breath of relief. "Then why are you calling me at four a.m.? I thought that fox-guy was murdering you or something!"

"You didn't tell anyone that Shayne lied," Dranian said. "I thought you would have told them."

Lily paused. "I thought you would have told them."

"That's nonsense. You're at the café more than me. I only work there part time now," Dranian countered.

"I only work there part time, too. Seriously Dranian, I've always been part time."

Another pause.

"Right." Dranian nodded.

"And to be honest," Lily's fidgeting was practically coming through the phone, "I didn't want to say anything until I knew why Shayne lied to us."

Dranian tapped his chin in thought. "You think we shouldn't tell the others?" He hated the thought of hiding something else from his High Court. One secret was enough for him—two would be positively torturous.

"I think they'll find out as soon as Kate has a conversation with Greyson. But for now, I just want to figure out what's going on. I've texted Shayne like thirty times, and he hasn't replied," she said.

"His phone is with me. He didn't take it," Dranian told her. He stood from the couch to pace, wondering if he should make more coffee to keep himself awake. "Why don't we give Shayne three days?" Dranian had to save Dog-Shayne in the next three days anyway. "If he doesn't turn up, then we'll hunt for him," he finished.

Lily's heavy sigh came through the phone. "I hate keeping secrets from Kate."

"I hate keeping secrets from Cress and Mor," Dranian returned. He glanced at the floor. "But if it was me, and Shayne found out I had lied, he wouldn't dare oust me before the others until he knew why I did it."

"Yeah."

A third pause went by.

"We'll reconvene in three days' time," Dranian mumbled in decision. "Hopefully Shayne comes back on his own before then."

"I can live with that," Lily said. "Talk to you later. Watch your back."

Dranian hung up the phone and went to the kitchen for more cookies. He'd just stuffed a large one into his mouth when his phone rang again. He answered horribly with his mouth full. "Heh-wow?"

"Are you sneaking night snacks?" Mor's voice filled his ear. Dranian forced himself to swallow the cookie, his throat suddenly feeling dry. "Yes," he confessed. It was one thing he could confess.

"Cress just woke me from a deep sleep with a phone call and told me you haven't been sleeping. That you can't even come into work. He's asking me to fill in for you," Mor said.

Dranian swatted crumbs off his lips. "My apologies," he said, glancing at the clock. How typical of Cress to call Mor at such an hour over a shift placement.

"That's not why I'm calling. I don't mind working at the café. I'm wondering why you can't sleep."

A creak sounded in the background, and Dranian pictured Mor walking around his big, ugly, creaky cathedral.

Dranian found himself pacing again.

"I… I accidentally replied to a dreamslipper," Dranian admitted, reaching the end of the living space. When he turned around, he froze in place.

Luc stood there. Staring at him.

"Queensbane, Dranian. What would possess you to speak to a faeborn dreamslipper?" Mor asked. "Do you want me to mix you a sleep remedy to keep it out?"

Dranian nearly threw the phone out the window. "Mor," he said, "I'll have to call you back." Dranian slammed the "end call" button. He dropped his phone to the couch like it was a hot coal. Then he eyed Luc. "Did you hear all that?" he asked, balling his fists at his sides.

"Unfortunately." Luc sounded uninterested, but he couldn't hide a teensy tiny smirk that tugged at the corner of his mouth. He turned around, but not before Dranian saw it. "I once responded to a dreamslipper in my childling years. It took me six days to kick her out of my head," he said.

"Six days?" Dranian gaped. He'd never heard of someone escaping the clutches of a dreamslipper so fast. "One of my allies in the Brotherhood tried for six months to get his dreams back."

Luc glanced over at him. "What do you mean, tried ?"

Dranian closed his mouth, deciding not to explain that the fairy had gone mad and tossed himself into the Jade Ocean after never succeeding. But by the look on Luc's face, it seemed the fox could figure out the end of the story on his own.

A female scream came from the hall, and Dranian's skin tightened. It had sounded like Beth.

Luc sighed and swung the apartment door open, revealing Beth standing outside in the dark hall with a pale face. She stared down in horror at a fairy bound tightly by vines and rope, squirming on the ground in the middle of the hall.

"Oh dear," Luc said. "Hold still for me, will you dear Beth?" He reached over and grabbed her forehead with one hand while rolling and kicking the fairy through the door into 3E with his foot. Dranian's eyes widened as he recognized the Shadow Fairy that had put the wristlet onto Dog-Shayne in Luc's memory—the one fairy in existence who therefore had the power to remove it. Dranian grabbed the fool's foot and dragged him the rest of the way in, out of Beth's sight.

Luc dropped his hand from Beth's forehead. The human female gasped and looked straight ahead, all her screaming forgotten. She blinked. Then she looked around. Looked down at her human pajamas. "What just happened? I literally can't remember what I was just saying. Why did I come out here, again?" she asked.

Luc shrugged and brushed some invisible thing off his sleeves. "Beats me. Have a nice day." He stepped into the apartment and closed the door behind him. Then he nudged the Shadow Fairy with his foot.

From the floor, the Shadow Fairy gaped at the apartment, taking in the folded blankets on the couch, the TV, the curtains. Dranian.

"I brought a gift for Dog-Shayne. As much as I enjoyed watching him fight, I never should have bound his fate to mine. So, now he'll be free, and we can keep the rest of it between us fairies," he said.

The fox whistled and the sound of Dog-Shayne lifting from his dog bed came from the kitchen. As soon as the dog appeared and padded over, Luc put his heel against the Shadow Fairy's neck. "Remove the blossoms from this mutt," he demanded.

The Shadow Fairy glared up at Luc. "You'll be killed for this."

"Oh dear. I'm already going to die; did you forget?" Luc flashed him a smile and shook his wrist in the air to rattle his branch wristlet. "Now, remove the blossom you placed on this mutt, or I'll crush your windpipe."

"You just tossed away your last two days alive by snatching me, Zelsor! The Army will come claim you immediately once they realize—" The Shadow Fairy's face blanched as Luc drew his fairsaber. The saber moved provocatively close to the fairy's neck as Luc brought it down to slice the vines and ropes. As soon as the Shadow was free of his binds, he scrambled back against the wall. "Airslip, and I'll chase you to your death," Luc warned. Then he nodded back to Dog-Shayne. "Free the mutt."

The Shadow Fairy looked at the dog, a stroke of fear crossing his silver-brown eyes. He reached for Dog-Shayne's wristlet, snapped the branches in half, and quickly yanked his hand back to himself. The whole wristlet fell to the floor, shrivelling into ashy bits of dried flowers and dust.

"You're a lunatic, Zelsor," the Shadow Fairy said. "You can't possibly take on the whole Shadow Army by yourself."

The claim hung in the air as a broad, twisted smile crossed Luc's beautiful face. "Watch me, you fool."

The Shadow Fairy snarled. Then, as Luc had forbade him from doing, he vanished.

Luc sighed. He cursed. He scratched his head. "I did warn him," he said, bracing to airslip, but Dranian stopped him with a growl.

" Don't let him get away! That fool tried to kill my dog!" he said, then asked, "What will you do to him?"

Luc thought about it. "I think I'll make him too weak to airslip and drop him from the sky. How does that sound?" he decided. "Don't worry, North Fairy. I'll cover my tracks. I'm good at that." Luc paused for a moment, and Dranian got a strange feeling about the look that came over the fox's face. "Farewell, North Fairy. I know we're not allies by any measure of the word, but I appreciated not being alone for a little while."

There was a pause. A single heartbeat. Dranian didn't have time to ask the question that hung in the air.

Luc disappeared—a slip of colour turning to dust—and Dranian was left there with a freshly freed Dog-Shayne.

The apartment seemed strangely empty and quiet all of a sudden. Dranian stared at the spot where Luc had been. Something felt off, like there was an obvious sign in the sky and he was missing it. He turned all the way around, trying to sniff out the oddity. As he did, he realized for the first time that Luc's spare pair of shoes were missing from the matt by the door. All his crumbs had been cleaned from the living room, too.

Dranian went to Luc's bedroom and peeked inside.

A strange feeling found him at the sight of Luc's bed made. The fox's satchel of belongings wasn't anywhere in sight. He rushed into the bathroom next, and lo and behold, Luc's toothbrush was gone.

Dranian came out with the realization that he was the victor after all. Him . Luc had packed up his things and run for his faeborn life. And if the nine tailed fox wasn't coming back, Dranian could joyfully revel in the rewards of having his apartment all to himself again.

That was what he wanted.

He scratched his temple.

This had to be a trick.

Was the fool really not coming back? Was this a fox ruse to get Dranian's hopes up? Had Dranian really conquered a legendary nine tailed fox all on his own?

He headed for the window and looked out. The sky was clear of airslippers, and a huff of disbelief escaped him. It was real. Luc was gone.

Finally, Dranian could go before his brothers and tell them all that had happened. He could announce that he had handled it himself and that, should danger ever come his way again, he would be just fine—damaged arm or not.

It would have been an adequate time to smile, but for whatever reason a smile never came. Dranian studied the living room, wondering if it had always been so big. If there had always been so much extra air and space everywhere. A light chill moved through the empty apartment, and Dranian shuddered. He went to Dog-Shayne's side.

Now that it was just the two of them, Dranian turned to his pet and said, "I demand you barf up that thistle."

Dog-Shayne blinked at him with all the innocence and adoration of a true, reliable ally. And so, Dranian decided to let it go. He was feeling tired anyway. He stood and stretched, thinking about going to the grocery store for pasta noodles now that Dog-Shayne's safety was no longer a concern. Perhaps Dog-Shayne could carry some of the groceries home.

But Dranian's eyes burned from lack of sleep, his body wanted to fall to the floor, and every particle of his being wanted to rest. He wouldn't make it to the grocery store in this state, even when morning came. With a sigh, he decided he would sit on the couch and allow his eyes to close for a second—just to relieve the sting.

"Dranian."

He stood face-to-face with a bright-eyed female. He nearly jumped out of his skin—he tried to fall backwards, to wake himself from this dream, but she latched onto his arm with a force that didn't feel at all natural.

"Your friend is here where I am," she said, like before. Only this time, she added, "Shayne Lyro."

Dranian halted his escape.

How did she know that name ?

Lily's words rang in Dranian's ears from when she'd discovered Shayne wasn't in the kingdom of Florida like he'd told everyone. It was too much of a coincidence to believe. In fact, it was so absurd, Dranian couldn't even imagine it. That Shayne had found himself in the company of a real dreamslipper.

Something doubled over in Dranian's chest—but he could not be fooled this easily. He swallowed, drawing in caution, every breath a risk.

"Who are you?" he asked the female. Speaking to a dreamslipper only gave them more control, but looking at this fairy now, it didn't seem like control was what she was after. In fact… Dranian slammed his eyes shut, refusing to acknowledge what his mind might have been telling him all along.

That she was familiar.

"I think you know who I am. I can tell you remember me. Snap out of it and listen! Do you know how hard it was to find you like this? And now you won't even hear what I have to say?!" she said with a tone of accusation.

Dranian inhaled deeply as he remembered that girl with no name from the village. The one who could slip into dreams. The one he had watched slay a hogbeast with just a half-spear. The one who had sunk to the bottom of the Twilight Lakes.

"You're dead," he said back. "That's how I know this is a trick."

Shock crossed the girl's face. She stared at him for several passing heartbeats, her lips parted, her eyes widening. "You thought… "

"Queensbane, get out of my head, you ghost!" Dranian roared, and she took a staggered step back. Wind and rain formed in the space around them, mimicking the torment in Dranian's soul. It blew at his clothes; it tousled her black hair.

When she spoke again, it was quieter this time. "I know you have no reason to believe a dreamslipper. I know you think you can't trust a word I say because I could have stolen any of this information from your dreams. But Shayne Lyro is going to die," she said. "He said you and him were the best of friends. That's why I've been trying to find you."

"Why should I believe that?" Dranian looked around his dream now, wondering if a cliff would form so he could hop from it, or a lake which he could fall into. Something that would startle him awake.

"He called you a grumpy latte addict," she said, and Dranian's eyes slowly drifted back to her. Dreams were strange things—maybe he had heard her incorrectly.

"What did you just say?" he asked anyway.

"He called you a grumpy. Latte. Addict," she articulated. "He doesn't even know I'm reaching out to you. He didn't want you here. But he cares about you, I can tell. So, I found you anyway." She set her jaw. "I have no reason to help either of you. You never came back for me like you said you would. But you saved my life once. So, I'm returning the favour."

Dranian slapped a fist over his mouth. It was possibly the most expression he'd ever mustered on one occasion. But that information she spoke of had not been anywhere near the forefront of his mind all these years. It would not have been easy for a dreamslipper to access knowledge like that if he'd never dreamt about it. So, either this was the most powerful dreamslipper he had ever heard about, or…

Or this really was her. That girl. The one with no name.

And she really was with Shayne.

"Where are you?" he demanded, dropping his hand and stepping in. His faeborn heart began to pound. He needed to get to Shayne. To her.

She looked between his eyes like she was trying to gauge if he truly believed her now. Then finally, she said, "I'm at the House of Lyro."

Dranian's mouth slammed shut.

No.

No, Shayne could not possibly be there. He was supposed to be on vacation. He should be somewhere in the human realm still, lying on a beach, not back in the Ever Corners. Not…

Queensbane, Shayne was going to die.

"I'm going to—Gah!" A stabbing pain burst through Dranian's side, stealing his words. His rhythms took off, his eyesight wavered. His whole dream shook. The stabbing came again, and he nearly buckled forward.

The girl looked around, worry etching over her features. "Dranian," she said. Then she grabbed his shoulders and shouted it louder. "Dranian! You need to wake up now!"

"Are you doing this?" he demanded, feeling the nightmare sink in.

Her face changed. The girl's hands slid off his shoulders and she took a step back, appearing dumbfounded.

Dranian's body was struck by something, and he fell to the side. He wheezed, and he gritted his teeth.

"Dranian! This isn't a nightmare! Someone is hurting you outside of your dream! WAKE UP!" She growled it—demanded it— threatened it, even.

The next hit ripped him from his slumber.

Dranian's eyes opened just in time to see a fist coming for his face. He rolled off the couch, hitting the floor with a thud. Two hands grabbed and hoisted him up, and Dog-Shayne barked in protest until one of the fairies kicked him into the bedroom and shut the door.

Dranian wanted to shout, "Don't touch my dog!" but as his eyes fell upon the fairy he was face-to-face with, a fairy he only recognized from a mostly black and white dream, all his words grew too heavy in his mouth to say aloud.

The Dark Prince's long, scarlet hair was even more vibrant in person. He glowered at Dranian. Then he said, "Take him."