Page 17 of Sweet Nightmares
As soon as they walked inside, it was a bloodbath. The Harwoods were expecting them, and chaos erupted. But it was the sound that Jane would remember forever. Loud blasts mixed with the sound of crinkling glass and screams. So many screams—the timbre of which created an evocative symphony of blood, guts, and heartbreak.
Jane blinked, and more glass shattered as bullets flew everywhere. One so close to her face, she was fairly certain it grazed her ear.
Jane’s heart hiccupped, and dread twisted her stomach. Blood gushed down walls, the world blurred together, and she was all alone. Nightmare had disappeared into smoke, moving as fast as lightning. Outside of the mirror, he was a vampire, ripping people’s throats open with his fangs. He was a monster wrapped in coiled muscles and tipped with sharp metal claws.
A scream bubbled in Jane’s throat as more guns were pointed in her direction.
Then, a force slammed her painfully into the wall.
Nightmare.
He pulled her into his chest and shielded her body from the bullets, soaking them into his flesh seemingly without harm.
A cloud of red hair fell in front of Jane’s face as she tilted her chin up and caught Nightmare’s silver-laced sapphire eyes.
Jane’s teeth chattered as she tried to open her mouth and thank him. But nothing came out.
“No one kills you, save me,” he said, stroking her hair behind her ear.
Jane’s stomach dropped out as her feet left the ground and, in a moment, she was pulled through space as if at the speed of light. Nausea climbed up her throat.What the fuck was that?Had Nightmare moved her with his superhuman speed?
“Now, stay put until I come back for you.” Nightmare set her down in a hallway closet as if she were a rag doll, before closing the door in her face and leaving her in darkness.
Her limbs grew tight and heavy with compulsion. It was an order she couldn’t disobey, even if she wanted to. The blood rushed to her head, and she tried to swallow around the knot in her throat. He so rarely commanded her that she’d forgotten what it felt like. Typically, she followed his orders to the letter without magic forcing her, so he no longer bothered with it.
But the reminder rankled.
Because she wasn’t free, she was owned by two monsters. Her life was split between villains. The villain of the day and the villain of the night. And she couldn’t figure out which one was worse. At least her villain of the night didn’t hit her. He only made her bones uneasy and commanded her to hide in closets in the middle of gunfights.
What felt like hours later, but was probably only around twenty minutes, the door creaked open. She expected to see Nightmare, but instead it was something far worse—a man with a twisted smile on his face.
“What do we have here?” The man stepped closer, shadows sliding over his grin as he did.
Jane gulped but didn’t even try to move because she couldn’t. The command’s unfortunate consequence was that she wasn’t able to move at all. Nightmare had said to “Stay put”.
It was far too broad a command, and the result left her stuck.
“What is a pretty thing like you doing in my closet?” he asked.
Jane smiled through her teeth. “I rather like closets. They’re very peaceful. No?”
“Oh, yes.” A sickening chuckle left his chest. “Are you Nightmare’s?”
Jane pinched her lips together. She would not answer that. Where was Nightmare? He couldn’t die, could he? Jane had never even seen him get injured. He’d just taken thirty bullets for her and walked away like it was nothing.
He couldn’t die. Could he?
“Where is he?”
“Oh, I have a ghost taking care of him.”
Jane’s brow furrowed. What did that mean?
“Why don’t you join us out here in the light?”
Jane bit the inside of her cheek. Even if she wanted to, she couldn’t. “I think I’d rather stay here.”
“And I’d rather you come out.”
