It didn’t last long.
Darkness. It approached from behind her somewhere, cold and unfeeling. It crept towards them, sucking all the color and joy from the room.
Quinn clutched the babies close, huddled over their little bodies as she backed away from the encroaching shadows. Both children began to fuss, their sniffles and whines growing into full throated wails.
Turning away, giving her back to the danger despite the way her skin crawled at the idea, Quinn found the nursery gone. Night sky spangled with stars and moonlit trees for as far as she could see. A glimmer of warm golden light was far off in the distance.
It wasn’t the darkness itself anymore. Something wasinthe darkness. A glance back showed her a darker shadow among many.
She ran.
A roar went out into the night. Sheer violence and rage, it rattled her bones and made her teeth ache. Both babies screamed in response.
Quinn ran faster.
Low-hanging branches became painful switches, lancing across her forehead and cheeks. It didn’t matter as she ducked and pivoted through the line of trees, the delicate skin of the children protected from the stinging slaps by her body. She had to get back to the house. He would protect them.
Whatever followed them crashed through, unhindered by things like heavy trunks and thick underbrush.
She ran harder, faster, ignoring the searing pain in her side and the frenetic pounding of her heart. Quinn paid no attention to the ache in her arms, but clutched Adam and Elise even closer.
The house. She had to get back to the house. He would keep them safe.
The glow from windows grew larger, brighter. Quinn could make out an expanse of lawn. Veering towards it, she felt the first sweet hints of victory.
It fell to ash before she could even swallow.
It rose before her, dark and ominous, massive and unreal. Shadows stretched out all around it, blanketing the tree, the grass, everything. It felt icy and dead as it seeped over her.
Green eyes, chips of cold rock in shadows that resolved into the hard planes of something she should recognize. Horror had her denying it.
“Mine.”
Quinn bolted upright, choking on her scream. Twisted and tangled, the blankets and sheets of her nest held her prisoner. Cold sweat coated her body, her skin prickling in a painful rush. The dream followed her into waking.
Crying. The unrestrained wail of a baby.
It wasn’t fading.
Looking to the side, Quinn almost screamed again to find Adam tucked in the bed beside her. His little face was red and wet from his tears. His wails sounded as desperate as she was.
There was no hesitation as she plucked Adam from the deep folds that had held him. Cradling him against her chest, she crooned and made broken purrs over his little body as she soothed him. She’d be lying if she said it didn’t ease the ache in her chest as well.
“Ma’am? Ma’am, is everything all right?”
Recognition was slow to come, but it must not have taken too long for Quinn to place the almost panicked voice with the Beta woman in Kahler’s employ. No one barged in or began yelling.
Sniffing back her unshed tears, Quinn made a sour face and peered down at Adam with an uncomfortable cant to her brows.
“Really, man? First that nightmare hell, now this unholy reek?” Giving a quiet laugh, Quinn turned her attention to the still closed door. “Yeah, it’s fine, but he needs a new diaper.”
“May I come in?”
Sweet Gods, but the woman must be terrified of her. Quinn wriggled towards the edge of the bed with a gibbering Adam. “Yeah, sure, come on in.”
The woman came through the bedroom door in cautious pieces. First her head, followed by shoulders and torso, before the rest of her appeared. Scurrying steps brought her to waver before the foot of the bed. She blinked once at Quinn’s state before averting her gaze to the floor.
“Listen, uh…” Quinn crumpled a little, staring at the Beta with lips parted in surprise. She had no idea what the woman’s name was.
