Page 87 of Shattered & Returned

“So privacy doesn’t exist here?”

Orren glanced at Dante, and the brute gave me a flat look.“You’re worried about privacy when there’s danger everywhere?”

Orren stepped between us. “Don’t upset her, Dante. She’s had a bad night.” He turned to me with that sweet smile. “I’ll stand guard outside your door.”

“There’s not necessary,” I said. “And you should rest too.”

His amber eyes, flecked with crimson, warmed at my concern.

“I’ll be fine,” he said. “I’ll sleep right here. No one gets past me. And if you hear snoring, ignore it.”

Gods, why me?

Arguing with Ravencrux’s men was pointless. I’d learned that the day they dragged me here.

I shook my head, stepped inside, and shut the door without another word. Let them take the hint.

Sindy rose from her bed, settling into a meditation pose. “Where have you been, Bloom?” Her hazel eyes widened as she took in my appearance. “You’re drenched. What happened?”

“Curfew violation happened. I’ll explain tomorrow.” I headed straight for the bathroom. “Right now, I need a shower.”

She frowned. “I looked everywhere for you after my shower. Weren’t you the one who said we redheads should stick together?”

“You’re right,” I admitted, pausing at the bathroom door. “Goodnight, Sindy.”

I didn’t wait for a response before shutting the door behind me.

It was supposedto be a beautiful night with a canvas of stars. But the constellations twisted into eyes, watching me. Dozens of them. Hundreds. Tracking. Knowing. Never losing sight of me.

They held the same secret I’d seen in the four immortals’ gazes at the academy. The secret everyone understood but me.

It burned in my chest. I needed answers, but time bled away with each frantic heartbeat. I needed an ally in this viper’s nest of knowing glances and hidden truths.

Then the eyes turned vengeful.

Suddenly I was running, fear sharp as a blade in my windpipe, each breath forming a stream of frost in the air as I pumped my feet harder, faster. The thunder of hooves vibrated through the frozen earth behind me.

Pain exploded through my skull, an ice spear tearing through bone, its jagged tip bursting from my forehead in a spray of crimson. My final sight was Nero astride his black stallion, face contorted with rage, with grief, with agony beyond this world.

I woke up and sat bolt upright, my scream cutting off. The inhaler was cold in my shaking hands. I sucked in desperate gulps of air as the nightmare’s claws released my lungs.

Nails scratched across the glass window, echoing eerily in the dark chamber.

“Our queen!” The dead wailed, their faces sunken, their eye sockets filled with desperation and shadow, their black lips moving as one.

I hissed. “Not this shit again. Go away!”

More dead pressed against the window, their skeletal fingers scraping the windowpane.

The witchlights flared to life as Sindy jolted upright, fully awake now.

“What the hell?” She scrambled backward, her back hitting the wall.

“You can see them too?” I asked in a rasping voice.

“Shit, yeah.” She stared at the window, eyes terrified.

“Are they the dead or the nighthaunts you warned me about?” I asked, trying to calm my breathing.

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