* * *

Sarah guessed where they were headed once they got onto the highway. There was nothing much west of the city that would interest them except the main compound for the W.R.O. where the Crisis Center and orphanage was located. They called that entire area comprising the publicly visible divisions of the W.R.O. their campus, though there was no university or college there.

Sarah had only been there a few times, and only at the orphanage. Her school had done a couple of events for the children there. Sarah wondered how many of those children would end up at the compound when they grew up. Like Pegasus.

Past countless other buildings, Mermaid directed Sarah to drive to an isolated parking lot near the southern outer wall. Several cars were already there.

Sarah stopped halfway to the door, turning back to the parking lot. “Did I lock the car?”

“Who’s gonna steal a car here?” Mermaid asked.

“If they do, I’ll never hear the end of it.” Sarah pressed the lock button, satisfied with the responding beep.

Impatient, Mermaid dragged Lore and her along to the main building, from where music was emanating.

Guards were doing their rounds nearby. Apparently pretending the real world didn’t exist only went so far. Mermaid seemed more than happy to go along with the pretense though, and Sarah figured she might as well try.

Lore abandoned them as soon as they went through the door, saying something about talking to Cypher about work.

Sarah spotted Scorpion and Unicorn dancing, and there were a few people there she didn’t recognize. Unwilling to go hang out with Scorpion, she searched for other familiar faces.

“I’ll be right back,” Mermaid said. “Want anything?”

“No, thanks.”

Sarah was still deciding whether she should wait for Mermaid there or go sit down at a table when Pegasus suddenly appeared.

“How come you’re alone?” he asked.

Sarah instinctively backed away. He reeked of alcohol. “Are you drinking or bathing in it?”

“Only water actually in me. Unless bourbon can be absorbed via skin.” He sniffed his shirt. “At least I think it’s bourbon. Why? Were you planning on getting me drunk so you could have your way with me?”

“Would I really have to go to all that trouble?”

He looked as surprised as she was by her playful response. “Not when you say it like that.” An added seriousness to the mischief in his eyes, he erased the distance between them. Before she could say anything more, he kissed her.

Sarah responded, tentatively at first, but soon all her worries and inexplicable hesitation vanished. It felt so natural having his arms around her, as if they belonged that way—together. And that’s when it all came flooding back. The cold, strangling fear gripped her as if her heart were being ripped from her chest.

She pulled away, struggling to catch her breath. “I need a drink.”

Making a beeline for where the bar seemed to be set up, she didn’t dare look back as she ran away from him.

What the hell was that?

Hands shaking, she couldn’t even control her breathing. It was a miracle she made it to the bar.

She searched for a water, the last thing she needed was to take a leave of her senses—she was confused enough as it was.

Water in hand, she refused to head back, avoiding having to face Pegasus. Had he noticed her reaction? She knew she’d have to explain herself sooner or later, but where should she even start? It felt like she’d been dying.

She gulped down the water, trying to calm herself.

“Don’t drink that too fast.” Griffon held up his water bottle to toast her with it.

Sarah touched the bottom of her bottle to his. “What happened?”

“With what?”

“Weren’t you going somewhere? Something about your mother? You guys were looking for a plane today.”

Griffon laughed. “Who told you that? And who was looking for a plane? I spent the entire day over at Center.”

“You haven’t seen me today?”

“Does now count?” He took another drink of his water. “Just so you know, I’m having you checked when we get back to the compound.”

Sarah whirled, searching for Pegasus. That’s when she noticed there was something wrong with the walls. They were blurrier than it should be.

Cold spread along her skin and into her veins.

This wasn’t real.

Just like that, the dream—or whatever it was—started unraveling, people and things changing in subtle ways every time she looked.

She didn’t remember falling asleep, but that had never stopped her before. Would she still be waiting for Mermaid? Or maybe she’d dozed off as soon as they got to the party. She could only hope she wasn’t still driving.

Relief and disappointment battled within her as she found Pegasus sitting at a corner table.

A dream. Just a dream.

Disappointment edged forward.

He laughed as Mermaid explained something with big gestures, almost spilling her drink.

With a daring smile, she purposefully walked over to their table.

There was at least one good thing about it being a dream.

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Pegasus didn’t even notice her until she literally stole him away from the conversation by capturing his lips in the middle of a sentence. His words gone, he gave up on speaking and kissed her back, following her lead.

Mermaid complained about interruptions and Pegasus waved her off, pulling Sarah closer as if he had no intention of letting her go ever again. Sarah let herself enjoy the moment for what it was, uncaring of the consequences.

It was a good dream, she decided, feeling sad that it was only that.

And it was a dream, though there was nothing about that kiss that would have exposed it. His hands felt warm against her skin and his lips were the right amount of pressure against hers.

He felt more real than any dream had a right to feel and, for a moment, she dared wish that she was awake. But only for a moment.

The good things were dreams, and the bad things were real… Right?

Something cold slid down the back of her neck. She separated from Pegasus to find Mermaid standing beside them, grinning triumphantly.

“This is for the excessive PDA while I haven’t seen my husband in four months!” Mermaid handed her the empty glass and walked away. “Griffon’s report is not getting lost this time.”

Laughing, Pegasus started trying to dry the water on her neck with his shirt sleeves.

Sarah watched him. “I hope this was not how you got the bourbon thrown on you.”

He laughed harder, stopping what he was doing long enough to run a finger down her arm, mischief clear in his downcast eyes. “No, that was from fighting with Scorpion.”

“Ah, of course.”

He smiled at her, completely giving up on the water now. He rose from his seat and pulled her closer for another kiss. Having decided that she didn’t care if this was a dream or not, she let him.

“You know, there’s nothing scheduled for tomorrow.” He pulled her hair over her shoulder to wring the water out of it. “We could go somewhere together.”

“Tomorrow?” Lore’s words came back to her. When had the dream started? “Have you heard anything about Lore’s investigation?”

“Seriously? You’re deflecting with work?”

She tried for a smile.

Was Lore part of the dream? Was there some important breakthrough right around the corner or had she imagined that as well? She scanned the surroundings for Lore without success—not that she thought she’d see her unless her mind cooperated.

“Have you seen Lore?”

“Why would Lore be here?”

There was still a chance that the conversation with Lore had been real. And if so, which parts? The conversation before they left the compound? The drive over?

She tried to pull away from him. “I have to go check something.”

He held on to her, more than reluctant to let her go. “You can’t kiss me like that and leave—again,” he protested playfully, gazing into her eyes so realistically that it took her breath away for a full five seconds before she reminded herself that it was not real.

She really was sad then, because she wanted this version of him—of them—to be real. She kissed him one more time, but only when she promised she’d be right back did he let go.

Outside, she went to where they had parked. The car would be a tell-tale sign, though she figured her mind could conjure it up if it wanted to.

There was no car.

She had been so distracted, she didn’t even notice Mermaid until the woman tapped her on the shoulder.

“Are you making a run for it?”

Sarah checked the woman’s hands first. “Are you gonna throw anything else on me?”

“Wasn’t planning on it.”

Sarah sucked in a breath of cool air.

“Hey, don’t leave without us,” Mermaid said.

Sarah’s heart sped up. “Us?”

“Lore and me. Or were you planning on ditching us here and going off with Pegasus?”

Sarah turned back to the empty parking space. And there the car was.

“Wait.” This couldn’t be real. For one thing, cars didn’t magically appear and disappear of their own free will.

It was her mind playing tricks again, but she wasn’t sure where the tricks began and where they ended. Dreams within dreams somehow seemed like cheating. She turned back to Mermaid, about to ask the woman if this was a dream. She hoped her brain would at least afford her a truthful answer. And then there was no need to ask, not when Robyn was standing right there, waving a beer at them.

“Are you coming back inside or not?”

Eyes snapping open, Sarah floundered, completely disoriented from being sprawled on the couch in a forty-five degree angle. She wiped at her eyes, struggling to get to the door so she could make the pounding stop. Hopefully, the noise was outside her room and not inside her brain.

Mermaid was standing outside her door in a colorful dress, hair flowing free of its usual braid. “Were you sleeping?”

“Sorry, I dozed off.”

“Are you ready to go? I already signed out a car.” She tossed Sarah the keys.

The cold metal was obvious against her palm. Did that mean they were real?

But everything in the dream had also felt real.

The cold water along her back.

And Pegasus…

Mermaid all but dragged her out of the room. Sarah followed in a daze, unsure she was awake. When they got to the parking garage, she looked back, confused. “Isn’t Lore coming with us?”

“Why would Lore be here?”

“Never mind. I think I was having a weird dream.”

“On second thought, I’ll drive.”

Sarah didn’t object. She wasn’t sure she was awake.

Sarah watched the streets go by in silence, feeling increasingly anxious as they retraced their path to the same building inside the W.R.O. campus. The drive felt shorter this time.

Not this time, she corrected herself. This should be the first time they’d driven over.

But then, how did everything look so eerily similar? No, not similar. Identical.

Had her mind adapted the memory to the place and pretended it was the other way around?

Sarah stopped right outside the entrance. There was a queasy feeling in her stomach when she thought of running into Pegasus. True that he’d also kissed her in real life, but the dream was still so fresh in her mind, she wasn’t sure she was mentally prepared to face him.

“You’re already here, no harm in going in.” Mermaid led her inside, misinterpreting her hesitation.

Unlike the dream, Mermaid did not leave her as soon as they stepped through the door. Instead, she took Sarah over to a large table where most of their team was gathered.

Griffon was conspicuously absent—relocating his mother, Mermaid told her.

Like in her dream, there were a few less familiar faces around the room. Hawk was at their table, laughing as Unicorn tried to talk Cypher into dancing with her.

Pegasus and Scorpion were sitting next to each other, engrossed in conversation. Almost palpable was that same closeness of late that she wasn’t fully comfortable with. She didn’t think she was a jealous person, but there it was.

Sarah settled into an empty seat next to Hawk, trying not to look as if she were a million miles away. Between having her attention called to the conversation and catching herself staring at Pegasus more than once, she likely failed.

“Sarah?”

She blinked the haze away and glanced up at Unicorn, who was laughing at her. Scorpion was standing at the foot of the table, looking as if she expected some sort of response. By the tone—and the fact that they’d used her name—it wasn’t the first time they’d called her.

“What are you drinking?” Pegasus prompted.

“Oh, water.”

“Good choice,” Scorpion said. “You don’t need any less brain function.”

Sarah nodded, fully in agreement.

“Did the scorpion dream of flying?” Hawk said as soon as she turned around.

Scorpion tossed him a glare over her shoulder, not even missing a step.

Sarah noticed the tattoos on Scorpion’s back then, in full display because of the glittery backless shirt. She’d seen the ones on her forearm before, but she’d never seen those.

There was a feather on her right shoulder, which had probably been what prompted the joke. But the one wrapped around her left upper arm, with its head laying on her shoulder was the one that took Sarah’s breath away. A dragon.

Sarah stared after Scorpion as the woman walked away to fetch their drinks. Distracted, she didn’t notice Pegasus slid over until he spoke her name. She felt she’d missed something again.

“You’re very quiet tonight,” he whispered. “Is everything alright?”

She nodded.

“I’ll pretend I believe you.” Pegasus gave her a crooked smile. “But I’m glad you came.”

Sarah lost herself in his eyes for a moment, and she had to stop herself from leaning in the rest of the way.

That dream had really done a number on her. It made her think it was fine for her to close the distance between them even though she’d been avoiding him.

It also didn’t help that he was so close, close enough that she had to remind herself that the dream had been only that.

She thought she saw something in his eyes, a doubt or a question. Should she— She leaned in, and that strange fear grabbed hold of her and squeezed her heart.

Trying not to seem as if she were pulling away, she straightened herself. “My head’s pounding.”

“Do you want someone to take you back?” he asked, seemingly unaffected by the previous moment. Maybe, like everything else of late, it had been only in her mind. “There’s also a place you can rest in the next building.”

“If it gets unbearable, I’ll just go back by myself.”

She drove, didn’t she?

And did Stunted Flowers Leave No Leaves Carried?

No, that wasn’t it, was it?