Page 75 of Realm of Dreams & Shadows

“This wouldn’t be the King of England ruling over Britain and Scotland,” he continues. “This would be the King ruling Britain and Hell, with every monster you can imagine not needing a passport to get to St. Augustine or anywhere else, for that matter.”

I taste salt and realize that a tear has escaped. I nod, then wipe it away. “Hell on Earth,” I say. “He can’t truly want that.”

Chase shrugs. “Can’t he? He is the Nightmare King, after all. Doesn’t it make more sense to believe that he’s acting exactly as expected?”

I hug myself, but I don’t answer. I don’t need to. The answer is obvious.

But it feels so wrong.

He leans forward and kisses me again. Not deep and wild like our earlier kiss, but soft and sweet, like a tender promise.

“This world is worth saving,” he whispers, “for so many reasons. The fall isn’t inevitable. We can fight, and we can win. We can push back the mares. We can keep the barriers up.” He squeezes my hand. “But you have to stay away from Adric. Don’t trust anyone. Don’t fall into his trap. Because you are the key he needs to send the barriers tumbling down, along with everything we both hold dear.”

“I promise,” I whisper, as he pulls me close.

He’s right. The world that Adric wants is a world that no human could survive in.

But what I don’t say is that fighting to keep the barriers up seems like a battle that could never end.

There has to be another way. And I’m going to make it my mission to find it.

Chapter

Nineteen

Iwake to sunlight streaming through our dorm room window and the sound of Tia humming while she gets ready for class. For a moment, I feel completely normal—just another college student waking up on another ordinary day.

Then I remember everything that happened last night—the incredible kisses with Chase, the reveal about his brother—and bang. Just like that, the illusion of normalcy shatters.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” Tia says, glancing over from where she’s applying mascara at her desk mirror. “Any weird dreams?”

“No dreams,” I say. “Which is good.”

“Riley and I passed Chase on our way back last night,” she says, her voice more than a little sing-song. “He didn’t see us, but he definitely had a spring in his step. Anything interesting happen while I wasn’t chaperoning? Hmm?”

I feel my cheeks heat, and she starts to laugh.

“I knew it,” she says, dropping her mascara and bouncing over to plonk herself down on my bed. “Smoochies or more?”

“Tia!”

“Roommate Code,” she says. “It’s sacrosanct. You have to tell me everything.”

I pretend to grumble, but the truth is I want to share. I’ve never had a bestie. Well, not since third grade. My mother had been far too moody to do the carpool thing or the hosting friends thing. By the time I was ten, I was too afraid she’d wake up screaming from a nap to invite anyone over. And by the time I was fourteen, I was too tired for friends because worrying about my mom kept me awake all night.

Once I was dumped into boarding school, the nightmares that had started after Mom’s death were paying me nightly visits, and I was too tired to be civil to anyone. And by the time the bitterness ended, no one wanted to be friends with the crazy girl who woke up screaming.

All of which means that even though I’ve been tossed headfirst into some freakish dream world, this is the first time in my life I’ve ever felt like a truly normal girl.

How weird is that?

I frown, considering. What if I feel normal because of the dream realms, and it’s not about Tia at all? What if Chase’s world really is my world?

I shudder, afraid that I’ve hit upon the truth. And at the same time, not afraid at all.

“Earth to Cora!”

I jump. “Sorry, sorry.”