Page 24 of Protect Me
“Your nightmare.”
Her gaze darkens, and I get the sense that, for this brief moment, she’s a million miles away. “There’s nothing to talk about. You know I’ve been through shit, and that’s what it was about. Vocalizing it won’t make it go away.”
“No. But sometimes it helps ease the pain to know you’re not alone.”
I almost snort at my words. I’ve never once lived by them. Hell, I’m the kind of stony silences and tight-lipped control. But something about her makes me want to carry her burdens. Or avenge them.
Her gaze holds mine. “Iamalone,” she says. “Maybe not physically right now, but you’ll throw me out of here the moment I’m no longer of use. When that happens, it’ll be up to me to figure out how to survive. Therefore, I am one hundred percent on my own.”
I grind my teeth together. “As long as you are here, you are not alone,” I tell her. “We will kill to protect you.”
“You shouldn’t.”
“Why?”
“Because he can’t be killed. Not easily, anyway.” She sets the now-empty mug aside and draws her knees up.
“What is he?”
She shakes her head. “I want to sleep. Can I sleep?” Tears glisten in her eyes as she closes them, so I don’t press. At least, not yet. Once she’s stronger, we will push her for what we need to know. Until then, she needs to rest so that we get the full three months and not mere days to find out just who is tracking her.
And eliminate them.
“Yes.” I get up, but her slender fingers wrap around my wrist. At her touch, my heart thrums in my ears, and my lion surges to the surface. When my gaze meets hers, though, she does not shy away from the predator I know is reflected in it.
“Don’t leave yet? Not until I’m asleep.”
Her voice is small. Another favor she doesn’t want to ask for, and yet she does it anyway. She asks it of me.
My gaze drops to her lips.
To those perfect, pouty, pink lips that I so desperately want to taste even if it lands me in the depths of the underworld to do so.
I lean in, and her gaze widens just slightly as it drops to my mouth.
Instead of closing the distance, though, I pull the covers up further and nod. “I’ll be right over there,” I say, gesturing to the chair.
“Thank you.” She releases me and lies back, so I retreat into the shadows and sit down on a chair as Sway drifts into a hopefully dreamless sleep.
* * *
It takesher all of ten minutes to nod off. As soon as I know she’s asleep, I stand and cross to her. She’s peaceful now, her expression relaxed. So, I make sure the covers are pulled up then grab her empty mug and head out into the hall, locking the door behind me.
I’m walking past an apartment when the door opens, and a crystal-eyed berserker steps out. “Fiona,” I greet.
Her expression flickers with something then smooths out again. “All good? I thought I heard a scream.”
“New girl had a nightmare,” I tell her.
She nods in understanding then falls into step beside me. Farther down, another apartment door opens and closes. It’s late enough that most of the others have already gone down to the Big Top. Another day, and I'm starting it out already exhausted.
“You headed down to rehearse?” I ask.
“I am. Harriss is already down there, and he pissed me off this morning, so I’m looking forward to throwing some knives at him.”
I grin. Harriss is a djinn who has a love/hate relationship with the berserker. As in, he’s head over heels in love with her, and she hates that she feels the same. Of all the performers here, Fiona is the only one I’m honestly not sure I could beat should it come down to a fight.
The berserker is fucking brutal.