Page 71 of Realm of Dreams & Shadows

But right now, he’s standing here, his warm palm sliding from my hair over my shoulder, then down the bare skin of my arm. He’s flesh and blood.

And yet he’s so much more.

Apparently, so am I.

I tilt my head to look into his eyes. “Can I ask you something?”

“You can ask me anything,” he says. “Whether or not I answer is a different question.”

I smirk, but I also know he means it. There are things he’s not telling me, and I have to trust those secrets will be revealed in time. Right now, it’s not me I want to know about. It’s him. This man I’m drawn to more intensely than anyone I’ve ever known. And not because he saved my life, and not because he’s gorgeous, and not because he looks at me with that expression that suggests he’s just one heartbeat away from losing it and pulling me close to him.

It’s not any of those things, and at the same time it is. It’s all of them together. And it’s his courage, his persistence. Everything I’ve seen him do in the Nightmare Realm over and over and over again.

He’s saved me from Adric’s minions so many times, and though I know that’s his duty, it feels like more than that.

It feels like he’s protecting what’s his. Me.

I don’t know what to do with that, though. I’ve never had a serious boyfriend. Or any boyfriend for that matter. And I’ve surely never been the prey of an interdimensional king.

My life has gotten very, very strange. And, weirdly, Chase is one of the rocks that is keeping me steady through all of it, even though he’s smackdab in the center of it.

“Hey,” he says, releasing my hair. “Deep thoughts?”

“Not that deep,” I say. “But I do want to ask you something.”

“Go ahead.”

“When we were in the library construct, you started to tell me something about Adric. About how he’s connected to you. I know Mr. Griffin said it’s dangerous knowledge, but…” I meet his eyes, seeing my own uncertainty reflected there. “I’m already in danger. Isn’t it worse to face threats I don’t understand?”

Chase runs a hand through his dark hair, a gesture I’m beginning to recognize as a sign that he’s debating himself. “You’re right. But remember what we talked about? Some truths, once you know, you can’t unknow them. They will change how you see everything.”

“Maybe I need to see things differently.”

He studies my face in the lamplight, and I can see him weighing his words. “Adric isn’t just the king of the Nightmare Realm. He’s… Well, he and I share a connection that goes back centuries. Oh, hell, it goes back millennia.”

The weight of that word settles over me. Chase looks like he’s only a few years older than me, and I can’t quite wrap my mind around how old he must truly be.

As if he can hear my thoughts, the corner of his mouth quirks up. “Yeah,” he says. “Our fates have been intertwined for longer than you can imagine. And I look damn good for my age.”

I laugh. “You really, really do.”

His mouth twitches, and he gently brushes the pad of his thumb over my lower lip, making my body tingle with raw, pure desire.

“Do you really want to date an older man?” His voice is like a low flame, safe, but also able to burn.

I feel a squeeze around my heart. “Yeah,” I say. “Absolutely.”

For a moment, I see something wonderful on his face, in his eyes. Then a shadow falls, fast and hard, like a curtain blocking everything.

“Cora.” My name is laced with pain. “Cora, there are things you don’t know. About me. About Adric. Hell, about you.”

I take his hand, reveling in the tingle of that familiar connection. “Then tell me. Start with the connection you have with him, because I’m thinking that’s the heart of everything, isn’t it?”

I see the shock in his eyes, but before he can answer, his phone buzzes. He glances at it, frowning. “Whistler. He’s found signs of mare activity near the north entrance to campus.”

And that’s it.

The moment breaks, reality crashing back over us as the supernatural world I’ve only just learned actually exists intrudes on us once more.