Page 109 of Somnium

He spun around to find the concerned face of a stranger staring back at him. The man glanced over Elias’s shoulder, toward the illuminated walk sign.

Elias pinched the bridge of his nose and nodded. “Yep. Sorry.”

Focusing all the energy he had available, he forced himself into the flow and urged his feet to move against the fatigue that made him feel like he was walking through mud.

Around the next corner, the black and white sign of the café Sera had named came into view. He raised an eyebrow as he approached, needles digging into the base of his skull when he read the kitschy name emblazoned across the wood: “No Beanz About It Coffee & Baked Goods.”

Gods, he was really not in the mood for gimmicks.

He curled his fingers into fists in the pockets of his jacket to try and stop the shaking in his hands before he reached for the brass handle. He told himself it was from the lack of sleep, but with the way his stomach twisted, he knew it was more than that.

Cadi was inside that café. The gentle flutter in his chest flared like a beacon, pulling him toward her just like it always had. Like it always would.

A pair of gnomes approached the door as Elias swung it open, and he stepped back to let them pass. Their short statures placed them at a rather unfortunate angle, and their conversation cut off abruptly as their eyes went wide when they caught sight of his gaunt features from beneath his cap. A tight smile was all he could muster, and he slipped inside before he started to take their shocked expressions a little too personally.

The smell of burned coffee and flavored syrups hung thick in the air on the other side of the threshold, and the clatter of utensils mixed with dozens of voices crashed against his skull. Of course they would end up meeting in the most cramped and chaotic spot in all of Fiddler’s Green, almost like the universe wanted to see just how far he could be pushed before he snapped.

He slipped between the mismatched tables, searching for any sign of Cadi or Sera and trying to restrain the fire that had begun to simmer beneath his skin after he was forced to dodge yet another oblivious patron with a steaming mug. Right as he approached the counter, the espresso machine hissed to life, and the sound nearly sent him over the edge.

He needed to move before someone ended up on the floor.

Just then, he caught sight of Sera, her braids piled high atop her head, at a table near the back. Letting out a shaky breath, he paused to let his temper soften before he approached. The last thing he needed was his sour mood getting him into more trouble with the one person who was able to help them out of this mess.

His heart nearly stopped when Cadi came into view. Her brown curls were pinned back, drifting across her shoulder in a way that instantly stole the air from his lungs. She was beautiful, but he knew immediately she hadn’t been sleeping either. The slouch in her posture and the deep shadows beneath her eyes tore him open. He’d done that.

He could see that her light had been dimmed by what happened that night, nearly to the point of being smothered. Her vibrance, her strength, her joy. It was all so quiet now. And he hated himself for it. It may not have been his fault in the strictest definition, but they never would have been here if it wasn’t for him.

So he carried it all the same.

She looked up, and her eyes locked with his. Something inside him splintered at the way she tensed, her body going rigid and alert at his presence, like her systems still registered him as a threat. He watched her hand move to press against her sternum, and the flutter in his own chest pulsed once as if in answer as he lowered himself down onto the wooden chair across from Sera. It took every ounce of willpower he had to force his focus away from Cadi long enough to meet his friend’s concerned eyes.

Sera took her time assessing him, her gaze drifting over his ball cap, his eyes, and the sunken appearance of his cheeks that he knew made him look like he’d taken up hard drugs.

“You look like hell,” she said after a beat.

“No shit,” he snapped.

Sera’s brows shot up, the shock that flashed across her features immediately making him regret the cutting edge to his tone. She didn’t deserve his wrath; she was just trying to lighten the dire vibe that hung over the table and his attitude wasn’t helping. He blew out a breath and counted silently in his head in a measured attempt to dull the venom that seemed to have taken up a semipermanent residence at the tip of his tongue.

“Sorry. It’s been a rough few days,” he muttered.

Sera softened, then reached across the table to rest her hand against his. “How about we fix that?”

His fingers tightened around hers. “For the love of everything that is and once was holy, yes please.”

Sera let out a gentle laugh, and he found his gaze instinctively pulled to Cadi, his breath catching at the delicate grin that tugged the corner of her full lips. Scarlet dusted her cheeks when her eyes shifted to his, and she caught his stare for a painfully fleeting moment before she lowered them to the ceramic mug clutched tightly in her hands. Her caffeinated lifeline.

A soft rustle pulled him back to Sera as she slid a small drawing across the table toward him. He picked it up and studied the delicate lines that made up the small sigil. The pattern was simple: a single winding line cut lengthwise by two parallel strokes, then crossed perpendicularly by another, all enclosed within a circle. He could feel her watching him with quiet expectation, so he nodded, squinting as if he understood anything about what he was looking at. “Neat. I don’t get it.”

Sera rolled her eyes and snatched the drawing from his fingers. “I didn’t expect you to, dick.” She smoothed the paper against the polished surface of the table before turning to Cadi with a smirk and tossing her head back in his direction. “This fuckin’ guy, amiright?”

Cadi chuckled softly and the familiar sound settled against his solar plexus. Elias never knew it was possible to miss someone so much when they were so close. She looked at him again, the soft smile still lighting her face. This time, she let her gaze linger for a heartbeat longer before it shifted back to Sera.

The loss of it left him hollow. It wasn’t enough. Nothing but all of her would ever be enough, but he knew that for now, it would have to be. He clung to the memory of that smile, holding on to it with fragile hope that he might see it again.

Sera leaned in, lowering her voice against any prying ears.

“Each element in this sigil is placed with the intention of shielding your dreams from Oneirios,” she explained, “Like I’ve said before, this new ability of his to actually reach through dreams instead of being able to simply manipulate them isn’t something that we could have anticipated, so I had to pool a few different things together to make the protection stick.”