I stifle a laugh. “You think you’ve won this.”
“I have won. You need me to do this because you can’t. I’m offering to help.”
I study her. She’s unflinching, unmoving.
She wants this. Give it to her. Let me inside her.
You can’t be trusted.
I’m not going to hurt her.
I know that. Nightmare wouldn’t dare harm Chelsea.
Are you afraid she’ll like me better than you?
No, I’m afraid you’ll know her better.
Nightmare becomes very quiet.I promise I won’t see any part of her that she doesn’t want me to.
Chelsea’s lips part like she wants to say something, but she stops herself.
“What is it?”
She drags her gaze from the gashes on my chest to my eyes. “You…saved my life. Let me save yours.”
My heart stutters to a stop. I drink her in, all of her—her wavy blonde hair that hangs over her shoulders, her blue eyes filled with worry, her lips.
This isn’t a wallflower, a woman afraid to take risks. Every move she’s made since the moment we met has been risky. She’s moved like a chess piece across the board, wide-eyed and ready.
Why do I keep denying her?
Because I'm terrified.
Not of Nightmare hurting her. But of what happens after. Once Nightmare is inside her, even briefly, it'll know her in ways I don't. Her fears. Her dreams. The deepest parts of her mind.
And maybe that's what she needs to see. What I really am. What we really are.
If she runs after this, at least I'll know. “Okay.”
She does a double take. “Okay?”
I slowly nod. “I’ll show you how to do my job. But if anything starts to go wrong, I’m pulling you out.”
A slow smile spreads across her face. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”
Chelsea
“This is my dream room,” Eryx says.
I’ve only been in this room once before, the day Echo appeared, and even then I didn’t take a good look.
Now I do.
The walls are dark gray with silver mortar, but this roomfeelsdifferent from the rest of the house—darker, more intimate.
A velvet chaise lounge sits in the center of the room, and beneath it—painted directly on the floor in silver— is a map of the stars.
The ceiling above is all glass, open to the sky. Rain pelts the windows, soft and rhythmic, adding to the ambiance. This room feels personal. Sacred.
