Chapters (39)
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- Teaser chapter
She stiffened and opened her eyes, all her excitement was gone in a rush of cold fear. She turned. Bai stood there, not Theo. His eyes glowed red and when he parted his lips, his teeth were pointed and sharp as knives.
Sarafina screamed.
TWENTY-FIVE
TWENTY-FIVE
“SARAFINA!”
She lunged forward in bed, the sheets a tangle around her legs. Bright daylight streamed in through the bedroom window. Theo caught her in his arms and she fought him for a moment, not certain who he really was.
“Shhh, it’s okay now, you’re safe.” He pressed her head to his shoulder and wrapped his arms around her to keep her from thrashing.
Sarafina closed her eyes and whispered, “God, it was so real.” She shuddered, shaking and cold from the memory of Bai’s breath on her skin.
Theo pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “It was just a dream.”
She pushed away from him a little so she could see his face. Theo, yes, it was Theo. “No. No, that was no dream. I could feel everything. Oh, God, I thought he was you. He touched me.” The words came out a horrified whisper. “I thought it was you, but it was Bai.”
“It wasn’t real. It was a mind-fuck, Sarafina.”
She shook her head and flipped the sheets away to expose her shin. “I hit my leg on the bed. I can still feel the pain.” There was no bruise there, at least not yet.
Theo pulled her close. As his embrace tightened she closed her eyes, letting out a breath of tension. She was safe now, safe.
After a moment, he pulled her away from him so he could look into her eyes. “He’s playing with you. The Atrika like to stalk and they like their prey scared. It excites them. He entered your subconscious as you dreamed and he woke your sense of self. It was like a lucid dream, understand? He can’t hurt you physically there, he can only scare you. If you allow him to scare you, he wins.”
“But I hit my shin!” She shuddered. “And I felt his hands on me . . . his breath.”
“He can make it seem real, as real as waking reality.” Theo let out a slow breath. “Making you afraid, it’s like foreplay to him.”
Bitterness rose to sting the back of her throat at the thought. She swallowed it down. “Yes, I get it. I understand. Don’t let him see how terrified he makes me and I win. Otherwise it . . . excites him.”
“Exactly. Come here.” He pulled her still trembling body closer against his and stroked her hair.
“I’m okay. It was just thinking he was you and then . . . having it not be.” She frowned at the daylight and pushed away from him. “How long have I been sleeping?”