A Warrior's Second Chance (Faye and Alexander) novel Chapter 94

Chapter 94

SILVER HOLLOW

Sage had always told herself that she hated silence, but lately even noise couldn’t drown out the strange restlessness stirring inside her.

Her body didn’t feel like her own. Some days she would wake up with her head pounding, as though a drumbeat pulsed in her skull. Other days she was just angry for no reason. She told herself it was nothing…stress, exhaustion.

Tonight, though, was different. The ache in her chest wouldn’t go away. She lay on her bed staring at the ceiling, her fingers twitching as if she could claw the air.

Her body felt hollow, drained, like something essential had slipped away without her noticing. But that was impossible, wasn’t it? One couldn’t lose what one never had.

Eventually sleep claimed her…or what felt like sleep.

The dream did not come softly. It pulled her under like a tide, cold and heavy, until she opened her eyes and found herself standing in a place that wasn’t real. The world around her glowed with an otherworldly light, but the center of it all was Faye.

Faye was standing in the middle of the dreamscape, her body shimmering, her skin radiant as though fire and moonlight had merged and chosen her as their vessel. Her hair lifted in the air, moving as if stirred by a wind only she could feel. The ground beneath her feet cracked, light seeping through like molten gold.

Sage’s throat tightened.

“Faye…” she whispered, but no sound came out. She tried again, louder, desperate – nothing. Her voice was swallowed, silenced. She could only watch.

And Faye…her sister, her rival, her other half…didn’t even notice her. Faye’s eyes were shut, her face serene, as though she belonged in this strange place, as though she had been

chosen.

Then the dream twisted. Darkness coiled around the edges of the glow, trying to consume it. The light fought back, brighter, fiercer, until it seemed to burn Sage’s eyes. She shielded her face, but even then she felt it…the heat, the raw power vibrating in the air.

She wanted to scream. She wanted to reach out. She wanted Faye to look at her, see her, just once. But the dream wouldn’t allow it.

When Sage finally jolted awake, her heart was pounding, her body slick with sweat. The room

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was dark, quiet, but the image remained…Faye, glowing, untouchable, lost in a power Sage could neither understand nor claim.

For a long time Sage sat on the edge of her bed, pressing her hands against her face. She hated that her sister had followed her into her dreams. She hated the jealousy curling in her chest. And yet beneath the bitterness was something colder, sharper.

Fear.

Because the dream hadn’t felt like a dream at all.

In the morning, Sage sat on the bench outside her parents‘ house. Her eyes were shadowed from lack of sleep, and when she noticed her mother approaching with a basket of vegetables, she hesitated but then spoke before she could change her mind.

“I had a dream,” she blurted.

Her mother slowed her steps. “A dream? About what?”

Sage swallowed. “About Faye.”

Her mother gave a light smile, the kind meant to soothe. “Well, that’s only natural. You miss your sister. Dreams are just the mind’s way of holding onto what it longs for.”

But Sage shook her head, her voice sharp. “No, it wasn’t like that.” She stared at her hands as she tried to describe it. “She was glowing… like light was pouring out of her. It was beautiful, but there was something else–something dark. It was trying to pull at her, like it wanted to eat up the light. She didn’t see me. I just stood there watching…in the dark.”

The smile on her mother’s lips froze. For a fleeting moment, her face went pale, eyes widening ever so slightly. She quickly lowered her gaze to the basket in her hands, fiddling with the vegetables to mask the reaction.

Sage frowned. “You think I’m being ridiculous, don’t you?”

Her mother forced her voice calm. “No. Of course not. But dreams are strange things, Sage. Sometimes they reflect our fears more than anything real. You’ve always felt your sister has everything good handed to her, haven’t you? Maybe this dream is just your mind playing with

that idea.”

Sage studied her carefully. She had lived long enough to know when her mother was hiding something, and right now, every instinct screamed that she was. The way her mother’s hands trembled slightly as she rearranged the vegetables, the way her voice carried a weight behind the casual words–it wasn’t just dismissal.

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But her mother didn’t say more. She reached over, brushing a strand of hair from Sage’s face. “Don’t dwell on it, my child. It was just a dream.”

Sage finally brushed it off, and rose from the bench and muttered something about Jason waiting for her. She walked off.

Her mother stood watching until Sage disappeared through the gate. Only then did she exhale and turn toward the other end of the courtyard.

Her husband sat beneath tree, relaxing, as if he hadn’t heard a word of the exchange. But she

knew better.

“You heard her,” she said quietly, more accusation than question.

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