He scooted his chair around the table, closer to me. His knee pressed into my thigh. “You don’t understand, Sky.”Gah!I loved it when he shortened my name. “I don’t mind following in my grandfather’s footsteps. In fact”—his cheeks went rosy—“I’m honored. It’s you I’m worried about. You don’t understand how disturbing what I saw was.”
I heard what he was saying, I really did, but I trusted him to keep me safe once we were working together. “But last night could’ve happened no matter what, right? If I understood your gran right, I’d been pulled into someone else’s dream. The only way I would’ve been hurt is if the apparition connected to me instead of the house.”
“Not all of them can do that,” he grumbled. “At least that’s what Pops said.”
“True, but until we get in there and really learn all the things, we won’t know what we’re up against. Your grandparents’ wisdom is awesome, but let’s face it, they haven’t done it in what? Twenty-five years. I’m sure there are things they’ve forgotten. New entities out there to face. We need some hands-on training.”
Kingston groaned, letting his head drop forward until his chin hit his chest. “I want you safe,” he whispered.
“I’ll be safe with you.” I grabbed his hands. “Together. We can figure this out.”
He looked up and stared at me. He looked so sad and lost. “You’ve barely got your feet wet with Elyse, and my gran hasn’t begun training you yet. Plus, you don’t have a psychopomp like Duchess. We’d be going in, led by nothing more than whatever goddess steers me there and…nothing else. We don’t have one clue what to do.”
He really was such a worry-wart. Kingston liked things orderly, in their neat little boxes. Which was kind of funny for such a paranormal fanatic. I’d think he’d be a little more go-with-the-flow. Jetty had told us that even when they went on hunts to find the things Kingston saw in his dreams, he’d always come prepared with whatever supplies he thought they might need.
“Okay, let’s table the discussion for tonight. We don’t have to drink the tea, so we won’t be linked.” Another concern hit me. “But your gran didn’t send any of that hot chocolate she makes you to help pull you from the dreams to sleep.”
He shrugged. “Pops’ biggest concern was the beings in the dream-veil seeing me before I had a tether. The one last night was one hundred percent focused on dream-Sky. Even if my sleep is unsettling, I don’t think I’m in jeopardy of getting attacked or stuck there.”
That wasn’t all that reassuring, but it would have to do for now. We’d both had a long day, and Kingston looked completely wrung out. A little rest to let my brain settle would do me good, too. Tomorrow I’d start the day practicing Yoga with Elyse, then re-evaluate everything I’d learned from a place of calm.
Which meant… “I set the second bedroom up as an office. I’m not sure where you’re going to sleep unless you’re willing to share my bed with me.”
Kingston made a choking sound, and his whole face went beet red. My sweet, adorable man. “I’ll crash on the couch.”
“Are you kidding me?” I asked, horrified at the thought of his back all twisted up from trying to fit his over-large body on my normal-sized couch.
“I’ll be fine.”
We went into the living room, and Kingston stared at his bed for the night. “I’ll sleep out here,” I offered, eyeing the sofa warily.
Kingston spun and glared at me. “Absolutely not.”
Planting my hands on my hips, I glared right back. “If you’re not going to tell me what has you so freaked out, then you don’t get an opinion. You have two options.Two.One, you sleep in the bed with me or two, you let me take the couch. There’s no way in hell I’m letting you sleep on that.”
The standoff lasted three minutes before he sighed heavily, and I continued, “You may be bigger than me, but I’m more stubborn than you, so you might as well admit defeat.”
“Fine,” he gritted out through clenched teeth. “I’m going to change.” With his overnight bag over his shoulder, he stomped toward the bathroom.
The door closed with a click, and I rushed into my bedroom to get it ready. He hadn’t actually told me where he was sleeping, so I wanted it comfortable for him. I quickly changed the sheets, ignoring our info dump of a day and focusing on my personal dream come true.
Kingston was spending the night in my house, and we were completely alone.Or were we?I glanced nervously around my room. The first thing I needed Rosie to do was make me able to see ghosts in my own space. What if Kingston’s pops hadfollowed us home? Or even worse, what if Buck had hitched a ride over? He’d been super curious, and terribly worried, about Kingston’s dreamwalking.
Deciding there was nothing I could do about it now, I headed for my dresser. Since I didn’t think Kingston would judge me, I slid on my favorite comfortable sleep pants withStitchon them with a matching t-shirt.
Hurrying back out into the living room, we practically collided. “Well, those are boring,” I said. “I liked the ghost sleep pants better.”
He looked down at his black sweatpants as his cheeks pinkened. “These are more practical.”
They really weren’t since it was bedtime, but I didn’t want to embarrass him, especially while we still had to argue about who was sleeping where. “So am I sleeping out here, or are we sharing my bed?”
Kingston’s gaze moved over my head and down the hall. He started gnawing on his bottom lip before he nodded his head toward the bedroom. “It’ll probably be safer if we slept in the same room.”
Hell yeah. “That’s fine, but that means we’re sleeping together because I’m not letting you lay on the floor all night.”
He nodded stiffly, so I grabbed his hand and pulled him as quickly as I could back down the hall. For a man with such long legs, he sure didn’t move very fast.
Chapter
