Shards: Book One of the Anderian Series

Chapter 13: Amouri

At some point last night, I fell into a fitful sleep that hurt more than it helped. Sun streaming through the grimy window spilled over my eyes and pulled me from one of many disturbing dreams. I laid on the hard mattress—it had grown progressively harder over the course of the night, making me wonder if Tiffany cast some sort of curse in retaliation for last night—and tried to remember the details of the dream.

I'd been running barefoot through a forest garbed in a ballgown of silver silk and threaded with starlight. The neckline dipped into a v between my breasts, stopping just below my navel, and all along the exposed skin someone had mapped constellations in sparkling lavender ink. The ink matched pearls pinned in the dark curls spilling down my back, the satin tendrils caressing more exposed flesh.

Awake, I admired the dress. It was possibly the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen, but in the dream, I—or the girl I was in the dream—despised it. It was too flashy in the darkness, and it made me vulnerable as I wove through towering trees, their gray brown trunks glowing in the bright moonlight.

I constantly glanced over my shoulder, but no one followed. Branches snapped beneath my feet. My breath pushed past my lips in ragged bursts of mist, and something sharp pierced the bottom of my foot, drawing a whimper from me but not slowing me down.

When the coppery taste of blood worked its way up my throat, I slowed and leaned against a tree to catch my breath and give my lungs a break. This was too easy. There was no way they would let me go without a chase, but the chilly breeze pushing its way through the woods was salted, meaning I was very close to reaching safety.

Gliding my fingers down the drawings on my stomach, I stilled next to the ones around my belly button and below. Smears ruined the stars, and in some places, the ink was gone entirely, courtesy of his very skilled tongue. Had that really been just an hour ago? So much pleasure—so much hope. And now, I didn't even know if he was still living.

A creature growled, an owl hooted, and a branch snapped. My heart leapt in my chest just as fingers curled around my neck, and—

Tiffany pounded on my door. "Kay is going to throw your breakfast in the trash if you aren't down in one minute."

Because I believed they would, I threw the blankets off, tugged on my gloves, and raced down the hallway. Kay rolled their eyes and pointed at a plate of bacon and eggs on the table. Tiffany pulled a mug out of a cabinet, a smirk twisting her thin lips. Jac was nowhere to be seen.

"Tiffany was exaggerating. I would not have disposed of your meal."

Tiffany shrugged and blew across a steaming mug of coffee. "Okay, so maybe Kay wouldn't have, but I would've. Just because you stayed up past your bedtime doesn't mean the rest of us should be kept waiting."

"Just because you ran out of batteries, it doesn't mean you get to be a bitch to everyone else." I regretted it the instant I said it, but damn, the girl was driving me nuts. And I wasn't exactly the nicest person in the morning.

She slammed her mug on the table, sloshing hot liquid over the sides and forcing me to move my plate. Twisting a chair around, she straddled it and pointed a finger at me. A more rested version of myself would have been sweating profusely to be on the wrong end of a witch finger, but right now, I kind of hoped she'd put me out of my misery. Or at least put me to sleep.

"Let me tell you something."

"Tiffany," Kay warned, their lips pursing. "Don't."

"Keep your psychic nose to yourself."

"Maybe you ought to listen to it," they snapped back.

"Just say what you're going to say so I can go back to enjoying these amaze ball eggs," I said as I shoveled in a bite of the fluffy eggs and fought back a moan. Was I just that hungry or were these the best scrambled eggs I'd ever had. Maybe a bit of both.