Page 76 of Ballad of Nightmares

It was a long shot, and perhaps a little ridiculous to speak aloud to someone who could very well never speak again, but Ana didn’t care. She rubbed the girl’s hand and began to hum a song her mother had once sung to her every night. It was a quiet, healing lullaby, and every time she felt scared of falling into that pit of never turning back, she’d sung it and reminded herself to live.

Rosie’s finger twitched in her hand, making Ana stare at her unblinking eyes. She continued humming, continued that comforting sound, and again, the girl’s hand twitched.

“Hey, Rosie,” she said, giving her hand a squeeze. “Hey—“

Rosie sat straight up and yanked Ana out of her chair toward the bed.

Her eyes were wild, grip so tight on Ana’s hand that she thought it might break. She jerked as she tried to get away, but Rosie just grabbed her other hand into hers and pulled her so close, Ana could feel her breath.

“The shadows will call you,” Rosie hissed, and Ana could feel her trembling. “Don’t listen to them. Don’t listen to the howls or prick the roses. Don’t listen to the howls or prick the roses. Don’t prick the roses. Don’t. Don’t.Don’t—“

But Rosie’s eyes rolled and she staggered like she might fall back.

Until she spotted the white rose on her bedside table. Her eyes widened once more, and she flung herself back, kicking and throwing her sheet away. Ana bolted out of her seat—

“He’s coming,” Rosie hissed. “He came. He came. He’s here. He’s—“

An urgent knock sounded. The nurse came running in.

“Rosie—hey, calm down,” she tried.

Ana took a few more steps back to the door, her heart picking up at the pure terror on Rosie’s face, bleeding from her bulging eyes.

“He’s coming. He’s here.He’s here.” Rosie jerked out of bed, sending the tray table crashing to the ground as she backed to the window, arms bracing against the white wall. Her head jerked in every direction and she began to shrink to the ground. “Shadows—the shadows—I said no shadows—“ Her hands pushed over her face, and as the nurse tried to get to her, she shook her head. “No shadows. No dark. Only light. No shadows, no dark. No shadows—“

The nurse cut Ana a look over her shoulder as Rosie continued. “I’m sorry,” the nurse said. “But you should leave.” She gave her an apologetic smile. “Keep trying.”

Ana nodded vigorously as she grabbed her purse, and she left out of that room more confused than she’d been before going in.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

MILLIE WAS DRESSED in her usual business, but make it sexy, attire when Sam spotted her already sitting at a table on the high terrace restaurant inside SkyCor. She had her phone out, a glass of red wine in her hand, peering at the screen over her wide sunglasses. Sam smiled upon seeing her and shook his head, but Millie saw him before he could comment.

She took a long sip of wine and whipped her sunglasses off, lips curling upwards. “Yes, please, Sam. Dress in your usual tattered shambles even when you’re meeting the Hand at the most expensive restaurant in this fucking realm,” she said in a snappy voice that made Sam grin crookedly. “You couldn’t even be bothered to put on your nice leather jacket?”

He leaned over and gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek, then slumped into the opposite chair. “I thought you liked this one,” he said with a wink.

Millie wasn’t amused. That blank face stared back at him, a slight pucker on her lips, her blue eyes taut. “Rolfe called,” she said shortly.

Sam shifted just as the waiter came by to take his drink order, and when she was gone, he leaned casually back in his chair, ankle resting over his knee. “Something on your mind, Mills?”

“Your girlfriend went to St. Orphs this morning,” Millie said. “To talk to the journalist that we drove insane.”

Sam’s jaw ticked at the information. “Reasonable place for her to go.”

“Sam—“

“What, Milliscent?” he snapped, and the waitress that had just brought his drink over scurried away, muttering that she would come back later to take their food order.

Millie raised an annoyed brow as a beat of quiet passed between them, obvious she was debating how she would call him out on his plan.

“What are you doing?” she finally asked.

“Keeping an eye on her,” he said.

“And fucking her senseless,” Millie retorted. “Why haven’t you killed her? Or at least put her in the dungeon.”

“Plans change.”