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“I’ll go wherever you wish,” I tell her.
I climb onto the bed and lay on my side facing her, keeping half an arm’s length from her. My hair, on the other hand, tends to do what it likes, spilling off the pillow into the space between us.
“Earlier, I told you to sleep well, and this is the result,” I say. “What should I say instead?”
“I don’t know, but if I knew how to tell my body how it should react, we wouldn’t be in this mess. I mean, not that I think of this as a mess, I just—”
“Don’t go worrying about my feelings now,” I interrupt her with a wry chuckle. “Not when you promised me a loveless marriage.”
“Are you enjoying yourself?” she sighs.
“It’s been a rough night for you. So, no, I’m not. But I do enjoy teasing you.” I twist onto my back and rest my eyes. “I know what it’s like to wake up feeling like you’ve time travelled. There were times in my life when I’d go cycles without sleeping much. It’s gotten better, and I’m sure it will for you too.”
“But you still sleep with a knife under your pillow.”
My eyes flash back open in an instant.
“And how would you know that?”
“The first night I was here, I snuck in to your room. Well, I didn’t sneak. Viro let me in,” she says. “I wanted to see you before I decided what to do.”
I swallow slowly, recalling the dream that was apparently real.
“Did I…?”
“Almost stab me? Yup,” she confirms.
“And in spite of that, you still made your proposal to me?” I bark out a laugh so loud that Nisina startles awake. “You must’ve liked what you saw, hm?”
“You know what you look like,” she grumbles.
“But what was it really?” I ask, unable to stifle my curiosity. “Because I know you didn’t go through with it because I’m handsome.”
She seems surprised by the question, but after taking a few beats to consider, she actually answers me.
“I guess I saw someone who I thought could understand,” she replies.
I’ve never felt so grateful for the blade under my pillow.
“Why don’t you turn off the light?” she says. “We’d better try to rest. We’ll both close our eyes and hope for the best.”
It’s gotten late, and our voices have gotten gravelly. I nod in agreement and reach over for the light switch. In the darkness, she becomes nothing but a gray blob shadowed by her cocoon.
“Goodnight,” I whisper.
“Goodnight.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
FRANKIE
My weight is fully suspended in a dense, dark cloud. I open my eyes and see only purple fuzziness, until I lift my head out of the thick blanket cocoon I’m wrapped in. Patchy memories of last night’s panic attack come back to me in waves. I start to wrestle myself out of the blanket, confused as to how it could be tucked so tightly after a night of sleep. Then I see a thick gray forearm, decorated with an almost imperceptible spray of blue freckles.
Mak’s got himself wrapped tightly around my blanket sanctuary.
His eyes shoot open suddenly, and his body starts moving before he comes to, reminding me of that first night I crept in on him sleeping. I can’t believe I confessed to that. I should’ve taken it to the grave.
“You’re awake,” he says, removing his arms immediately. “Sorry.”
