Page 109 of Dublin Charmer

My head feels like a fifteen-pound bowling ball when I try to see who’s with me.

Blue hair. Not the vibrant blue of Nyx’s hair but a teal blue. It’s pretty.

“Hey, Charmer. Are you really waking up this time?”

I blink again, trying to focus. No. Can’t be.

“Nyx?” My voice is a rasp, barely audible.

The figure with the teal blue hair shifts, and there she is. Nyx. My Nyx.

“You changed your hair.”

Lying back in a sleeping chair pulled close to my bed, tucked in under a mound of blankets. By the dark circles under her eyes, and her messy hair, she hasn’t gotten much sleep. I must be hallucinating. It’s the drugs.

“Fuck. You’re not real.”

I know I’m right when she doesn’t speak. She just watches me with those piercing blue eyes. Definitely a hallucination. The real Nyx would have something cutting to say about my current state.

“They’ve got me on the good stuff.” I try to lift my hand to touch her, but it’s too heavy.

Still, she says nothing. Just keeps looking at me with an expression I can’t read.

“You look good, babe,” I continue, words slurring slightly. “Spain agrees with you. Or is it Italy now? I lost track after you dumped me.”

The hallucination of Nyx shakes her head. “I never dumped you.”

“Aye, you did. But I still miss you. So fucking much. Every day. Even when I’m mad at you.Especiallywhen I’m mad at you.”

I let my eyes drift closed. “I would’ve done anything for you. Anything to make you happy. Waited forever. Moved to fuckingTimbuktu. Whatever you needed.” My voice cracks. “But you didn’t want that—didn’t want me.”

A tear slides down my cheek, and I’m too weak to wipe it away.

“Oh, Finn. I’m so sorry for making you feel like that.” The hallucination of Nyx reaches over to brush my tear away. Her touch is warm. Solid. Real. “I love you.”

I sigh. “That proves you’re not real. Nyx wouldn’t say that.”

“Not when I wasn’t sure I could stay, no. But I’m here, Charmer. I’m here for you. I chose us.”

Wait. What?

I blink over at her and frown. “You’re really here?”

Her grip on my hand tightens. “I’m here.”

The sound of her voice after so long hits me like a physical blow. I struggle to sit up, but pain shoots through my shoulder and I fall back onto my pillows. “Jesus fuck!”

She frowns and sits up, pressing me to lay back down. “Don’t move around. You’ll open your wounds again.”

My mind races, despite the drugs. “Why are you here? How did you even know?”

“I’m here because I love you, and I know because Sean called me.” Her jaw tightens. “He said you pulled this lone-wolf bullshit because of me.”

“So you flew back to lecture me?” Anger flares through the fog of medication. “Thanks, but I’ve already got four brothers for that.”

“I didn’t need to fly back because I was already here. I met up with Harper and Piper that night for dinner and to get the lay of the land. I was going to surprise you when we got the call.”

“You were already here?”