Page 22 of Caging Fire
But there was none.
No intruder. No signs of a struggle. Just Rowan, tangled in her bedsheets, soaked in sweat, caught in the throes of a nightmare.
Ryker skidded to a halt behind me, tension bleeding from his shoulders as he realized the same thing.
“It’s a dream,” he murmured, reassuring himself she wasn’t in danger.
“I’ve got her, it’s fine. Go back to bed,” I told him as he turned and left the room, yawing.
Rowan whimpered, thrashing slightly, her face twisted in fear. “Please, no… help… anyone!”
I knelt beside her, setting the gun aside.
“Rowan,” I said gently, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Wake up. You’re safe.”
She flinched away, her body trembling. “Please don’t take me… Dad! Please, don’t let them take me!”
The words hit me like a punch. My throat tightened.
“Rowan,” I said again, firmer now. “It’s a dream. You need to wake up.”
Still no response. Just more cries, more helpless pleas.
This time, I raised my voice, not in anger, but urgency.
“Rowan! Wake up! You’re safe. I’ve got you.”
Her eyes flew open suddenly, wild and unfocused, as if she wasn’t sure what was real. Her chest heaved with shallow breaths, and for a moment, she just stared at me like she didn’t recognize me at all.
Then she gasped, choked on a sob, and reached for me.
“I’ve got you,” I said again, softer now, pulling her into my arms.
“The man with the yellow eyes… he was trying to take me. My dad was...”
She spoke in a panic, her voice faltering as she struggled to untangle the fragments of her nightmare. Fear clung to her every syllable, her eyes wide and unfocused as if she were still trapped somewhere between the nightmare and waking.
I stayed silent. There was no need to ask who she meant. I already knew.
Talon.
She had seen him outside the bar. Ryker told me he was the last thing she saw before the tranquilizer took hold. He said that the look on her face was pure, unfiltered terror.
Of course she was scared.
Talon wasn’t like us.
There was something predatory about him, something jarring that no amount of charm or careful restraint could mask. The yellow glow of his eyes gave him away as something other than human.
Unnatural.
Animalistic.
No matter how carefully he tried to construct his facade of control, she had seen through it.
And what she saw had frightened her.
I purred softly, trying to regulate her emotions.
