“Pashim?”
“Hmmm?”
“I dreamed of Nani. She was in a bar. She was young…”
He tensed slightly, and the air rushed out of my lungs. “You saw her, didn’t you?” I peered up at his face, seeing my suspicions confirmed. “She was wherever you were.”
He exhaled. “Yes, we saw her. I meant to tell you.”
“You left her there?”
“She’s safe there, Leela. Priti will take her to the proper afterlife when it’s time.”
Nani was safe. She’d looked happy. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I planned to, but I walked into a nagrata attack, and after that your friends were defensive and…I’m sorry. It slipped my mind. I would have remembered, though. I would have told you.”
I believed him.
His brows pinched. “You said you had abaddream…”
“I did…after.” But I still didn’t want to talk about it. “I think I can sleep now.”
His arm tightened around me, and I closed my eyes. Nani was safe. Pashim was here, and the primordial evil couldn’t hurt or control me in my dreams.
Dreams were my domain.
I’d somehow managed to connect to Araz too, which meant there was a way to reach him if I tried. A bud of hope unfurled inside me.
Next time I dreamed I’d find the golden thread and pull…
Next time the primordial evil wouldn’t get a chance to come between us.
Chapter 15
NOT ALL DOORWAYS SHOULD BE STEPPED THROUGH
ARAZ
The doorway in front of me closes, taking Leela from my sight and leaving her with the ancient evil who has control of my body.
The passage that appeared from nowhere now shrinks and vanishes, leaving me staring at washed-out blue and golden sands. The warm connection between me and Leela goes cold, and I’m tempted to reach for it. To reactivate it. To pull.
“Don’t,” the Leela beside me says tightly.
“I know.”
“You know? Then why the fuck did you go through the door in the first place?”
I’m captivated by the storm shifting in her eyes. “You tell me. You are my flame, after all.”
She grits her teeth, her chest heaving, her rage matching the anger simmering beneath my skin. “You cannot use him as a bridge to her. Ever. Do you have any idea how close you came to discovery?”
My stomach churns, lava gushing through my veins. “He had his hands on her. She kissed him.”
“To give you a chance to escape.” She shakes her head. “Thank goodness at least she had the presence of mind to act rationally in the situation. She knew the danger you were in and was forced to kiss that evil bastard to protect you. Urgh!” She makes a disgusted face.
A hollow pit yawns in me because if I had not gone through the door, then Leela would not have had to compromise herself thus.
