I was halfway out of my bed before I noticed the dark figure looming a few feet away.
“What the fuck!?” I grabbed the nearest blunt object—my bedside lamp—and swung it out in front of me. “Who the fuck are you? And what the hell are you doing in my bedroom?”
The figure shifted, and I braced myself to throw the lamp at his head, but then the pale light from the window fell across his face.
It was Alastor Crestwood.
Any relief I felt at seeing a familiar face was quickly swallowed up by anger.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I demanded again. “Why are you watching me sleep like some sort of creep?”
“I assure you, I don’t want to be here,” he replied, and he certainly sounded like he’d rather be anywhere else. “But my brothers insisted. They thought it was necessary that someone watch over you, and I was the safest option.”
“Safest. Ha.” I’d much rather have had Octavian at my side, but he didn’t need to know that.
“Believe me, I would much rather be at home in my own bed,” he said.
“But you let your brothers boss you around instead?”
I couldn’t read his expression, but I could tell from his pause that my words had hit their mark.
“I trust my brothers’ judgment,” he said finally, and it sounded like he was talking through gritted teeth.
“So you agree that there was some sort of danger to me?” I shivered, remembering the quivering, burning pain that had consumed my body before I blacked out. When I looked down at my arms, I half-expected to see huge welts, or patches of skin missing, but they looked perfectly normal in the dim light. “What happened to me? That was…” Again, I didn’t want to relive it, even in memory. “That was the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life. I thought it would never end.”
“I was coming over to wake you just now,” he said. “You were dreaming about it.”
I frowned. “No, I wasn’t.”Thank god.
“You were moaning in your sleep,” he said. “I know my presence isn’t entirely welcome, but I assumed you would have wanted me to pull you out of your nightmare.”
“That definitely wasn’t a nightmare,” I corrected without thinking. “And I wasn’t dreaming about the pain. I was moaning because—” I cut myself off at the last second, finally realizing what I was saying.
But the damage was done.
“Ah.” Alastor said. It was veryknowingsound.
And for the first time since I’d met him, I detected a hint of amusement in him.
“Which one of my brothers inspired this little dream of yours?” he said.
“I never said it was one of them.”
“You didn’t have to. I know the effect my brothers have on women.” His amusement was very obvious now—he wasn’t even trying to hide it. “For as long as I’ve known them, they’ve both enjoyed their dalliances. Both here and in Therador.” He tilted his head, studying me. “If I had to guess, I would say it’s Oak who’s caught your attention. He likes to play the rescuer. But perhaps I’m wrong.”
“It’s none of your business,” I snapped, face flaming. I shook the lamp at him. “Either tell me why you’re here or get out.”
He sighed, and just as swiftly as it had appeared, his amusement was gone again, replaced by his usual broodiness. His words came out in a bored drawl, as if he had better things to do than explain things to me. ”As I thought I’d made clear, I’m here at the behest of my brothers. They believed you were overwhelmed by your body’s response to our world’s essence. That’s why they decided to bring you back to your own home, rather than house you in one of our guest suites where you certainly would have been more comfortable.”
“So this essence can…” I searched for the words, “build uplike that?”
He was silent for so long that I was convinced he’d decided it was too much trouble to answer me. But then he said, “It makes me think of poison ivy. The odd thing about poison ivy is that the more you are exposed, the worse each of your successive reactions can be. Your body’s response becomes more acute with repeated contact.”
“So it’s like an allergy?” I stepped away from him, backing up until my legs hit the bed. “I’m allergic to your world and it’s only going to get worse the more I’m around you?”
He shook his head. “I don’t believe that’s it, exactly. If you’re descended from someone of our world, as we believe, there’s been essence inside of you your whole life—it’s just been dormant. Part of you is waking up, and your body simply doesn’t know how to handle it.” He added, “Perhaps it’s less like poison ivy and more like one of your…” He paused, searching for the term. “Like one of yourelectrical circuitsbecoming overloaded.”
That mostly made sense. “Wait, does that mean you agree with your brothers now? You think I can create this bridge or whatever?”
