Verum (The Nocte Trilogy 2)

“Say what?” I say dumbly, fighting to emerge from the cloud of sleep.

“The past is a prison,” he answers harshly. “My mother used to say that.”

I shake my head slowly from side to side. “I don’t know why I said it.”

I can’t tell him that I’m dreaming of his mother.

He’ll think I’m crazy,

because I am.

He pulls away from me and his absence is cold.

“What’s going on, Calla?” he asks, his back to me as he sits on the side of the bed. “What do you know?”

I’m a terrible liar, so I decide not to try.

The consequences can be damned.

“I know that everyone wants an answer from me. I know I’m here for a reason.”

Dare looks at me over his shoulder, and his expression is so vulnerable.

“I’m tired of feeling crazy,” I tell him. “Is that the answer? Is that what everyone is waiting for? For me to admit that I’m crazy?”

He shakes his head and sighs.

“Are you lying to me?” I demand and he pushes my hair back with his fingers.

“No.”

“A secret is the same thing as a lie,” I tell him.

He looks away, because he knows.

Chapter 27

Day by day, I’m more and more convinced that I’m slipping away from sanity.

Day by day, Sabine convinces me that I’m not.

“Close your eyes,” Sabine directs me, so I do. She takes my hand and hers is dry, it’s small and twisted and I absorb her warmth.

“Picture the place where you saw Olivia,” she tells me, so I do.

I hear the ocean, I see the pictures of Dare, I see her filmy nightgown, her soft heart-shaped face. I hear the accusation in her voice.

“Bring him to me,” she directs me.

“Where are you?” I ask.

“I’m nearby,” she answers mysteriously.

“Can you tell me?”

She shakes her head and her face is so very sad.

“No. You must figure it out.”