Costin felt Sally shift next to him and then felt her fingernails dig into his arm where she had a death grip onhim.
“Sally?” he whispered as he turned to look at her. Her eyes were closed, and she was still sound asleep. He pushed past her sleep-idled mind, using their bond to allow him to see what was going on in her sleep that was causing her to leave scratches in his flesh. He was immediately surrounded with darkness and filled withdespair.
“Sally, mine,”he called to her, but she didn’t respond. There was another groan, and then he saw the dream, or nightmare rather, in which her mind was immersed. Sally was standing in a dark room staring at a bed. It wasn’t empty. In the bed were two bodies. One was the male wolf that Costin had ripped apart, and the other was hismate.
He growled, and Sally turned to look at him. Her eyes grew wide as they filled with sheerhorror.
“Costin? You can’t be here! You have to go. Wake up,”she pleaded with him. Her head was swiveling back and forth between him and the couple on the bed. She looked like a cornered animal ready to strike at anything thatmoved.
“Sally, come here,”he said gently, trying to ignore the sounds coming from the bed. He would like to just tell himself it was just a dream, but he knew that, more than likely, it was amemory.
“You have to go!”She roared at him.“You can’t see this. Please, please, I don’t want you to seethis.”
Chapter Six
“I just want to fix it. I just want to make all your pain and fear go away. Tell me how, love, and I will.” ~Costin
Sally prayedto the Great Luna that what she was seeing wasn’t real. Surely Costin’s presence in her dream was simply just part of the nightmare. Surely, her mate wasn’t using the bond to see into her mind. She felt her dream-self hit the floor and squeeze her eyes shut. She didn’t want to see anything. She didn’t want to hear anything or know anything. She didn’t even want to exist. Not likethis.
How many times can a heart break before it’s completely destroyed? She wasn’t sure her heart could take any more. She was tired. Things had been so good since she’d woken up and Costin had taken the lead on dragging her back from the depths of her mind’s despair, but she should have known that the battle wouldn’t be won that easily. No battle was. Winning a battle meant blood, sweat, and tears. It meant lives lost and wounds endured. In the end, one could only hope the victory would be worth all the sacrifice it required. Would this victory be worth it,ifshe could win? If it meant having Costin and Titus in her life, then yes, it would be. She just didn’t know how to fight back. There was no sword that could destroy the memories living in her mind. There was no shield that could block their blows. She felt like a deer in an open field. There was no cover and the frightened animal was surrounded by hunters, their guns pointing right at her. Any move could be lethal. But remaining still would definitely befatal.
“Sally, open youreyes.”
She shook her head at Costin’s request. She didn’t want to stand in a room—even if everything was happening in a freaking nightmare—where she was in bed with another man while Costin stood by and watched. Just thinking about it made her want tovomit.
“Wake up and open your eyes,” he commanded again. “Don’t make me fling water on your face. I’ll do it, especially since it would mean wet sheets on your very naked body. Now wake up Sally,mine.”
Sally’s eyes snapped open and—praise holy bacon babies—shewasn’tin a dark room filled with noises that made her want to puke. She was in a dark room, but it was a room that brought her comfort, not fear and confusion. She turned her head to look at her mate who was staring down at her. He was propped up on an elbow, and his brow was drawn down into aV. She reached up and smoothed the worried lookaway.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “In a minute, I’ll address the fact that you will never throw water on me in bed for any reason, at any time. But first I need to address thenightmare.”
Costin pressed a finger to her lips. “You don’t need to address it, beautiful. It was a nightmare. We all have things in our lives that give us nightmares. I have my own fair share. I am sorry I invaded your thoughts, but you were scared, and I just needed to fix it. Guess Ididn’t.”
“I’m awake,” she pointedout.
“You’re still terrified that I will leave you, that I won’t want you if I know too much. Until you no longer believe that, then I haven’t helpedyou.”
“Costin, I don’t need you to fix this,” Sally said after several minutes of just staring at him. She was trying hard to arrange the words in her mind into some sort of order so they’d make sense. “I just need you to be with me in the midst of it. Does that makesense?”
He ran his finger along her cheek and gave her a small, crooked smile. “It does, but that doesn’t make me want to fix it anyless.”
He sighed and laid down on his back. She felt cold without him hovering over her, even though the thought of that made her sound like a wilting violet. She leaned over the side of the bed and snatched up his shirt and slipped it on. She felt too vulnerable already, and being unclothed didn’t help. For some reason, Costin’s shirt felt like armor to her, which was silly since armor was hard and actually protected, and clothes were soft and might not even save you from a scrape on concrete. She pinched the bridge of her nose as she laid back down. And now she’s thinking about the protective qualities of garments. “WTH, Sally.” She growled toherself.
Costin chuckled. “I like it when you talk to yourself. It’sadorbs.”
“Did you just sayadorbs?”
He shrugged. “If Idid?”
“Then you’re a hot werewolf-bartender with a sexy dimple that talks like a dork.” Sally laughed when he pretended to be offended. “Costin?”
“Yes, Sallymine?”
“Thank you for … well … for staying.” Her words were halting, and she wasn’t sure if they even made sense once they’d made it out of her mouth. Sometimes things that seemed clear in her head came out as clear asmud.
“You don’t have to thank me for the honor of being your true mate.” He rolled until he was hovering over her again. His broad, bare shoulders blocked out the rest of the room, and his inhumanly handsome face was inches from hers. He captivated her as he had always done. “Do you think you can go back tosleep?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down until his head was resting just over her heart. His arms came around her, and the weight of him settling on her should have felt stifling, but instead she felt cocooned and safe. “If you will hold me like this, then yes, I think Ican.”
