Shifting Light

CHAPTER FIVE: DREAMS

  Her friends were chasing her with daggers and swords. They changed and shifted into large black-clothed men, ones she identified as Protectors. One of them tackled her down and pinned her hands behind her back. He forced her onto her feet, and another started feeling her body. It was Kale Saven’s voice, but Sashe couldn’t see his face. It was a blur, a swirl of darkness she slowly fell into, but she picked up speed, falling, falling. . .

  Sashe snapped awake, gasping for air. She felt around her bed and swallowed. She was fine. Safe. At home.

  She tried to get back to sleep but every time she dozed off, similar images plagued her. She finally sat up and grabbed her robe. Maybe a walk to the kitchens would help. She lit a candle and left her room quietly. In the windows she passed, she could see the bright, full moon high in the sky and hundreds of stars in the midnight sky.

  She walked into the kitchen, humming. A dark figure stood in the corner of the kitchen, and she dropped her candle in shock. The flame flickered out, and she slammed her back against the wall.

  “It’s just me,” Seth’s voice came through the darkness.

  Sashe put her hand on her chest. Her heartbeat pounded against her ribcage. “Oh, my goodness. What are you doing here in the dark?”

  Seth lit a lantern on the table, and light flooded into the room. He wore pants that barely reached his knees and an unbuttoned shirt. She tried not to stare at his exposed chest, at the lines of his muscles, at the scar on his ribcage. She found his eyes on her body as well. She looked down at herself. Her robe was open to reveal her nightgown. It was the most comfortable to sleep in because of the soft silk. It stretched over her bust, and she closed her robe and crossed her arms tightly over her chest.

  Seth cleared his throat. “Um, Evan and I stayed the night for fun, but I couldn’t sleep. You?”

  “I couldn’t sleep, either,” she said quietly. “Bad dreams.”

  “You want me to cut you up an apple?”

  “Sure.” She smiled and sat at the table.

  He turned away and picked up a knife and an apple. It was silent for a moment before he spoke. “I’m sorry about earlier today. Maybe I went a little hard on you.”

  She raised her eyebrows at him. He surprised her every day. She tried to fit him into a little box, but he was different. If he was Evan, he never would have apologized. If he was Dar, it never would have happened. He was somewhere between the two of them, somewhere between cocky and calm. She shrugged. “Maybe.”

  “I just really want you to be safe.” His voice was soft as he brought apple slices to the table. He sat down across from her, and she picked one up. “I was telling Evan. . .my mother didn’t know how to defend herself. I always wonder. . .if we’d taught her, would she still be alive?”

  Her eyes widened, and she slowly chewed up her apple slice. His gaze was fixed on the table. He truly cared about her safety, and it touched her. She reached out and put her hand over his. “You told Evan that?”

  His eyes met hers. “Yes. Why are you smiling like that?”

  She shrugged. “It’s probably good I’m not the only one you talk to.”

  His thumb ran over hers, sending chills up her arm. “I can’t believe you don’t treat me like a freak.”

  She stood and moved in front of him. She put her hands on the sides of his face, running his black hair through her fingers. Feeling fearless, she leaned forward and kissed his forehead. His hands touched her waist, only a few layers from her skin.

  “You’ve just been through more than us,” she said softly. “That doesn’t make you a freak.”

  “What about a murderer?” he whispered.

  His eyes searched her face, and she was struck by how young he was. Sixteen, and yet he’d already lost his parents. Already killed three men. And she was upset at a long lesson with the dagger. She shook her head, brushing some hair back from his forehead. “They’re the murderers. They killed Allison and her mother. You saved Vin and Caleb’s lives.”

  “But not my mother and father’s.” His arms pulled her closer, and she lost her balance, nearly falling into his lap. “Sorry.”

  She sat on his legs and pulled his face toward hers. Their lips met, and he wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her gently, his fingertips pressing into her back harder than his lips pressed into hers. She leaned into him, eager for his touch, and he leaned back into her. She opened her mouth to him, and their tongues slid against one another. Warmth spread through her body, and Seth’s strong arms held her tightly against him.

  The creak of a door made them spring apart. Sashe jumped to her feet, her hand flying to her mouth.

  Evan and Dar stood in the door, watching them with amused looks. “Don’t let us interrupt,” Evan said, grinning.

  “Goodnight, Seth.” Sashe looked at him one last time. His hair stuck up in certain spots from her fingers, and he stared at her with parted lips as she pushed past Evan and Dar.

  She ran upstairs to Sierra’s room and barged in without knocking. Sierra screamed, and a bump on the other side of the bed told Sashe she’d fallen on the ground.

  “Sierra, it’s just me!” Sashe ran to the other side of the bed.

  Sierra fought to untangle herself from her covers. “God, Sashe, I thought—I don’t know—I thought you were—” She collapsed on the bed, panting. She looked at Sashe after a moment. “Do you think the Protectors would ever come after us?”

  Sashe slowly sat down next to her. The exhilaration from her kiss with Seth fled as she realized why Sierra had been scared. “I don’t know. It’s good Seth and Dar are teaching us some ways to defend ourselves.”

  Sierra scoffed. “If they even work.”

  A voice from the door made them both jump.

  The three boys stood in the doorway, Seth with a dagger in his hand. “Is everything okay? I thought I heard someone scream.”

  “It’s fine,” Sierra said, pulling her blankets up to cover herself. “Sashe didn’t knock. She scared me half to death.”

  The boys visibly relaxed. Seth sheathed his dagger. Did he sleep with it on? “She’s picking up habits from Evan and Dar.”

  Evan and Dar grinned at each other.

  Sashe stood and strode to the door. She wanted to be the one to tell Sierra about her kiss, not have her find out from some stupid boys. “We’re going to bed.”

  “Well, if you can’t sleep, you know where to find Seth,” Evan said. Dar laughed behind his hand, and Sashe reached for the door as she rolled her eyes. But were they saying Seth would be in the kitchen or in Dar’s room? She shook her head. She wasn’t going to be talking to him again tonight. “Goodnight,” she said, meeting Seth’s eyes.

  He smiled at her and stepped back so she could shut the door.

  “What was that all about?” Sierra asked.

  Sashe climbed into bed with her and crawled under the covers. The memory of Seth’s lips on hers flooded back, and she smiled dreamily. “Well, we. . .we kissed in the kitchen, but then Evan and Dar walked in on us.”

  Sierra gasped. “What? Oh, my goodness! Tell me every detail.”

  Sashe laughed and spilled it all. When they finally fell asleep, she didn’t have any more nightmares.