Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 55059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 275(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 275(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Eira didn’t know how much she wanted to reveal, yet she wanted him to understand. “Usually, my nightmares are always the same, but this one was different … like it wasn’t mine.”
“And how often do you have these nightmares?” he asked after his eyes had drifted to the cup of tea her grandmother had given her earlier in the night. She had barely made it to bed and had taken the last sip before she passed out while her grandmother made a bed on the couch for him.
She thought for a moment, remembering the one from earlier in the day. “I-I actually had one earlier when I fell asleep on the mountain, but that was the first time.”
“And what are yours about?” he asked softly, wondering about the nightmares she usually had.
Now Eira didn’t know what to say. What was she was supposed to tell him? That every time she closed her eyes, nightmares of the past haunted her so much that she’d rather suffer not sleeping at all most nights? Yeah, right. All she needed was for him to think she was a monster, like everyone else did.
“It’s your fault!” she realized, saving her from the subject. “You’re the reason I’m having these dreams that aren’t mine.”
“My fault?” It was clear he took offense.
“Yes, your fault,” she reiterated, knowing it was true. “Because each time I’ve had one, I’ve woken up to you staring at me. And don’t try to tell me it’s a coincidence, because coincidence, I think not—”
“I wasn’t going to,” he answered, as if deep in thought now.
“Oh.” Clearing her throat, she did some softening herself. “W-why do you think that is?”
“I’m not sure,” he answered honestly, still trying to figure it out. “But I’m sorry if I am causing it.”
Reading the worry on his face, she hadn’t meant for him to feel bad. “It’s okay. I’ll be all right.”
“When we go back to my village, I think I know someone who can help.”
Eira blinked back at him. “When we go back to your village?”
“Yes.” He nodded like it was already a done deal.
“And where is that?” She couldn’t bite back her sarcasm. “Ine? Where you teach martial arts to sweet little children?”
Ryu cleared his throat. “I do to teach martial arts to children.”
“Sure, you do.” She laughed, unconvinced. Ryu’s code simply made him a terrible liar. “Are you at least going to tell me the name of the village you really live in?”
“Nope.” Standing up, he reached for the lamp to turn the soft glow back out. “I’m going to show you.”
“Sure, you are.” She laughed, convinced he had fallen from the sky at this point. She only stopped laughing when she sneezed.
“Bless you.”
“Are you”—following his voice and squinting in the dark to see his voice had come from the floor, she could barely make out he had moved the blankets and pillow her grandmother had placed on the couch for him, to sleep right outside her bedroom door—“sleeping on the floor?”
“Yes,” he replied unapologetically.
“Were you sleeping there before?”
“Uh-huh.” Still no remorse in his tone.
Eira just shook her head in the dark, knowing it was pointless to talk him back into sleeping on the couch. Again, her mind tried sending alarm bells that the strange man was now sleeping right outside her door, but her heart simply warmed as she snuggled deeper into her bed. “Well, could you at least close the door?”
“Not a chance.” Ryu rested his own head softly on his pillow. “Good night, darling.”
She only hoped the smile that touched her lips couldn’t be heard in her voice. “Night, Ryu.”
8
Too Stunned to Speak
Death.
That was how Eira felt when she awoke. For once, she had slept without dreams, but she knew it had been too good to be true as soon as she felt the tingle in the back of her throat.
“Ahh—”
Oh, no.
“—choo.”
Thankfully, Ryu must have closed the door sometime. She hoped her grandmother hadn’t heard her sneeze through the thin walls, but she knew that was also too good to be true when she heard a knock on her door.
“Eira, honey, are you all right? It’s almost noon.”
Desperately, she tried sitting up to look alive, but her grandmother was already flinging open the door.
“Almost noon?” she asked, hoping she didn’t sound as bad as it had felt to speak.
The look on her grandmother’s face told her it did. “Oh, no, no, no, no.”
Still, she tried to play it off, getting out of bed.
“No, you’re not going anywhere.” Grandmother pointed a strong finger at her to keep her in place.
“Really, I’m fi—ahh-choo.”
“Is everything all right?” Ryu asked, appearing out of thin air at the door like he lived here now.
“No, it is not. Eira got herself a cold from the rain.” Grandmother began her scolding again as she carefully tucked her back into bed without touching her. “I told you it was going to storm and to get back, but you never listen to me.”