Page 91 of Snatched By the Sandman

Once again, her tears undo me.

I summon my bones, creating the framework of a new blanket fort where she may hide. She doesn’t flinch. She doesn’t look at me. She is fixed on her body, her eyes as hollow as her past self. She’s reliving it in the eternity of this moment.

Zenya is at her strongest on her knees. Sometimes, it takes greater power to understand the helplessness of one’s fate.

ButIamnothelpless.

Unable to bear the torment any longer, I know what I must do—who I must seek.

I shadow travel to the deepest cave, advance into the cavern, and trod upon the bones until I am face to face with my father. He sleeps as the great owl, his massive wings tucked close to his body with that massive skull curled into the feathered layers of his chest.

I have no qualms, no hesitations about disturbing him.

All it takes is a mere nightmare fragment for him to wake, growling his annoyance at my disturbance.

“PHOBETOR!” He shakes out his wings, his sinister, glowing eyes leering down on me. I imagine he’s considering annihilating this version of me, starting anew with a regenerative cycle of the nightmare embodiment I used to be.

I fall to my fucking knees, bowing my head in reverence and desperation.

Father,my voice is a whisper in our shared consciousness—a plea drenched in sorrow and urgency.I need the power of sleep and hypnosis to save her.

Hypnos regards me with ancient, unreadable eyes. “You know my power is no trifle. What will you give in return?”

I swallow hard, understanding the gravity of my next words.She will finish the Trials. Once she does, she will give me back my hyoid bone. I offer it to you. I offer my voice to you. Forever.

The silence in the cave is deafening as Hypnos considers the offer. It means no more screaming or howling in nightmares, forcing me to work with only four senses to strike fear into many minds.

Finally, my father nods, a solemn acknowledgment of the sacrifice. With a wave of his winged arm, Hypnos imbues me with the power of sleep and hypnosis. It is a heavy thing, dark, but it spreads a warmth through my cold bones.

Time to grant her warmth…and rest.

Newfound power courses through me.

I return to the clearing where past Zenya has passed out from the pain.

Morpheus and Hecate stand before her, their magic dwindling.

My brother steps toward me. His eyes widen with the knowledge of the truth of what I hold—and what I had to do toobtain it. He snaps his wings to his back, stilling in the face of my sacrifice. His lips part silently, but no words come.

Hecate herself lowers her chin in a gesture of reverence.

I turn to the monsters.

With an almighty voiceless growl thundering from my heart and a soul-splitting silent scream from the depthless reserves of my being, I slam the power of sleep upon the stalkers, their bodies collapsing into a deep, drunken slumber.

Then, I turn my attention to past Zenya, weaving a hypnotic spell to replace her nightmares with sweet delusions, a temporary refuge from the horror she has endured.

But when I shift my focus to present Zenya, she is gone.

Cold dread grips my chest, icing my veins, sinking into my bones. Panic surges through me, knowing she has run. How long she has been missing I can’t determine, but I feel her essence, relieved she is still alive.

I track her swiftly through the forest, following the faint traces of her energy. She has gone further into the yawning mouth of the woods—deeper than ever. Too deep.

The deeper you go into your memories, the closer you get to the Abyss.

Hecate’s words echo in my ears.

Mine howl.

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