Page 42 of Sienna Rossi: Beyond Shattered Trust

I look away. I’ve been deprived of sex for far too long, and her coming here in the middle of the night is not going to fucking help anything.

“What do you want, Sienna?” I ask crisply, turning my back on her, but it is her next words that make me freeze.

“I… I was inside the dome.”

Sienna

He turns back sharply. “What?” he asks, his heart racing.

I nod, my own heart refusing to settle. “I…” I close my eyes, trying to make sense of what I saw. “I…”

“Hey, look at me.” His hands close around my elbows, and I slowly turn my attention to him. His touch may have calmed the panic that was bubbling within me, but now that’s replaced with thoughts of him. My mind goes blank, but the butterflies in my stomach are going crazy.

I’m terrified, terrified of what I saw, and I’m doing my best not to hug him and wish I could forget everything.

“Sienna…” he murmurs, and I realise I spaced. “What did you see?” he asks as he moves me over to the bed. The room is filled with his scent, and it brings me comfort despite knowing that the walls aren’t any safer than the ones surrounding my room. But with him here, it’s different; I just feel safe.

He crouches before me, as if he’ll find something in my eyes that will tell him what I’m thinking.

I take a deep breath, trying not to be consumed by the fact that there’s concern there, even if it’s just about the dome. I want to think there’s some concern for me.

“I can show you,” I whisper.

He frowns. “Are you sure you’ll manage that?”

I nod.

“Ok, do it,” he says.

“But magic is more than a little unstable here. I’m going to go get my bag to help me,” I say, about to stand, but he gets up instead, and I find myself staring directly at his crotch as he steps back.

“I’ll go grab it,” he says as I quickly look away, my cheeks heating up again, and I hope he didn’t see that. He leaves the room, and I touch the bed that’s still a little warm.

Sighing, I rest my elbows on my thighs, lean forward and clasp my hands in front of my face. My stomach plummets as a shiver runs down my spine, and it has nothing to do with the cold.

Jayce returns and places my bag down, shutting the door quietly behind him.

“What do you need?” he asks as he unzips it.

“I got it, thanks,” I say softly as I lean down and begin searching through the little glass bottles. I don’t need much, just something to help the flow of magic and to keep it more in control. I usually wouldn’t need anything extra for this spell, but with the interference of the dome, it’ll help.

Once I get the herbs ready and crush them in my hand, I sit back on the bed again, whispering the incantation.

“Where do you want me?” Jayce asks quietly, as if not wanting to distract me.

I don’t reply, but I turn, pulling my legs up onto the bed and motioning to the place opposite me. He takes a moment, and I wonder if he saw my motion, but then he walks past me and sits down, bending one leg while the other one remains stretched out on the floor.

Taking a deep breath, I complete the spell and blow the herbs into the air before I place my fingers to his forehead, sparks dancing through the bond.

He leans closer, making it easier for me, and for a moment our eyes meet, and then he looks down, and my heart fills with dread as the dream begins to replay.

All around me, the dome pulsates, but I continue to walk through it; the warbling is growing louder the further in I go. It’s not just a thin barrier; it continues for a while, and it’s as if the further in I go, the harder it’s becoming to breathe.

Gods…

I drag my legs forward, forcing myself through the crushing density until, just as I feel my body beginning to fail, I stumble into clear air.

I gasp and fall to my knees, sucking in big gulps of air. That’s when I realise there is no snow here.