“It’s no problem at all. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
I shook my head. “No, but thank you. I need to get going.”
He stood and walked me out. “Good luck with whatever it is you are facing.”
“Thank you.” I thought I might need it.
I fell into bed when I got home. My mind raced a mile a minute even after I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, so when the dream started, I didn’t even realize it was a dream. Everything was black behind my eyelids, as if I were still awake and thinking.
But the smell was different from my bedroom. Dank, like water dripping down stone. There was more stone beneath me as well. And at my back. I crouched in the corner, pressing myself against a wall, as if trying to disappear. I felt like I could drown in fear; it filled my lungs, making it hard to breathe.
Nearby, someone wept softly. Two people, I realized. I squinted into the dark, trying to see them, but all I saw was darkness. The sound of skittering feet came from behind me.
Rats. I couldn’t see them, but I knew. My heart pounded, the sound thunderous in my ears. But the footsteps were louder than even my heart.
Terror streaked through me and I sobbed.
The footsteps were coming closer. Coming for me?
I squeezed myself into a ball, trying to disappear into the stone. If I could just make myself small enough, he wouldn’t find me.
But if he didn’t find me, he’d take the other girls instead. Protectiveness welled in me. I could jump on him. Fight him. Then we’d run.
The door crashed open and light blinded me. It pounded into my head like flame. I jerked up in bed, gasping.
Shuddering, I fumbled for the bedside light. It clicked on, glowing softly. My bedroom.
Sweat covered my skin, and my lungs heaved as I sucked in air. Felt like I’d run miles. I looked around my room. At my hands. At anything that would place me in the real world and not the dream world.
I was in my bedroom. I was okay.
I was safe in Magic’s Bend. I buried my face in my hands as my shoulders shook. I wasn’t back there, I wasn’t back there, I wasn’t back there.
I’d never had that dream before. Was that my past? Had Del and Nix and I been locked up somewhere?
CHAPTER TEN
By the time I blearily stumbled into Potions & Pastilles the next morning, I was desperate for a coffee. Though the sleep had done me good, I wouldn’t be functional without some caffeine.
P & P was empty that early, thank magic. Waiting in line would have been a bitch.
“Whoa, the dead walks,” Connor said as I entered. He glanced at the clock behind the counter. “Six forty-five. I don’t think I’ve ever even seen you prior to nine.”
“Har har,” I said. But he was right. I’d never been a morning person. I prayed to magic that Aidan wouldn’t be early. I’d dragged myself out of bed just so I could have fifteen minutes with a coffee to get my mind ready to deal with him.
“The usual?” Connor asked as he turned to the espresso machine.
“Please.” I climbed onto one of the three barstools at the small counter and peered into the glass display case next to me. Connor had only put out the cinnamon buns, but they looked delicious. Icing dripped from their golden crust, and sticky cinnamon paste clung to all the nooks and crannies.
“Those look amazing,” I said as Connor put my latte in front of me. His apron was covered in flour again, but as usual, his t-shirt and jeans were spotless.
“Want one?”
“Two.” I was going to need all the energy I could get.
Connor pulled out the tray and put a plate of two in front of me. “So, what brings you to my esteemed establishment so early in the morning?”
“Your fine company.”
He laughed. “Bull. You’re meeting that dude again.”
“It’s for a job.”
“Yeah, yeah. But he looks at you like you’re more than a job. Dude likes you.”
I stuffed a cinnamon bun into my face to avoid talking. Connor would just give me more shit if I protested. He’d adopted me and my deirfiúr as sisters and treated us like he treated Claire. Which meant, though I loved him, that he was a big pain in the butt sometimes.
“This is great,” I said when I swallowed. “Is there nutmeg in these?”
His face brightened. Jackpot. Connor loved baking like I loved running through enchanted tombs. It was like an extension of his potion-making talents. This had to distract him.
“Yeah,” he said. “I took a bit of nutmeg and some—”
The door creaked behind me, and I turned as Connor said, “Hey, Aidan. What can I get you?”
Aidan smiled. “Triple espresso would be great, thanks. To-go cup.”
“Coming right up.”
“You should try the cinnamon buns,” I said.
He reached for the second one on my plate, and I pulled it away, scowling. “Not mine, you monster. Connor will get you one.”
“Did you fail kindergarten?” he asked.
“Kindergarten?”