Page 206 of Ex Somnis

The sand…

There’s sand under my hands.

I open my eyes and find sky the color of a bruise healing and a thousand colored doors standing upright in the sand, all of them closed, all of them facing the water.

I know this beach.

I look down at my fingers in the sand.

They’re breadsticks, which means…

…I’m dreaming.

I stand too fast.

“Tessa.”

She’s standing at the waterline with her back to me, looking out at nothing, and when she turns around, my whole chest does a flip.

This has to work.

God, I hope she isn’t still mad at me for bringing Derek into my dreamscape.

Her lips pull into a smile as she crosses the sand, and we meet halfway. I hold on so hard it hurts. She smells like cocoa butter and salt.

“I’m sorry,” I murmur into her chest. “Please don’t hate me.”

“I could never hate you, silly. And I’m sorry, too, but he’s just…”

“I know.” I lean back to look at her. “And I’m sorry this is making it worse before it gets better, but, Tess, I need you to do something, and I need you not to argue with me about it, which I know is your second-favorite hobby.”

“What’s the first?”

“Being right.”

There’s a flicker of the dry smile I love so much. “What do you need?”

“I need you to open your dreamscape, right now. So the others can step in.”

The smile drops. “Why?”

“Where’s Lucien?”

Her eyes go to the doors, then to the water, then back to me. “Elsewhere. I couldn’t stay. I keep…” she makes a small motion with her hand “… bouncing in and out.”

“Can he see us right now? Can he watch this?”

“I don’t think so. I don’t think he can watch the dreamscapes while he’s in elsewhere, but I’m not sure, Lenny. I’m not sure of anything in here anymore.”

“Okay. Okay, that’s enough.” I take a breath. “We have a plan, and it’s probably better not to tell you everything about it if we don’t know if Lucien can hear us. But you don’t have to understand it, and you don’t have to do any of it. You have to go along. Let them in, and then come with us, and stay quiet.”

“Come with you where?”

“Tess.”

“No, you can’t just…”

“If you love me,” I say. “You’ll do it.”