Page 113 of Ex Somnis

Did I say these exact words?

I told her that I’m not angry.

I told her that I’m trying.

I told her that I wanted only her, that she’s my soulmate, the love of my life, but did I actually say, I love you?

“Okay. You two go see Seraphine,” Ridge says, already wheeling himself closer to our woman on the mattress, something equally protective and soft in his expression. “I’ll stay with Sleeping Beauty.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Nevan

For the last several minutes, I’ve been folded into the passenger seat, watching the road, the details from earlier playing out in the back of my mind. My hands keep flexing against my thighs and then stopping before doing it again.

It’s as if I can feel the strain in my fingers from gripping the windowsill and the soreness around my wrist where Paul held me tight.

The cold stone, the wind.

The nothing underneath my feet.

I was one second away…

“Consciousness inside the unconscious mind functions like a trance state,” Paul says out of nowhere, his hands at ten and two on the wheel.

I can’t help but notice the way he signals a full two blocks before the turn, checks his mirror, and corrects the wheel by maybe a degree, each movement deliberate.

I glance at him. “That so?”

“The barriers are thinner in sleep. Suggestion sinks deeper.” Paul keeps his eyes on the road. “It’s why hypnotherapy works at all. When the conscious mind steps aside, the nervous system listens. Lucid-dreaming therapy operates on the same principle, only more immersive. If a hypnotherapist can plant a suggestion of safety into the mind, a lucid dreamer can do the same. But at a depth no one else can reach.”

I stare at the side of his face, unwilling to accept what he’s saying. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

Is he offering to treat me?

“I’m saying that what happened to you tonight is not a permanent condition. Phobias, old trauma, PTSD, things buried so deep that words can’t touch them. Dream work can let the mind finish processing what it couldn’t handle while awake.” He glances at me briefly. “Your sleepwalking, the compulsion, how suggestion works on you in your dreamscape. All of it has a mechanism, and mechanisms can be worked with.”

I look back out the window.

Nothing ever helped before.

“Also medication,” he adds. “We’ll try both. And don’t even start with the costs. I’ve got you covered.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I know.”

“I mean it.” I pick at a loose thread on my jeans. “You don’t owe me anything.”

“I’m aware. This isn’t charity, Nevan. You being healthy and safe benefits all of us.”

“All of us?”

“Yes. I enjoy not being woken up at five in the morning by Ridge yelling about you having wandered off.”

A laugh escapes me before I can stop it.

“Regardless.” Paul’s mouth pulls slightly at one corner. “Lennon worries about you. So do Jasper and Mabel,” he continues. “And Ridge pretends not to, which I suspect requires more effort than simply worrying about you. And despite my best efforts, I’ve grown rather fond of you myself.”