Shaking myself from my thoughts, I tilt my head at the girl beside me, and she slowly turns her attention back to me.
“How did I get here?” she asks, and I shrug.
“Magic.”
“That would be a great answer if I knew whose magic made that happen,” she grumbles in response, and I roll my eyes at her dramatics.
“Honestly, I don’t truly know. No one has ever been here before,” I admit, cutting the distance between us once again. Thankfully, this time, she doesn’t run away. If anything, she stands taller, and that’s when I spot something different.
Cupping her cheek, I tilt her head up an extra inch so I can look deep into her eyes, actually paying attention this time. “What happened to your eye?” I blurt, and she tries to pull out of my hold again, but I don’t let her go this time.
She meets me with a challenging stare as we silently stand off with one another. We both know she can slam her hands against my chest at any time. Dream or not, there’s a risk, but I don’t shy away from the threat, baiting her out until she sighs.
“Don’t worry about it,” she finally mutters, and I scoff.
“I said, what happened to your eye? Don’t make me find out the hard way,” I threaten, letting a little of my magic seep from my limbs to dance around me in thick black clouds of smoke.
I half expect her to knee me in the dick, but to my surprise, she tugs her cheek from my grasp. “Jude was making me use my magic.”
“And?”
“And I used it on him.”
“Nice,” I blurt, making both of our eyebrows raise in surprise.
She hides a smile. “I couldn’t tear myself away from him, my magic just kept going and going and going until I…” Her words trail off as she points at her eye, and understanding settles in my chest.
“You burnt yourself out with your own magic,” I reiterate as she blinks, and the motion seems to make her flicker before my very eyes.
“Did you see that?” she blurts, staring at her hands, and I nod. “What’s happening?” she hollers, panicked, and I grimace.
“You’re waking up,” I explain, and she shakes her head.
“No, I don’t want to wake up yet. Please don’t let me wake up yet,” she begs, fear spiking in her eyes, and my chest clenches.
“I can’t control it. I’m not in your real surroundings,” I mumble, knowing the explanation isn’t enough as she drags her hands down her face. Her breathing starts to sharpen asshe flickers again. Reaching for her hand, I tighten my fingers around hers. “I’m going to come for you,” I promise, and she huffs, her shoulders sinking with defeat.
“That’s impossible.”
“Nothing is impossible,” I insist, knowing it for myself with the fact that she’s standing right in front of me. Before I can think better of it, I open my free hand, watching as a small flurry of smoke swirls in my palm for a second before a small black stone forms in it.
Wordlessly, I glance over her body, settling on the most discreet spot possible.
“Do you trust me?” I breathe, and she scoffs.
“We both know the answer to that.”
With my chin tucked against my chest, I glance through my lashes at her. “Do you trust me enough to touch you without causing harm?” I clarify, and she gulps, bobbing her head a moment later, and I take a deep breath.
Grabbing the hem of her t-shirt, I lift it to her chest, the swell of her bare breast coming into view, and my throat dries. Before I can back out or convince her to change her mind, I press the stone against her flesh, under the curve of her right breast.
She doesn’t wince or panic; instead, she shivers, trusting in me as the stone turns to nothing more than a gentle blemish against her insanely soft skin.
“What is that?” she mutters, flickering once again, and I know we’re reaching the end of her time here, so I shake my head, opting to focus on a promise instead as her t-shirt falls back into place.
“I’m coming for you, Elodie.”
She meets my stare as she shakes her head, breathing one little sentence before she disappears before my very eyes.
