Page 69 of Sweet Nightmares
“Gideon.”
“Gideon,” Nightmare parroted, his voice laced with shadows. So he knew the name.
Jane squeezed his thigh and looked up at him. “Have you bargained with him?”
“Yes,” Nightmare seethed. “I made him a monster, gave him too much power, including the ability to change and morph his appearance. But I thought your father and his vampire friend killed him about thirty years ago. So I didn’t worry about it anymore.”
“He can change his appearance.”
“Yes.”
“So, he could be anyone?”
“Theoretically, yes.”
Well, that was fucking terrible news. Now, she had to find a man with a changing face and far too much power for his—or anyone else’s—good.
Part Five
Does Falling In Love Feel Like Dying?
Chapter Twenty-Two
Age 29.
It was a ship of dreams, and he was a man formed from nightmares. Four days after discovering the Ruins Blood Mirror and realizing that the other one was at the Royalle Ballet, Nightmare told her they were taking the Titan across the Kardic Ocean. To find a magical object somewhere in Grand York.
Honestly, Jane wasn’t entirely sure what Nightmare wanted. It was just another one of his many machinations. But she was realizing that he wasn’t just doing things at random. He was preparing.
Preparing forherreturn. Helene. His nemesis.
His hand rested on the small of her back as they walked up the gangway and onto the most opulent steamship in the world. The morning smelled of paint, ocean air, and smoke. It was the ship’s maiden voyage, sailing from New Swansea to Grand York.
The ship was gorgeous. Opulent white paint coated the walls, and gilded crown moldings and massive chandeliers adorned the entire ship. The finery and company were like nothing Janehad ever experienced. Yes, once her parents and even her former husband had both had money, but she was too young when her parents died to be invited to any parties, and her husband was never respected enough to be invited into the upper echelons of society. The only true wealth Jane knew involved the Royalle Ballet and its parties and engagements, and possibly her involvement with Emrys and the Fantômes. But the majority of her role with them was clandestine and coated in a life of shadows.
This was different.
This was out in the open, with the most handsome and dangerous man Jane had ever known.
It made her both uncomfortable and excited.
After settling into their first-class stateroom, Jane wanted to explore the decks. She wanted to experience this moment, to feel the joy of living and take it all in. Deep down, she felt the end nearing. Whether it was her magic or simple dread, Jane felt Death nipping at her heels. And, instead of being terrified of that feeling, she simply wanted to live. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to travel on the maiden voyage of the largest ship in creation. And she would enjoy it.
The ship was a marvel of engineering, and Jane wanted to see it all.
Especially as the ship set sail.
The smoke stakes towered into the air, scraping against the light blue sky, and as the ship began to move, black clouds poured from them like a pool of ink spilling out, dancing with the sky.
Jane smiled as she walked, nearly skipping to the front of the deck, getting much closer to the bow of the ship. She almost shivered with joy as she leaned over a railing to see a dolphin jump next to the ship. It was the first one she had ever seen, and it was so… so utterly beautiful.
She glanced back at Nightmare to share her excitement with him. He stared at her, his expression empty of all emotion, his hands in his pockets.
“Come see, Alexei.” She smiled, not letting his typical apathy affect her.
Without argument, he strolled over beside her and glanced down at the water, the side of his lips twitching as he slid an arm around her waist.
“Aren’t they beautiful?” She turned her face up to meet his gaze, her red locks fluttering with the ocean breeze.
