“Though clearly I determined a way to sneak out, or I wouldn’t be here,” she continued, stepping past him and returning to the sitting area. He followed her.
“Mariselle, stop, please. Look at me.”
“I cannotstop, Evryn,” she insisted, something desperate in her voice now. She turned to face him, though she still couldn’t meet his eyes. “Tomorrow, the connection between the two of us and the contract will be prematurely severed. If we haven’t yet fulfilled the contract terms, what will happen? Will all my work on the dream core be undone?”
“I … don’t know.”
“Precisely! We do not know! And that is why I cannot stop. I must finish this. I must …”
The edges of her vision wavered briefly, a fleeting moment of lightheadedness that made her instinctively reach for the nearest armchair to steadyherself. It passed, but not before Evryn noticed the subtle motion, his gaze missing nothing as he took a step closer.
“Mariselle—”
“I’m fine,” she interrupted automatically.
“Your hands are shaking,” he said, concern deepening in his eyes.
“I am merely … agitated. Because I need to continue with my work, and you’re insisting I stop and … what? Talk?”
“I’m insisting you stop because you appear to have driven yourself beyond all reasonable limits. How much magic have you given the dream core tonight?”
“Not nearly enough,” she muttered.
“Mariselle, this is serious.” He advanced another few steps. “You need to slow down. However important you think Dreamland is, it’s not worth your?—”
“Of course you would say that!” she shouted, tears of frustration burning behind her eyes now, fear and desperation making her lash out. “Of course you would have no notion of how important it is to me! You already haveeverythingyou could possibly want! A family that loves you unconditionally, writing that fulfills you, freedom to go wherever and do whatever!”
He was already shaking his head before she’d finished. “I don’t have everything,” he said quietly, his gaze holding hers. He moved until he stood right before her. “I don’t haveyou.”
His words pierced through her defenses and something deep within her broke open, releasing a flood of longing and grief and the impossible hope she’d held onto for so long. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she shook her head.
“Don’t say things like that,” she whispered shakily, swiping at her cheek with one hand. “You know it isn’t possible. It’s never been possible. Not with our families?—”
“My familylikesyou, Mariselle. We can?—”
“Myfamily will never allow it! Your family is wonderful and warm and I wish I could call them my own brothers and sisters. I wish I could …” She sucked in another shuddering breath.I wish I could have you, she wanted to say.
Instead she dragged the backs of her hands across her tear-streaked cheeks. “This is all I have, Evryn,” she choked out on a sob. “My magic. Andeven that my parents intend to harness for their own gain now that they’ve discovered what I can do. Please just let me finish this. I need to finish this. Before they take everything else from me.”
Her words fell into an oddly strained silence, because Evryn had gone perfectly still, his gaze no longer holding hers, focused instead on something else on her face. “What is that?” he asked, his voice low with quietly restrained horror.
And Mariselle froze. Because she knew precisely what he had just seen.
“It’s—nothing,” she stammered, her hand rising to cover her cheek, where her tears must have dissolved the carefully applied cosmetics.
But Evryn’s gaze shifted again, widening with further horror as it landed on her wrist where the loose ribbon had slid aside, revealing the dark circle of bruises that marked the delicate skin beneath. “Mariselle?—”
“It’s nothing,” she repeated, firmer this time, lowering her hand and lifting her chin.
But Evryn’s bright, unyielding gaze caught hold of hers, and his voice held an intensity she had not heard before when he said, “What happened last night?”
Her pulse thundered in her ears and a strange rushing sound had begun to fill the corners of her mind. She blinked the odd sensation away. “Evryn, none of that is important now. I need you to help me …” She trailed off as the world blurred alarmingly at the edges again.
“Mariselle?” There was an unmistakable edge of fear in his voice now.
The cottage swam before her eyes, reality growing thin and permeable. Whispers called out to her, enticing and seductive, promising rest and escape. She felt cool sand beneath her feet, saw twilight-tinted waves crash over the large oak table.
Then the room tilted sharply.
