She was standing next to the beautiful wild stallion. He was the color of onyx with a mane and tail of whiskey. He was the most beautiful animal she had seen in a long time. Suddenly, a scream from across the yard caused to him to rear. She screamed as his hoof collided with her skull and the world went black.

Tara woke up screaming. This dream had been haunting her for years. Alarik came running.

“Nikita!” he panted.

Tara ignored his use of her underused first name.

“Damn that dream to the depths of Tartarus!” she cursed.

Alarik gave a huff of laughter. She ignored him and rubbed her temples. That dream always left her with one hell of a headache.

“Ah, another crushing headache?” Wulfrik asked appearing in the doorway.

Tara gave her brother-in-law an icy glare.

Wulfrik and Alarik Aeldermann were twins but were nothing alike despite their shared looks.

“Perhaps you should find the stallion that haunts your dreams,” Wulfrik suggested pushing his glasses back up his nose with his middle finger.

Tara’s head snapped up, despite its pounding, to meet Wulfrik’s gaze.

“I take it you did not consider it?” he asked.

Tara shook her head, rather violently.

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“I’m not going back” she whispered.

Alarik looked at her surprised.

“Why?” he asked, not unkindly.

Tara shook her head. She didn’t want to talk about it. She never wanted to talk about her time on the island. Everything was half remembered anyway. The one person she clearly remembered was a girl with the most startling blue eyes she’d ever seen and a shock of long, silver-white hair. She didn’t remember actually meeting her while on the isle but for some bizarre reason she stood out in her memory.

Wulfrick cleared his throat. Tara’s eyes refocused on him.

“These nightmares have plagued you since you woke up in the hospital twelve years ago,” he stated bluntly, causing Tara to flinch involuntarily. “It’s time you did something about them. I don’t give a damn whether you want to go back or not, Niki, but if you don’t do it now you’ll never be able to do it after your daughter is born.”

Tara glared at him for using the shortened version of her first name, but he was right. And she hated to admit that.

“You realize going back means I may never be able to leave again, yes?” she sighed sadly.

“They will not recognize you, love,” Alarik reassured her gently. “It has been nearly 15 years since they last saw you.”

“That will not matter, Al, and you damn well know it.” She sighed again. “I am so going to regret this.”

She stood and went to her wardrobe. She rifled around until she found the one dress she owned that would not cause quite as much of a stir. She dressed quickly, despite having Wulfrik still standing in the doorway. She turned back to her husband and brother-in-law, both of whom were now staring at her open-mouthed.

“Shut your mouths, boys, or you will swallow a fly,” she told them. “You ought to get changed into something other than your night clothes and it had better be something you could see the Queen in, because that’s exactly what you’ll be doing.”

She muttered this last part to herself as the two men scurried away to do as she’d bid them. Moments later both men were back dressed in nearly identical suits.

“Ready?” she asked, ignoring the fact that Alarik and Wulfrik almost couldn’t be told apart.

The siblings exchanged a confused look.

“Yes, we’re ready, but aren’t we going to book our tickets?” Alarik asked.

Tara merely stared at him.

“I take it we’ll be traveling another way, then?” Wulfrik asked nonchalantly.

Tara only said one word before she grabbed their hands and began willing herself to the brother she vaguely remembered: sublimation.