She winked at him.
David crossed his arms. “Anyone care to enlighten me on what the fuck is going on?”
Sean, his blue eyes heavy with exhaustion, sank onto the arm of a chair. “Of course it’s you. Of course it’s fuckingyou.” His gaze swept toward his aunt. “Someone just needs to give him a chance—isn’t that right, Blaire?”
Ah. Blaire. That was her name. Right.
Chagrin coursed through her features. “I was just trying to make you friends. Can’t you see why?”
“Wait,” said Sean’s twin, eyeing Blaire. “You knew where he was all along? We thought he was dead.”
Sean dragged a hand down his face.
Reasonably certain no one planned to attack him, David spared a moment to examine his surroundings. The set of rooms was cheerful luxury—colorful and bright, with doorways heading off into winding hallways. Hell, the view alone won him over. The magical, sparkly forest faded into violet mountains in the distance, vivid and glistening.
He allowed himself only a handful of seconds to take it in, then focused on the argument exploding between Blaire and Sean—him accusing her of endlessly keeping secrets, and her defending her decision not to spill what she knew about David.
Hmm. This was interesting.
But before he could glean any information, another girl emerged—no, slinked—from another room, lifting eyes like emeralds to take David in, and his entire world froze. Her gaze burned holes through every facet of his existence.
Holy shit.
He’d thought his subconscious had invented her, but no.Thiswas the girl. The one from the dreams and the waking nightmares. The one who haunted his fantasies and starred in the worst, most unexplainable imaginings in his head. The escalating argument faded as some discordant combination of emotions unearthed a deep ache beneath his ribcage.
David blanked out his expression and studied the fear in hers. Horror lit the emotional mosaic inside her like a fucking Christmas tree, powerful enough to make his stomach clench.
The woman was extraordinarily beautiful. She could grace magazine covers and shame supermodels. One could argue her perfect ifnot for the shadows in her eyes. She had secrets. Dark ones, if his intuition was correct—and it usually was.
Whatever these images in his head meant, wherever they’d come from, she dominated them. Some were pleasant. Happy, even. Others were appalling.
As he continued to stare, her mouth tightened.
“Stop looking at me,” she said, killing the squabble.
Okay, then.
Those discordant emotions coalesced into a deep-seated desire to annoy her. He lightened his tone, lifted the edge of his mouth to taunt her. “But you’re very pretty.”
She scowled. Even that was pretty. “I’m not a piece of art.”
He lifted a brow. “Aren’t you, though?”
The beautiful woman glared at him. Specks of blue and gold sparkled at the center of her green eyes. His attention dropped to her Cupid’s bow lips, and his mind blanked. Through that emptiness, one image emerged?—
He reached for her, but she spun away, flashing him a dazzling, seductive smile. “Come and get me.”
Images like that usually flittered away as soon as he tried to explore them, but this one stuck. She was there.Right therein his head.
What did it mean?
Pushing off the door, David strode toward her. She didn’t retreat, though she clearly wanted to, judging by the sudden snap of terror icing her emotions, swirling against his soul like snow. He ignored that and peered deep into her eyes. “I know you.”
The jagged edges of her expression softened. “No. She’s not me. Whatever you’re remembering, it isn’t me.”
“‘Remembering’? What does that mean?”
Sean’s twin inserted himself between them, hands raised. “Why don’t we sit, and I’ll explain?”
