Page 19 of Somnium

She jogged after him, his long strides eating up the distance in half the time.

“Yeah, I heard you,” he said, setting the laundry next to the metal hanging rack. Cadi gawked as he began hanging the clean robes, fully usurping her task.

“Okay, then why did you do that?”

Damon laughed again, slipping another robe onto a hanger and placing it on the metal bar. “C’mon Newbie, we both know the first refusal is a formality. I find things go a lot faster if I just take the lead.”

His gaze met hers, and her entire body tensed at the glint in his eyes.

“In all things.”

He winked, and Cadi bristled, swallowing hard around the dryness in her throat. As she watched him, she couldn’t help but think about how perfect he and Celine were for each other.

She really didn’t feel like getting into an argument with him, especially since she had a strong suspicion that she knew exactly how it would go, and standing there fuming wasn’t going to get her out of there and away from his alpha male bullshit any faster, so she slunk forward and picked up a robe. Damon continued working as she joined him, completely oblivious to her irritation.

Once the last garment was finally hung, Cadi slipped out of her robe, returning it to the attendant closet and retrieving her bag. She turned to leave, but stopped short when she saw Damon waiting for her in the doorway with that same irritatingly confident smirk. For a brief moment she wondered how much force would be required to remove the annoying expression from his face, until he stepped aside, gesturing with an open palm for her to go ahead. She pushed away the thought and gave him a tight smile before she quickly slipped past him and into the hallway.

The air was cool against Cadi’s skin when they finally stepped out into the dusky summer evening.

“Have a good night,” she called over her shoulder, already moving toward the tunnel that would take her to the trains and home.

Damon’s hand shot out, gripping her elbow and pulling her to a stop. “What’s the rush?”

Her eyes darted to the place where he held her, every muscle in her body tightening at the contact. “Sorry. Just tired. Long day.”

Damon nodded, brushing the pad of his thumb against her skin. Nearly every instinct was screaming at her to pull away, except the one that was acutely aware of the fact that it was just the two of them on the temple steps. That alone was enough to pause her retreat in favor of a calmer response.

“You comin’ out Saturday?” he asked.

Cadi nodded, forcing what she hoped was a casual smile.

“Good,” he said, his eyes quickly slipping down her body before returning to meet her gaze. “Something tells me you won’t disappoint.”

At last, he released her arm and strode away in the opposite direction. Cadi waited until he was well out of earshot before she let out a tight exhale, fighting the shiver that crept over her.

She slipped her sigil necklace from around her neck, tucking it securely into the pocket of her jeans before descending the steps to the tunnel. All she wanted was to get home, scrub off at least three layers of skin, and never take another one of Zoe’s shifts ever again.

Cadi shifted the strap of her canvas tote higher onto her shoulder, clutching the bag tightly as she wedged herself between the other passengers, begrudgingly wrapping her hand around the smudged metal pole at the center of the car. Crowded trains were something she expected during peak rush hour, not at 8:00 p.m. She wrestled her phone from her back pocket, checking her news feed for anything that would explain why she was currently being forced to play the role of unwilling sardine: a convention, a sporting event, anything.

Except for an end-of-summer mattress sale, which she highly doubted was the cause, nothing around the city seemed enticing enough to warrant this type of turnout. There was a report of the results from yet another rushed governmental appointment following Ra’s disappearance from one of the eastern provinces, but she didn’t see how that should impact her commute hundreds of miles away. It appeared tonight was just not her night. She let out an exasperated groan as she tucked her phone back into her bag, gritting her teeth as the train lurched away from Temple Station to send her toppling into the person behind her. After the day she had just had, this was not ideal.

Her fingers tightened around the metal pole, tendons straining as the train raced through the tunnels beneath the city. A sharp turn shifted the crowd, and Cadi found herself sandwiched unpleasantly between her neighbors, fighting to breathe past the stench of body odor, breath, and whatever questionable residue lingered on the surfaces of the train.

Gravity shifted again as they exited the curve, pulling Cadi back to her feet. Her hand immediately patted her pockets to check that her keys and sigil necklace were still securely in place, and she winced at the protective reflex. Coming from the small town of Harbor View, she never had to worry about pickpockets or muggings, but she’d quickly learned that Fiddler’s Green had an unforgiving learning curve, especially these days. Reaching back into her pockets, she pulled out her keys and the necklace, then dropped them into the inner pocket of her tote bag and shifted it to rest against her stomach. Just in case.

A barely intelligible voice crackled from the overhead speakers, announcing the name of the next station and its connecting lines. Cadi shuffled sideways toward the doors, fighting a rising wave of panic when she spotted her next train already waiting at the adjacent platform. As soon as the doors were open, she forced her way through the crowd, letting out a ragged sound of frustration when her bag got wedged between a set of shoulders.

At the same moment, a loud hiss emanated from the waiting carriage, signaling its imminent departure. Cadi yanked her bag hard and sprinted across the grimy platform, dodging oblivious passengers milling about as if they had nowhere to be and all day to get there. Just as the doors began to close, she reached her arm forward, triggering the safety catch to force them back open.

With heaving breaths, she slumped down onto the plastic seat and leaned her head back against the window, choosing not to think about what her hair was touching. Casting a glance around, she noted with an overwhelming surge of relief that this train was practically empty, which meant she could finally relax and enjoy the journey to her next connection in relative peace.

An hour later, Cadi climbed the steps leading out of her neighborhood station, pausing at the top to pull in a deep breath of fresh air. Her head fell back, and she savored the gentle breeze that still carried a subtle hint of orange blossoms, kissing her skin and lifting the weight of what she could only describe as one of her longest days in recent memory. The neighborhood was peaceful, with only a few late evening stragglers sharing her commute and the soft chirp of crickets echoing through the comforting silence as she began the short walk to her apartment.

She had never been so thankful to live within two blocks of the station. The constant foot traffic passing below her window suddenly felt like a fair price to pay in exchange for quicker access to her bed. Slipping a hand into her canvas bag, she dug into the small side pocket for her apartment keys. And froze.

With a light jingle, she pulled her keys from the bag and held open the sides to get a better view of the pocket. The pocket where she had also stashed her sigil necklace. The pocket that was now completely empty. Panic gripped her chest as she dug through the rest of her bag, then crouched down to dump the contents onto the sidewalk. The chirp of crickets disappeared, replaced by the terrified pounding of her heart as she frantically sifted through receipts, lip gloss, sunglasses … everything except her necklace. The breath froze in her lungs as images flashed across her mind: her bag stuck, a sharp tug to get it free, her mad dash across the platform to catch her next train.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” she cried, her voice breaking as her tailbone hit the pavement.