Let Them Kneel (kaelani and Julian) novel Chapter 103

His voice dropped to a whisper.

“Tell me I’m not just imagining you.”

Kaelani’s voice was soft but assuring. “You’re not imagining me. I’m really here. I’m… dream-walking.”

Julian didn’t hesitate. He surged forward, needing to feel her, to hold her—to know she was real. But just as his fingers were about to brush her skin—

The world shifted.

The lavender and sunrise vanished, replaced by the warm hum of soft lighting and the scent of baked sugar and espresso. Julian blinked, disoriented.

They were sitting across from each other at a small table inside her bakery.

The same table. The same view. The same memory of when he first came to see her.

Julian looked down. White t-shirt and jeans. His heart stumbled. Across from him, Kaelani wore that pale blue shirt, her shorts showing off sun-kissed skin, her braid draped over one shoulder exactly as it had been that day.

He looked around, confused. “What happened?”

Kaelani tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, her fingers lingering in a nervous motion before settling back onto the table. “I’m beginning to understand it now… dream-walking,” she murmured. “How to shape them. How to guide them. I can even reach into memories—mine or the other person’s.” Her eyes lifted briefly to his before falling again. “It’s strange, but it’s starting to make sense.”

Julian leaned in, the weight of weeks pressing into his voice. “Where are you, Kaelani? Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been—how hard I’ve tried to find you?”

She blinked, startled by the rawness in his tone. Her gaze fixated on her hands, now nervously tracing the faint cracks in the wood. “I know it’s been a few weeks for you,” she said quietly, “but for me… it’s only been a few days.”

Julian stilled. “What?”

Kaelani nodded slowly. “When I visited Tessa in her dream the other night, she told me how long I’ve been gone. That’s when I realized—time works differently here.”

He frowned, voice barely above a whisper now. “Where’s here?” He reached across the table, his hand aching to close the distance. “Where are you, Kaelani? Please… just tell me.”

She looked up at him then, her expression shadowed with secrets and truths she hadn’t yet spoken aloud. “I’m in the Fae realm.”

Julian leaned forward, voice scraped thin, shaking.

“Come home, Kaelani.”

The way he said her name—like a prayer, like a plea—made her breath hitch.

“We can figure this out. Jace knows people… people who can make us disappear for a while. Until we sort everything out with the Council. We’ll go anywhere. Anywhere you want.”

She looked at him, stunned. There was no hesitation in his voice. No edge of duty. Only raw, unvarnished want.

Kaelani shook her head softly, her eyes shimmering with restrained emotion.

“I don’t want to hide anymore.”

Her voice was steady, but gentle. Firm without cruelty.

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