Chapter Five
Meanwhile, in dreamland...
He knew the face, but he couldn't seem to place it. It was a handsome, strong face, but it was stern and cold. He saw it when Elia died. He saw it looming over them with an angry, terrible expression. Someone would pay for what had happened. He wasn't so sure it wouldn't be him...
The man is back, and he knows him suddenly. He has seen his face. King Scarlet. Scarlet is angry. Scarlet is always angry. His face isn't handsome now. It's twisted with fury. His eyes are dark and wild. He is shouting.
"I would rather see you dead!"
He doesn't know why Scarlet is angry at him. He doesn't know what he's done wrong.
"I will kill you myself!"
Scarlet rushes toward him. He shoves him, but his hands move through him as though he's not really there. Who is he yelling at?
"I will kill you!"
Grey tossed fitfully in the large, round bed. He was murmuring something, but Petra couldn't hear it. He whimpered like a small, frightened child. Petra hurried to his side. "Grey." She touched his shoulder. It was hot and moist with sweat. "Grey!"
He shot up abruptly. He shoved her away so forcefully, she nearly toppled from the bed. Then his stormy grey eyes cleared, and he caught her. He pulled her against him in a bone-crushing hug. He sighed.
"Are you okay?" She leaned back to look at him. "What was happening? Were you dreaming again?"
"Yeah." He drew her with him to lean back against the pillows.
"Tell me about it."
"I saw King Scarlet."
She lifted her head in surprise. "Was it a nightmare?"
He shook his head. "Maybe. Now I see his face in the memory of the little boy dying. He's there, and he's angry. He looks at me like it's my fault." He frowned. "Then I saw him threatening me."
"Threatening you? What did he say?"
"He said he would rather see me dead and that he will kill me himself."
Petra lifted her eyebrows. "Do you think it's a nightmare from reading all those articles about him?"
He exhaled heavily. "It could have been, I guess. But it seemed so, so real. I could hear his voice. It sounded so familiar."
She rose up to look at him seriously. His expression was so troubled, her stomach roiled uneasily. "Do you think you might be in danger from him?"
He looked completely shocked. "Am I?"
"I don't know, Grey. I don't know what happened to you that night or who was after you."
His hands tightened on her arms. "But you know me, right? You know about me."
"I don't know everything. I just know how you were when you came here." This was the first completely true thing she'd said to him. "I didn't know you long before this. I suppose there are a lot of things I don't know about you."
His brow furrowed. She lifted a hand to brush his dark hair from his forehead. He looked so young and innocent. He looked so troubled. She wished she could tell him it had only been a dream. It probably hadn't. She wished she wasn't lying to him. She wished she didn't have to do what she was going to do to him.
But it wasn't a dream, she was lying to him and she was going to ransom him off to his father. A father who might have threatened to kill him. He might even have tried.
"Go back to sleep," she murmured. "It might have just been a dream."
He clutched at her. "I don't want you to go. I don't have the dreams when you're with me."
She smiled. "I will stay with you until you fall asleep." He didn't look happy, but he didn't argue. He drew her down to rest against his side. She draped an arm over his chest.
He winced in pain. She'd almost forgotten he was still injured.
She sat up and grabbed the bottle of pills on the table beside the bed. "Take another pill. You'll feel better."
He sighed and shook his head. "I think they're keeping me from remembering anything."
"I'm not sure that's such a bad thing, Grey."
"I don't want it."
"Okay." She rose up abruptly to kiss his forehead. It felt hot.
He caught the nape of her neck and guided her mouth to his. She sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck. Kissing him would only make it worse, but she wanted to so badly. His lips moved against hers. Her stomach flipped.
He sighed deeply and leaned back down on the pillows, drawing her with him. She lifted her head to look down at him. He smiled dreamily. His eyes flickered open for the briefest moment. They looked sleepy and calm. She stroked a hand down his face. He was asleep in seconds.
She stared down at his face for a long moment. He was so gorgeous, he made her stomach hurt. Or perhaps that was just the guilt. There was a horrible, hollow feeling inside her that was only getting bigger and more horrible by the second. She rose from the bed and turned away from him.
Outside in the hall, Shaw was still lurking. She stared at him incredulously. "Seriously, Shaw, what are you doing here? Stop following me around!"
His lip curled. He crossed his arms over his narrow chest. "I'm just trying to talk to you."
"Well, then talk instead of creeping around outside my room and following me around!"
"I just want to be involved!"
"I told you, there is nothing you need to be involved in. I told you. It doesn't concern you. It isn't any of your business." She strode past him, but she paused to look back at him.. "I don't have time for this. Leave me alone, Shaw, or I will have Lux toss you into the cage."
Shaw stared at her in shock. "You wouldn't."
"Just leave me alone. I don't want to be your friend. Find your own buyer." She spun away from him and stomped back to Key's room.
Everyone but Lux was still there. Petra wondered if they were planning to remain in there until Grey had been moved or they came up with the perfect way to barter him off. They were talking quietly, but they looked up as she stormed in.
Key frowned. "What's up, Petra? You look upset."
"I am. That--Shaw is creeping around outside, following me around."
Beth laughed and rolled her eyes. "He likes you, Petra. Don't you know?"
Petra shuddered. "No! I didn't know that." She sighed. "No wonder he's following me around, I guess. Anyway, Gr--Dante had a memory."
"What?"
She sighed. "Well, it might have been a nightmare, but he thinks it might have happened."
Key leaned forward keenly. "What did he see?"
"He said Scarlet threatened him. He told him he would kill him himself."
Ellis frowned thoughtfully. "Why?"
She shook her head. "I don't know. He didn't know. There wasn't any context. Just the threat."
They all peered at each other for a moment. Ellis was the first one to speak. "If Scarlet really was the one behind the Dante's attack, this will never work. We can't risk ransoming him to someone who wants him dead. It could get everyone killed. We need to know the truth. We could lose our shot."
Key considered this. "We need him to remember what happened that night. We need to try to find out who wants to kill him."
"Now you want him to remember?"
"Yes," Ellis said. "We need to at least learn what happened in that alley."
"What about moving him?"
"Yeah, that's still going to happen," Key said. "It's even more crucial now in light of this information. The sooner he's out of here, the sooner everyone here is safe again."
Ellis' eyes were serious. "Petra, you have to help him remember."
Her stomach sank. If he remembered...she wasn't ready for him to remember. She wasn't sure what was happening between them, but if he remembered what happened, and he remembered who he was, he'd know she lied to him.
But she wanted Ren back. No matter what was happening with Grey, no matter how she was beginning to feel, Ren was more important. And Grey wasn't real. When he did remember who he was, she would lose him. He would become Prince Dante again. She was better off forgetting what she was feeling. She couldn't lose sight of everything
now because a cute boy had kissed her a couple times.
She nodded sharply. "Fine. Let me know when Lux comes back. We'll move him as soon as she is ready. I'll talk to him and see what I can do."
She was relieved Shaw wasn't waiting for her in the hall. She had enough problems. Grey was out of bed pacing the room when she returned. She lifted her eyebrows in surprise. "I thought you were sleeping."
He turned to her. His face looked pale, but he was moving all right. He was getting better. "I woke up when you left. Where did you go?"
She sighed and strode toward him. He met her halfway and caught her hands in his. She looked up into his stormy grey eyes. "Grey, you need to remember what happened the night I found you."
He blinked in surprise, but he nodded. "I know. I have been trying." His brow furrowed. "You don't have any idea why anyone would attack me?"
She sighed. "Maybe, but..."
"But what? Why can't you tell me?"
She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Grey. I just need you to remember. It could be important. The people who hurt you might try to come after you again."
He looked surprised. "They might try to come here? They could hurt you, too?"
She hesitated. The worry in his eyes made her feel worse than she already did. "Yeah. They might."
Grey sighed. He clutched at his head and spun away. "I've been trying to remember. I've gotten some flashes. I think I keep...forcing myself not to remember. I've been avoiding it. It might be why I'm having the nightmares. Maybe my subconscious is trying to protect me from remembering."
Petra stepped toward him and laid a hand on his back. "I'm sorry, Grey. You have to. Tell me about the flashes. Maybe it will help."
He nodded and turned back to face her. "I remember...flashing lights. I think maybe I was drinking, so it's all a little hazy." He frowned. "Do I drink?"
Rumor was, he drank a lot. "Yeah. Sometimes, I guess."
"I think I might drink a lot. I get a lot of flashes like that but none of them make sense. I see faces but there's no context. I don't understand any of it."
"What about that night?"
"I remember the pain. The alley." His face screwed up with the effort of remembering. "I think I walked out of the place with the flashing lights. Someone attacked me from behind."
"Did you see their face?"
He shook his head almost violently. "I can't remember!"
"Okay. It's okay, Grey." She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. He crushed her against him. "Keep trying."
He held her away from him. "I don't want to remember this, Petra!"
"It's important! Please try. I'm sorry you have to. I wish you didn't, but it could put us all in danger if we can't figure out who did this."
He nodded and released her. He turned away and pushed his hands through his hair. For several seconds, he was silent. When she spoke again, Petra wished he didn't have to. "Someone hit me in the head from behind. I fell down. They kicked me..." He winced as he remembered and clutched almost self consciously at his side. "I did look up at him. I did see him."
Petra lifted her eyebrows. "Did you know him?"
He thought about this for a long time. "No. I don't think so. There's no familiar feeling when I see him--what I can see of him. There was blood in my eyes. I was drunk. But I don't think I've met him. I might have, though. I don't remember enough from the rest of my life to know for sure."
"Okay. How did you get away from him?"
"I had something in my pocket. I think it was a stun gun or something. I hit him with it, and I crawled away. I must have passed out. When I woke up, I saw you."
"Okay. That's good. That's something."
He turned his head to look at her. "It's not enough is it? I don't know why he attacked me. Remembering the attack without knowing why it happened isn't helpful." He let out a frustrated growl and pushed his hands through his hair again.
Petra strode forward and folded his hands in hers. Grey tugged her into his arms and hugged her tightly against him. She sighed deeply and pulled back to look up into his face. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. For a moment, his lips were soft and sweet against hers. Then he crushed her closer to him and deepened the kiss. He walked her backward, and they tumbled back onto the bed.
She wrapped her arms tightly around him, running her hands over the flat muscles of his back and shoulders. He looked slender, but he was stronger than he looked. Her pulse leapt. He lifted his head to look down at her. His eyes were stormy and intense. He brushed her pale blonde hair from her eyes. His breath was as ragged as hers. He leaned back down to kiss her again.
He stiffened suddenly. He tore his mouth from hers. She stared up at him in shock. He squeezed his eyes shut. "Grey? What's wrong? What's going on?"
Grey rolled off her. He lay on his back a moment. He was breathing heavily. "It's my mom, I think."
She lifted her head to look at him. "Your mom?"
"It's a woman. She died."
"What?"
"I was there. I don't know what happened to her. She's covered in blood. I'm trying to stop it, but..." He shuddered. Petra clutched his hand. He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes. "I don't want to remember this! Why are you making me remember this?"
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Grey, but it's really important."
He shot out of bed so quickly, Petra started. His muscles of his back trembled slightly under his black tee-shirt. Moments ago, she was running her fingertips over those muscles. Now they hitched. He half turned his head so she could see only the line of his sculpted cheekbone. She thought she saw moisture glisten on his cheek.
His voice was low and toneless when he spoke. "I think I need to be alone."
She sighed and rose. "Okay. I'm sorry, Grey." She moved toward him and lifted her hand. She didn't touch him. She turned and left the room without saying goodbye.
She didn't notice Shaw watching from the shadows.