Chapter 43 Chelsea
Chelsea
Something is wrong the moment I step into the dream. Too quiet.
I feel the familiar hum of Eryx’s presence. He’s always present now that our magic combined. In the dream world I feel him even stronger than I would otherwise. Maybe it’s because I’m not awake and distracted by other things—thoughts, smells, sights.
But here, he’s ever present.
And so is something else.
The landscape before me is a carpet of darkness, and the sky above, scattered with stars that shine like pearls.
But that’s not all—in the distance someone is walking toward me.
You need to run, Nightmare whispers.
I don’t even know who it is.
I know who it is. Run. Or call Eryx.
The figure takes shape—small body, round head of brown hair pulled into a bun.
I gasp. It’s Helena.
Yes, and that’s why you need to leave this place. Now. She’s going to trap you.
This is the dream world, Nightmare. It’s my home now.
Please, Chelsea. Listen to me.
Nightmare’s right. I open my mouth to call Eryx, but I can’t speak. The words won’t come out. I touch my throat, and it feels fine, like it should work.
Helena’s smiling like the cat who ate the canary. “Something wrong, Chelsea?”
I can’t call for him, Nightmare!
I’ll go! Be right back.
Helena stops several feet away. “What? Cat got your tongue?”
I try to speak but nothing comes out.
“Sorry about that, dear, but I couldn’t have you calling for help, now could I?”
I glare at her.
She tuts. “I know what you’re thinking. We were friends.
I was just that kindly old lady who lived down the street and who took all your cookies that day.
Just think—if I hadn’t stopped you, you might never have met Eryx and married him.
Now look at you—you’re the Queen of Nightmares, and from the energy pulses I’ve been feeling, you’re quite good at it, too. ”
Helena circles around me, and I move with her, watching so she can’t take me by surprise.
When she’s made her circle, she stops and touches the air between us. Instantly, the gold and black magic within me springs to life, pushing out toward her—without my consent.
“Oh, that’s new,” Helena says like my magic is a dessert she might want to try.
Then she reaches for my chest.
The power stretches toward Helena like there’s a tether between us.
I feel it in my ribs—the magic being yanked out of me, her hand like a hook pulling. And God, it hurts—like she’s ripping into me.
My knees give out, and I fall onto all fours. I look up through tears, and Helena just smiles.
Which pisses me off.
I try to yank my power back, but her hold is strong, her hook digging into me so hard I throw my head back and scream silently into the void.
“Why don’t you just let go?” she murmurs.
No. Never.
The pain subsides for a moment, long enough for me to gather my scattered thoughts.
Maybe…maybe I can throw my power and Eryx will feel it. He’ll come faster than me waiting for Nightmare to reach him.
Helena cocks her head and smiles. “Yes, call Eryx. Bring him here.”
Wait.
She can read my thoughts?
“I’m holding your magic,” she says. “I own you. And I do so enjoy breaking new toys.”
The hell you will.
I throw a lasso of magic, hoping Eryx will feel it. The magic launches out, and Helena throws up her hand.
The power splits violently—and I hear it.
Not just hear it. Feel it. Like my soul is being ripped in half. Like something that was whole is now broken.
Wrong.
Half my power—our power—flies straight into Helena's hand. The rest flings out toward Eryx. And in that moment, I know: This can't be undone.
And it is agony.
The scream is so loud I clap my hands over my ears and close my eyes. It’s the sound of a thousand stars dying, and something being reborn wrong.
I open my eyes and see the stars above me flicker like they’re trying to stay alive, but their life is being snuffed out.
No!
The bond!
What did I do?
Then I feel him—Eryx.
A power surge rips through me—violent, raw.
And then a second later, all the darkness in the landscape pulls into a tight vortex—for a brief moment only bright white is left.
The white holds for a beat as if it just caught its breath, and then the vortex explodes outward.
The black flies back into place—
And there’s Eryx.
I nearly collapse with relief.
He looks like an angel of death—his shadow wings lift up from his back…but they’re wrong. The golden lines of power that now run through them are jagged, erratic.
He sees me on the ground, and his eyes lock on Helena.
Without a word, he lifts his hand. The air charges.
We’ve done this so many times together that my magic instantly feels his call and responds.
Tries to respond.
He pulls the shadows in. My magic leaps to help him, but it rips inside me.
I scream.
A real scream this time.
His head snaps toward me as he releases the shadows.
Pain snaps me in half. The black and gold thread between us fractures—not cleanly, but jagged, sparking.
I feel him through it.
Wild.
Furious.
Uncontrolled.
“Chelsea—”
His voice echoes wrong. He steps toward me.
The bond pulls tight. Too tight. He reaches for me—
And the magic surges again. It slams through the broken tether. White explodes behind my eyes.
I choke on another scream. The magic flickers. His wings dissolve.
He freezes. He knows.
Helena laughs softly. “Do you see?”
Eryx turns toward her, power gathering again.
“No—” I try to say. The word tears inside me before it forms.
He pulls the shadows harder. The bond screams.
I collapse, clutching my chest.
Through the frayed bond, I feel his realization hit. Every time he uses his magic, it hurts me. The thing that makes him who he is—the nightmare power he's wielded for years—now causes me pain.
And he can't stop it. Can't fix it. Can't take it back.
The stars above us dim again. Helena steps back, watching. Not afraid. Interested. Eryx releases the magic abruptly.
The dream goes still.
Too still.
He drops to his knees beside me. The bond hums wrong now.
Frayed.
Exposed.
Helena smiles. “How very…intimate.”
Then she lets the half of our power dissolve in her hand.
Not destroyed. Studied. She felt how our bond works. How our magic connects. How to break it.
She knows our weakness now, and she's going to use it to kill us.
The sky ripples.
And she is gone.
Eryx drops to his knees and pulls me to him. “Chelsea, what have I done?”
Nightmare is silent. Not joking. Not offering commentary. Not trying to fix things. Somehow that's more terrifying than anything Helena did.
I blink past tears. “You didn’t know. The magic…it’s broken.”
He smooths my hair from my face and hugs me to him. “It’s all right. I’m here now.”
I dig my fingers into his arms, making sure he’s real, inhaling him, finding comfort in his scent.
But our magic is ripped.
We're still connected. But the connection is unstable, and I don't think we can fix it before Helena comes back to finish what she started.