I can hear him talking to me, but I don’t understand what he says. All I can focus on is her footsteps as they go up the stairs to her bedroom. I can’t abandon her like that, leave her with him to do as he pleases. Before I realize what, I have done, I pick up his gun. My hands tremble as I point it at him. He cocks an eyebrow at me before swigging from his bottle of bourbon. He laughs.
“Hand it over. We both know you won’t do it,” he says, laughing as he moves toward me.
My hands shake as I turn the safety off. His eyes widen before he tries ripping it from my hands. We struggle, he backhands me, my head whips to the side and the gun falls from my hands on the floor. He bends down, picks it up and puts the safety back on before walking up the stairs like nothing happened. Hours, I sit down there until I get the courage to go back up the stairs. My dream feels like it is only minutes. Everything moves quickly, and next, I am sneaking upstairs.
Walking to his room, I find him passed out drunk. Running down the stairs, I grab a bottle of liquor. He always smokes in bed, so it will look like an accident. It is no secret the officer is an alcoholic. Apparently, he suffers from some form of PTSD. I pour the liquor onto his bed, careful not to wake him. The smell is pungent and burns my nose. Grabbing one of his smokes from the bedside table, I light it, smoking half of it before grabbing the bottle again and tipping it on him. He wakes immediately, looking up at me, half asleep. He has a cruel smile on his lips as he reaches for me before realizing what I tipped on him. Anger blazes as I draw back on the cigarette, trying to calm my nerves.
“Burn in hell,” I tell him as I flick it.
I watch as it lands on the bed.
The covers catch fire before his clothes do, he screams. I watch, horrified at what I have done until my brain kicks into function. He tries getting up, but flames engulf him; I can smell his burning hair as he climbs off the bed, trying to put out the flames frantically. I step back, watching as everything catches fire before I run for the door. His screams will forever haunt my memory.
I run from that room, bolting down the stairs only to remember Lana is in the room next door to his, making me run back up, but the hallway is already on fire. The wallpaper is burning and peeling off the walls as I run past and into her room, shaking her. She wakes up just as the fire alarms blare.
I rip her from her bed in her Harry Potter pajamas. Her eyes widen when we step into the hall, and she sees the flames. I shove her toward the stairs, and she runs down when I feel something fall on me, shoving me down the stairs, and I thrash. Burning pain moves up my back, making me scream in agony, and all I can focus on is the pain as Lana screams. I writhe in agony, trying to get whatever is on me off.
I hear voices; they sound familiar to me, getting louder and louder.
“Evelyn, wake up, wake up.” Someone is shaking me from my dream, and my eyes fly open.
My heart is pounding against my chest painfully. Sweat coats my skin, and my eyes try to adjust to the light. I scream, trying to get away from the hands shaking me, thrashing to get him off.
“Evelyn, it’s me. Stop.” That voice, that familiar voice rings through my head again, and my eyes focus as they land on Thaddeus.
I stop, looking around the room, and I am not in the house of my nightmares but my bed with my mates. Tears roll down my cheeks as I realize I am awake, no longer burning, and the searing pain dissipates.
Thaddeus’s hands clutch my face. “You’re okay. You’re okay, little one. It was just a dream,” he says as he pulls me towards him and into his lap.
Ryland moves closer, placing his head in my lap, and I feel my breathing even out as reality comes back to me. I then notice Orion watching me from the end of the bed, an indecipherable expression on his face. Looking down at Ryland, I notice claw marks across his back and angry red lines that are nearly healed.
“What happened to your back?” I whisper. My voice sounds hoarse, like I have been screaming and my throat hurts just speaking.
“Everything you feel, we feel. That’s what woke us, I thought I was on fire,” Ryland says as he rolls his head and looks up at me. I lean back against Thaddeus; his hand strokes my damp hair from my face. Guilt floods me as I stare down at Ryland. They can feel it, feel everything, and the thought sickens me.
“How long have I been asleep?”
“A few days,” Thaddeus answers, making my head whip to the side to look at him.
“Thaddeus, marking you knocked you out. His mark did the same to us as well. Think it’s because he is a Tribrid,” Orion answers the question I am about to ask.
I nod, not knowing what else to say. Guilt is eating at me as I stare at Orion. His curious gaze is watching me.
“What happened? If we are going to burn every time, you’re asleep, I need to know why,” he asks.
“Please, Evelyn, just tell us so Thaddeus can take it away. I can’t live like this, not knowing. At least tell us, so we understand,” Ryland says, reaching his hand up and cupping my face.
I feel a lump form in my throat, and I try to swallow it down, but my mouth is so dry.
“You have been reliving it for days now; we haven’t been able to wake you until now. What’s once more,” Thaddeus says, kissing the side of my face.
“Nothing will make us leave you, Evelyn. You can trust us,” Orion says, moving onto the bed.
“You may just change your mind about that if you know,” I tell him.
His eyebrows furrow in confusion.
“What do you mean?” Thaddeus asks as he grips my chin, forcing me to meet his eyes.
“You’re not the only monsters. What I did made me just as bad as him. But I couldn’t leave her with him,” I whisper, looking away toward the window.
“Leave who?” he asks.
“Lana.”