“Ahh!” Gloria almost tips over backward in her chair, her shimmering pale blue eyes widening.
Rhys’s thick black brows shoot up to his forehead and he moves to block Gloria from view, his chest puffing out protectively.
Their startled reaction would be comical under any other circumstances, but it makes my stomach lurch as I instantly regret not staying home.
“Hey. Sorry I’m late.” I try to smile apologetically, but I’m sure it doesn’t have the desired effect what with the sharp fangs and haunting mask.
“Seth?” Rhys’s brows raise even higher.
“Don’t you recognize me?” I let out a feeble laugh at the joke, trying to ease the tension and my shame at them seeing what I’ve become.
“Holy shit, you scared us,” Gloria says, springing up from her chair and rounding the table laden with sweet treats and tea to come to my side. She reaches up and raps a golden knuckle against my mask. “Why are you wearing this?”
I brush her hand away, resisting the horrible urge to grab her by the wrist and shove her back and snarl. Fuck, I guess even my temper has changed outside the dreams.
I take a deep breath to calm down, then release it with a sigh as I run a hand through my short hair. “Would you believe me if I said I have a really bad rash and wanted to hide it?”
“I would, if dreams could even get rashes,” Rhys says drolly, narrowing his fuchsia eyes at me. “Isthiswhy you’ve not shown up for tea in months? We were taking bets on whether you’d fallen in love with that human of yours and decided to run off with her, or if you were just being a hermit. Looks like we were both wrong.”
“Damn, oh well,” Gloria says, shrugging. She moves back to her chair and gestures for me to sit. “Come on, have some tea before it gets cold.”
I scowl at them as they settle back in like nothing is wrong after the initial shock. Neither seems to understand the gravity of the situation I’m in, and it’s pissing me off.
“I show up a monster and you think I give a shit about tea?” I snap, internally wincing at my own words. That isn’t me. I’m not the kind of friend who gets angry. I should be smiling alongside them, unbothered.
That thought only serves to make my frustration worse, and I release an agitated sigh that sounds almost like a growl.
Rhys rolls his eyes at my outburst, and points with a pale pink finger toward a plate stacked with pastries. “Not just tea.”
I scowl as I look between him and the pastries. The bastard knows I can’t resist a good pain au chocolat. With a huff, I slump down into thechair and grab one, shoving it into my mouth. The moment the buttery dough and dark chocolate hit my tastebuds, some of the tension roiling through me eases. The memory of visiting a cafe in Paris during one of Ada’s dreams washes over me. I’d never tried the treat before, and she insisted I—or rather, her dream colleague who she’d had a huge crush on—take a bite.
My eyes close as I sink into that moment, clinging to it like a lifeline. She was happy in her dreams before. There has to be a way for her to be happy again.
“Better?” Rhys asks, the corner of his ruby lips tilting up with smug satisfaction, revealing a sharp fang.
“Yesh,” I grumble through another mouthful of pastry. I’m not even mad that he was able to calm me down so easily. I’m mad at myself for staying away from my friends this long.
“Do you want us to guess what happened? Or will you explain it?” Gloria’s shrewd gaze makes me think her guess is probably spot on.
“Nightmares,” I say, going to scrub a hand across my face but stopping the moment my fingers touch the cool ceramic. I run my fingers through my hair instead. “Too many of them.”
“Ah,” Gloria doesn’t sound surprised. “So I take it you’ve been sticking with your pretty human instead of having a balanced diet?”
I nod, hating how my pulse spikes at the mention of my tormentor and my obsession. How even now, when I’m not in her dreams, my fingers ache with the need to sink into her supple curves.
“Wow, you’re even more of a hopeless romantic than I am, and I’m a damn love spirit,” Rhys chuckles, shaking his head at me.
“I’m not in love with her. Her dreams just taste better than anyone else's. Or they did.” I groan and shove another pastry in my mouth to try to get back that momentary feeling of lightness.
I don’t love Ada. You can’t love someone who hurts youagain and again, can you? No, if anything, I hate her. As soon as I figure out how to get her dreams back to normal, I’ll do what I should’ve done from the start—find other dreamers. Take back control and be myself again.
IfI can figure out how to get her dreams back to normal. The past few nights have been different, but not enough. I’m still in the mask. I’m still a monster. Her monster.
“So what are you going to do?” Gloria asks, taking a sip of her tea like we’re talking about the weather and not the fate of my entire being. Not that I should be surprised. As a spirit of luck, it’s impossible for fortune not to turn in her favor, even if things look like they’ve taken a turn for the worse.
“I’ve been trying to alter the dreams in small ways. And it’s working…sort of. Now instead of ripping her throat out, I’m…” My skin heats as I trail off.
“You’re…?” Rhys prompts. When I don’t speak, shifting uncomfortably in my seat as my damn cock starts to swell at the memory of what happened in last night’s dream, understanding lights up his face. “You dirty dream, you’re fucking her! Damn, that’s hot.”
