Page 51 of Sweet Nightmares
“But you did make a deal with him?”
“I don’t remember doing so.” The vein in her neck jumped. “I owe him a favor for every leaf I have on this tree, and he can ask for anything.”
“Oh.” Jane bit her lip. “That’s not ideal.”
“Is your deal similar? Can Nightmare make you do anything he wants?”
Jane swallowed past the lump in her throat. “Yes.”
“Anything, even kill?”
Yes. But he’s never asked for that.Jane only dipped her chin.
“Is he the monster he seems to be?” Harlowe asked. “Does he make you kill people for him?”
A gust of cold wind snaked through the cave, causing both girls to shiver and goosebumps to crawl over their flesh. “Half my life is spent trying to keep Nightmare from murdering everyone. He has no moral code and no empathy. He’d rather kill and ask questions later.”
Harlowe inhaled sharply, and a dark shadow fell over her eyes. “How do you handle it?”
How did Jane handle it? It had been so long that she barely even thought about it anymore. Nightmare was a villain in most stories, and half the time, he was also the villain in hers, but he also treated her better than anyone else had in her life.
This was sad because he was still awful most of the time, although not often to her anymore. It was all too confusing to focus on, which was why Jane never did.
“Gain his trust. Making him want you alive and healthy and whole more than he wants to hurt you. He needs you as his anchor, and he needs your favor. You are valuable to him.”
“Anchor?”
If Harlowe didn’t know about anchors, then how did Beautiful Decay come to the Gilded Alliance meeting? Jane had just assumed he’d forced Harlowe to be his anchor.
An interesting question, but one Jane couldn’t focus on. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Of course, anything.”
“You used to be Emrys’s lover, right?”
“Yes.”
“What does it feel like?”—Jane’s voice dropped an octave—“when you have sex? Does it hurt?”
Harlowe stared at Jane like she was solving an intense puzzle. “Does sex hurt for you?”
Jane glanced around the room. “Yes, and be quiet about it.”
“Does Nightmare abuse you? Does he not care if you’re ready?”
“Oh, Nightmare and I haven’t really—” Jane paused, not knowing how to put it. “We don’t.”
“You’ve never fucked Nightmare?”
“No,” Jane glared at the other woman and held a finger to her lips.
“I’m just shocked.” Harlowe’s white eyebrows drew together. “With the way he looks at you, I imagined you two fucked like rabbits every night.”
“We… I’ve never—”
“So you’re saying he’s not even touched you?”
Jane flushed. No. He very much had touched her.
