Page 243 of The Nightmare Bride
“I believe you.” My voice came out steady. “But if you’ve been keeping some other secret, I need to know what it is.”
He nodded. Took a deep, preparatory breath. “I know. And it’s... I’m?—”
The clang of a bell cut him off.
I froze. Dread dropped through me, reducing my brain to an overheated puddle. The alarm bells, but...no. Zephyrine, not now. Not when Amryssa couldn’t make it through another nightmare.
The bells clashed again, echoes blaring through the swamp.
I closed my eyes, trying to wish the sound away. It didn’t work. When I looked again, Ky’s mouth twisted with regret. “She needs you.”
“Yes.” I nearly choked on the word. “I’m sorry. I have to go.”
“Do you want me to?—”
“Yes,” I said. Because I knew what he was asking. “Please.”
He nodded. “All right. Then I’ll see you upstairs.”
I backed away, then turned and bolted. Palmetto leaves slapped my skirts as the nightmare wakened behind me. The sting of charred paper rode the breeze.
I swatted aside curtains of moss. At my hip, the dagger awoke, then began its ritualistic murmur.Protect, protect, protect.Guard her where she belongs.
I clenched my jaw and ran faster.I will, but you’re going to help me. You have to make sure Amryssa survives this.
The dagger didn’t answer, at least not in words. Only with a spark that wobbled and wavered, as if in confusion.
But I refused to let the nightmare take Amryssa. I didn’t care if I had to go toe-to-toe with Zephyrine herself.
I jumped the trench and shot across the lawn, then hauled open the same door I’d escaped from.
And pelted down the hallway, fully prepared to do battle with a goddess.
23.
The nightmare came on quick. So quickly that Amryssa started screaming before I’d finished chaining her.
Thunder crashed outside, rattling her bedroom. The walls rippled. Already, this nightmare outstripped the others—shadows boiled around us while worms writhed between the floorboards. The sight made my stomach churn, but I lashed myself together with resolve. I could not, would not, fall apart. Not when my best friend needed me.
More thunder boomed, drawing a shriek from Amryssa. I cranked her chains and clambered onto her bed.
“I love you,” I said, aiming my words into the gap between screams. What would Ky have said? Something profound, probably. “And I want you to know your friendship saved me. I didn’t deserve it, but you gave it anyway, and that means the world to me. So just...try to remember that. Even when this thing is beating down the doors inside your head.”
That must have meant something, because her next scream guttered in her throat. “I love you, too,” she gasped. “Always. But go, Harlowe. You have togo.”
The world wobbled and surged. Chittering insects spewed from beneath the bedskirt, transforming the floor of Amryssa’s bedroom into a heaving black sea. Outside, the nightmare roared, making the entire tower sway.
My insides swayed along with it, but I took Amryssa’s face in my hands. “Listen. You’re going to get through this. We both are.”
Pain rippled across her brow. “I don’t know if I can. Not this time. I want... Out. Ineedto go outside.”
My lungs pinched. I growled a denial and unsheathed my dagger, calling the magic I’d used a thousand times before.Help her. Carry her through this.
The knife flared and sizzled, snarling at me in a way it never had.Guard her where she belongs. GUARD HER WHERE SHE BELONGS.
My lip curled. All this time, that hadn’t meant what I’d thought it did. “I will, but she doesn’t belong in the swamp. She belongs right here.”
The dagger pushed at me, and I pushed back, in what amounted to an invisible clash of wills. Amryssa bucked against her restraints. The nightmare screamed. The shutters rattled in their frames, the slats groping toward us like fingers.
