"It was just a nightmare," I say again. "About Cain. I get them sometimes."
"Sometimes?"
"Every night." The admission slips out before I can stop it. "Every night since... since it happened. I thought they'd stop once he was gone, but they haven't. They're getting worse."
Levi is quiet for a long moment. Then he pulls me closer, tucking my head under his chin, wrapping his arms around me like a shield.
"You don't have to be okay yet," he says quietly. "Healing takes time. And nightmares... they're part of it. Your brain is processing what happened, trying to make sense of it."
"What if they never stop?"
"They will. Maybe not completely, but they'll get better." His hand strokes down my back, slow and soothing. "And until they do, I'm here. You don't have to face them alone."
I press my face into his chest, breathing in the scent of him—leather and soap and something uniquely Levi.
The shaking slowly subsides. The dread fades. And eventually, wrapped in his arms, I drift back to sleep.
No more nightmares. At least not tonight.
When I wake up in the morning, I make a decision.
I need to see my mother.
The phone call a few days ago helped, but it wasn't enough.
I need to look her in the eye, to let her hold me, to be her daughter again instead of a disembodied voice on the other end of a line.
I've been hiding from the world for too long.
It's time to start stepping back into it.
I find Leviathan in his office, going over papers with Zenon.
They both look up when I knock on the open door.
"Can I talk to you?" I ask. "Alone?"
Zenon raises an eyebrow at Leviathan, a hint of amusement in his expression. "I'll give you two a minute."
He slips past me, closing the door behind him.
Leviathan leans back in his chair, watching me with those sharp blue eyes. "What's on your mind?"
"I want to visit my mother."
Something flickers across his face—concern, maybe, or reluctance.
But he doesn't immediately say no, which I take as a good sign.
"Where does she live?"
"Dormont. It's about twenty minutes from here." I twist my hands together, suddenly nervous. "I know it's a risk. I know Varro might be watching, might try to use her to get to you. But I need to see her. I've been hiding for almost two weeks, and she's worried sick. She deserves to know I'm okay."
He's quiet for a long moment, turning something over in his mind. "Does she know where you're staying?"
"No. I just told her I was safe."
"Does she know about Cain?"
