Page 110 of Realm of Dreams & Shadows

“Then all you need to do is decide if you can forgive Chase for what he did before. Can you? For that matter, do you want to?”

“I don’t know. How do I know?”

“If you’d never learned the truth, would you still want him?”

“Yes.” The word is out before I even have time to think about it.

She shrugs. “Then I guess that’s where you start.” She tilts her head. “If you don’t want him anymore—if you’re done with the guy—if you decide you can’t ever trust him again—do you think⁠—”

She cuts herself off with a sharp shake of her head.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Do I think he’ll kill me, just in case I’m thinking about getting all marital with Adric?”

She says nothing, but I know that’s what she’s thinking. Why wouldn’t she be? I certainly am.

I let the possibility wash over me, then firmly shake my head. “No,” I say. “He won’t,” I say the words like a prayer, but as I hear them aloud, I realize they’re true. Chase truly loves me. He will protect me.

And he’ll do that even knowing that so long as I’m alive—so long as Adric still wants me—the barriers might fall. And the world as we know it would end.

I think of Adric. Of the wild, erotic pull when I’m with him, so unlike the sweet, warm passion and comfort I feel with Chase. Safe or wild? I don’t know which I’m more drawn to. All I know is that there’s death and danger down every path, not to mention prophecy and destiny and portents and magic.

And dreams. Wonderful dreams and terrifying nightmares.

And me right there in the middle of it, caught up in a new reality that both terrifies and fascinates. My destiny. And though I can’t yet see what it is, I’m certain now that I can’t escape it.

“Cora?”

“I’m okay,” I assure her. “I just need to let it all settle. You don’t have to babysit me. I mean, if you want to go see Riley…”

She waves a hand. “Tonight, we’re doing the roomie thing.” She glances at the clock. “And we should probably sleep. Want me to share your bed? If you have a nightmare, I could wake you up.”

I shake my head. “I’m good. I think tonight has reached full weirdness overload. I’ll probably just sleep.”

“Fair enough,” she says, and even though I’m sure she’s going to try to stay awake until morning, I don’t call her out on it. It’s nice to know she’ll always have my back.

“Oh!” she says. “Before I forget, where’s the park? I want to go check it out tomorrow.”

“Aviles and Merrin Lane,” I tell her, then sit up straighter when she frowns, shaking her head slowly. “What?”

“The four corners of that intersection have a dress shop, a convenience store, a tourist trap, and a playground. Swing sets, rocking horses, a giant sandbox. And about a zillion picnic tables. Plus the skatepark they put in on the other end a couple of years ago.”

“No, nothing like that,” I say.

“That’s what’s there,” she says. “The dress shop is new, but the rest’s been around for years and years. I used to stay at least one week every summer with my abuela here in St. A. We went every day when I was little. And Riley and I checked out the skate park just yesterday.”

“Maybe it was in the dreamscape? Except I’m sure I was awake.”

“What about—oh! A liminal space. Like the Neutral Zone in the Nightmare Realm, remember? A space you find when you’re looking for it.”

“But I wasn’t looking for it.”

“No,” she says. “You were looking for Chase.”

I grimace. “And I found him.”