Page 34 of Realm of Dreams & Shadows

“I thought about spiders, but that was too icky. Even for a joke.” She grabs one of my pillows, then sprawls on her stomach, her feet up in the air. “Start at the beginning and give me every ooey-gooey detail.”

“It’s not ooey or gooey,” I tell her, leaning against my headboard. The truth is, I should be shutting this conversation down. We may have done some serious bonding over the last few days, but the whole Chase in my dreams thing is a little much to dump on a new friend. Even one as open-minded as Tia.

“Quit running scenarios in your head,” she orders. “Just tell me.”

So I bite the bullet, ignore what I just told myself, and do just that.

When I’m done, she gapes at me. “But that’s—I mean, that’s…”

“Freaky. Impossible. Utterly insane,” I finish for her. “Yeah, I know.”

“All that. But pretty fucking cool if it’s true.”

“It’s true,” I say, my throat tight.

Immediately, she grabs my hand. “I didn’t mean it like that. I believe you. I really, truly believe you.”

“Why?”

“Are you saying you’ve been lying?”

“Tia! Of course, I’m telling the truth.”

“Well, then,” she says, as if that solves everything.

And I guess it does.

Except for whatever it is that she’s not telling me.

I reach up to finger Mom’s ring at my neck, only to remember it’s in my treasure box. I sigh, wishing she were here for all of this. Wanting her to hold me safe from the dreams as we talk about boys and school and growing up. I never got that, and now I’m dealing with all this freakish stuff, and I don’t have my mom around to talk to about the mundane or the freaky.

Which totally sucks.

“Cora?” Tia’s brow furrows with concern.

“Sorry. Just—I guess I’m just glad you’re here.” She’s hardly a surrogate mom, but she definitely fills the best friend slot.

For a second, I think she’s going to push, but then she sits back, her voice gentle when she says, “Does he know? I mean—is it him in your dreams or are you just dreaming of him?”

“Chase? Oh, he knows,” I say, mentally shifting back on topic. “And it’s him. I’m sure of it.”

She stares me down. “And you’re sure because…?”

“It’s like he’s trying to keep it a secret, but he’s trying too hard. And there’s the sizzle.”

She pushes herself up so that she can sit on her knees. “Sizzle?”

“When we touch—even if I just brush up against him—it’s like…I don’t know…electricity, I guess.”

“That’s kind of romantic.”

I shake my head, not willing to admit to myself how much I wish that were true. “I’m just a project to him. He’s protecting me in the dreams. And here too. That’s why he was at the store. He was getting books and herbs for protection spells.”

“And you’re sure that’s about you?”

I nod. I can’t explain why, but I’m positive.

“Well, at least he’s chivalrous. And every relationship has to start somewhere.”