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“I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight.” I yawn and pat his taut chest as I slip by.
I’m about to shut my door but he stops it gently with a firm hand. I let out a weary sigh. How is he not completely drained? It has to be at least two a.m. by now. I crack the door open and glance at him. He’s giving me a concerned look.
“What?” I narrow my eyes on him. I still have some fight in me in case he wants to pull another barge-into-the-room situation.
His gaze shifts to my bruised arm. My cheeks instantly heat and I move my arm behind me.Fucking gods, I forgot all about Arulius’s tantrum at dinner.“I’m fine—just go to bed,” I say with a tight smile and hope it seems genuine.
He furrows his brow and enters my room anyway.
Gods be damned.
He moves toward my bed and sits down, patting the spot next to him. I reluctantly obey. The sooner I let him inspect my arm the sooner I can sleep.
I plop down next to him, our thighs touching, and offer him my bruised forearm. He gently holds my wrist like it will break if he moves too quickly.
My skin is a dark purple with blue splotches of deeper bruising dotted in. I wince. How could Arulius do this to me in such a public display of jealousy? I clench my teeth. Another way that proves his love is vile. My broken organ tries to crack at the thought but I keep it glued shut.
Rune dips his head down to my arm and something wet and warm drips across my skin. I flinch, but my muscles relax once I see the bruising begin to fade. My eyes widen with disbelief. I didn’t know Dreadiuses could heal, how is he—
He lifts his head and nausea flows through me. His tears healed me… and they’re made of blood. Streaks drip down his face and his crimson eyes glow with the red stains of death. He’s crying tears of blood. I feel sick and weak… dizzy. Crap, when was the last time I even drank blood? A surge of pain thrums through me, demanding I drink blood and coiling deep in my chest.
I glance down to my arm and curl my lips at the drops of blood left there. My vision starts to blur and I’m falling into darkness before my face hits the sheets.
* * *
“Elodie, love. Why are you running?”
Father chases me with the golden dagger. His hands are covered in Margo’s blood and his eyes are wide with mania.
“Dad, please don’t! Please don’t kill us!” I scream. My lungs burn and my legs aren’t carrying me fast enough. Margo is running at my side with an injured leg from the cut she barely dodged. Fuck, he’s going to catch us. He’s going to catch us and push that dagger into our flesh.
I slide down a short hill and break into a run in the gulley. Just when I think I’ve lost him, I’m met with yellow stained teeth smiling much wider than they have the right to. Mother embeds her kitchen knife deep in my chest, the impact stopping me like I just ran into a wall.
Her fist is nearly in my chest cavity. Blood oozes down my ankles while my lungs betray me. Blood spurts from my lips and coats her face. Her brown eyes meet mine—
“I love you, Elodie,” she cries as she comes out of her bewitched state.
* * *
It’s warm.
My eyes are heavy but I open them anyway. My room is dark and I’m tucked in bed. Frost clings to my window and my breath swirls as I exhale.
Cold tears wet my face and my pillow is soaked. My skin is drenched with sweat and my breathing is labored.
It’s just a dream. It's just a dream, I’m okay. It’s already been done.
As I come out of my drowsiness I realize I’m not alone.
I’m warm—and my room is never warm.
My hand glides down to my waist where I find someone’s arm wrapped around me tightly.Arulius?I consider turning to find out who it is.
But I’m so warm—I was crying and whoever it is, they’re here to comfort me. Bring me out of my deep-dark screaming meemies. I don’t want to turn around because my heart will try to latch like it always does. It’s better if I don’t know.
Even though I have a good guess who it is.
I let my body relax once more and try to coax my brain into getting some rest. The person lying with me rubs their hand up along my arm and brushes my hair out of my face gently.
