The dream comes out of nowhere.
* * *
“Niko, catch me!”
The impatient redhead runs full pelt down the dock and I curse as I swim towards the stone steps. “It’s too shallow!” I shout, but she’s yelling war cries like she’s heading into battle and doesn’t hear me. My heart drops into my stomach as Emery flings herself off the pier, sailing clear over my head to cannonball into the water.
“Emery!”
She doesn’t come up for a second, and I continue bellowing her name as I swim over to where she jumped.
I panic as I swim around in the water, diving down for a glimpse of her.
“Em—fuck!”
The little witch grabs hold of my legs from below the water, unbalancing me and sending me under with a splash. I come up for air with a gasp, spluttering her name.
“Little idiot,” I wheeze. “You scared me, Emery!”
The smile falls from her lips and she glares at me in response. “Stop treating me like a kid, Nikolai,” she hisses back at me, pushing dark red hair away from her face.
I don’t get it. She’s been like this all summer, since she came back from a year at boarding school. Since she changed.
I swallow hard as she treads water until she’s pressed against me, the warmth of her body sinking into my chest. Desperately, I try to pull away. Max will kill me if I try anything with his little cousin.
Even if she’s not so little anymore. Even if I can’t stop wondering about her curves, her eyes, her damned infectious laugh.
“Don’t,” she pleads, grabbing my arm and pulling me back to her. I stare into her eyes, so like the oak trees at the end of my yard.
“I can’t, Em,” I mutter. Even as I say it, I can’t resist lifting my hand up and pushing strands away from her face. The lines of Emery’s face are so familiar to me – but not, at the same time. It’s the feeling I get when rereading a favorite book after years and discovering something I didn’t catch the first time. Except I feel like that every time I stare at her.
She only pushes closer to me. “You can,” she breathes. It’s so soft, like a whisper of air against my lips.
Our lips clash, awkward and fumbling and so damned right. The taste of cherries on my tongue, the sounds she makes as I wrap my arms around her, finally.
Like coming home.
A rushing sound makes me look up. Behind Emery, a hole opens up, water pouring off the sides like a waterfall. Emery’s grasp tightens around my waist and I look down into her panicked face.
“Niko,” she cries. “It’s pulling me!”
Desperately, I try to pull her backwards, try to swim away. But no matter how hard I try, I can’t stop the power of the water, can’t stop her arms being torn free of mine as she’s dragged away. Can’t move a step towards her as I float, frozen in place. As Em is pulled over the sides of the hole, and it closes up like nothing ever happened.
* * *
I wake to sweat-covered sheets, my chest heaving as I fight for breath.
“Shit.”Thatfuckingdream again.
Untangling myself from the sheets wrapped around my legs, I stagger into the small en-suite bathroom, flicking the light on and running the faucet to splash cold water onto my face. It takes a few minutes before I feel steady enough to lift my face and look in the mirror.
Would you recognize me now, Em?
It’s only been ten years since that day. A drop in the ocean compared to the lifetime we should have had together. But I feel like I’ve lived a hundred years since that day at the dock. Alone.
A hole torn right through my soul where Emery should be.
I tug gently on my pack bond, reassured when Luc and Bastien both send a pulse back to me. Luc’s has a questioning tinge to it, and I push back. I don’t need a hug, I just need to make sure they’re safe. Max doesn’t respond. He’s too far away from us.
