Page 213 of In Somnis

“And Halloween, yes. Don’t call him that.”

“Fine… your baby boy.”

“Ridge.”

“You’re very tall, very devoted⁠—”

“Ridge.”

He holds up his free hand, chuckling, and drops it.

I sip my coffee. “Do you want to come or not?”

He glances at me. “To the baby boy’s birthday party?”

“I talked to Derek yesterday about Tessa. And I invited him too. He’s coming.”

“You talked to my cousin?”

That gets his full attention.

“Yeah, I should have done it that way sooner. I think he could be the missing piece, but I’m still figuring out how to play that.” I point at Ridge over the rim of my mug. “Which means you dragging me around in dreams isn’t the only plan anymore.”

He looks down at his mug. “You have to be careful. This Man told me he’d leave me alone if I left you alone. He doesn’t want us to do anything about Tessa.”

“And yet,” I say quietly. “Here you are.”

That wasn’t part of the deal.

He looks up. “Here I am.”

“Even more reason to do something.” I hold his gaze. “We don’t let bullies win.”

Even if we don’t know the rules yet.

He doesn’t say anything to that, just looks at me with an expression I can’t quite read, then drops his eyes to the floor. To the wheels. To the bedroom doorway and whatever calculation he’s running about it.

“So,” I say. “You coming or not?” When he doesn’t answer, I add, “The inn is wheelchair accessible.”

He studies the floor for another moment, and I let him, because it’s not a question about access, and we both know it. I don’t know exactly what the question is about, though, but I know it matters, and I know better than to push.

“I’ll think about it.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Lennon

This is my fault entirely.

I’m lying on the kitchen floor staring up at the ceiling with a collection of crystals arranged on my stomach and Jasper’s hands hovering over me doing something he would describe as energy work, and I would describe as concerning.

I made the mistake of mentioning, casually, in passing, that I wasn’t feeling great, and somehow that sentence became lie down and don’t move, and where did I put the selenite?

“Can’t I just take an ibuprofen?” I ask the ceiling.

“That won’t balance your chakras.”

“I don’t need my chakras balanced. I need⁠—”