Page 20 of Tipped in Frost and Blood
I let out an exasperated sigh, rolling my eyes as I stalked forward. “Keep dreaming, because that will never happen.”
CASSIE
Chains rattled in the darkness, the sound so brief, I almost wondered if I’d truly heard it. Shadows swam beneath my feet, dark claws brushing against my legs, the feeling familiar, as if they’d been with me for centuries. The rattling chains pierced the quiet again, and I lifted my gaze to the vast nothingness.
What was it?
There was a strange familiarity tugging at the back of my mind. Shadows wound and curled around my ankles, but I didn’t feel fear. They weren’t going to hurt me. I was their prisoner, but I was also their companion, just as they were mine.
Prisoner.
Chains rattled again, and I stiffened as something cold and hard wrapped around my wrists, tightening until the metal cut into my flesh. My heart quickened, a cold sweat breaking out over my skin.
My arms were yanked from my sides, the chains ringing in my ears, the sound too painful to bear. They grew tighter, pulling my arms so hard I thought they might be torn from my body. I gasped as the shadows receded, replaced with concrete walls.
Prisoner.
I pulled against the chains, terror sweeping over me, and for a moment my lungs failed to work. My chest heaved as I tried to breathe. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t get free, couldn’t... breathe. I couldn’t breathe. My eyes widened. No. No, no, no, no, no.
Prisoner.
“This is where you belong, little songbird.”
My gaze snapped up to find Marcus before me, his lips curved into the cruel grin that haunted me. His body erupted in flames, and I jerked back, crying out as he closed in on me. His hand shot out, fire coating his skin, and the scent of burning flesh filled my nose as he wrapped his fingers around my throat. The flames grew into a great pyre, eager to devour us. I screamed as it spread over my skin, burning me as the fire consumed every inch of my body.
Murderer.
9
DAMIEN
Acry pierced the quiet air as I stepped out of the shadowy gate, and air halted in my lungs. I couldn’t think straight as I rushed up the stairs, my feet pounding against the old wood with each step.
The door slammed against the wall as I burst into our room, the room that felt far too hot. “Cas?”
A soft moan pulled my gaze to our bed where she lay sleeping, her body quivering, hands fisting the sheets until her knuckles were white.
My heart launched into my throat at how her fear filled the air, pain etched into her face—the sound of her pounding heart beating so fast, I feared it might burst. Her chest was heaving, her breaths too shallow.Fuck.She was trapped in another nightmare.
She muttered something in her sleep as I hurried to her side. “Stop... Let me... Let me go.”
“Cassie, wake up!” I shouted, grabbing hold of her to shake her, ignoring the fact that my gloved hands were stained with darkling blood from the night’s hunt. She fought against my hold, nails biting into my forearms as she pushed away from me, but I held her tighter. “It’s not real!”
Her eyes shot open, wild and full of terror as she gasped for air, and she looked over herself, feeling over her body desperately.
“It’s okay,” I whispered. Her eyes frantically darted around, searching for something... or someone. She always did. “It was a dream,mea luna.”
“Where...” she rasped as she twisted to search the room around us.
“We’re in our room,” I assured her. “You’re safe. He no longer has you.”
She turned her gaze back to me and tentatively reached out a shaking hand to touch my chest, as if she were afraid I wasn’t real. I took hold of her hand, pressing it right over my racing heart, hoping she might feel it beneath the leathers of my armor, that it might prove to her I was real, thatthiswas reality. Her eyes lowered, seeming to focus on the feel of it.
She didn’t speak for a moment, and I couldn’t take the silence any longer, needing to hear her voice, needing to see her hazel eyes unclouded by the terror drowning her. I lifted a hand to brush a stray tear from her cheek, and she flinched. The movement shattered me, despite the fact that she seemed to realize what she’d done and immediately relaxed into my touch.
“I think you should talk to someone about this.”
She stiffened, her eyes rising to meet mine. “I…”
