“You said Rowan and Kail helped you escape,” I said gently, trying not to think of what they could have done to her.
She nodded.
That didn’t make any sense. They were the head of the Weaver’s largest force. They should have taken the Blood Army and marched her straight to his doorstep. The only person more powerful than Rowan was the Weaver himself—she would never risk her life to betray him.
And Kail.
I never really understood his role in things. Rowan’s second, her friend, maybe her lover. They were a team, but when I faced them before binding the Weaver, he seemed almost hesitant to fight me. The unknown was his forte, however. If I spent a hundred years studying him, he would still remain a mystery.
But one thing I knew, whatever happened to Nora in the Nightmare Realm, Rowan and Kail would never risk losing her. Delivering the most wanted person to the Weaver would earn them an express ticket to the Day World once the gates were open or grant them creatures to torture. Whatever struck their fancy. But to let her go? It was impossible.
“When can we go back?” Nora asked, glancing at my tattoo. “Are you ready now or do you need more time to recharge?”
“Slow down.” I understood her anxiety but rushing into things would only lead to failure. Her mind would crack wide open for the Weaver if we were caught, but not before he made sure I was far away, unable to help. “I’m not sure if it’s a good idea for you to come with me.”
She tensed on top of me. “You can’t stop me.”
“No,” I agreed. She was her own person; I wouldn’t force her to stay, even if I thought it was for her own good. Even if I wanted to, she would probably find a way to go on her own. It was safer if we stuck together.
“Then what’s your plan?”
There was only one plan—the one where I went alone. What could I ask her to do that I wouldn’t hate myself for later? How much risk could I expect her to take on? “First we’ll have to break into the Weaver’s Keep and steal more thread.”
“I still have the other two,” she said.
I shook my head. “We’ll need more—whatever he’s woven. Then, once the Weaver’s inside his Keep, I’ll wrap the thread around the building to trap him inside his own nightmare. It won’t take him long to break out of it, but it should buy enough time for me to get close to him and reinforce the binding.”
She stilled. “I’ll get the thread then. If I’m inside, we know he will be too.”
“Absolutely not,” I said. Her fingers pressed into the tender muscle at the back of my neck. In a softer tone, I added, “I won’t use you as bait.”
“Why not? It makes sense.”
I shook my head. “I’m not trapping you in the nightmare with him. What do you think the Lord of Nightmares could possibly fear that wouldn’t destroy you? Besides, if he gets you, this whole thing will have been for nothing.”
“I’ll get out. Don’t worry.”
“Don’t worry?” I laughed, mirthless. “You’re asking the impossible of me.”
Nora lifted her head from my shoulder and looked me in the eyes. A clear, determined expression steeled her face. “Don’t think I’m not just as worried about you. The Weaver won’t kill you but that doesn’t mean he can’t do something worse. Besides, what else do you want me to do?”
Stay away. But I knew she wouldn’t. She had lost too much and come too far to turn back now. My gaze fell to her mouth. Neither of us spoke, and the air thickened with panic-fueled urgency. This could be our last moment together—the eye of our hurricane. On the other side waited a storm capable of destroying everything and everyone.
Nora shifted, bringing her calves closer to my thighs. Her hands trailed down the edges of my chest. My breath hitched. She lowered her lips to mine, and I leaned in to better meet them, clutching her waist. I drank in the taste of her, the feel of her, savoring each moment. Committing it to memory.
Her fingers blazed a path lower and lower. My grip tightened, and she arched into me. A groan escaped my throat before I could stop myself. She reached the edge of my waistband, and my heart threatened to explode, but it still wasn’t the right time. She was nervous and afraid of our return to the Nightmare Realm. If we weren’t about to face our enemy, I doubt she would want to move so fast. Not when we hadn’t talked about a relationship. I didn’t want right now with her—I wanted always. And I wouldn’t get that by messing things up right out of the starting gate.
I stilled her hands. “We can’t.”
Her brows lowered, her breath uneven. “I thought...”
“It’s not that I don’t want to.” How I wanted to.
She brushed the hair from my forehead. “If you’re worried because I’ve never been with anyone before, I’m not afraid. And if things don’t go well, we might never—”
“Nora.” I winced. She wasn’t going to make this easy. “It has nothing to do with that. But… we can’t. Not yet. Things won’t go wrong; we have time.”
You terrify me, I wanted to say. What you could do to me if you woke up a day, a week, a month from now and realized you were confused. That it was all an awful mistake.
“Besides, you might change your mind about having the dream taken away,” I skimmed my knuckles down her cheek. “Even if you decide to keep it, there’s a chance you’ll never want to see me again. After you’ve had time to process everything and realize what I did to you by making you a Dream Keeper, you could very well hate me.”
She took my hand before I could pull it back, keeping it against her cheek. “You’re not the only one with feelings on the line, Sandman. If my only choice was between my sanity and losing you, I would keep this dream until the day I died. It’s other people’s lives that are in danger because of what I am, but I already told you, I want to keep it. Do you think I don’t love you? Do you think I kissed Ben for any reason other than that he reminded me of you? That he was you? You may have realized it first but that doesn’t make my feelings any less true now. I’ll never be able to break your heart without breaking my own. Why do you think I’m going through all of this? To save people, yes, but also to make it safe for us to stay together.”
My heart soared, only to slam against an invisible ceiling and crash back down around me. She loved me, but she shouldn’t risk herself like this to be with me. My future was a lot longer than hers, and if I regretted any part of tonight, I would never forgive myself.
I leaned forward and nuzzled her neck, placing a soft kiss at the hollow of her throat. “After we take care of the Weaver, I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll take the dream if you ask me to. I’ll disappear or stay. We can go back to the way things were or we can finish this.” I laid my forehead on her collarbone. “All I want is for you to be happy and safe again.”
Her hands landed gently on my back, tracing lines up and down the sides of my shoulder blades. It warmed me from the inside out, drawing out my worries until I felt boneless. I leaned away from her. She needed an outlet for her anxiety as much as I did, and just because we weren’t going to take our relationship to another level, that didn’t mean my body couldn’t offer her some comfort.
Her eyes widened when I pressed her palm against my tattoo. The bit of my magic within her stirred with recognition and rose to meet mine. She sagged against me, her breath skating over my shoulders and down my back. “Lay down with me,” she said in my ear, shifting from my lap.
I eased back into the pillows and did as she asked. We faced each other, and her hand found my chest again. Her head came to rest in the dip near my shoulder, her nose against my neck. I rested a hand carefully on her hip, my other rising to play with her hair. A sneakered foot slipped between my ankles. I sighed silently, my heart both calm and frantic. I would gladly stay cocooned together like this until the sky fell around us, but that wasn’t possible.
“Tell me where to find the loom,” she said against my skin.
My eyes slid shut. I told her everything I knew about the Weaver’s Keep and what we
might expect to find when we got there, but even I didn’t know the extent of what awaited us. A lot could change in five years.
28
Nora
The Sandman asked me to keep my eyes closed for the trip to the Weaver’s Keep. The less afraid I was, the less attention we would attract, but each sound that reached my ears sent fear rushing to the surface. Clicks and scrapes, hisses and growls. I was glad I couldn’t see what was making them. Gladder still that nothing decided to risk an attack as he led me blindly over the ever-changing terrain. It didn’t help that our plan was riddled with holes we couldn’t fill without knowing exactly what we would find when we arrived.
There would be sentries, of course. With the Weaver working, he would need extra protection, especially if he sensed the Sandman coming. When he sensed him.
Really, our success hinged on how well the Sandman stalled him, so I could get inside through the basement window. There, I would work my way up the hidden staircase to the top of the tower where the loom was. Do not use the outer stairs, he warned. The Weaver might notice and go after me instead of him. The same for the patrols. I pressed a hand against my back pocket where I tucked the skeleton key the Sandman made in case of locked doors.
The skin on my back was raw where the knife chaffed through my shirt. It was a good thing the Sandman stopped us from going too far. What had I been thinking? If my clothes started to come off along with his and he saw it, everything would have fallen apart. But I hadn’t been thinking. My mind completely shut down and the urge to be close to him took over. It still lingered in the pit of my belly. He was right to stop me, and not just because of the knife.
My treachery seemed so much worse beside him. The sensation his touch created, the way my heart flopped, I was risking it all. I hadn’t realized I was doing all this, in part, for us until I said it. If nothing else, the panic made my real feelings for him crystal clear. Protection for the Day World mattered, but I would have it whether I went with his plan or stuck with mine. The chances of the Sandman forgiving me for killing the Weaver seemed smaller the longer I spent with him. Smaller and deadlier. After losing so much already, losing him would destroy me.
“We’re almost there,” he said in a soft, reassuring voice, his breath warm against my temple.
I nodded, sweat beading on my upper lip. Almost there. The odds of surviving this wasn’t in our favor; these could be my last few moments with the Sandman. I inched closer until my arm pressed against his. “Is that supposed to be comforting?”
“That depends. Was it?”
I laughed dryly. “Not particularly.”
“Then I lied. We’re so far away that our feet will probably fall off before we make it to the Keep.”
I nudged him with my side. “Oh, good. I was worried this would be too easy, but if we’re going to fight the Weaver without feet…”
He chuckled. “I’m glad I could clear that up for you.”
I smiled, but it didn’t last long. I tightened my grip on his arm. “In case this doesn’t work, can you promise me something?”
He paused for a moment before asking, “What?”
“Two things, actually.” I swallowed. “If the Weaver gets me, take the dream. After seeing Katie and... and learning what’s out there… I don’t want to be responsible for destroying my world. Take it somewhere safe.”
“He’s not going to get you,” he said in a sure, solid voice. “I won’t let him.”
I opened my eyes and focused on him, ignoring the dark swirling storm clouds surrounding us. “Promise me anyway.”
He pressed his lips into a tight line. “What’s the second thing?”
“Take care of my family.”
“No.” He squeezed my hand so hard that my fingers straightened. “I won’t promise you either of those things because it won’t come to that. We’ll bind him, and you’ll wake up safe in your bed.”
“Sandman—”
“You will.” His voice was hard. Final.
I blew a frustrated breath through flared nostrils. “Wouldn’t it be easier to kill him?”
“You know I can’t.” He looked straight ahead, his eyes glazing over.
“But I can,” I said quietly.
His mouth opened, and he paused. A thought flashed through his eyes, harsh and unspoken, before he shook his head. “Don’t get any crazy ideas. We’re going to bind him. It’s safer for everyone that way.”
I studied the grim lines on his face. That was as close as I would come to asking permission. I would obviously never get it, but I didn’t need his blessing. He said himself the balance would find a way to compensate. Kail was right when he said the nightmares could govern themselves. I was sure someone else could step up as their leader, and on the plus side, there would be no new creatures.
The Sandman stopped at the edge of an empty moat and crouched in the tall grass. I followed suit, batting a cattail from my face. On the other side of the ditch rose a black marble building veined with gold. Half of the rectangular third floor was domed, while the other half was surrounded by glassless arched openings. A simple wooden staircase ran up both ends to allow access to the upper floors from the outside. Going through the basement seemed a waste of time when there was such a direct route. I bit my lip. It was important to stick to the plan. At least this part of it.
“I thought it would be bigger,” I whispered.
“It was. A lot of it was destroyed during our last battle.” The Sandman’s gaze swept over the other side of the ditch. There was no sign of nightmares, large or small. “The loom is in the dome. I’m going to distract them over there.” He nodded to the far end. “The basement window is there.” He pointed to a small window just big enough for me to fit through at the base of the building. “Hurry inside as soon as you think it’s safe. I’ll keep them away long enough for you to get in and get the thread, then I’ll meet you in the open tower.”
Just like we said an hour ago. “But there aren’t any nightmares.”
“They’re here,” he promised.
Hiding. Waiting. A chill ran over me. What would I do when the moment came? Kill the Weaver? Help bind him? The chance may not present itself to use the knife Kail and Rowan gave me. Then I wouldn’t have to decide. But if it did... I cleared my throat. “How am I supposed to get to the tower from the dome?”
“There’s a hatch. You can’t miss it once you’re inside.”
“Okay.” I eyed the path to my destination, and ice prickled along my skin.
The Sandman hooked my chin with his finger and turned me toward him. Looking at him hurt. It made me question everything. Doubt it all. Was I a murderer? Could I do this and not lose myself? Lose us?
“Be careful,” he said, his voice soft, wistful.
“You too.” His eyes traveled over my face, drinking me in like he would never get another chance. The threat of tears burned, but I blinked them away. I would see him again. I would. And one way or the other, we would sort things out. “I love you.”
He drew a sharp breath before pressing his lips to mine. It was a hard, desperate kiss that was over as quickly as it came. “I love you too.”
Then he was gone, running away from me with a satchel of sand at his hip.
I crouched in the grass and held my breath. The moment he disappeared around the corner, the world felt as if it stopped. My ears strained against the silence, the hair on the back of my neck lifting. Nothing. I shifted to the balls of my feet. Was he wrong? Was nothing waiting? Or, more likely, was there an ambush? My lungs ached, and I released the breath I forgot I was holding. We never agreed on a signal and if I waited for one, I might not make it on time. I crept from my hiding spot.
A series of popping clicks raked the air, and a shadow moved in the open tower. Four long finger bones reached up over the sill. The nightmare launched itself over the edge, and I slammed a hand over my mouth before I could scream. Both two-fingered hands were attached to straight ivory bones held together at the elbow with a
swiveling joint. The head was distinctly human but four times the size with a mass of flowing brown hair. She slithered down the side of the brick, her body nothing but an exposed spine, proportionate to her skull. It sliced through the air, sliding back and forth like a snake, and hit the ground with a crunch. She shot around the corner of the building where the Sandman disappeared, using her bony, pronged fingers to hurtle forward.
The moment she was out of sight, I raced headlong through the ditch and across the open lawn. My heart hammered, my pulse thundering in my ears. The basement window was two hundred feet away. One hundred. Fifty. A light flashed through the glass. Once. Twice. I dug my heels into the soft dirt, nearly falling forward. The light came again, this time stopping on the other side of the glass. Two bright eyes swayed gently from side to side. Then the bat-like nightmare flew straight at the window, slamming its body against the glass. A shrill cry rattled the frame. Leathery wings slapped against the pane and pointed white teeth snapped together below a wrinkled snout.
That there might be something inside was a given after being in Rowan and Kail’s tower, but I didn’t expect anything to try attacking me before I was in and able to find a place to hide. There wasn’t time to deal with it. Even if I killed it, it was likely already drawing the attention of other things.
The clacking bones of the creature the Sandman fought echoed around me. I looked up at the outer staircase, then back to the trapped creature. A gamble to remain unseen versus a sure thing. I clenched my jaw shut and bolted to the outer stairs.
The railing was rough beneath my palm, splinters impaling my skin. Each step felt heavier than the last, each taking me farther and farther away from where I needed to be, until I barreled through an unlocked door at the top. I kicked it shut behind me and leaned my back against the smooth metal, gasping for air. The overwhelming scent of burned cotton strangled me, but I made it without being seen or followed.
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