Page 59 of The Other Side of the Mirror

She laughed wildly in answer; its growing crescendo the last thing I heard before I passed out.

Chapter25

Eva

Aswift night breeze was carrying me away. I didn’t want to wake up. There were strong, familiar arms around me, and I felt safe…so safe here…

I cracked one eye open. I was still in Aviel’s bed, but the chains were gone. The room was gone too, the bed surrounded by a dark fog. My dress was no longer pale blue, but a glittering black slip. It looked like stars shining in the darkest night.

And Bash was there—in a matching, shadowy black shirt—tracing the rose scarred on my palm.

I breathed in the scent of him, then frowned. I couldn’t remember if I had ever smelled anything in a dream before.

When his eyes met mine, my breath caught at the light, easy smile I had never seen on his face as a whirlwind of emotion ran through me.

And I knew it then. That the reason my hardened heart had healed hadnothingto do with Aviel. That I had only been able to trust the prince so easily because I had met Bash and finally felt whole and safe.

But I shoved away that realization as hurt slammed through me. Because Bash had lied to me too, even if it was unknowingly, parroting the false words that had forced me into this situation. He had brought me to Aviel and served me up to the false prince after pushing me away.

I wasn’t ready to tell him about Aviel’s revelation. Not yet. Especially not while I was chained to another’s bed.

“I always knew you were sent straight from my dreams,” Bash said slyly.

He thought this was a dream, I realized with a jolt.But somehow, I knew it wasn’t. Even with my magic blocked, I had managed to reach out to him in my desperation and panic.

Aviel is coming. You need to hurry.

“This isn’t the time to flirt.” I sat up in a rush and grabbed his hands, holding them tightly as I looked into those ever-churning eyes. “This isn’t a dream.”

Bash went so still that, for a second, I wasn’t sure he was breathing. Then I saw his eyes go wide as he realized this was real, or as real as whatever this was could be.

“You’re dreamwalking,” he whispered hesitantly. “How could you be…”

Bash’s stormy eyes swirled with a mix of shock, and something I faintly understood from my own heart but hadn’t let myself name because doing so might be both of our undoing.

His jaw set, his eyes darkening, and I realized he was staring at the bloody bruise on my face where Aviel struck me. One hand reached out to hover over my cheek, not quite touching the wound.

“Who did this to you?”

His shadows erupted in quiet rage, moving around me like a smoky shield, his expression promising vengeance.

“He…the sedative must have worn off,” I said hurriedly. “I’m not sure how this magic works or how long we have until I wake up, but Aviel locked me up?—”

“What?” Bash’s hands were on my face, his eyes full of malice. “But he’s your?—”

“He’s working with the False King,” I said grimly. “And he isn’t my anything. After I found out, I tried to escape and woke up in a cell.”

His eyes flashed. “He hurt you.”

It wasn’t a question. Bash’s voice was full of fury as his thumb oh so gently passed over the bruise. The shadows in his eyes swirled dangerously, turning them so gray they were almost black.

I winced, rubbing my wrists where the shackles dug in in the waking world. Bash watched the movement, his eyes narrowing into slits. I could feel the anger radiating off him as he took in the still-unhealed cuts, the dried blood on my arms. As if they had appeared just by thinking about my chains.

“Are you in the dungeon?” Anger, fear, and desperation painted over his every feature, but I could see him putting together a plan. “We were actually already on our way to Morehaven. Whatever details you can give me before we get there though…” He trailed off expectantly.

“I’m not in a cell anymore…” My voice gave out as the horror of what Aviel had tried to do—and what he had already done—filled me with an empty sort of fury.

Bash must have sensed the change because he pulled me closer, clasping my hands in his. And I realized I was shaking, my hands trembling in his hold. I squeezed my eyes shut, then pressed one unsteady hand to my mouth.

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