Moving Objects

Chapter 22

Tasha nodded, her small earrings dangling violently from her ears. "Sounds great!"

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Tasha eyeballed me over her cup, her lips pursed together. "You aren't sleeping."

I shrugged and played with my cup. She wasn't wrong. If I wasn't fighting bouts of restlessness at night, there were the nightmares of Strigoi Dimitri, Dimitri being killed in front of me, or of Guardian Howes. The one nightmare that freaked me out the most was one I had had before. Of a Strigoi Dimitri telling me that Mason's death was my fault.

"It's nothing. Just haven't found the right thing to help me sleep. The doctor here at Court prescribed me something, but it wasn't working. What I was on earlier just made the nightmares weirder," I said as I sipped my hot chocolate. Tasha nodded and crossed her legs, tilting her head to the side.

"Have you talked about the nightmares?"

"No. There was only one person I talked to about some of them, but he's not here anymore."

I looked up to Tasha and found a frown on her face, her eyes unfocused. I looked around the café, noticing some eyes lingering on Tasha. Most of those starring with Moroi and it annoyed me. Tasha was a Royal and despite that she had nothing to do with her brother and sister-in-law's turning, they treated her like a pariah.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," I snarked at the closest royal, a Badica I believe. The woman blushed and ushered her young child away without a second glance. While my statement came out a lot harsher than necessary, it did the job effectively. I looked back to Tasha to find her face in a different expression.

"That was unnecessary, Rose," she said softly, almost disapprovingly.

"I'm sorry," I sighed, rubbing my hands over my face. After the meltdown last night, I was still irritable and short fused. Tasha clicked her tongue quietly and reached her hand out, patting my shoulder.

"It gets easier Rose, I promise," she said softly. My heart wanted to believe her, that the ache and the hollowness would heal. If anyone really knew what this felt like, it was her. I looked at her as I pulled my hands away from my face and found her with a soft smile. Almost nurturing.

"I just feel out of control with my emotions lately. I think it's stress with the upcoming memorial," I explained, wising that I felt safe enough to tell her about my abilities. But I didn't know Tasha well enough to confide that in her. But maybe I could confide in her about something else.

Tasha nodded her head and sipped her drink, but I could tell that she was watching me carefully.

"There is one nightmare that I was hoping maybe I could talk to you about."

Tasha set her cup down and leaned forward in her chair, resting her arms on the table. I took a quick glance around to find that we were two of the five people in the room and took a deep breath.

"Did Lissa say anything to you about our trip to Bora Bora?" I ask biting my lip.

Tasha furrowed her brows and shook her head.

"When we were there I was," I started and took another deep breath as my heart started to race, "I was attacked by a Guardian that was provided by Court."

If I didn't know any better, you would have thought that Tasha was Guardian with how well she masked her expression. Her face was calm and collected but her eyes bore into me like ice.

"You were attacked?" she asked almost like she was testing the words for the first time. I nodded my head and looked down at the table, trying to build up a bit more confidence. It took longer than I thought to get it all out, but I did, and it felt freeing. I didn't want to talk to Lissa about it because I know that she would feel bad and get emotional too, but it felt like I could get it off my chest to someone.