Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 68040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
“You brought it.”
“I couldn’t believe you forgot it.”
“I didn’t.” She sniffs the blanket and then spreads it out over both of us. “I thought it might help protect the house. Silly, I know, but I also know that you wove a protection spell into this before you gave it to me. I figured it couldn’t hurt.”
“How did you know about the spell?”
“I know you. It’s something you would do for us.” She leans in closer and rests her head on my chest. “I’m going to sound like a whiner for a minute. I’m warning you.”
“Go for it.”
“I don’t want to do this anymore.” She turns sad eyes up to mine, and my heart immediately aches for her. “I don’t want to, Xander. It’s scary and unnerving, and I want it to be done.”
“We’re so close.” I rest my lips on her forehead and kiss her lightly. “Almost there, sweetheart. And then we can put everything behind us and just live our lives.”
“I want that. More than you can possibly know. What happens to us when it’s all done?”
“What do you mean?”
“Between you and me. Us.”
“We’re together. Always. The way it’s supposed to be. Do you think I’m simply hooking up with you now as a distraction, and we wouldn’t be together later?”
“No.” She laughs a little and shakes her head. “I guess I just needed the reassurance, that’s all.”
“You’re stuck with me forever. You’re mine in all lifetimes and all the time in between.”
“And you’re mine.” She lazily drags her fingers up and down my forearm. “And it doesn’t bother you that we can’t have more babies?”
That’s a sting in the heart. It always will be because Lorelei would be an amazing mother.
“You are my family, Lorelei. Whether we have a dozen kids or none at all, that doesn’t change.”
“That was the right answer.”
I feel her getting heavier against me. “Baby, you’re so tired. We should go up and go to sleep.”
“Can we stay here?”
“Are you afraid of the bedroom?”
“No.” Her voice is soft. “No, I just want to be here by the door in case it tries to get in.”
I hug her close and flick my fingers to dim the lights. “We can stay here. You sleep. I’ll hold you. I’m right here, baby. Nothing’s going to hurt you while I’ve got you.”
“I know.” Her sigh is both weary and relieved as she drifts off to sleep, clutching both me and the blanket in her small yet strong hands.
The truth is, I share her anger. I would like nothing more in the universe than to get my hands around its neck and choke the life out of it.
If it were human, that is.
But it’s not, so I have to find other ways to make it suffer.
Because it won’t simply die. No. It’ll die in pain, anguish, and in perpetual torment for all it’s done to Salem and the people I love.
I know that I’m dreaming. I always know, whether it’s a fun dream or a nightmare. Sometimes, it’s me astral projecting to a different timeline or a different universe altogether. Traveling has almost become a hobby of mine.
I’m not a stranger to such things, and I’ve learned to control it.
But this time is different.
I’m packing the hamper in Lorelei’s bedroom, gathering my clothes, the blanket, Lora’s pillow, and the other small things to bring with me.
Then, I stop by the office to gather some books for her, knowing she’ll want them. The hamper is heavy by the time I reach the living room, where the front door is standing open.
But Lorelei isn’t gone.
She’s standing before me, soaked from head to toe, including the dress, which has to weigh fifty pounds with all the water. Her hair is drenched.
It’s as though she took a swim in the ocean.
But her eyes…they’re not white.
They’re black.
She opens her mouth, and water flows out of it before she starts to speak to me.
“We’ve lost. I’m dead, just like Agatha and all the others. All dead. It’s going to kill you, too.”
“No, this is a dream.”
She smiles in a horrible distortion of what her actual smile is like. “Only a dream of what’s to come. You can’t stop it. I controlled you once, and I can do it again. You think you’re so strong. Everyone thinks you’re strong, and they trust you, but you’ll let them all down again. Because I’m the strong one. I hold the kind of power you can only wish for.”
I laugh, and Lorelei opens her mouth and screams.
“Hey.” My eyes flutter open, and Lorelei pats my cheek soothingly, her sweet face frowning up at me. “You’re just having a dream. It’s okay.”
I suck in a breath and then simply hug her close.
“Bad one,” I murmur against her hair.
“That’s unusual for you,” she replies. She pushes her fingers through my hair, and it feels like magic. Because she’s magic. “I was always the one with the bad dreams.”