Not waiting for a response, I darted into the bedroom, my bare feet sliding over the cool cement floors. I placed the dagger on the nightstand and then sprinted back into the living room. I skidded to a stop when I didn’t see Zayne at the couch. Glancing at the kitchen, I didn’t see him there, either. Or Peanut. Or a random spirit.

Was I even awake, or was this some kind of bizarre dream?

“Zayne?”

“I’m here” came the immediate response.

I turned to the couch with a frown and inched around the side, and he was there, lying on his side with his cheek resting on the curl of his arm. There was a vacant pillow beside his elbow.

He patted the space beside him.

I glanced from him to the space and then back to him again, my throat suddenly making me wish I had gotten a drink. My skin felt heavy, and I really needed to get it together. He was inviting me to lie with him and not to lie with him.

“There’s enough room,” he said. “I promise.”

There was enough room on the couch to fit a T. rex, but I still stood there, hands opening and closing at my sides. I didn’t know why I was being so weird. This wouldn’t be the first time we’d lain side by side while we’d been unable to sleep. It had been a brief habit until...until the night we’d done more than talking and sleeping.

“Trin?” Zayne started to rise. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I plopped down on the couch beside him, landing on my back with the gracefulness of a cow falling over.

“Wow,” he murmured.

“What?” I clasped my hands together, over my stomach. There were a few inches between us, but I could still feel the warmth of his body.

“Just surprised you didn’t break your back with that move.”

“Shut up,” I muttered.

Zayne chuckled.

I wiggled my toes and then my butt, sinking an inch into the cushion. “You know...this couch is more comfortable than I thought.”

“It’s not bad.”

But still not as comfortable as his bed. “I feel terrible about taking over your apartment—your bathroom.” I paused. “Your kitchen. Your bed.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

My brows knitted as I turned my head toward him. I couldn’t tell if his eyes were open or not. “Kind of hard not to. I could sleep out here and—”

“That would go against every code I have. Not going to happen,” he replied. “What woke you up?”

The spirit I’d seen formed in my thoughts. Shivering, I wondered if or when he would come back and what he had wanted. Sometimes they never returned.