Page 51 of Under an Endless Moon

Part of me shouted that I should ignore the call. Pretend I hadn’theard. I’d learned the hard way that I shouldn’t intrude. I’d get wrapped up so fast I wouldn’t know what hit me.

But there was no chance I could disregard her pain. Especially when I heard another whimper echo through the door.

A dark energy roiled from within and bashed at the wood.

A thrashing of grief and a convulsing of horror.

Could barely swallow around the dread as I reached out a shaky hand and set it on the knob. I hesitated for a prolonged, uncertain beat, before I clicked open the door to the duskiness of my bedroom.

The huge windows on the far wall right behind the bed offered just as awesome a view as the ones in the main room, though this side overlooked the woods beyond. Moonlight fell through the panes and lit her in a milky incandescence.

That smooth, soft skin aglow where she was in the middle of my bed.

Would have stared at the vision for my whole goddamned life if it wouldn’t have been for the fact that she wasn’t shrouded in the peace I’d always prayed she’d have.

No.

She was writhing, her head thrashing from side to side as she flailed her legs, so hard that the blankets and sheets had been pushed to the floor.

Raven’s gorgeous face was pinched and twisted in distress. Like she was fighting off a demon wherever she was lost to the night.

I wanted to chalk it up to a simple nightmare.

But I couldn’t do that when I knew firsthand that Raven’s demons had been real.

When I knew the way those demons haunted her. Ones she kept hidden behind those teasing smiles and that bright, shining belief.

I crept across the floor, knowing I wasn’t anything but a demon, too.

It didn’t matter.

There wasn’t one fuckin’ thing in this world that could have kept me away from her right then.

Coming up to the side of the bed, I leaned over and murmured her name. “Raven.”

I kept it soft, praying she would be comforted by the sound. Praying it would be enough to draw her out of the dark, dark place she had gone.

Only she thrashed harder, and a long cry rolled up her throat. The sound was so fucking devastating that it nearly dropped me to my knees.

I wavered, standing there wearing only my briefs, sure that I was crossing so many lines that it was going to come back and bite me in the ass.

But the only thing that mattered right then was her.

Comforting her.

Letting her know she wasn’t alone in her suffering.

So I gave, helpless but to climb all the way onto the bed.

Carefully, I reached out and I brushed my fingertips down her cheek. “Raven, wake up, it’s me.”

“Please, no, stop,” she begged from the depths of her misery.

My spirit screamed and my pulse careened. My arms trembled like a bitch when I snaked them under her back and pulled her to my bare chest.

A flashfire ripped through my body at the contact.

“I’ve got you, Raven. I’ve got you. You’re safe. You don’t have to be afraid.” I muttered the promises to the top of her head.

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