The Family Curse (Cursed Wanderers Series: Book 1)

Chapter 14 - The Wakefulness of Dread

I sighed in defeat and plopped down on the white couch, lying down on my back, my hands interlocked on my stomach. “Happy?” I groaned.

“Very, now shut up and try to sleep.”

“Easier said than done,” I muttered to myself. Even with Mare skills I doubted he could make me fall asleep right away. Propofol had a hard time knocking me down. Okay that was a lie. Using Propofol to sleep was like doing chemotherapy because you were tired of shaving your head.

I suddenly sat up in a gasp. Whoa. I looked around confused. I was sitting on my bed, under my cover, like I was just waking up. Kostya was sitting beside me on the bed though he was lying over the cover, his arms crossed behind his head while he looked up at the stars. I rubbed my eyes, thoroughly confused. “What happened?” I grumbled.

“I could get used to this view. It’s seriously nice,” Kostya whispered to himself. I had the urge to hammer him with my fist in the balls. Could he get on with the program? “They never brought me to this room. It’s kind of unfair. Last time I stayed here, they locked me in the wine cellar.” He snorted. “That was a bad idea and a half! Thinking of it, I’ll stay in the wine cellar…” Okay, I had enough.

I flicked his nose. “Hey! What was that for,” he screeched.

I ignored that. “What’s going on? What happened?”

Kostyantyn glared at me a little, rubbing his nose. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I just woke up in my bed instead of the couch,” I sighed, running my hand through my hair, “and I don’t remember what happened during the dream. Did whoever messing with my dreams not show up?”

Kostya frowned. “Mmm, Oksana, you’re dreaming right now.”

I gasped. “Huh, wow okay…” That was… woah. Okay, wow… I couldn’t even wrap my head around the concept. This felt real. Really real. I didn’t feel like the was any kind of presence in my head that wasn’t supposed to be there. It felt way too real.

The boy beside me noticed my confusion. “What?”

“Is it always like this? Being in a Mare’s dream?”

He shrugged. “If they know even remotely what they’re doing yes. Usually you shouldn’t remember anything though. Why?”

“Well, either the one in my dream is a serious rooky, or we’re not dealing with a Mare.”

“I really doubt we’re dealing with a Mare. They’d know better than to leave such an obvious trace, especially on a Faustin Evil Hunter.”

I snorted. “That’s what we’re called?”

Kostya half-smiled. “No, usually you’re called “those mean son’s of bitches that kill anyone that steps out of line.”

“That’s a mouthful.”

Kostya nodded. “Faustin Evil Hunter is shorter.”

For a few seconds we were silent. Kostya kept looking up at the stars. I wondered if they had the same appeal to him as they had to me. And I also tried to think of some subject of conversation before the silence became unbearable. “So… you feed on people’s fear?”

Kostya laughed, a deep laugh, throwing his head back. He was still chuckling and shaking his head when he answered me. “No, not at all.”

I frowned, a little hurt. “I don’t see why this is funny.”

“If you knew what I feed on, you’d know,” he assured me.

Confused anorexic stick pole shaking her hands over her head like a plane crash survivor on a deserted island trying to get help. “What do you feed on? I mean, how can you feed on anything else than fear, you’re a Mare, that’s all they feed on.”