Stellan sighed. “We leave the second he’s awake.”
Bridget was back. Again. The sight of her imagined Cavamynian Palace twisted her stomach. Couldn’t her brain give her something else to dream about? This time, she didn’t have to go searching for the other girl. She was already in the ballroom with her. Outside, the dark sky cast shadows over every inch of the marble floor. If not for the dim light of the chandelier, Bridget wouldn’t have been able to see at all.
Picking a speck of dust off the black velvet sleeve of her elaborate gown, the girl pouted. “Didn’t you like the spell I gave you?”
“I never asked for one,” Bridget replied. If she wasn’t incessantly dreaming about Cavamyne, the night Quinn dragged her through the gate would probably be her subconscious’s other favorite memory to relive. Bile crept up her throat. There had been so much blood.
“If you say so,” the girl said, patting Bridget’s hand.
Bridget recoiled, stunned by the gesture. And by what traveled up her arm. Never once had she touched anything in her dreamworld. What was the point? It wasn’t real. As the other girl smiled, though, Bridget couldn’t deny the sharp, icy throb her fingertips had left on her skin.
“You’ve had a big day. Bridget. No one would blame you for lying to yourself.”
Backing away, Bridget searched for a way out of the ballroom. Reality broke through the cracks. Trepidation crept up her spine that perhaps the girl in front of her wasn’t completely made up.
Foothold.
Where had she heard that word? It repeated in her head like a mantra, calling her to remember.
“Who are you?” Bridget demanded.
The further she backed away, the more the girl followed. She cocked her head. “I’m just like you.”
The scene changed. They were no longer in the ballroom, but in front of the gate. Recognizing the scene, Bridget fell to her knees. Vega, in her blood red mask and dripping metal claws, held up a dagger. Magic buzzed in the air, suffocating all life in the surrounding area. Chanting drowned out the sound of Bridget’s heartbeat.
When moonlight finally illuminated the face of Vega’s victim, Bridget choked. It wasn’t her at the end of the knife... but the other girl. No longer in an ornate dress, but rags. Her blue eyes, full of unshed tears, pleaded with Vega to stop.
Without hesitation, Vega plunged the daggerinto her heart.
Eyes popping up, Bridget swallowed a scream. It didn’t take her long to come back to reality. The stiff, wooden armchair in the corner of Stellan’s cabin bit into her back and the heat from the fireplace burned the bottom of her feet. Sneaking a glance of Nylah and Archer passed out on the couch together, Bridget wiped a drop of sweat from her neck, unable to remember when she’d fallen asleep. Sometime between Nylah trying to draw on Archer’s face and…
Ice went up her spine. Turning around, she found Alexia staring at her from across the room. At the kitchen table, she rolled a water bottle between her hands.
“You’re not sleeping?” Bridget asked, even though she already knew the answer. In Vassuryn, Alexia had taken every night watch and opportunity to creep in the dead of night for Cora. “It’s like two a.m.”
“Of course not.” Alexia scoffed. “You shouldn’t be so trusting.”
Bridget read between the lines.Didn’t Cora teach you better?
Unlike Alexia, she wanted to forget every singlelessonfrom Cora. After stretching her neck, Bridget heaved herself out of the armchair and headed for the kitchen. Through the window, she spotted Stellan leaning against the rail of his tiny porch, cigarette in hand as he stared up at the sky. So Alexia wasn’t the only one refusing to get any rest. The air of the refrigerator cooled Bridget’s skin as she reached inside for a soda.
“You were talking in your sleep,” Alexia stated.
Popping the can open, Bridget downed her source of caffeine before answering. “It was just a nightmare. I tend to have a lot of those about my time in Elyria. I’m surprised you don’t either.”
Alexia kept a straight face, but Bridget didn’t miss the tightening of her shoulders. It was strange, being with her now in the one place she never expected. Knowingexactlywhat made her tick. Alexia had always been an endless puzzle. One she’d given up solving a long time ago. But… in her wildest dreams, Bridget had never imagined their motivations would stem from similar interests.
“Your family…”
“I don’t need your judgment,” Alexia snapped.
Bridget tightly rolled her lips together. Nothing was ever easy with her. “No... I was going to say that it’s… admirable you dealt with Cora that long just to save them.”
The words, almost painful to admit, hung in the air between them. Avoiding Alexia’s gaze, Bridget downed the rest of the soda.
“She wasn’t as bad to me as she was to you.”
Oh really?Bridget doubted that. Thinking of Alexia’s broken body in Cavamyne, she let out a humorless laugh. “At the end…”
