Nightmares and Daydreams (The Blood Falls Book 4)

“Pizza’s here!” Gigi yelled.

The twins excitedly cleared some of their baking supplies off the table so there was somewhere to set it. The wine had been flowing for a few hours now. There was pudding, cupcakes, and cookies. And now the main course: hot, greasy, delicious pizza.

“I’m so hungry!” Aethel said as she shoved a slice of pepperoni in her mouth.

“Of course you are. You’ve been drinking wine and eating sugar.”

Her eyes bugged at something behind me. “That man can dance!” I turned in time to see a shirtless Channing Tatum swiveling his hips.

We were also having a movie marathon. Everyone picked one movie. This was our third and it was picked by Leena. “It’s hard to believe this is your movie choice and yet Atsila is your life-partner choice. The two don’t add up.”

Bridge snorted. “I cannot imagine Atsila dancing like this.”

“Exactly,” Leena said. “I want in my movies what I can’t have in real life. In real life I have a massive, muscular, bear of a male that will one day be King. He’s not funny and he can’t dance.” Then she shouted at the television in the next room. “Entertain me Channing Tatum! Entertain me!”

We settled in front of the television with our food as Gigi’s pick came on. It was a terrible adaptation of the first Triple M book, but Gigi liked it anyway. The casting was all wrong and they cut out my favorite subplot. They also changed who the villain was, which was a strange choice, but whatever. We always had the books to come back to.

“How can you watch this?” Bridge shook her head. “It’s trash compared to the book.”

Gigi shrugged. She was tired and the wine had made her eyes droop as she rested against my shoulder. “Any time I get to spend in the Triple M world is a good time.”

Rain squinted. “Is this how the book goes? This lady walks into this house?”

“Yep.” And finds the first murder victim, setting off all the events to follow.

Rain sat back. “I should read the books. I think the movie has been fun so far. If you all think this is junk compared to the books, then they must be fabulous.”

Suddenly Gigi was very awake. “Oh you absolutely must read them! They’re the best. Here, I’ll go get you a copy of the first book right now. You can start tonight.” She jumped up and disappeared into the library in a flash.

“I think you just made her night. Maybe her year.”

Rain nodded slowly. “I better like these books. She might disown me if I don’t.”

Gigi fell asleep in my lap while my movie selection played. I picked The Princess Bride. I saw it in a high school English class. The teacher used it to show us story structure and because it was their favorite. I fell hard for it and had watched it dozens of times since. It was the perfect fantasy for me. A boy madly in love, rescuing her from a life she didn’t want.

I never thought it would become my real life, but in a way it had. So it was even more fun to watch it now.

“More wine?” Aethel whispered to each of us as she walked around with a bottle.

“Please.” I held out my glass and took a cookie. It was entirely possible I had never eaten this much sugar in my life. I regretted nothing.

“Should we move her to bed?” Aethel nodded at Gigi.

“I could leave her here, but I worry she won’t get good sleep on the couch.”

“She’s out. I don’t think she’ll notice anything. Leave her here, take her up, whatever you think is best.” Aethel moved on to filling Bridge’s glass.

“I think her bed,” Bridge whispered. “That way she can sleep as long as she needs. If she stays down here the boys will wake her up.”

“Good point.” I finished my wine and cookie, then shifted Gigi up to her bed in the Princess Tower before the movie ended. I stayed with her until I was sure she was back in a deep sleep, then began moving out from under her like a parent escaping the bed of a child.

“Love you,” she mumbled.

I pulled the blankets up around her. “I love you too.” Then planted a soft kiss on her cheek.

I woke up the next morning to a suspiciously empty bed. Dray wasn’t in the kitchen or upstairs. In fact, I was quite sure he hadn’t been home, which wasn’t the plan. They were supposed to go on the hunt while we watched movies. Then after the kill they would feast and come home.

But Dray wasn’t home. So either something happened, or it took longer than they thought to hunt whatever animal they chose to hunt. Because I was worried, I reached out to our connection and found that he was just fine. Better than fine. In fact, I’d say he was high on adrenaline, which meant the hunt had gone well.

So I went about my normal morning routine of showering and grooming before moving to the kitchen to make coffee and toast. I stoked up the fire and looked out a freshly fallen snow blanketing the trees around us. They were out there in this. Probably shirtless if not naked from shifting. Men. I didn’t understand their desire to spend the night running around and killing. Especially not after the Convergence. Apparently real war wasn’t enough. Dray said something about instincts and nature and honestly, I just tuned it all out because none of it made sense to me.

There was a knock at the door, but it wasn’t Dray. It was Gigi. “Hey, how did you sleep?”

“Like. A. Rock. Thank you for putting me to bed.” She took a seat at the counter while I made her a cup of coffee.

“It was no trouble.”

“The guys are still gone?”

“Yep. How’s Ryddyck?”

She put both hands around the mug and sipped. “He’s well. He spent the night on the Plane and is back now. He sounds stronger than ever.”

“That’s great news. So…are you two officially a couple now?”

Her cheeks turned a bright shade of pink. “Yeah. We are. Destiny brought us together but he’s amazing. If I met him randomly, I would think the same thing. I’m happy.”

“I’m glad.”

She nibbled on her lower lip. “And you and Dray? Now that everything is over, you’re still good?”

It was my turn to blush. “Better than ever.” An awkward electricity began to move between us. “I think I’m starting to understand what you and Rain have been trying to explain to me. That there’s all kinds of different love when you’re a samhain. I feel such a deep, intense love for both of you and I just couldn’t understand it before.”

She sighed with relief. “You do now?”

I took her hand and squeezed it. “I do. Before, I felt guilty. Like I was wrong somehow, to love you both. That I was…broken. I love Dray with all of my heart and what we have is unique. You can’t give that to me anymore than I could give it to you. I see how happy you are now that you and Ryddyck can be yourselves. He fills up that part of you that was missing.”

Gigi came around the counter, cupped my face in her hands, and kissed me lightly on the lips. “Soulmates,” she whispered.

“Soulmates,” I whispered back, finally at ease with myself, with Gigi, and what it all meant. There was zero doubt in my mind that we were soulmates. Two hearts linked for eternity. And now that I could accept that having a soulmate was just as important as having a Fated Mate, I could fully embrace that my relationship with Gigi would never be anything like anything I had conceived before. “I’ll stop trying to define us.”

“Good.” Her gaze darted between my eyes. “It’s hard explaining something I’ve always known. But I could see you needed time, so I was happy to give it to you.”

“I’ll still get things wrong.”

She grinned and kissed me again. “And I will still patiently wait for you to catch up.” Her gaze unfocused. “I will admit I’m learning a little too. I had no idea I could have such a…carnal connection to someone. Ryddyck just…whoa. It’s intense.”

“I know that feeling. I know it well.”

She nodded slowly. “That’s what confused you so much, isn’t it? Humans tend to think they have one perfect mate, and you and Dray are off the charts for each other.”

“Exactly. I love you, and I’ve always known that, but I couldn’t understand it, if that makes sense.”

“Not really, but I’m starting to get an idea. What we have with our Mates will always be more intense, more sexual. It’s a fiery love. Passionate and possessive. What you and I have is a softer love. Like air. It’s natural and simple and beautiful. We take pleasure in many things. In simply being together, in sharing our most intimate thoughts, in the purest trust there is. Sometimes that love will turn one way and then another. It will be a meandering path for the rest of our lives, and no single moment will ever define it.”

I kissed her harder, pressing our bodies together. “Will it ever be like this?”

“Yes. Sometimes. But often it will not.” Her hand traced down my shoulder and over my breast. “Soulmates feed each other what they need. If you need pleasure then I will give it, but that’s not what our relationship is about.”

That felt so right that I instantly understood it. “Yes. I get it.” My whole body sighed, finally at peace with my whole world. “Thank you for being so patient.”

She grinned and kissed me one last time. “I love you, Rhysa. I will always be here for you. Now, can I have something more substantial than toast? I have a feeling Ryddyck and I are going to have a long, exhausting day.” She bounced her eyebrows and blushed.

“Eggs and bacon enough or should I bust out the sandwiches?”

We were halfway through turkey sandwiches when Dray suddenly appeared in the living room shirtless and covered in blood. He had a dead animal in one hand that was so bloody I couldn’t identify whether it was a small animal or part of a large one. “The hunt was a success!” He beat his chest once. “We all made kills and feasted and killed again!”

“Oh, that man is running on pure adrenaline and male hormones,” Gigi waved a hand in front of her nose like she could smell it. “Are you all this gross?”

Dray looked down at his sweaty and smeared skin. “Yes!”

My brain told me I should find this revolting, but instead I wanted to jump his bones. “You need a shower. Maybe start with the hose on the deck.”

“A good idea.” He came into the kitchen and grabbed a large pan, dropping the animal into it. He grinned at me, a sparkle of mischief in his eyes. “You should go, Gigi.”

“Yep. On it. Have fun you two.” She hopped off the stool and shot me a grin. “I’ll see you later.” Then she showed herself outside.