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“Since always. I am the King of the Night. I rule over everything that encompasses, including dreams.”

That made some sort of sense.

I grab my drink and stare down into it, shaking my head. “I don’t know. Those children I met, they were there, holding me down. And there was a voice—a male voice.” What had he said?

Let me in, siren; I’ll give you wings to fly. Just open your door and part your pretty thighs.

My cheeks heat.

Jesus.

“What did the voice say?” Des asks.

“I’m not repeating that in public.”

The fae king looks intrigued.

Now that I recall the dream, the magic intensifies like it knows I’m willfully withholding the information.

When I still don’t answer, his eyes move over me. “You’re really going to hold out, babe?”

Not for long—the magic’s squeezing the life out of me.

“Not in public.” I’m nearly begging.

The Bargainer studies me for a moment longer. He snaps his fingers, and the noise around us lowers, becoming muffled. “That’s as much privacy as you’re going to get.”

It’s enough. Well, to be honest, it’snotenough—I don’t exactly want to admit the content of my dreams to Des—but I’ve already admitted I want his babies, so there’s really nothing left of my pride to protect.

I stare down into my drink. “He said, ‘Let me in, siren; I’ll give you wings to fly. Just open your door and part your pretty thighs.’”

The pressure leaves my chest.

Finally.

Around us, the noise rises once more.

Across from me, Des’s shadows are back. Moody man.

“You never saw who spoke?” he asks.

I shake my head and take a sip of my drink.

I set the mug down gingerly. “Are you actually taking my dream seriously?” I ask.

Des runs a thumb over his lower lip. “Perhaps,” he says distractedly. “In the Otherworld, dreams are never just dreams. They’re another sort of reality.”

I let that sink in. “You … you think something from the Otherworld visited me last night?”

“I don’t know.”

I might havea fae stalker.

One that can infiltrate my dreams.

I feel sodirty. Dirty and vulnerable. My mind can be manipulated by some creature, and I can’t do anything to stop it. I thought staying back at my home would offer me some extra measure of protection, but it didn’t.

“You think this has anything to do with the disappearances?” I ask now.