“I’m so sorry.”
Then they’re gone, the door slamming shut behind them, leaving me alone with the aftershocks of visions that still feel more real than the cell around me.
I curl into myself, trying to separate reality from the nightmare Prudence forced into my mind. Dane isn’t dead. Ryker isn’t dead. They’re alive, somewhere far from here, probably searching for me.
And Kier. I saw his face in the vision, a face I’ve never seen before. Golden eyes in a lean, scarred face. How could I see someone I’ve never met?
“Lithia?” Kier’s voice comes through the wall, urgent and concerned. “Lithia, talk to me.”
I can’t respond. Can’t form words past the horror still gripping me.
“Dammit, woman, answer me!” His voice is sharp now, almost angry. “I know you’re there. I can hear you breathing.”
The edge in his tone cuts through my paralysis. “I’m here,” I manage, my voice barely a whisper.
“I heard your screaming. What did the fear-seer show you?”
I close my eyes, the images still fresh and vivid. Fear-seer. The title is appropriate. “She… she showed me things… I…” I draw in a shuddering breath.
“Shit.” There’s real fear in his voice now. “What kind of things?”
“Everyone is dead. Everyone I care about.” I swallow hard. “And you. She showed me you.”
“Me? You don’t know what I look like.”
“I saw you anyway. Golden eyes. Lean face. Scars.”
There’s a long silence. “Ruggedly good- looking though, right?”
A choked sound escapes me—part sob, part laugh. I snort, the sound ragged in my throat. I wipe at my eyes, shame and grief still clinging to me like a second skin. “Gods,” I whisper. “I get it now.”
“Get what?”
“Why you didn’t believe I was real when we first spoke.” My fingers twitch against the stone. “Why you thought I was just another hallucination.”
“Yeah,” he says. “It’s hard to tell what’s real when good old Prudence can make anything seem possible. Though, to be fair to her, I was already fucked up before they dragged her in here a few months back.”
I press my palm to the wall between us, desperate to cling to something solid. “I don’t know if I’m awake, or dreaming, or somewhere in between. I can still see it—Dane bleeding out. Ryker broken. You…”
His voice cuts in, low and steady. “You’re awake, Lithia. You’re here. And so am I.”
I hear him move.
“Slide your hand over here. Touch me. Let me show you how real this is.”
I stick my hand in the opening, desperate for anything to anchor me. His touch is solid, the contact electric, a lifeline in the dark.
“I’m here,” he says firmly. “You’re not alone.”
I press my finger against his, anchoring myself to the feeling. My breathing evens out slowly, the aftershocks of the vision beginning to settle.
“How is that possible?”
“I don’t know. Prudence is some kind of fear-seer. I’d always heard rumors about supernaturals who can do this kind of thing.” He shifts, and I hear chains rattle.
“She knows about you. What if she tells them we’ve been talking.”
“They’re not stupid.” His finger grazes gently against mine. “If she tells them then they’ll use it against you now. Threaten me to make you talk. Don’t let them.”
