Page 73 of Sweet Nightmares
But as the magic worked, a sharp pain carved through Jane’s torso, like a warning.
Jane clutched her chest. Something was off. She felt a knowing. A future whispering to her, and in that moment, she knew whatever the consequences of that bargain were, it was going to be far more than any of them anticipated.
The next two days passed without incident. They ate omelets in the morning before going to the ship’s gymnasium on the boat deck, taking afternoon tea, and mingling with the other patrons in the evening at dinner.
On the third night, Nightmare surprised her with a fairly deep conversation.
“You said you wanted to know me,” he asked at dinner. Tonight, they had a private table. “So, ask me a question.”
Jane pinched her lips shut. Of course, she wanted to know everything about him, but where did she start? Why not the beginning? “You seemed to be a sweet teenager…” Jane trailed off, not knowing where she was going.
“Where is the question?” he smiled.
Jane swallowed. “I am honestly not sure. It’s a lot of pressure to ask you a question.”
“You can’t do it wrong.”
Jane raised an eyebrow disbelievingly.
“Fine. Others could. Not you. I just won’t answer it if I don’t want to.”
“You were a happy, sweet teenager; you didn’t have this darkness.” She waved a hand over him. “Do you wish you could have some of that joy back?”
He sat perfectly still, his jaw tightening the longer he stayed silent. Jane restlessly shifted in her seat, wondering if she had done something wrong. But eventually, he said, “I don’t know. Do you want me to be like him again? Because I don’t think I ever can.”
“No,” she breathed. “I don’t want the boy, or even his youthful joy. I want you to be fully who you are. Not pieces of yourself. I just want you to be able to have a piece of him back if you want it.”
“I am not whole, Jane.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I have no heart without your touch. I am a grotesque vampire.”
“I would like to meet the person who called you grotesque. Have they seen you?” Jane waved a hand over his incredible physique. “Not to inflate your ego, but you’re perhaps the most attractive man I have ever seen.” She paused for a long moment, deciding if she wanted to bring up the woman he clearly hated so deeply that he talked around her presence. “That’s why Helene targeted you to begin with.” He flinched at the name, but Jane continued anyway, “She liked to collect pretty things. You and Darcy are two of the prettiest men who have probably ever lived. If she were alive today, I am sure she’d probably want to collect Prince Emrys too.”
“She is alive.” He clenched his fists tightly, all of his muscles taut like a bowstring. “She’s entombed inside the Lake ofMirrors, and it’s mere years, if not days, until she figures out how to escape.”
“How could she? You’ve never managed it.”
“I am here with you, am I not?” His chin motioned at the Titan.
Jane played with her teaspoon. “That’s different.”
“Is it?”
“Well, yes. You need me in order to be out here. She’d need an anchor, at the very least, not to mention enough magic to break the spell on her mirror, and she wouldn’t ever have enough.”
“No, she wouldn’t.” He stroked his chin in thought. “But she’s ancient. Her parents were once lesser gods. She knows things we could never. She’ll find a way. She found a way to get all of her power back after she accidentally drained it all, imprisoning me in my mirror. She will find a way. Evil always does.”
Nightmare’s eyes darkened, and his gaze focused on Jane, a hint of hatred lingering in them when he looked at her.
“Do I remind you of her?”
“Absolutely not.” There was no hesitation in his answer. “Your—” His throat bobbed. “There aren’t words to describe you, but you are her opposite in every single way. Every. Single. Way.”
Nightmare’s eyes shifted to the dancers, and he stood. He wanted this conversation to end, so he held out his hand to dance and asked, “Will you dance with me?”
“I can’t.”
“But you love dancing.”
I did.How did he remember that but not that he stole dancing from her?
