Chapter 38 Taera
Taera
Nikolai is unstable. But somehow, I still foolishly believe I’m safe in his room. At least for the night.
I sleep fitfully, curled up on my mat, when a scream pierces through the dark.
The wailing shrieks of pain have me upright. Total blackness suffocates my senses. Another scream rings out. I stagger to my feet, my heart pounding out of control. Then—
An eerie blue glow illuminates the room.
Movement from the bed snaps my breath short.
It’s Nikolai tossing in his sleep, mumbling.
Shakily, I exhale, relief shuddering through me, only for it to die in my throat.
Shadows start dripping from the walls.
Thick, oily darkness dribbles out of the glass, sliding down and pooling around the edges of the room. Right beside my sleeping mat.
I scramble away and back toward the bed.
Screams jerk my gaze to the other side of the room, where the translucent shapes swirl and coalesce, growing thorns and fangs. They glisten, deadly sharp, even in the dark.
My throat closes.
Nikolai thrashes again, and I turn to the bed. Can he see these horrors? His jerky movements seem to aggravate the shadows. They curve more sharply, becoming more tangible. The shadows growl and slither toward the bed.
I press backward, my skin chilled. I can’t move. I can’t swallow.
This can’t be real.
They’re just shadows. They can’t hurt me.
I’m still trying to convince myself when a black tentacle whips forth and globs to my throat.
It’s unearthly cold. I thrash, trying to cry out, but it doesn’t let go.
Just an illusion. The slick cold hardens as it coils around my neck.
No air. I claw at it uselessly before flinging myself backward onto the bed.
The shadow snaps and dissolves into nothing, leaving me coughing.
Nikolai’s eyes are shut, but his expression is pained, as if he’s fighting something. I crouch by his side, debating whether I’m more scared of him or monsters seeping out of the darkness. Long claws of smoke curl up the edges of the bed, hook over the mattress.
I grip his shoulders and shake. “Wake up.”
Cold stings my hands, sweeping up my arms, encapsulating my body. It’s accompanied by a deep, aching numbness.
“Wake up!” My voice tears out of me.
Vivid green eyes fly open.
In a heartbeat, we’re flipped. My back slams into the mattress, his weight pinning me. Nikolai glares at me, his eyes right above my own. He’s breathing hard.
He blinks, twice, before the ferocity drains into confusion. “What are you doing in my bed?”
The oppressive cold is gone, replaced by flaming heat that rushes up my neck. I manage a squeak.
He narrows his eyes.
Twisting my head to the side, I point off the bed. But the shadows are gone. Soft light illuminates the gentle curve of the moon.
“You—you were dreaming.”
His shoulders tense, but he releases me. “Tell me exactly what happened.”
Sitting stiffly upright, I scamper to the edge of the bed. But I’m unwilling to retreat any further toward the corner where the shadows emerged.
“I woke up and someone was screaming. You were tossing and turning. Shadows came out of the walls. They tried to choke me—they were cold, and I tried to wake you up, and you were cold.” Speaking hurts.
I lift my hand to my bruised throat, and his gaze follows.
His eyes flare and flicker with a myriad of emotions before he twists his head to the side.
The muscles in his neck tighten. “Did I say anything?”
I swallow painfully. “What?”
“Did I?” His glare returns, even more intense.
I stare back, stunned, but I try to remember. “I—I don’t think so.”
His expression curdles into unsettled.
It rattles me more than the shadows did.
“Did you… Was that you?” I ask.
Slowly, Nikolai nods. Instead of lying back down, he pinches the space between his brows, exhales, then tosses his sheets back and rises. He heads straight for the door.
I don’t want to be left alone. “What were those shadows?”
“Nothing real,” he mutters, too fast, too brittle, as though he’s trying to convince himself.
The hairs on my arms lift, then a flash of anger has me on my feet.
“How many other deadly things are you keeping from me?” My tone rises. “Shouldn’t you have told me your nightmares could come out of the walls and attack me?”
He just sighs. “It’s the first time.”
That was not the answer I wanted.
“Sleeping in illusions is… advanced.”
“You don’t need them while you’re asleep,” I say, incredulous. “It’s just me here.”
He laughs softly, then opens the door.
“Wait—” I glance at the dark mirrors around the edges of the room. “Don’t—where are you going?”
He glances back and studies me. “You can take the bed, if you’re frightened.”
“That’s not—” I shake my head.
He’s already gone.
I return to my own sleeping mat. Not even shadow nightmares can convince me to sleep in his bed.
Sleep doesn’t come. I lie, eyes wide open for the rest of the night. Only one thought circles round and round.
This magician can’t control his own deadly magic.
He could kill me in his sleep.
I need to escape, and soon.