I shot off the couch and flung open the door to her room so quickly, I nearly crashed through it. My heart raced like I’d been stabbed with an EpiPen, adrenaline coursing through me.
Hitting the switch on the wall, I illuminated her bedroom. I gasped at the sight of her.
She thrashed on the bed. The covers tangled around her, binding her limbs like restraints as she beat her small fists against the mattress. Her legs kicked out, warding off an attacker who wasn’t there.
The urge to drive back to that piece of shit’s house and take a pound out of his flesh surged. I wanted him to pay for what he’d done to her. Even without knowing all the details, I’d seen the look on her face tonight. I didn’t need anything else.
Fear. Panic. Doubt.
And pain.
But while punching him earlier had quieted my rage, I’d only done it because Addie was safe. And so now, even though beating that fucking tool to a pulp would satisfy my need for vengeance, I refused to be like my father. I refused to choose rage and my demons over someone who needed me.
Especially her.
“Addie.” I tried to wake her from the side of her bed, keeping my voice low.
She cried out again.
“Addie, wake up.” My voice rose, and my heart thundered in my chest. “Addie, it’s a bad dream. You’re having a nightmare.”
I reached out to touch her shoulder, hoping to ground her in reality, but the second my fingers brushed her bare shoulder, she flailed.
She fought harder against whatever she saw mind in her mind, thrashing on top of the mattress. Clenching and yanking on the sheets. Digging her heels into the bed as another scream tore from her throat.
She threw her head back, nearly slamming it into the headboard.
And I couldn’t sit by any longer.
I climbed onto her bed, taking her shoulders in both my hands. With as little force as possible, I contained her movement. Keeping her safe without forcing her body still, I did that for as long as I could.
I considered going to get Adam, but I didn’t know if she’d hurt herself while I was gone and I couldn’t leave her in her current state.
Whatever terror she faced, it wouldn’t release her, so I held on tighter, sure that was the last thing I was supposed to do, but unable to think.
“Adam!” I called out for him, needing to try even though I doubted he’d hear me from the loft. But when shouting for him made Addie scream, and he didn’t respond, I refocused on her, raising my voice without shouting. “Addie, wake up!”
Her knee shot up, ramming into my side with enough force to draw a wince. I pushed aside the twinge of pride in my chest over the fight she put up. Tomorrow, that knowledge would bring relief.
Tonight, I just needed her safe.
“Addie, please.” I steadied my voice as much as possible, but it shook as fear gripped my throat in a vise. “Please wake up.”
She tried to knee me again, but I dodged the second blow to my ribs and rolled her onto her back. She kicked out, one foot coming dangerously close to the post at the corner of her bed.
With no fucking idea what else to do, I threw my arm over her leg, pinning it across her knees to keep her legs from hitting the bed. She lashed out with her arms, clawing at my arm and face, scratching hard enough to draw blood.
I stretched, reaching across her body to catch her hands in mine. “Addie, wake up!” I finally shouted. “You’re safe. Addie, you’re not there anymore. You’rehome.”
Her eyes snapped open.
Both breathing heavily, our faces hovered inches away from each other. Tear tracks ran down her cheeks, but she blinked away the remnants of her nightmare and refocused on me.
Her lips parted as her eyes cleared. “Blake?”
The confusion on her face as she glanced down at my body half covering hers, the way her eyes filled with fresh tears—it wrecked me.
I jolted backward, terrified she might associate her fear of him with me, and released my grip on her shoulders. “You were having a nightmare,” I rushed to explain. “You were screaming. I didn’t know what else to do.”
