Finally reaching the elevator, I pushed the button and took a deep, ragged breath. Even breathing took effort. The door opened, and Jared stood before me.

Knowing better than to pretend everything was normal, I reached for his arm and let him support my weight as I took the few steps to stand next to him.

“Nina,” he said quietly into my ear, “I think it’s time—,”

“I know,” I said. “We have to find someone.”

He walked with me for a while, but once we were in the parking lot, my legs gave way. Jared lifted me into his arms, and carried me the remaining distance to the Escalade. My eyes shut and would not open.

I didn’t wake when Jared carried me inside the loft, nor did I feel the mattress beneath me when he lowered me into it and covered me with blankets. It wasn’t until the sun broke through the blinds that I realized I had been tucked in and slept sixteen hours straight.

“Jared?” I called, my voice raspy.

“Nope, it’s just me,” Bex said. He sat on the bed, seeming vexed.

“What wrong? And where’s Jared?”

“He’s been gone since yesterday evening. He caught a break.”

“What’s with the face?”

“You slept.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?” I asked, sitting up against the headboard.

“Not for Jared. This makes the third time you’ve slept solid when he’s been gone all night. Can’t be a coincidence.”

I laughed once. “Are you saying he’s causing the dreams?”

“I’m saying it’s a possibility the dreams go away when he’s not around.”

“That’s ridiculous,” I sneered.

“I’m probably right,” Bex said, his teenage confidence overriding his usual politeness. In that moment, he was more Claire than Jared. “And Jared’s going to take it hard.”

“No he’s not, because you’re not going to tell him,” I said firmly.

“Nina…I have to tell him, you know that.”

“My sleep was interrupted by my annoying, incessant screaming at three-eleven A.M. just like every other morning. That’s the story.”

“You don’t think he’ll know?”

“He’s been distracted. It could work.”

“It won’t.”

“Bex! At least try!”

Bex stood up and crossed his arms. “He’ll know, and then he won’t trust me ever again because I helped you lie to him. Do you know how imperative it is that we trust each other? You really have gone crazy.”

He walked down the stairs in a huff, and I blew my bangs from my face, aggravated. Even in his disgust, Bex began making breakfast, and after a shower I joined him at the table.

“Something came for you yesterday,” Bex said, tossing an envelope on the table.

It was from Ryan.