Chapter 99

Harper's POV

I jolt awake, gasping. My body is slick with sweat, my heart thudding so hard it hurts. I sit up, the blanket tangled around me, the room dim but real. The nightmare clings to me like static, the images still burned behind my eyes. I touch my face, just to make sure I’m really here.

The bed is cold when I reach across it, and for a moment, I wonder if he just slipped out to the bathroom. But minutes pass and he doesn’t come back. The room is too still, too quiet. My body won’t stop shaking. I sit up and switch on the light, letting it flood the space and push away the dark that still lingers in my mind.

Mason isn’t here. I have no idea where he went, and even if I did, I don’t think I could sit here alone tonight. Not after that. The dream still clings to me, sticky and heavy, like smoke in my lungs.