Page 99 of Dreamscape Therapies

“Are you okay?”

I squeeze his fingers. “I am now.” And I mean it. The shaking is starting to fade, and the fear that had been sitting like a stone in my chest isn't quite as heavy anymore. Jay rubs his thumb across the back of my hand, grounding me without asking me to explain anything.

“I watched the video,” he says quietly. “That was intense.”

“That's one word for it.”

“He's not going to bother you anymore.”

There's such certainty in his voice that I almost want to believe him immediately.

“And if he does,” he continues, “we have evidence. Witnesses. Everything. He doesn't have the power he used to.”

I look down at our joined hands.

For so long, Trent had made me feel like I was trapped inside a story he controlled. No matter what I said, he could twist it. No matter what I did, he could make me look guilty. I'd spent so much time trying to prove that I wasn't the person he'd convinced everyone I was that sometimes I'd started wondering if maybe he was right.

But today, Trent walked into a room full of people and told his own story.

And everyone saw exactly what it was.

A lie.

My phone buzzes again. I pull it out and see a message from Shane.

Shane: We got the statement from Dany. I'll update you later.

I stare at the message for a moment before putting my phone away. One more piece of the nightmare dealt with. One more thing I don't have to carry alone.

Jay leans closer. “It's over, Jagiya.”

I look into his warm brown eyes and let myself believe it. “Yeah, it really is.”

Eric makes a gagging noise from across the bar. “You two are disgustingly cute.”

“Shut up,” Jay and I say at exactly the same time.

Eric breaks into laughter, and even Hale cracks a reluctant smile. I just sit there with Jay's hand wrapped around mine, my beer cold against my palm, and let myself breathe.

Maybe this is what freedom feels like.

Not some huge, dramatic moment where everything suddenly becomes perfect. Maybe it's something much quieter than that.

A crowded bar. My friends. A man who loves me sitting beside me.

And the knowledge that, finally, Trent doesn't get to decide what happens next.

Chapter Thirty

Vincent

There’s something strange about having nothing to worry about. I keep waiting for it to feel wrong.

For months, I lived with this constant knot of dread that tightened whenever I got tired enough to sleep. I got used to wondering what would be waiting for me when I closed my eyes, whether I’d wake up screaming from another nightmare or whether I’d wake up at all. Now, there’s nothing. No nightmares, no panic dragging me awake in the middle of the night, no waking with my heart pounding while I search the darkness for something that isn’t there. I sleep, I wake up, and the world is exactly where I left it.

It should feel strange.

Instead, it feels good.