Page 46 of Taken to the Deadlands

Yien would go in there, send her back to her realm, and Mia would be gone from my life in the span of a few minutes.

You can still turn this around. Tell the shadow demon you changed your mind.

But I didn’t allow myself to listen to those tempting thoughts.

They were the same ones that fantasized about keeping Mia here. About building a bigger, better house for her. About living a fulfilling, human-like life with her where we did nothing but spend our days together.

I had long since learned to shut those thoughts out, and I wouldn’t allow them to control my actions.

I nodded, shielding my emotions, and motioned to the house, starting to walk back with heavy feet.

“She should be sleeping. Let me show you where.”

Chapter 20

Mia

Ihad desperately tried to stay awake.

I knew something was going on with her. I tried to wait up to try and talk to her, but one hour turned to three and then six, and before I knew it, I had dozed off.

Panic woke me up.

Even in my sleep, I could feel the weight all around me. Suffocating me. There was something on me. Something I couldn’t fight off.

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t scream. No matter how many times I tried to gasp for air, I couldn’t.

My eyes shot open, and I sat up, trying to see what was suffocating me in my sleep. At first, I thought it was another wraith coming for me, but then a shrill whine hit my ears.

I searched for the sound and met the bright green eyes of Momo. She was looking at me with narrowed eyes, her tail swaying around her. She was sitting on my chest, but surelyshecouldn’t be the one making me feel like I couldn’t breathe.

She’s alive.

The last time I had seen her was when the demon who had taken me had threatened to eat her right before chucking her across the room.

Relief hit me at the same time as a sinking realization.

But wait, if she is here…

My eyes darted around the dark room. My clock glowed in the dark, telling me it was three in the morning, moonlight shone through the small opening in the wall of my room, and the musky yet homey smell of my run-down apartment filled my senses.

I’m home. How the fuck?—?

I jumped up, pushing the covers off, and Momo jumped to the floor. The world tilted, causing me to drop to my knees.

I’m home.

I couldn’t tell how much time had passed, nor could I make heads or tails of how I had ended up back here.

It made everything else feel like a bad dream.

My chest twisted.Was it a dream?Had my guilt about scamming the townspeople snuck up on me and given me some hyper-realistic dreams?

Then panic set in. The world continued to spin. My breath caught in my chest.

It was real, right? Am I going insane?

No.It felt far too real to be a dream. I had been waiting for Aris. I was going to talk to her about staying. I remembered it vividly.

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