193 Peaceful Interlude

- RORY - 

"You need to leave," I tell Luci, pushing away from him. 

Now that I've gotten my bearings, the nightmare shivers through my body like it was me who was invaded by those demons even though I watched it happen to him. It's terrifying. The idea of being responsible for something traumatic and invasive happening to someone else is choking me, and I can't shake the feeling clawing at my throat that it was not just a dream. It feels like a prophesy. It feels real. Too real. 

"I'm not leaving." Luciano's eerie calm betrays experience with far more dramatic things than this. 

"Yes," I snap. "You are. I don't need you." I gulp back what feels like a lie and stand, wobbly-legged, next to the bed. 

"What was the nightmare about, Lorelei?" His dark eyes watch me, expression suddenly grave. 

He didn't share the dream. There's no way he would be asking me if he did. There's no way he would be this calm. 

"I don't remember."