Page 63 of Wicked Thirst
Astrid elbowed him in his ribs. “Not helping.”
Tuck cleared his throat, getting Morpheus’ attention. “Look, I’m going to be straight-up with you. We have a vampire who’s been cursed and he’s gone mad. We need to get into his mind through his dreams to figure out who or what might be doing this to him so we can break it.”
“Well, why didn’t you say so in the first place?” Morpheus gave Tuck a wide smile for a split second before he dropped it and glared at him. “No.”
“You owe me.” Tuck crossed his arms and arched his eyebrows at him.
Morpheus shrugged. “You put someone to sleep for one week, and suddenly they think you owe them.”
“My family thought I was in a coma. You fill the Phoenix Queen with panic and tell me it’s not a big deal.” Tuck turned to Zinnia. “You know how moms are, imagine mine hovering over me for a week because I didn’t wake up.”
“Admit it.” Morpheus wagged his eyebrows at Tuck. “It was a lot of fun. Dreams are pleasurable.”
“I thought one night hanging out was like a single night of sleep, not a week!” Tuck threw his hands up.
Morpheus stepped into one of the rooms and walked over to the machine. He ripped the paper off and began to read it. He strolled back out into the hall and didn’t look up from his paper. “Time can move differently in dreams sometimes. Sometimes not.”
“Wait, so I could be in there for a week?” I didn’t have a week to spend frolicking in the. dreamworld. I barely had two days. I wouldn’t put it past Atlas to kill Gray in his sleep and think it was a kindness. “I don’t have a week.”
“No.” Morpheus crumpled up the paper and tossed it over his shoulder. “Because I’m not going to help you.”
“Enough of this,” Astrid snapped. “If there’s one thing I know, it’s that everyone has a price. So, what’s yours?”
“Feisty thing.” He made a clawing motion between him and Astrid as he hissed. “I like it. The socialite has balls.”
Astrid put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot impatiently. “And yet I’m still not hearing your price just for you to play tour guide.”
“Tour guide? Ah, I’m offended. It takes a lot of power to navigate such difficult worlds like dreams.” He snickered as he tapped his finger on his lips. “But there is one thing I’mdyingto do . . .”
As if on cue, Beckett’s cell phone began to ring. When he pulled it out, he raised his eyebrows in surprise but quickly answered it. “Maze? What’s up?”
His brow furrowed in confusion, then he held his phone out in front of him and pressed the speaker button. “Go ahead. We can all hear you.”
Maze cleared his throat and said one word, “Deal.”
Morpheus clapped his hands together. “You’ll let me walk your dreams then?”
“For one night and one night only in exchange for your help with Grayson.” Maze’s voice sounded more amused than serious.
“Deal.” Morpheus leaned closer to the phone. “Oh to see the things you’ve seen and will see.”
The sound of something crunching in Maze’s mouth filled the silence and then he spoke with food in his mouth. “I’m not finished.”
“Please, of course, proceed.” Morpheus nodded toward the phone as if Maze could see him.
“This will be your one and only time in my head. And you will stop trying to enter my dreams from here on out. I find it exhausting keeping you out.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Morpheus’ eyes darted to the side while his words were met with only silence. I found myself holding my breath, waiting for Maze to say something, anything, to get this done. Still silence. Morpheus made a sound of impatience and fidgeted. “Finnneeee. You have yourself a deal.”
Beckett held the phone closer to his mouth. “Maze, are you sure about this?”
Maze gave a dark chuckle. “Yeah, I’m sure.”
“That is one ride I would not want to get on,” Zinnia muttered to Tuck.
“Me either,” he whispered back.
“Have fun, Morpheus.” The line went dead, and Maze was gone.
