“I haven’t tried to use?—”
“Chelsea, stop.”
My chest heaves. I’m reacting stronger to this conversation than I meant to. Sweat sprouts on my palms, and blood rushes in my ears. This is fight-or-flight.
And I’m reacting this way because this is Eryx. This is our bond he’s talking about. I grew claws. We make roses.
This will change everything if he unbinds us.
I know that. Don’t ask me how I know, but I do.
The claws. The magic. The feeling of beingmoremyself than I've ever been.
Before I was afraid marriage would make me smaller. Now I'm about to lose the thing that made me fierce.
“And Nightmare?”
“I have to take it back.”
Nightmare. Who welcomed me. Who purred when I said I loved Eryx. Who's been in my mind for weeks now.
He's taking that away too. Not just the magic. The connection. The voice that's become part of me.
My body fills with ice—from my feet all the way to my head. “No.”
Eryx’s eyes narrow. “No?”
I shake my head. “You’re not taking Nightmare. You’re not undoing the binding. That happened because we love each other. That happened because?—”
The words die in my throat. My eyes start to fill with tears, but I blink them away. I lift my chin and stare defiantly at Eryx.
“This brings me no pleasure,” he explains quietly. “But there’s not any other way.”
“Find one.” I rise; my chair clatters to the floor behind me. “Find another way.”
He sighs. “There isn’t one. I told you.”
“But this—this will change everything.”
“But it helps me save you.”
“I don’t want to be saved!” I slam my hand on the table. “I want to make my own choices.”
“And I’ve let you since the beginning. I’ve always given you a choice.”
“Now you’re not.”
“Because this isn’t just about you, Chelsea.”
His words hit like a punch.
He rises and crosses to me. His shadow falls over me. It used to make me nervous. Now it feels like home.
He cradles my face and presses his forehead to mine. “This is bigger than both of us. I can’t survive without eating nightmares. I can’t. That’s part of my burden. And if I stay bound to you, I will kill you. The pain you’re feeling now will only get worse as the bond frays more. It will try to remain with both of us, and the pain will be unbearable. I would walk into a burning building to carry you out of it, and if this kills you—I won’t survive it. I won’t.”
“Eryx…” But the words die in my throat.
He keeps on. “I need to contain the dream world. Devour nightmares. Keep them at bay. That’s what I do. If I don’t, there’sno telling what the consequences will be—will nightmares leech into the district? Into the world? I can’t let that happen.”
