SERENA
Silk sheets slide between my legs.
Calloused palms glide over my shoulders and the ruby choker at my throat. It begins to constrict, cutting off my air supply. I choke, clutching at the smooth, cold gems with skeleton hands. I try to scream, but nothing comes out.
Ocean eyes hover above me, glowing in the dark as Kylian’s soft lips ghost over mine.
There is nowhere on this earth you can go that I will not find you.You belong to me.
His whisper slathers goosebumps over my skin.
He smiles a wicked, cruel smile before I take my final breath.
“Serena!”Someone is shaking me. “Wake up! It’s just a dream. Look at me, open your eyes.”
I fly awake, finding Zadyn leaned over me.
“What happened?” I croak.
“You were screaming. I woke up, and you were covered in shadows. I think you were about to shadow walk inyour sleep.” Zadyn’s grip on my shoulders loosens. He sinks onto the bed beside me. “What the hell were you dreaming about?”
I sit up, clasping my neck.
I’m free. That collar is buried in the depths of the Praxian Sea, along with its matching ring.
“I’ve been having nightmares.”
“For how long?”
I shrug. I can’t remember the last time I slept without them.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“What could you have done? Fought them off?”
“If that’s what it took.” I’m surprised at the earnestness behind his statement.
I swallow the pins in my throat, staring straight ahead, seeing something that isn’t there. Lost in the memories of Kylian touching me, holding me until he fell asleep. Of his fingers weaving through mine as he ground them into the mattress. Of how my body responded to him against my will.
I blink, and the images clear like smoke.
“You don’t have to talk about it unless you want to. But you need to know that I don’t fault you for what you did. You were surviving.”
“I said I wasn’t ashamed of what I did. And I’m not,” I start, trying to find the right way to express the complicated knot of feelings I have over what happened with Kylian. “But I do feel ashamed of how I felt.”
The instant the words leave my mouth, I want to suck them back in. Zadyn studies me, waiting for me to elaborate.
“How did you feel?” he asks without a hint of judgment.
“I hate him. And I hated the thought of doing what I did. Ishouldhave hated every second. It should have made me physically ill.” I stare at the bed, feeling like I could burn a hole through it.
“But you didn’t hate it.”
I shake my head, holding in tears, but my stupid lip trembles.
“He wasn’t rough with me like I expected. He didn’t force me. It just…happened. He never actually hurt me, not physically.” I swallow. “I found myself thinking about how much I should have hated it, and I…”
A choked laugh escapes me as I hug my knees to my chest.
