Page 37 of Veil of Night & Flames

“Okay,” I say, because figuring out where to start is harder than it sounds. “Right. So.” I uncross my legs. Then I cross them again.

Tia cocks her head. “You’re making me insane. Just spit it out.”

“I don’t know where to start.”

“Anywhere.” She literally throws her hands up. “Just give me a high point. You rode a dragon. You shot electricity out of your eyeballs.”

“Fingers,” I correct.

“Whoa. You did?”

“And I slept with a king,” I blurt.

She freezes, then her eyes go wide. “Okay, wasn’t expecting that, but definitely a solid choice for where to start.” She cocks her head. “We’re talking Adric, right? I mean, you were in his realm, so…”

“Yeah,” I say, then point to the vial at my neck. “The Nightmare Realm version of an engagement ring.”

“Whoa,” she repeats, then leans back. “That’s like…honestly, I don’t know what that’s like. But what’s in the vial? Magic stuff?”

“Kinda.”

She reaches for the vial, then holds it as I add, “His blood.”

“Ewwww.” Her whole face scrunches as she lets the vial go, sending it back to settle against my neck with enough velocity to make me wince.

“That’s creepy as fuck.”

I grimace. “Well, it is a nightmare realm.”

“How? Why? I mean, it’s kinda crazy, right?”

“Oh, yeah,” I say, then settle in to tell her everything. About the wolves. About Whistler and Chase. About there being no cure except Chase’s own untainted blood. And about using Adric’s blood to heal his brother, the man with whom he once shared a body.

“Adric saved him?” Tia asks. “I thought they pretty much hated each other.” And then, before I even have time to answer, she adds, “Oh! The engagement. You were the price.”

“Pretty much.”

For a moment, she just studies me. Then a slow smile touches her lips as her eyes glint with mischief. “And you don’t mind too much. Oh, my god. You like him.”

“I hate you,” I say.

“You love me,” she counters. “And two guys gone for you? Hell, if I didn’t have Riley, I’d totally hate you. I mean, two ultra-hot guys with superpowers? Pretty awesome.”

“Yes,” I say dryly. “My life is like a Marvel movie, minus the bazillion-dollar budget.”

She grimaces. “Sorry. I do get it. Not exactly stress-free, huh?”

“Especially not since they hate each other.”

“So I guess the scary king from your dreams isn’t that scary after all?”

My smile blooms as I think of Adric, then disappears with a shudder when a vision of those executions fills my head.

I focus on my toes as I shrug. “He has his moments.”

“Wait a sec,” she says, her brow furrowing. “You’re engaged to the Nightmare King. And you slept with him? Like, really did the deed? Not just some off-in-dreamy-cloud-land sex?”

I offer a half-nod. “So?”