In Her Dreams

voice slightly tense now as we watch Reve.
Reve has one booted foot on Mark’s belly, holding him down while he raises his arm again and again, whipping Mark from every angle.
Every inch of Reve’s posture is tight with pure rage, and Jerrek and I just stand there helplessly as the whip flies again and again.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
With a scream, Mark begs for mercy, but this time, I hear Reve speak, cold and low.
“Want to pick on kids? On your mate? You don’t like how it feels when it happens to you? You don’t like feeling helpless? If you can’t take what you’re willing to dish out, then you should just die.”
The whip flashes out, but this time, it must have wrapped Mark’s neck because he stops making noise except gagging and grabs at his throat.
And Reve is holding his end tight, pausing only to send me a look of satisfaction.
“All right,” Jerrek says. “That’s my call to intervene.” He approaches Reve warily while Reve continues to pull on the whip, seemingly enjoying Mark’s struggling.
“Hey, big guy,” Jerrek says, and I stare in shock as he puts an arm around Reve’s waist and bodily pulls him off Mark, trying to get his whip with his other hand.
Reve whirls on him, trying to shove him off, but Jerrek simply snarls and lunges forward, grabbing Reve by the neck and holding him up in the air.
Damn, these men are strong. Though they’re both equally tall and built, Jerrek can hold Reve in the air as if he’s nothing. And Reve isn’t even too bothered by it. He’s just kicking the air, trying to pull at Jerrek’s hands and sending furious looks at Mark like he wants to finish what he started.
“Calm down!” Jerrek says, shaking Reve more intensely.
Reve stills, looking slightly dizzy.
“Don’t lose yourself,” Jerrek says. “Remember what happened to Lorien. They came for him. Auctioned him.”
Reve slowly slumps, and Jerrek sets him on his feet. Reve goes over to grab his whip, pulling it off of Mark.
He looks at me, then, with growing horror, to the door where Joey is watching.
Joey quickly shuts the door and presumably runs away, and I just look from Reve to Jerrek, not knowing what the heck is going on.
Reve goes to Mark and kneels down to talk to him. I see Reve gesture to me, forcing Mark to nod.
Then Reve picks him up, deposits him in his car, and stands back with folded arms, waiting for Mark to drive away.
When Mark is gone, swerving away into the distance but looking like he’ll be fine, there’s silence between us in the road.
“I need to go see Lorien,” Reve says simply. When they meet mine, his eyes are apologetic. “I’m sorry.” He looks at Jerrek. “Keep an eye on her. On Joey. I’m sorry. I need to go compose myself.”
And then, with a pained look, he’s just gone in a poof of smoke.

9
Reve
Everything in me feels utterly broken. I’ve never even been at risk of losing control.
And I know only one dream fae would understand what I’m going through right now.
Maybe two.
I poof into Lorien’s space to realize he’s not at home but at Josh’s place.
Josh is a neighbor who also happens to be a dream fae, and I suppose he and Lorien have become friends since Josh helped Lorien’s mate Tess rescue him from the dream realm.
I don’t know what Josh did to get sent here, but I know Lorien lost his temper and got taken back to the dream realm.
So he knows how I feel right now.
Or maybe not. I lost it. I really lost it. I wanted to hurt that man. To kill him. To punish him beyond any logical punishment.
My brain still burns bright red when I think of him hurting Jen or Joey at all. I can’t think of it. I can’t even conceive of it. All I feel is that man’s pure evil and my need to see it eradicated.
But Joey was watching. The horror in his eyes… I’ve lost all hope of having him trust me now. Of showing him I’m not some brutal, violent jerk like his dad.
If that man is actually his dad, that is. I didn’t even let Jen explain. Hell, she might be mad at me. I should have asked what she wanted.
My whole life, I’ve been in control. Logical, composed. But I couldn’t in that moment. I just couldn’t. And that makes me feel weak.
Lorien is staring up at me, holding a piece of pizza and just patiently waiting for me to stop standing there like a statue and talk.
“Reve?” He sets down his pizza on a cardboard box they are using for a table and stands, walking over to me.
Then he wraps his arms around my shoulders and pulls me in for a firm hug, making me realize I’m trembling with shock. “Hey, what’s wrong? You okay?” He pulls back to look at me. “I’ve never seen you like this.”
I look at Josh, who’s wearing his usual ratty bathrobe, nothing like the plush one I conjured for myself.
Then again, Josh has been here being lazy, not training, so I doubt he can produce much with his magic.
He gives me a lazy wave. “You look like hell.”
“Thanks,” I say sourly.
Lorien grabs me by the arm and shoves me over to Josh’s sunken couch, handing me a piece of pizza. “Here. Eat. Calm yourself. Tell me what happened.”
“Where’s Tess?” I ask.
“She’s working,” Lorien says. “She doesn’t need to, but she still loves doing romance covers, and I want to give her space. I’ve been here trying to redeem our friend Josh.”
I give Josh a look, at this point suspicious of him even being a dream fae. His long hair is grayish and bland, and if he was at some point handsome, his overweight, unkempt state has dimmed any attempt at appearing that way.
But there is something about him…
Josh grabs a piece of pizza and digs into it as Lorien sits next to me, patting my knee