Never Go Back

ELIA

Elia blinked a few times, but the scene before her of Gahrye still in his leathers and soft shirt, tense and looming, standing over a short, fat middle-aged human male dressed like a college professor, in a formal dining room of some grand house was impossible, so she closed her eyes and tried to wake up.

Human male.

Man.

Dining room.

She was back.

She sat bolt upright, sucking in a deep breath, a blanket falling from her shoulders.

Gahrye and the man both startled and whipped around to face her. Gahrye slapped one hand flat on the man's chest to stop him approaching when he looked like he might run towards her. They both stared at her, wide-eyed, while she stared at Gahrye, pleading with him silently to let this be a dream.

It had to be a dream.

She couldn't be gone. She couldn't be here. A whole world away from Reth.

Reth.

No.