Chapter 36 Chelsea
Chelsea
My hands shake on the ride to my house. Eryx didn’t want to use magic to travel because, well, he didn’t say so, but I think he’s unsure what would happen if he tried it.
After the whole crumbling walls thing, I can’t say I blame him. I get it, I really do—we’re separate, but now that part of Nightmare is inside of me, what happens when we each work magic separately? Will our magic find the other person and intensify?
Or will nothing happen?
Maybe nothing.
I tap my foot, and Eryx reaches over, takes my hand and kisses the inside of my wrist.
My entire body loosens. There’s something about this man’s presence that eases every tight muscle in my body.
“Thank you,” I tell him, smiling weakly.
He only gives a faint smile in return and then shifts his attention back to the road. We approach the barrier, and as we slide through, I feel a tug of magic pulling me back toward the Nightmare District.
I also feel magic tugging me toward Castleview—toward the home I’ve always known.
We arrive at the house a minute later. Eryx comes to a screeching halt, shuts off the ignition and says, “Wait.”
I frown, unsure why he’s told me this. Then he gets out and comes around to open my door.
Oh, that’s why.
My heart thunders against my chest as I stare up at him and remember how he claimed me and how much I want him to do it again.
He takes my hand and guides me up the stone steps. As soon as I throw open the door and yell, “I’m home,” I reel back.
The house is alive and doing things I’ve never seen.
A shirt is draped over the ironing board, ironing clothes without anyone attending it. A full laundry basket sits on the floor, each piece of clothing waiting its turn to be wrinkle-free.
A duster lightly brushes over the surfaces, and a broom whisks across the floorboards, darting to me and smacking my foot.
I move out of its way. “Sorry.”
The house rattles in response.
A second later Dallas storms down the stairs. “Look at it, Chelsea! Look what the house can do now that you’re married.”
“Wow. The magic’s really strong, huh?”
“Yes.”
Eryx clears his throat. Right. This isn’t why we’re here. “Where’s Mama? Dad?”
“In the kitchen, finishing lunch.”
“They’re okay?”
Dallas’s eyes narrow. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t they be?”
“Everyone’s okay?”
“We’re all just fine,” my nana insists, slipping through the wall. “Even though you pulled that little magical stunt.”
My cheeks heat. “It wasn’t intentional.”
Her gaze darts from me to Eryx. “Well, keep it down, will you? Some of us were trying to sleep.”
Eryx coughs.
I glance up at him to see his jaw has gone tight, like he’s still worried. But everyone seems fine.
“Thanks, Nana. I’ll just say hi to Mom and Dad.”
I take Eryx’s hand and tug him into the kitchen. My dad sits at the table reading, and my mom is taking the last bite of a sandwich.
When Dad spots us, he puts down the book. “What a nice surprise. How are the newlyweds doing?”
“Great,” I reply. “We just, um, came by to say hi.”
“Well sit down.” Dad rises and shakes Eryx’s hand. “Stay awhile.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“How’s the Nightmare District?” my mom asks me.
“It’s good.”
“Are the people treating you well?”
I think back to my first visit to the market, to how Eryx’s staff is so kind. “They are.”
Mama smiles. “Good. I’m so glad.”
Eryx glances over at me and smiles. My mouth flickers on its own.
It feels like we were worried about nothing. But Eryx was concerned and after the attack the other night—
Wait. Why was I attacked?
To get to Eryx, Nightmare answers.
You’ve been silent since I ate those nightmares, and now you decide to show up?
I have my ways.
My mom’s talking and I’m doing my best to answer her questions, but you wouldn’t believe how incredibly hard it is to carry on two conversations at once.
Why was I attacked?
You should ask Eryx.
I’m asking you.
The being is silent for a long moment, and I’m about to give up getting any information out of it when it pipes up with, You were attacked to provoke Eryx into striking his nemesis.
And he was wounded for me. He can’t retaliate now.
No, he can’t. Not by himself.
A tingle works its way from the top of my head to the base of my neck. Eryx must sense that something’s going on with me, because without glancing over, he takes my hand and squeezes.
My mom notices and her face melts into a smile.
She’s probably thinking, young love.
I bark a laugh. Everyone turns to stare at me, and I mumble, “Just thought of a joke, is all.”
Good cover.
You really shouldn’t be as funny as you are.
Eryx doesn’t appreciate me, it says, sniffling.
Don’t even try to act like you’re an angel.
I know, I’m not. It laughs maniacally to prove its point.
But what were you saying—Eryx couldn’t handle his nemesis on his own?
He can’t. He’s still too wounded. But you could help him. You could combine your magics. I bet you could destroy worlds if you did that.
I’m not interested in destroying worlds.
But you do want to help Eryx.
He was almost killed, I remind it.
So were you, and that’s more important to him than his chest wounds.
My body goes very still. What did you say?
I said, he would rather have been hurt than you.
But we barely know each other.
Does it matter?
I let Nightmare’s words sink into my bones. We’ve been married for less than a week, and I already feel closer to him than I ever felt to any of the men I dated before. But they were boys compared to Eryx. Young kids without his power, his presence, his deep understanding of himself.
And you would hurt for him, too. Wouldn’t you?
I would hurt anyone who hurt him.
Someone did hurt him, it reminds me.
Combine our powers… We almost destroyed his dream room and we weren’t even trying.
Exactly. Imagine what you could do if you actually tried.
Imagine what we could do… Do I even want to? What would it cost me to fully use Nightmare’s power?
What would it cost Eryx?
But what if we’re attacked again and this time, Eryx doesn’t just get hurt, Eryx…
Dies?
Damn, I’m already getting tired of having a voyeur inside my head. How has Eryx lived with Nightmare for ten years? I’m about to go nuts, and it’s only been a day.
She will return, Nightmare murmurs, and if we do nothing, it’s only a matter of time before she gets what she wants.
And that is?
Me stripped from Eryx. All of me. And do you know what will happen if I’m stripped violently from him?
A lump forms in my throat. Before I can stop, I find myself asking, What will happen?
He’ll die.
The words slam into me.
Eryx.
Dead.
Gone.
Not coming back.
My hands shake. I just found him. I just… We just…
No.
My blood goes cold. I sneak a glance at Eryx. He looks so calm, so completely at ease. But I know deep down he’s not. He was just as worried about my family as I was.
He turns his head, and I quickly drop my gaze to my hand—the one he holds. I squeeze and he squeezes back.
My heart… is so completely full of this man.
And what if he was taken away from me?
Here one moment, gone the next?
What would I do?
I’d shatter into a thousand pieces. I’d find his killer and I’d get revenge. I wouldn’t rest until they saw justice.
I feel Nightmare rise to attention. I knew there was something about you—from the very beginning I knew it. Not only do you eat nightmares like it’s second nature, you have fight.
“Chelsea?”
I blink.
“Chelsea,” Mama says. “Earth to Chelsea. Are you in there?”
“Sorry. I was just…thinking.”
Mama rolls her eyes. “Married life must really be good.”
My gaze flicks to Eryx, who looks back at me. My chest warms. “It is good. It’s really, really good.”
But even for as good as it is, everything Nightmare said lingers in the back of my mind, poking at me, prodding.
This thing with Eryx just started. It can’t end—not now.
And for the first time in my life I realize that I’m willing to do anything, anything to keep this man.
Anything.
On the way home we’re both silent. I sit with a casserole on my lap, something Mom handed me as I made my way out the door.
I didn’t even catch who had made it—Mama, maybe. Maybe Dallas.
All I know is that it smells like chicken. But I’m not hungry. Not after what I learned.
I’m also buzzing with questions. Like, a thousand of them.
Eryx takes my hand and kisses it while he drives. “Everything okay?”
The floodgates open, whether he’s ready for them or not. I can’t keep this inside any longer. “Nightmare told me that someone’s trying to kill you, but you’re not strong enough to take them on alone, and I should join you, and with our combined powers we could burn down the world.”
His mouth flicks into a smile. “‘Burn down the world’? That almost sounds sexy.”
I scoff. “Be serious. Who is it?”
Eryx goes tense. “You won’t believe me if I tell you.”
“Why wouldn’t I believe you?”
“Because I wouldn’t believe it.”
“Try me.”
He gives me a look like, Here goes nothing. “I’ve tracked this person a long time, and when she came to Castleview, I thought I’d won the jackpot.”
“I know everyone in town. Who is it? Eryx, I’ll believe you. I’m your wife.”
We come to a stoplight, and he smiles at me. Really smiles, like he loves that I called myself his wife.
My stomach flips. I love it, too.
Oh no. I’m in trouble.
I've fallen for him. Not maybe. Not probably.
I have. Hook, line and sinker.
The kind where there's no coming back. The kind that makes you stupid and reckless and willing to fight monsters.
When did that happen? When he saved me? When he kissed me? When he ate soup with Darla?
Or was it all of it, piece by piece, until I couldn't tell where I ended and he began?
“Her name is…Helena Buttercup.”
I do a slow blink as I try to absorb this information.
But it’s not happening.
After a few seconds, I slowly say, “Helena Buttercup? The nice old woman with all the cats?”
“Those aren’t cats.”
“Then what are they?”
He shoots me a dark look. “They’re monsters like that shadow she used to hurt you.”