Page 57 of Soul Bound

“Night, White Fang.” Her voice a whisper.

* * *

I tossand turn for a long time before I finally drift off. And for the first time since Winslow’s arrival, I have a nightmare.

We’re in the tunnels again, but we’re separated. I run franticly around the stone caverns calling out her name. She calls out to me, but her voice sounds like she’s miles away, just the faintest whisper. I take yet another turn and come to a dead end. Frustrated, I slam my fists into the stone walls. Whirling around, I start to make my way back but there she stands at the mouth of the tunnel.

Although she doesn’t look like my Winslow.

She’s transparent—ethereal—and she flickers in and out of focus. Her unique eyes I love don’t look back at me, instead, they’re cloudy ice-blue like Thalia’s. Her dark hair hangs around her shoulders, mused as if she’d been in a struggle.

And that’s when I notice the blood. A perfect slice spans the entire width of her neck and the blood pours down onto her chest.

“It’s too late,” she says, her voice hoarse like she’d been screaming. “You said you wouldn’t let anything get me.”

“Winnie…”

“You promised you’d keep me safe. Where were you?” she cries.

“I tried.” My voice breaks. “I couldn’t find you.”

“Now you never will…”

She vanishes like a mist.

“Ranger!”

I fly up in bed, gasping for air like I’d been holding my breath. My chest heaves and my heart rate is bordering on not safe. I’m so disoriented I don’t even realize she’s standing there, and her hand is on my shoulder. Startled, I lurch back from her. She flicks on the bedside lamp, casting a soft glow throughout the dark room.

I look her over and sigh in relief when I see she looks just like she should.Alive.

“Winslow?”

“You were having a nightmare. I couldn’t sleep, but I heard you in here thrashing around.” She bites her lip, looking a little uncertain. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” I rub my face with my hands. “Just a bad dream.”

“Okay…” She drops her hand from my shoulder and backs away from the bed.

“Areyouokay?”

“I feel better. I think I just needed a minute to be numb.” She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s funny, I used to crave the feeling of being numb—but tonight, I hated it. I didn’t want to feel that way, but I couldn’t help it. I’m guessing it was just my body’s defense mechanism after everything that happened.”

I nod. “I’m glad you’re feeling better. You scared me earlier.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” She looks genuinely ashamed. “Thank you for helping me out of the shower and for dressing me… I feel kind of embarrassed about it now.”

“Don’t. I’m just relieved you’re okay and you weren’t seriously hurt earlier. I can’t…” I trail off, trying to decide how honest I should be with her right now. I swing my legs out from under the covers and sit on the edge of the bed. I lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees.

“Can’t what?”

I sigh. “I can’t even tell you how relieved I felt when I realized the blood wasn’t yours. When I first saw it, I thought you were going to bleed out right there in front of me. I don’t know what I would have done if that had happened.” She looks at me from under her dark lashes. “I’m just really thankful you’re okay, I don’t think I would have survived losing Thalia and then you.”

Losing Winslow in the same manner Thalia died would have destroyed me.

She takes a step forward and places a soft hand on my cheek. “I’m not going anywhere, Ranger.”

I sit up straighter and place my hand over hers.

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