Bad Dream (Dark Dream 0.50)

“I don’t think so.”

“I don’t remember asking for your opinion,” he said easily, awkwardly patting Brando’s shoulder before he carefully pushed him away with three fingers to his shoulder as if he was afraid of cooties. “It’s done.”

“Done?” It couldn’t be. These things took time. I knew because the CPS agent we’d talked to had assured me I’d need patience with the proceedings. We would probably be shuffled around to different foster families before they could find a permeant placement. “There’s no way.”

His grin was wolfish. “You’ll learn there is always a way if money is involved or the right name is whispered in the right ear. Luckily for you two, I have both. You’re coming home with me to New York.”

I looked wildly to my left and right, desperate for an escape hatch I knew I wouldn’t find.

“It’s true,” Elena said from behind me and I realized I’d forgotten about her, about Ezra, about everyone except for Tiernan and Brando. “The expeditated hearing was this afternoon and the judge granted him temporary custody.”

“It’s just temporary,” I confirmed on a relieved sigh.

We could still get out of this. It wasn’t too late.

Anyone was better than Tiernan.

He was rich and handsome, but those qualities were only a thin veneer over the decayed heart of him. I could smell it, the rot, and see it, the sin lurking behind his green-eyed gaze.

No one could convince me otherwise.

“Probationary,” he confirmed, that same cruel grin curling the scarred side of his mouth. “Just to prove none of us will kill each other.”

Elena and Brando laughed.

I didn’t.

My gaze was locked with Tiernan’s as I fought an internal battle.

I didn’t trust him. I didn’t even like him.

How could I trust him with the care of Brando? Only, had I trusted Aida with him? No. I’d been his mom and dad, his sister and best friend, his caretaker. I might not have given birth to him, but I was in every other way his parent and I was proud of it. I’d been taking as good care of Brando as I had the means to do.

If Tiernan was our guardian, I’d have even more resources at my disposal.

Maybe even surgery that could afford Brando a life free of seizures and their protracted consequences.

He was bright, too. Smarter than most of the kids in his class. If we moved to New York, I was sure we could find a better school—the best school—for him. He could grow up to be a doctor or a lawyer, a comic book artist or a world-class baker. I didn’t care what he did when he was older, I just wanted to see him get there healthy and happy, ready to succeed.

Maybe Tiernan was the best choice for Brando.

But was he the best choice for me?

There was something about him that stirred me, dredging up the gunk at the bottom of my soul until everything seemed murky, unknown and vaguely threatening. I didn’t like not knowing who I was around him, what I might say or do just to get a rise out of him. It was like two polar opposite magnets. As a kid, I’d loved trying to force the like poles of each magnet against each other just to feel the hard energy pulsating between them, unable to meet but vibrating with tension.

I had this gut feeling, festering and painful, that if I went with Tiernan, I’d never be the same again.

Tiernan regarded me with the vaguely amused arrogance of someone who was used to winning. He found my resilience trite, almost funny.

Why did I bother? his gaze seemed to ask.

I sighed internally, wishing for the millionth time that my dad was there. He always knew what to do and he’d always looked out for us, even when he shouldn’t have.

But he wasn’t there.

Aida wasn’t there.

I was alone with a kid who relied on me and I was the only one who could make the decision to go with Tiernan or kick up such a fuss, they’d let us go our separate ways.

“Probationary,” I agreed slowly, glaring at my new guardian. “If we don’t kill you in three months, we’ll see about longer-term accommodations.”

Satisfaction softened the hard edges of his mouth and made his eyes glow. “Excellent. This way, then.”

He gestured for us to precede him, waiting until Elena took Brando’s hand and moved by with Ezra before his hand clasped around my wrist.

“If you want to survive the next few months, you better stop manhandling me,” I warned him, jerking at his hold to no avail.

“If you want to survive the next few months, little girl,” he practically purred, his voice smooth and sinuous but the intent entirely predatory. “It would be best if you remember that you owe me. And the price?” He was so tall that he had to duck down to get close to me, our noses almost touching. “Your obedience.”