He looked at me for a moment, and then let out a low laugh. He shook his head slowly. “I have consumed that part of them which held together their sanity. Their being.”

Their souls, I realized. There was nothing I could say.

He stepped closer to me. “Does that frighten you?” he demanded. “Does it, Christine?” he taunted. He stared down at me, his face tortured but also… fierce.

Wild.

Beautiful.

I impulsively reached up and touched his arm.

“No,” I grimly said. And it didn’t.

Riley’s eyes seemed to flash again, and he grasped me by the elbows to gaze deeply into my eyes.

My knees faltered. The evening was finally catching up to me.

“Whoa,” I mumbled, my eyelids suddenly feeling impossibly heavy. “I think it’s midnight for this Cinderella.”

I sank into Riley’s arms as the last of my adrenaline abandoned me. I gazed up at him, and in his expression I thought I again caught a glimpse of something almost like…

Affection.

“Sleep,” he ordered. “I will care for you.”

And so, I obeyed.

Chapter Thirteen: Changes

Dreams… haunted my sleep.

I could feel the embrace of one strong and all-powerful, lifting me from harm.

I could feel the sweet vibration of the Impala’s roar, my chariot to safety.

I could feel the strength of one holding me close, gravity fighting an elevator’s pull.

I could feel the soft cocoon of bedding, welcoming me to Morpheus’s embrace.

“Sleep,” was Riley’s whisper. “And be safe.”

I obeyed.

~*~*~*~

A knock on wood brought me to my senses, and my eyelids fluttered.

Another knock, and my eyes flew open. They blindly searched my surroundings, confused by the nearly total darkness. I realized I was in an unfamiliar king-sized bed, the sheets tucked up to my chin.

Knock, knock, knock, came again, and on its wing, the cry of, “Room service!”

I forced myself up in the bed, throwing my legs over the side. A quick glance revealed that I was indecent. I was wearing only the hot pink ‘FLIRT’ panties and my old t-shirt. In what little light there was, I could make out the storm blue dress draped neatly over an armchair across the room.

Another knock on the door, and I began to panic.

“Room service!” the voice submissively declared again, and steeling myself, I stood. Room service? Was I in a hotel?

I scrambled through my memories of the night before, but I was at a loss to recall anything from after we found the book. Vague sense memories taunted me—the feeling of sliding my dress off and pulling on my t-shirt, of someone picking me up from a chair and placing me upon the softness of a cloud, hands tucking the cool sheets around me, fingers caressing my hair…

Where was Riley?

Knock, knock, knock!