Iwake up with the feeling of being watched.
Wes.
He's here, in my bedroom.
When he opens his mouth, dark smoke pours out of him.
“Wes?”
The smoke swirls around the room, a mix of black and dark red.
“You let them have me,” Wes says as a tear runs down his cheek. “Don’t you love me anymore?”
I reach out for him. “I love you, Wes. I’m here…please.”
My heart is being ripped in two.
“It’s too late,” Wes sighs, the saddest sound ever heard. “Far, far too late. You could have saved me, Theo.”
“I’m here now, Wes. What can I do?” I want to touch him, but it’s like my limbs are bound in place.
Wes’s face turns hard. The sadness evaporates, replaced by that cold, dead sneer I saw in the woods.
“Who are you?” he spits. “I don’t know you. Get away from me, dud.”
His image blinks in and out of focus.
A dream.
This is a dream.
Why can’t I escape it?
"This is your fault, Theo," Wes says, his face melting away into smoke. "Remember that."
Wake up, wake up, wake up.
—Wake up, Nymph—
My eyes finally open, and I look up at Ludo’s worried face.
—Nightmare?—
“Yes,” I croak.
He passes me something. A water bottle. I sit up and shiver. I’m soaked with sweat. “Thanks.” My heart is still beating like crazy, but sipping water helps.
—Want to tell me about it?—
I flop back down onto the bed, struggling to form thoughts. What a terrible dream. “Can you just hold me?” I ask.
Ludo kicks off his boots and climbs onto the narrow mattress with me. I spoon into his body, and he wraps a heavy arm around my body. Instantly, the panic the dream brought recedes.
—Go back to sleep, Nymph—
When I wake again, it’s morning. Ludo is no longer in my bed. Opening the bedroom door, I find him settled on the floor in the outer area of the basement. “You could have stayed in the bed with me,” I tell him.
—You almost rolled out. Not enough room—as he stands. —Are you rested now?—
