Chelsea nods and pads over to me. She’s stayed in her pajamas all day. She hasn’t even put on sparkly slippers.
I take her hand and smile. She drops her eyes and my heart bleeds.
We stand on the map of stars. I reach for the shadows. The dream world opens?—
And Chelsea screams.
Then I feel it—pain like a hot iron driven straight into my stomach.
I drop my magic instantly and the pain disappears.
But I’m left sweating, panting, staring in disbelief as Chelsea looks up at me, her eyes wet.
I exhale a shaky breath.Nightmare, what has happened?
A long pause.The bond is fighting back.
Why?
Another pause. Longer this time.Because it’s broken.
Can it be fixed?
Silence
Nightmare.
I feel it hesitate.
Tell me.
A whisper, thin as smoke.No.
For a second, I don’t understand the word.
The word lands like a fist in my throat. No magic. No dream world. No taming nightmares.
My stomach drops.
That’s not an option.
It isn’t,Nightmare agrees quietly.You have a paradox, Eryx. Use your magic and hurt Chelsea. Don’t filter dreams and?—
The magic will kill me.
The full weight of it hits me. I can't use my magic without torturing the woman I love. But if I stop using it, the nightmares will build up. Consume me. Kill me.
Either way, I lose her.
Nightmare’s silence says it all.
If I keep using it, it will kill her.
Chelsea still cries. I drop down beside her. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.” She smiles weakly. “We’ll figure it out. Maybe it just needs time. You’ll see. In a few days we’ll be right as rain. Back to where we were—you with wings and me with claws.”
She believes it. Really believes it. And I can't tell her the truth. Can't look into those hopeful eyes and say: It's permanent. It's not getting better. We're broken.
