Dania sat up in her bed, gasping, her hand flying to her chest as she drew her deck.

Did I fall asleep? What the everloving fuck?

"IIII haaave not come to fiiiiight youuuu." The voice slithered along her skin, raising the hairs on the backs of her arms and her neck. "IIII wiiiissshhh to tallllk to youuuuu."

"Talk to me?" Dania angled her body toward the vaguely humanoid-shaped shadow that loomed up from the side of her bed. With trembling hands, she scooted backward and craned her head upward, looking for eyes or a face or something to focus her gaze upon. She also hoped that the motion would cover the fact that her other hand was reaching for the Beretta case on her nightstand…

"Youuuuu arrrrrrree a deckbearrrrer. Whyyyy rrrrreach for a muuuunndane weeeeaaaaaponnnn?"

Dania froze. "Fuck. I suppose you can see in the dark."

The monster let out a harsh, ripping sound. Dania blinked, and then shivered as she abruptly realized it was laughing.

"I ssserve the Darrrknesssss, Deckbearrrerrr. Ssssshhheeee who birrrrthed the niiiight and honorrrred yourrrr chiiiillld. Heeerrrr sssshhhhadowwws hollld nooo sssecretsss from meee." It slithered closer, leaning down to put its head level with her eyes. "Whooom doooo youuuu sssserrrvvve? Whooo giiiifffted youuu yourrr deckkk?"

Dania's mouth went dry. She inhaled sharply and shook her head. "I serve no one," she ground out through clenched teeth. "Nyx didn't gift me anything. I won this deck. I don't owe her shit."

"Youuu prrotect herrr chooosssenn."

Oh no. Oh fuck no. Deckbearer, sure. Jake can be a deckbearer. But "chosen"?

"He's just a kid," she whispered, unable to keep the fear out of her voice.

"III amm nooo threaaat tooo Nyx'sss deckbearrrer. Orrr to youuu. Yourrr fearrrs arrrree allll forrr him. Dooo youuu nott fearrr forr yourrselllf?"

"I'm all he has. I have to keep him safe. Even if it means using mundane weapons against nightmares like you."

"Yourrr deck woullld be morrrre effectivvve. Esssspecialllyyy afterrr youuu vissssittt the drrrreamm dungeonnn."

"How did you—"

"Nyxxx isss an attentivvvve motherrrr. Sshe knowss what her chillld doesss, and sssharresss whaat is necesssary withhh herrr ssservantsss."

Dania's eyebrows went up, skepticism flooded into her. "I don't believe you. The gods gift decks and then watch without interfering as we tear each other to pieces. You're telling me that Nyx spoke to you directly?!"

"Perhapsss. Or perhapsss I inhhabiit the spaace underrr yourrr furrrniturre durrring dayliiiight hoursss… and I lissssten."

Of course. Dania focused on the monster's shape, willing his information to appear. "You're the monster under the bed," she said.

"Youuu maayy calll meee Hussssshhh, Guarrrdiannn." If Dania didn't know better, she would have said that Hush sounded pleased.

"Machairi calls me that," she said.

"It fitssss. I can shhowww youuu the dungeonnn toniiiight."

"How do I know I can trust you?"

Hush bent closer, putting its face right next to hers. Finally, she could see the eerily glowing eyes that echoed Machairi's pupil-less pools of shadow. She swallowed hard and squared her shoulders as Hush smiled, revealing rows of pointed teeth.

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"Nyx'sss chiiiillld isss corrrrect. I willl not harrrm youuu. Youuu arrrre specialll. Theeee marrrrk youuu bearrr… Aaaand yourrr fearrr issss… unliiike otherrrsss. I fiiind youuu…iinnterrressssting."

Dania couldn't have said what it was about the monster that convinced her. In no way did it back off from its looming posture, nor did its sudden grin and the glowing eyes she could suddenly see make it seem any less terrifying… but somehow, for some reason, she relaxed.

It's telling the truth, she realized, as certain as she was of her own name. It won't hurt me, and it won't hurt Jake. I don't know why I know this, but… it wants to help us.

Dania's experiences in Afghanistan, and later in the ER, had underscored to her the importance of trusting her gut. Right now, her gut said that Hush was… an ally, at least. Whether or not it made logical sense didn't matter. Her gut was never wrong about things like this.

Let's hope this isn't the first time.

"All right," she said. "Let me get Jake, and we can go. How far is it?"

"Not farrr. Outssside." Hush pointed at the huge picture windows, and Dania turned to see a weird dark violet glow coming from within the trees beyond the yard. Almost as if someone were out there with a black light, trying to set the stage for a woodland rave, or something equally stupid.

"Perfect," she said. "Let me get my kid, and we can go."

Jake, like most teenagers, wasn't the easiest person to wake up, but once he got a look at Hush and comprehended what Dania was saying to him, he was on board. He dressed in black cargo pants and a hooded black sweatshirt with a puffy vest over the top. He also remembered to grab the Walther Dania had given him and attached its holster to his belt before shoving his feet into his boots and getting to his feet.

Machairi, of course, was already ready.

They stepped out into the moon-drenched snowscape, and Dania had a weird moment of deja vu as her eyes scanned over the starkly shadowed treeline. But unlike in her dream, Jake stood beside her, rolling his shoulders back, his eyes bright with excitement.

"Ready?" she asked him, the words puffing out into the frosty night.

"Hell yes," he said. "Born ready."

Dania snorted and rolled her eyes, which pulled a laugh from Jake as they started across the snow-encrusted lawn. Inside her mind, she did her best to memorize his excited smile, his cocky teenager strut, and pushed away the fear for him that crept in along the edges of her thoughts.

"Beauuutifulllll…"

She snapped her head to the side to see Hush staring at her, his darkly glowing eyes wide over the void of his mouth in his otherwise featureless face. He—or it, or whatever…fuck it, he smiled wider at her regard.

"What?"

"Yourrr rrrraggge. Yourrr fearrr. For himm. It isss beautifulll. It feedssss meee—"

"That sounds a lot like a threat to my kid, Hush," Dania snarled, her voice low in hopes that the others wouldn't hear. Jake continued determinedly forward, but Machairi turned to regard them both.

"No. Nevvverrr. He is Nyx's deckbearrerr. But I wass riight about youuu. Youuu werrre chossssenn. You wouuld dooo anyyttthing to protect hiiim."

"Anything," Dania said. "We went over this already."

"Yesss. Thank youuu."

Dania blinked. "For what?"

"Letting meee feeeed on your fearrr."

Dania shook her head impatiently. "I don't give a fuck what you do with my fear," she said. "So long as you leave Jake alone and don't fuck us over, got it?"

"Yessss. Thisss wayyy." Hush glided forward to the edge of the woods, and beckoned them onward.

"Do you see it?" Jake asked, excitement tight in his tone. "Dani, do you see that glow through the trees?"

"Yeah, kid," she said. "That's where we're headed. If you're sure you're ready?"

He gave her a look that said "Of course I'm sure I'm ready, I'm fourteen and invincible, stop asking!" clearer than any words could manage. Dania smiled and reached out to ruffle his hair. He jerked away, but his movements remained playful and excited, rather than angry. A quick glance at Machairi showed that the card shared his deckbearer's enthusiastic anticipation.

Am I the only one worried about this? Dania wondered, and she had to fight not to shake her head at herself. All right, fuck it. We're going to do this, and it's going to be fun. Right? I mean, it's gotta be better than flying in an Mi-17 in winter outside of A-bad. So we've got that going for us, at least.

With that little pep talk, Dania pulled her shoulders straight, rolled her head on her neck, and followed the monster that lived under her bed deeper into the trees.

Before long, they came to a tiny clearing around a deadfall. The broken oak that slumped to the ground was big enough that Dania couldn't have put her arms around it, and it formed a sort of natural lean-to where the roots half-jutted out from the ground.

The purple-black glow emanated from the void under the roots.

Dania closed her eyes and inhaled slowly, trying very hard not to think about worms and grubs and other such creepy-crawlies that liked to live under fallen and half-rotted logs.

"Okay," she said, opening her eyes. "Let's do—"

"Deckbearrrrerrrr." Hush's call held a note of warning that made Dania's skin shiver and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up straight. She spun, her hand automatically going to her chest as the notification that Jake had pulled his deck flashed in front of her eyes.

She dismissed it, and immediately wished she hadn't.