“Tonight was the first,” I admitted. “And I haven’t had any more hallucinations.”
“It’s no surprise that you have nightmares. I have them.” There was truth in his eyes when my gaze lifted to his. “Let me stay with you tonight. I know nightmares won’t find either of us tonight if we’re together.”
My lips parted. “Caden—”
“Let me lay beside you so both of us can sleep peacefully. That’s all I want. No expectations. No conversations,” he said—pleaded, really. “Let me be here for you tonight.”
I knew I needed to say no. This had bad idea written all over it, even if all he did was lay beside me, and I honestly didn’t expect him to try anything else. Sleeping together was far too intimate. It would mean too much, and it would make distancing myself from him even harder.
But Caden had nightmares too, and no matter how much I wanted to harden my heart, I couldn’t. I nodded, knowing I would regret this later, then lay down on my back.
“Thank you,” he whispered. Those two words entrenched themselves in my skin.
Caden toed off his shoes and without wasting a moment, turned off the light and then climbed into bed beside me. I might’ve stopped breathing a little. I felt him even though he didn’t touch me, and when I worked up the nerve to look in his direction, I found him lying on his side facing me, eyes closed. I could make out the shape of his hand resting beside his chest, on the bed. I closed my eyes, and after several moments, I rolled onto my side. As if my hand had a mind of its own, it moved beside his, and then I fell asleep.
No more nightmares found me.
Chapter 8
My house looked like it had when I left.
Gray-and-white-checkered throw pillows were fluffed and placed at the corners of the couch. A stack of books was piled neatly on the coffee table. Several tiny stuffed mice had been collected and left by a foyer table where all the mail had been placed. A pair of sandals sat on the bottom step of the staircase leading upstairs. Above them were black and white sneakers that belonged to Tink. The kitchen was utterly spotless, which was almost impossible with Tink living here.
My gaze flickered over the living room. This was where Aric had grabbed me. He’d been waiting for me, and I’d walked right in, having no idea that he was here. I knew that if I closed my eyes, I would hear his voice.
I hear you’ve been looking for me.
I didn’t close my eyes, but his voice was still like a whisper in my ear.
“I tried to keep things the way you had them.” Ivy had moved ahead of me, her long, curly red hair pulled up in a messy topknot. “I even dusted.”
“Actually, it was me who dusted,” Ren said, coming down the stairs. He’d quietly gone up there when we entered, and I knew he was scoping out the rooms, making sure no one was here.
Ivy rolled her eyes. “But I was the one who gave him the supplies.”
“It was a joint effort then.” I ran my hand along the back of the couch. “Thanks, you guys. I had no idea what to expect when I returned.”
“It was no problem at all.” Ivy looked down as Dixon pranced out from the kitchen, rubbing against her legs. Bending, she scratched him behind his ear.
Ren leaned against the banister of the stairs. “You sure you’re ready to be back here?”
“More than ready.” I forced a smile that felt as fake as pleather.
The two of them exchanged a look, and I knew they had questions. Lots of them.
Luce had checked me over this morning, and after setting up a time for me to visit her the following weekend, she’d cleared me to leave Hotel Good Fae. I’d expected Tink to show up then, but come to find out, he was already at the house with Fabian and Dixon. It was Ivy and Ren who arrived as Luce left. All I knew was that Caden had asked them to escort me home, but I had no idea what, if anything, he’d said to them.
He’d been gone when I woke up, but that didn’t change the fact that I’d gotten the deepest sleep I had in a really long time. Neither had it erased the moments at dawn when, still mostly asleep, I felt the bed shift and the soft sensation of his lips against my forehead. I told myself repeatedly that had been my imagination.
“Well, if you need anything, you know you got us,” Ren said as Dixon meandered over to me, the white tip of his gray tail swishing. “And even if you don’t need us, you still have us.”
“We’ll be making periodic patrols,” Ivy said. They’d been filled in about the traitor in the Summer Court, but as discussed, they hadn’t been told everything.
“Your phone is on the kitchen counter,” Ivy explained while Dixon stretched up, pressing tiny paws into my legs. I picked him up, burying my face in his soft fur as Ivy said, “Oh, and by the way, Miles said to call him whenever you’re ready or stop by the headquarters.”
Face still planted in Dixon’s fur, I nodded. “He most likely wants to see if I’m mentally stable and find out if I spilled any Order secrets.”
“He didn’t exactly suggest that, but…” Ivy trailed off.
I cracked a grin. Miles was the bluntest and most deadpan person I’d ever met. Even more so than Faye. Not one to beat around the bush, his first concern would be if I shared any of the Order’s secrets.
“He should be happy to know that Aric didn’t seem to care at all about the Order,” I told them as Dixon purred.
“Actually, that would probably displease him,” Ren commented.
I snorted at that and lifted my head, looking around the sundrenched room. “How did he respond to the news about there being someone in the Summer Court who’s working with the Winter fae?”
“The same way Miles takes the news about almost everything,” Ivy answered. “He raised his brows, was silent for probably a good minute, and then said something like ‘there’s always one rotten apple in the bunch.’”
“That sounds like him,” I said dryly. “I almost wish we didn’t have to tell him, but the members need to be on their toes.”
“Agreed.” Ren folded his arms. “It’s not like every Order member has dropped their guard around the Summer fae, but they have relaxed, and that could be deadly.”
And that was why the Order members needed to know.
“I just don’t get how any of them could do that.” Ivy shook her head, causing a thick curl to fall over one eye. “Them supporting the Queen’s return is bad enough, but to aid the Winter Court when they’re using stuff like Devil’s Breath to destroy the younglings? It just doesn’t make sense.”
It really didn’t. “Aric had said that whoever it was had their reasons. I don’t think he said more. Or if he did, I…I don’t remember it. But you’re right, it doesn’t make sense.”
“I feel like we’re missing something,” Ren said. “I’ve been thinking about this, and I can’t come up with a reason a Summer fae would want the Winter Queen to enter this world, especially since they have their bright and shiny King.”
A small grin tugged at my lips.
“It’s not like they’re without leadership or whatever. So, the only thing that makes any sense to me is that it’s someone who has a vendetta against the King and would rather risk the whole world to either see him taken out or returned to his former evil glory.”