Page 4 of Precipitous Nightmare's Valentine Dream

The Night Terror cocked his head at her in a slow, deliberate motion more terrifying than any quick strike. He seemed bemused.

Luminous wasn’t certain how she knew the Nightmare was a he, but something about the creature seemed distinctly male, so that’s what her mind settled on. He. She. They. It. None of it mattered if the end result was destruction, Luminous supposed.

With lethally precise movements, the creature pulled himself away from the sleeping woman. Wet, sucking sounds reverberated through Melanie’s bedroom as the Terror’s limbs retreated from her flesh. His hands released their grip on her wrists, those long fingers unwrapping and retracting with audible clicks as each joint folded back into place.

The mortal woman whimpered again, then her eyes fluttered shut as she fled back into her own mind.

Luminous felt the full weight of the Terror’s attention fall upon her as it slipped from the bed and stretched to its full height.

Ah, this might have been a miscalculation, she thought. He couldn’t harm her here, though, right?

This wasn’t a battlefield, and both their rulers would have their heads should they fight in the Real.

“Leave now,” Luminous squeaked. She’d intended a confident command. “And I won’t report you.”

The Night Terror seemed to shrink with every passing moment as the disparate parts of him gathered and solidified into a towering mass of muscle before her. He was still monstrously large.

Luminous raised her weapon and pulled on the threads of Dreaming surrounding her. She coalesced into her fully mortal form to meet this intruder face to face.

Her body stretched out and upward until she reached her full 5‘5“ height. Diaphanous strands swirled around her to form something between a formal dress and body armor.

When she could focus once more, Luminous looked across the bedroom to meet her nemesis in the flesh, so to speak.

“I’ll ask once more,” she said, weapon still pointed in his direction. “Leave this apartment. Leave this woman alone.”

A slow smile turned up one corner of his mouth, and it occurred to Luminous that he’d shifted into mortal form as well while she’d been adjusting. And oh, what an interesting mortal form it was.

Raven-black hair in a loose, spiky mess upon his head, bangs curling just down to one eyebrow where a spiked piercing shimmered. A chiseled jaw. Corded muscles showing sharp definition beneath skintight black clothing. Swirling tattoos trailing beneath those clothes, making her wonder how far they reached.

The man was terrifying.

And attractive.

And terrifying.

Terrifyingly attractive.

Luminous caught herself dreaming up all kinds of interesting scenarios, and she’d never been one for excessive daydreaming on the job.

His voice, when it came, was deep as the night and infused with a layer of danger that made her want to run as far and fast as she could to escape its ravenous hunger.

She expected a threat. An attack. Maybe a proposition.

Instead, what he said was, “Are you truly intending to stab me with a toothpick umbrella?”

Chapter 4

They’re Like Handles, Really

Precipitous Nightmare

In all his dealings with mortals and dream creatures alike, Precipitous Nightmare had never before been threatened by a Dream Bringer brandishing a toothpick umbrella. The experience was disconcerting, to say the least.

The little Dream glanced down at the sliver of wood in her hand and bit her lip, bringing an alluring rush of deep pink to the surface. Then she straightened and held out her weapon once more. Pale moonlight from the window fell across the polished wooden floorboards at her tiny, slipper-clad feet.

“I’ve asked you politely to go.” Her voice wavered, but the usual satisfaction he might feel over that subtle expression of dread didn’t come. Instead, an odd urge to reassure her washed over him.

The girl’s bravery was admirable. Her fearlessness more enticing than he’d have predicted. But Precipitous couldn’t let a mere Dream get the better of him.

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