From the Earth to the Shadows by Amanda Hocking

Author:Amanda Hocking
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

FORTY-SEVEN

I had been dreaming about a dark forest during a rainstorm, and I awoke in my own bed, with my sheets smelling of Asher—woodsy and dark and crisp. In the early morning light that streamed in through the slats of my blinds—still more of the pale blue before the golden hour—I could clearly see him sleeping beside me, and a rush of adoration and relief swept over me.

I wanted to snuggle up with him, but I was afraid of disturbing him, so I lay on my side, watching for a moment.

Then, abruptly, he twitched. His whole body trembled, then a quick spasm went through him, like he’d gotten a chill or a bad scare. He lay motionless for a second, then he moved again, almost thrashing, and he let out a moan.

I sat up and started shaking him. “Asher.”

He calmed a little, but he kept shivering, and his head twitched subtly.

“Asher!” I was nearly shouting by then, and he finally opened his eyes.

“Malin,” he said, his voice still thick with sleep, and his eyes closed again. “You shouldn’t have rescued me.”

“What? Are you okay?”

“You should’ve left me there,” he murmured.

“Asher!” I shook him again, because by now he had totally freaked me out. “I need you to wake up.”

“What?” He rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hand and looked up at me. “Malin? Are you okay?” He must’ve seen the panic on my face, because he sat up, quickly growing more alert. “What’s wrong?”

“You tell me.” I motioned toward him. “You were shaking and—and moaning.”

“I must’ve been having a bad dream.”

“You don’t remember it?”

He shook his head. “No. I know I’ve been having nightmares a lot since She’ol, but I don’t usually remember them.”

I hesitated before telling him the part that really scared me, but I decided that he should know. So I said, “You told me that I shouldn’t have rescued you.”

“I don’t know why I said that.” He reached over and rubbed my arm, comforting me, when he was the one having the nightmares. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to freak you out.”

“Don’t apologize. You went through hell—literally.” I put my hand over his. “That’s not something you can just get over. I only want to make sure you’re okay.”

“Yeah, I’m okay,” he assured me.

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

He pulled me into his arms and back onto the bed. I lay with my head on his chest, listening to the steady thud of his heartbeat, and tracing my fingers along the edges of his gauze bandage that covered the marks on his chest. Before we’d finally fallen asleep last night, he’d assured me that the wounds weren’t bothering him and were healing well.

But I couldn’t tell if he was keeping anything from me. He wanted so badly to protect me from everything, I was afraid he would try to shield me from whatever he was going through.

“You can tell me anything,” I said now, looking at him. “You know that, right?”

He reached over, brushing the hair out of my face.

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