Page 137 of Somnium

Elias let out a low warning growl when Damon appeared in front of him. He clenched his teeth so tightly the muscles in his jaw began to seize.

“Thanks for this,” Damon said, holding up Elias’s phone and giving the device an appreciative once-over. “It was really helpful.”

Elias’s gaze flicked to Damon’s hand, confusion pulling at his brows for an instant before fury swept back in. Damon just chuckled and gave him an arrogant wink as he tucked the phone into Elias’s back pocket, then turned on his heels and walked away.

As soon as the silver doors slid open, Elias ripped himself from the acolytes’ clutches. He sprinted to his car, chucking the box waiting by the front tire into the back without a second thought.

His phone buzzed, and panic exploded in his chest when he saw the message from Sera. Adrenaline flooded his limbs as he twisted the key in the ignition. The engine roared to life, he cranked hard on the steering wheel, slammed his foot down on the gas, and tore out of the parking garage.

He had to get to The Crow.

42

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

CADI

The door to the office bounced off the wall with a bang that echoed down the hallway. Cadi leaned against Sera, letting her friend support her weight as she guided her into the room. Sera lowered her down onto the thin cushion of the threadbare armchair pressed against the wall, while Cadi still clutched her bleeding hand against her chest. The front of her t-shirt was completely saturated, the crimson soaking into the blue fabric and turning it a sinister shade of deep maroon.

“I don’t know what happened,” Sera snapped into her phone, holding the device between her ear and shoulder as she tugged Cadi’s injured hand over her head. “But it’s bad. Cadi is hurt. You need to get to The Crow, now.”

She ended the call and tossed the phone onto the desk with a loud thunk before turning back to Cadi. “Hang tight, I’ll be right back.”

Without another word, she darted out into the hall, leaving Cadi alone in the silence of the office. She shuddered as a trail of blood slid down her arm, the feeling like a spider crawling over her skin. Looking around, she found a box of tissues on the table beside her and gathered up a handful, pressing the soft paper against her arm to stop the flow as best she could until Sera returned.

Pain ignited behind her ribs, and the feeling of her heart being yanked forward stole the air from her lungs. She pressed her palm against her sternum and winced at the mocking reminder of Oneirios’s claim.

This had to be a dream, or a nightmare. Anything but real. If she had just stayed at Sera’s, none of this would have⁠—

Everyone had warned her, told her to stay put, but she hadn’t listened. She’d thought her friend was in trouble, that she could help. Instead, she’d walked right into Oneirios’s waiting jaws.

She needed something familiar, something she could feel to assure her that not everything was lost. Squeezing her eyes shut, she searched for any remnant of the gentle flutter. The soft, ever-present sensation of comfort that had once been a strange, random nuisance was now possibly the only thing keeping her tethered to sanity.

A quiet sob broke from her lips when she felt the tiniest ripple behind the place where Oneirios’s hook now sat. It was faint, but it was there, raging against the forced binding that seemed bent on smothering it. Fresh tears began to trace down her cheeks, and she fisted the sopping fabric of her shirt, determined to hold on to that feeling as long as she could.

Hurried footsteps in the hall broke through the quiet, drawing her attention to the door, where Sera reappeared with a stack of towels, a bottle of clear liquor, and a long metal tin. She rushed to crouch down in front of where Cadi sat and placed the bottle next to them on the floor. After laying one of the towels across Cadi’s lap, she gently guided her injured hand down to get a better look.

The tin popped open with a metallic snap to reveal an at-home suture kit complete with rows of needles, thread, scissors, and forceps.

“I always gave Elias so much shit for keeping these things around,” Sera said, her voice tight as she readied her supplies for the unpleasant task ahead of them. “I told him that if anyone got hurt on the job we’d just go to the doctor … I’m glad he didn’t listen to me.”

She looked up and fixed Cadi with a steady stare that made her stomach go tight. “This is gonna suck.”

That was the only warning she gave before pouring a stream of alcohol over Cadi’s hand.

Cadi cried out at the searing pain that lanced up her arm when the liquid coated her exposed nerves, trying to yank her hand away on reflex. Sera’s grip on her arm tightened, holding her in place and muttering soft reassurances. “I know, sweetie, I’m sorry.”

She pressed the soft fibers of a towel against Cadi’s palm, clearing away as much of the blood and booze as possible before it pooled fresh against her skin.

“It won’t get much better when I start stitching, and I don’t have anything to numb you, so …” She handed Cadi the bottle. “This is the next best thing, I guess.”

Cadi wrapped her fingers around the neck, pressed the bottle to her lips, and took a deep pull. She coughed, grimacing as the liquid burned down her throat and slid into her stomach, warming her instantly. It was better than nothing.

A sharp pinch beneath her fingers made her hiss through her teeth. She looked down and saw Sera threading a silver needle through her skin, pulling the nylon taut to draw the wound closed. The room spun, and Cadi’s stomach churned, threatening to deposit its contents all over the floor of Elias’s office.

Leaning against the armrest, Cadi squeezed her temples and pressed her eyes shut to keep from blacking out through the sickening sensation of her skin being pulled in all manner of unnatural directions. She drew a deep breath in through her nose, then pushed it out through pursed lips.

“I know,” Sera repeated, “just a few more.”