When the lovebirds returned to the cave, everything had calmed down marginally. Foss refused to talk to anyone. He hovered in the back of the cave away from any sort of eye contact. Uncle Rick cooked up the kanins for us, and I could hear my mother’s gentle nudging about all living things having hearts and feelings as I chewed my gamey bunny. I wasn’t a vegetarian, but my mom’s heightened conscience poked at my insides. My stomach churned, knowing it needed the protein, but my heart felt sick. There was something about meeting the bunny before you ate it that made it all feel a little uncool.
Jamie kept giving me strange looks, and I knew he was picking up on my swerving conscience. Jens was sullen. His fight with Jamie had gone stale, but neither of them were willing to make the first move. It made for a quiet dining experience.
“I can take first watch,” Nik said, raising his hand. “I’m so used to these mountains. Why, once when I was out looking for adventure, I stumbled across a coven of Werebears. Seven of them, easy. That was a bloody night.”
I doubt he’s ever fought a Were, Jamie said to my brain. He was practicing sending specific thoughts in hopes of limiting the errant ones. It was a decent plan. I find his stories taxing.
Eh, I mentally shrugged. I kinda think it’s cute. His lies don’t bother me. They’re fun stories. Nik the Man of Valor. It’s like having a storyteller traveling with us to tell us entertaining fairytales.
Nik the Blowhard, Jamie groused. Weres are hard to kill. When he lies about killing them, it makes Jens’s efforts seem easy. Not to mentions ours, too.
Yes, but Nik does the killing so well. His hair is never out of place. I’ve seen Jens kill a Were. Messy hair to the extreme. Not as cool.
Jamie chuckled aloud at my joke, but then covered it over with a small cough.
Jens pulled out our sleeping mats while I finished picking at my dinner. I ate enough for my stomach to stop screaming at me in hunger, but handed the rest to Jens when he rejoined us. He’d polished his off quick, and I knew he was still hungry. “You want the rest of my bunny?”
He frowned. “Don’t call it that. Kanins aren’t rabbits. Makes me feel like I’m eating Thumper.” He eyed the small bones and sighed. “But yes, I’ll take whatever part of the bunny you don’t want.” He sucked down the remnants of my meal and gave the bones to Henry Mancini, who added them to his pile and gnawed happily.
“Goodnight, children,” Uncle Rick called to all of us.
Nik grinned, turning from his perch at the mouth of the cave. “Goodnight, father elf.”
I smiled at Uncle Rick’s happiness at the nickname. His dark skin made the dance of his love all the more evident against the glow of the red moon. He never sired any children, but I knew he’d always wanted a whole litter of sticky hands and crazy schemers.
Jens waved me back toward where Foss was pretending to sleep to stave off his shame at being taken down by a mere whistle. Jens handed me a sleeping mat and motioned to the spot next to him. “I’m beat, Mox. You feel like turning in?”
I nodded, and began moving errant rocks out of the cave to make for a more comfortable sleeping experience. Tor was already snoring on Foss’s other side, so I tried to move quietly.
Jamie had gone the gentleman route and cleared away the stones for Britta. When I noticed the difference between Jamie’s level of consideration for Britta, and Jens’s lack of awareness, I gave an internal sigh, wondering if I’d be in a relationship long enough one day where the man would clear the rocks away for me.
When I came back from my second load of rock removal, I saw Jamie clearing the rest of my spot for me. I stopped short, my heart moved at his small act of kindness. You didn’t have to do that, Jamie. That was real sweet of you. Thank you.
He tipped his head to me. Jens will learn, he assured me. Give him time.
I tried to brush off the comment. Oh, it’s fine. I don’t need all that gentleman stuff. It’s good you’re doing that for Britt, though. I can tell she appreciates it.
He spoke to me as an older brother might, teaching me the ways of the world with his sage wisdom. Being a gentleman isn’t as much for Britta’s benefit as it is for mine. The harder I try to deserve her, the more I someday might.
I had never heard such sweet, altruistic words, and I was glad someone as great as Jamie wasn’t wasted on a girl who didn’t appreciate him. The two laid down next to each other with matching scandalous grins on their faces at the social rules they were breaking by sleeping on separate mats next to each other. Totally precious.
I laid down on my sleeping mat in between Britta and Jens, pecking Jens on the cheek before beginning the long process of clearing out Jamie’s thoughts from my head, as well as my own.
I dreamt of Jens. Though he wasn’t double-jointed in this dream, he was romantic. He took me out to a nice restaurant, the kind where you feel like an inexperienced kid no matter how old you get. He pulled out my chair, held open doors, and made polite conversation that had nothing to do with Weres.
It made sense that I dreamed of normal. My everyday was anything but.
Midway through the soup course, my dream was hijacked, like someone else had gotten ahold of the remote.
Jamie was making out with Britta on his bed, gold curtains swinging out to christen their passionate union. Britta made soft noises of love, and Jamie let out manly grunts laced with lust.
I tried not to look, but I couldn’t figure out how to get out of his dream and back to my date, so I sat in the corner and faced the red wall, hoping we’d snap out of this quick.
Then I heard screaming in the room. “No! No!”
I whirled around and found Jamie in horror at whatever he’d just done. “Britta, no!”
He was still holding her body in a passionate embrace, as he had been doing during their make-out session, but instead of kissing him, Britta’s mouth began to disintegrate. Blood poured out from her teeth, and like acid, the bloody drool melted off bits of her face, caving her head in as she wilted away in Jamie’s arms like a crumbling flower.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Britta, no!” He fought to put her back together, but the more he touched her, the more she fell apart like a sandcastle.
With tears in his eyes, he looked around and saw me for the first time. “I killed her! My kiss killed her!”
I ran to him, prying his hands off her clothes that were melting and crumbling through his fingers. “No, Jamie. Oh, honey. No, no. It’s just a dream. A really terrible dream.” I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed. “It’s alright. We’ll wake up soon.”
He shook violently in my arms. “This is when it happens! It’s happening! Right after I kill someone in my dreams from loving them too much, I try to do it in real life. Lucy, you have to help me! I can’t stop my body!”
I began to understand the depth of Jamie’s curse. I took Jamie away from the bed and pushed open the door, revealing my boring date Jens had not noticed I was missing from. “Come over to my dream. Britta’s fine. You would never hurt her in real life. Your brain’s just messing with you.”
Since we were dreaming and could not be held accountable for our actions, Jamie sat at the table with Jens and me and wept, the strong man turning into a scared boy.
Dream Jens didn’t notice the turn of events. He merely asked if I wanted more wine.
I loved dream Jens.
The two of us ate, indulging in pleasant conversation until Jamie felt well enough to join us. Jamie ate a roll and looked around my dream, asking questions about what every little device and oddity was.
It was boring, but Jamie started to relax at the soothing uneventful dream he had the option of escaping to. He laid his head down on the table, letting me relax him by running my fingers through his chestnut curls.
The night faded into morning, and I awoke to Britta sitting up, watching Jamie sleep. Her expression was wistful, but also filled with concern.
“Hey,” I whispered. “Did he attack you last night?”
She turned, offering up a half smile. “Good morning, sister. No, he had a bad dream, though. He got worked up, and that’s usually when he strikes. He starts panting in his sleep, and then gets up and attacks.” She turned her attention back onto Jamie. “Jens tells me dreaming is normal where you come from, but here it’s a curse.”
“It’s so strange to me that Undrans don’t dream. Nothing at all happens in your mind when you go to sleep?”
Britta shook her head. “His father’s afraid of him because of it. If word got out about his affliction, everyone would be afraid, too.”
“Huh.”
She bit back a grin. “Foss’s afraid of you for it, too.”
My eyes widened as I stretched. “Wow. Superpower I didn’t even know about. Dreaming’s no big thing in my world. Everyone does it almost every night.”
Tor shuddered and whispered over his shoulder from the mouth of the cave where he’d taken Nik’s post halfway through the night. “It’s not normal, scheming up plans while ya sleep. Yer dangerous, female.”
I chuckled and sat up, frowning at the empty space beside me. “Where’s Jens?”
“Making sure we weren’t followed and trying to hunt us up more food. He’s used to your food now, and hasn’t lived off the trail in a long time.”
Jamie stirred, his eyes fluttering open and landing on Britta’s adoring face. Emotion so heady welled up in him and clenched my gut, too. He reached his hand up and cupped her cheek, pulling her down for a simple kiss.
“Jamie!” she admonished him, her head darting around to see if anyone was looking.
I kept my eyes on my lap. Tor kept focused on the stillness of nature outside the cave so they could have their moment while everyone else slept.
Jamie’s voice was thick with all the things he wanted to say to her, but couldn’t in proper company. “Cursed though I am, I’m blessed every time I see your face.”
It was a simple compliment, but given the nightmare he’d just endured, I swooned on her behalf.
“I didn’t hurt anyone in the night?”
Britta shook her head. “At one point you looked like you might, but you calmed down. You’re learning to control it,” she said, hero-worship clear in her voice.
Jamie turned and looked over at me, wondering if my part in his nighttime musings was imagined, or if we had the same account of the night. I gave him a thumbs up and nodded, letting him know that we’d gotten through the upset together just fine.
His chest heaved with relief and joy. Do you know what this means? he asked, trepidation making him almost too nervous to believe this happiness was attainable. We found a way around my curse! If I can come over into your dreams, I can escape mine. He closed his eyes in reverent respect for our connection. Thank you, Lucy. You saved me.
I nodded again, keeping my eyes on my lap so our conversation would remain between us. You can thank me by making out with Britta for real someday. I told you we’d find a way through this. I cast up a half-smile. I’ll share my dreams with you any day.