Once we reached the Broken Bow Inn, we picked up some blood from the bar on our way up to our rooms. Given the night’s events, the inn had decided to keep the bar open and offer us free blood.

“It’s our way of thanking you for being here and trying to keep us safe,” the Iman bartender had said, a sad smile crossing his face.

Patrik walked me to my room as we talked about the swamp witch magic we’d seen the daemons use. We stopped in front of my door, and I leaned against its frame, while he kept a couple of meters’ distance from me.

“Once Jax and the others get inside the daemons’ underground city, we’ll probably understand more about where they got the swamp witch magic from in the first place,” Patrik said, his hands behind his back.

“Yeah, I guess we don’t have enough to go on right now.” I nodded slowly, focusing my gaze on his face. His steely blue eyes drilled into me, but he wasn’t doing it on purpose. I figured it came naturally to him. “What’s important is that we know they have it and they’re not afraid to use it. I guess what we need to determine next is how much swamp witch knowledge they have to work with.”

“That’s right. Again, I think that will be revealed during Jax’s incursion into the gorges tomorrow,” he replied, slowly moving forward.

I took a deep breath, trying to adjust to the shrinking space between us.

“In the meantime, we’ll focus on the asteroid belt,” I said.

A moment passed in silence. Patrik then gave me a half-smile. My heart skipped a beat.

“Thank you for all your help so far, Scarlett.” His voice was soft, opposing the sharp blue in his eyes. “Especially in the gorges today. I’d be dead if it weren’t for you.”

“It’s my pleasure.” I tried to shrug it off, but he moved even closer, and my voice nearly disappeared. “I mean, it’s what colleagues do, right? Besides, I enjoy working with you. I’m genuinely impressed by your craft, as I’m sure I’ve said before…”

“You have, but I won’t get tired of it, just like I won’t get tired of thanking you for saving me, since this is… what, the second time now?”

The corner of his mouth moved a little, as if a smile were working its way to the surface, but he stifled it. He came across as relaxed, though that could easily be interpreted as tiredness. Either way, it felt like a good time to ask what had been bugging me since the morning we’d found Minah’s dead body in the infirmary.

“Patrik, I’ve been meaning to ask, but we haven’t had a chance, given everything that’s happened,” I started, choosing my words carefully. “The other day, when we found Minah’s body and Jax mind-bent you into remembering what had happened… you said you had a dream… and that I was in it. That at first you were dreaming about Kyana, and she then turned into… Well, she turned into me. Do you mind telling me what that was about?”

He stared at me for a while, and I waited patiently for his answer. A flurry of emotions trembled in his eyes, his brow furrowing slightly. He was taking his time formulating an answer, while I struggled to keep my pulse in check. Then a distant drumming sound caught my attention. Or at least, it seemed distant. It wasn’t. It was right in front of me, nestled beneath Patrik’s ribcage.

My vampire hearing was picking up on his heartbeat. Tumultuous, erratic, and thundering in his chest. He was nervous.

“It’s been a couple of really crazy days, Scarlett,” Patrik said, his voice calm, in stark contrast with his pulse. “To be honest, I’m having trouble making sense of what’s happening in my head, not to mention my dreams… It’s difficult to understand one’s subconscious, and as much as I would like to, I don’t think I can offer you an explanation. I think it just happened.”

He looked a little tortured, as if he wanted to say more but couldn’t—or worse, didn’t know what to say. He’d never thought he’d mention a dream of me out loud, in front of the whole team. It couldn’t be easy for him to actually talk about it.

Time to lighten things up a bit, then…

“Meh, it probably means you’re getting the hots for me and your subconscious is trying to tell you that,” I chuckled.

He almost laughed, his lips stretching into a grin. But then his serenity faded and he faltered for a second, his gaze softening as it settled on my face again. The humor rushed past us, and I suddenly felt naked in front of him, vulnerable and defenseless. His eyes lit up, and what I’d just joked about seemed to sink in.

It was all happening in slow motion, and I had a front-row seat, watching as Patrik took my weak attempt at a joke as something very serious, something he’d actually considered:

“I’m in mourning, Scarlett,” he whispered. “I’m still learning to live without Kyana, and I’m getting the hang of it, you know…”

“I… I was joking, you know—”

“Don’t think I don’t see you, Scarlett,” he went on, determined to make himself heard, and inched closer. I had to look up to maintain eye contact, and I had to work harder to keep my breathing under control, our lips mere inches apart. “I’m not blind. I’m aware of the effect that you have… The effect that you have on me, even when we’re just standing next to each other. I just don’t know what to do with that yet. But I want you to know that I see you.”

I was simply floored. Out of words. My thoughts jammed in the back of my throat and my temperature spiked.

What… What do I do with this? What do I do with what he just said?

My lips parted, my mouth trying to form some words, but nothing came out. His gaze lowered, and I noticed a shadow settling in the blue pools of his eyes.

“Good night, Scarlett,” he muttered, then walked away, disappearing into his room farther down the hall.

He left me with a spiked temperature and a riled-up heart muscle. He’d just said he saw me. He noticed me. As if… As if I were real, and more than a teammate.

I exhaled sharply and went into my room, locking the door behind me. A couple of minutes went by as I tried to make sense of the storm brewing inside me—a strange mixture of excitement and… curiosity. What did it all mean? What did he mean?

For the first time in months, I didn’t feel like I was in a one-sided limbo anymore. Patrik had just acknowledged that he was aware of me, of the… effect I had on him.

Whoa.

My room was too hot. Or at least it felt that way. I went over to the window and opened it wide, gazing at the city spreading below with dark rooftops and alleys, thick tree crowns and twinkling street lamps.

There was so much to unpack in his statement. And I also needed to get some sleep.

“I’m screwed,” I mumbled, realizing how powerful an impact Patrik had on me. It had already gone past the stage of an innocent crush. There was so much about him that I couldn’t get enough of… I was falling for him, deeply and irreversibly. “I am so screwed…”

And the fact that there was the clear possibility of one fraction of my feelings being mutual—well, that certainly added a spring to my step. I had to give it time. He needed patience and understanding, more than anything. A friend. A teammate. Someone he could rely on. It would be me. It had to be me.

Movement somewhere below caught my eye. A passing shadow that crossed my field of vision. I caught a glimpse and followed it till it reached a dark cluster of large trees on the edge of the city level. My breath hitched as I realized what I was looking at.

“Holy hell,” I breathed, feeling my eyes attempting to jump out of their sockets. “Holy friggin’ hell…”

The pit wolf I’d rescued in the gorges had followed me all the way up here. I could see it clearly, resting at the base of a tree, out of sight on that level. Its glimmering red eyes were focused on me, its mouth open and tongue hanging out like it was a good dog.

What in the world…

For a moment I thought the city’s protection spell hadn’t worked, but I quickly shook the idea away, since the pit wolf didn’t have a collar anymore. It was free. And it didn’t strike me as evil or hostile, despite its frightening appearance.

It was just sitting there, watching me quietly. It didn’t react. It didn’t even growl or glare at the Imen who passed by, less than twenty feet away from it.

You giant weirdo…

Whatever it wanted from me, it didn’t involve stringing my intestines out. That was clear. I wondered if the creature was maybe feeling thankful after I’d released it from its charmed collar.

I also had a feeling this wouldn’t be the last time I’d see the pit wolf, and it didn’t bother me. In fact, it kind of comforted me. On any other day, the presence of a giant beast waiting outside my window would have creeped the hell out of me.

But on Neraka… It was better to have a pit wolf keeping me company than invisible daemons lurking around, eager to slice me open and consume my soul.