Lila's pale eyes flickered with lingering fear, her black curls damp against her forehead, her trembling body pressed tight against Kael, her arms locked around him.
Kael held her close, his warmth seeping into her, his hazel eyes soft, his t-shirt soft against her cheek, his scent—clean, faintly spicy—calming her racing heart.
"It's just a bad dream, Lila," Kael murmured, his voice low, soothing, his hand stroking her back, her curls brushing his fingers, the Haven's creaky quiet wrapping around them.
"You're safe here, with me. Nothing's gonna get you." His words were steady, but guilt gnawed at him, his mind flashing to Tila's cockroach panic, his "training" likely bleeding through their psychic link to spark Lila's nightmare.
He almost chuckled at the irony—villains so traumatized they see nightmares asleep, yet awake, they're nightmares to others, their fears a twisted mirror.
