“Haven! Wake up!”
My eyes shoot open. I would have gasped if Kai’s teeth weren’t still locked over my throat.
But when I scramble up and clap a hand on my skin, there’s nothing there. Light blooms beside me as Melissa switches on my lamp.
“You okay?” she asks, both of us blinking in the sudden brightness. “Sounds like you were having a nightmare. I think. I mean, you were moaning a lot…”
“Fuck.” I stroke my throat, willing away the feel of teeth on my skin.
“Haven—”
She reaches for me, but I push her hand away. “I’m okay. I’m okay.”
I pull in a shuddering breath as I try to calm my racing heart. “God, I haven’t…I haven’t had a nightmare like that since?—“
Since Bastian’s house.
Since I left Ashwood Crossing.
I should have run faster.
Further.
I’m in a car, stalled on a railway crossing. Safety belt trapping me.
The lights are flashing.
The train’s coming.
I wish it would just hurry and get here already, so this can all be over.
Because who the fuck was I fooling, huh?
Actions have consequences.
“Shit…Haven…?” The sound of Melissa’s soft voice drags my gaze up to her. But she’s staring down at the bed.
As I shift, I feel wetness.
Then I smell the blood.
It’s all over the sheets, and it looks like I’ve been fucking disemboweled, that’s how much of it there is.
I didn’t even realize how much I was shaking until I reach out to drag the sheets off the bed.
“Fuck,” I mumble, my face flashing hot, panicked tingles spearing into my fingertips. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
“No, but, Haven, are you okay? That’s alotof?—“
“Jesus, I’m fine!” I throw my legs over the side of the bed, and Melissa jumps back like I was aiming to kick her. “It’s just some fucking blood. You’d swear you’ve never had your fucking period before.”
“I didn’t?—“
She cuts off when I shove past her, the bloodied sheets bundled in my arms. The smell is so strong in my nose, I nearly don’t make it to the bathroom in time to puke.
When I get back to our room, Melissa’s gone.
No wonder. I wouldn’t want to be around me either right now.
