Rivals by Felicia Jedlicka Read Free Book Online

twisting her wrists to be free of his hands. He let go, satisfied that she wasn’t going to punch him again.
    “I know. I know.” Ethan sat up beside her. “I forgot about the dreams.” Ethan kicked himself for not warning her about this. Being outside of the house meant losing the luxuries of the protection the house offered.
    “Nightmares,” she said.
    “Yes, Freddy would be pleased with these nightmares.” Ethan rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “We aren’t protected from dream feeders in this place.”
    “Something is eating my dreams?”
    Ethan nodded and gave up trying to wake up. “Sort of, I can think of at least seven prisoners that can enter your dreams, each with their own agenda. They give you the nightmares, and in exchange you give them your fear, or whatever emotion they want to elicit from you.”
    “What do I do?”
    “Nothing, they’re harmless, for the most part. Just acknowledge they are dreams and try to mentally remove the invading thoughts. It takes some practice, but now that they’ve found you, you’ll have plenty of opportunity to work on it.”
    Cori reached over and pinched Ethan’s arm.
    “Ouch!” he yelped.
    “Just making sure this isn’t a dream.”
    “You’re supposed to pinch yourself.” Ethan pinched her back.
    “Ouch! How much longer do we have?” she asked, wiping her eyes and running her fingers through her hair.
    “After a short supper of air and water, we will be done with day two.”
    “Three more days?” She shoved his shoulder as if it were his fault. “Why do we even have to come in here?”
    “Observation. Danato likes to keep track of wizards. Plus he seems really concerned about the conditions inside the bubble.”
    “How long were you here the first time?”
    “Just a day. Danato showed me the basics.”
    “How long the second time?”
    “A couple weeks,” he said.
    Cori’s mouth dropped, awestruck. “How did you survive here for two weeks?”
    Ethan shrugged. “Keep moving. Eat what you find. Kill what you can. Avoid confrontation. It’s just a lot of hide and seek.”   
    Her face saddened and she shook her head. He couldn’t pin down the emotions flickering across her face, but she seemed mortified. “You think I’m pathetic, don’t you?” she asked.
    “What?” he asked, shaking his head. “Where did that come from?”
    “I’m going nuts after two days, and you survived here two weeks alone.”
    “I didn’t exactly come out very sane after two weeks. This place gets to you, whether it’s two days or two weeks.” Ethan shivered, thinking of his last time there.
    Cori curled up on the floor facing away from him.
    He reached over and rubbed her back. “I’m glad I have somebody with me this time around. Keeps the crazy from sinking in too deep.”
    She rolled over to face him. “Yesterday, why didn’t you agree to have sex with me?”Ethan’s eyes widened and he pulled his hand away from her as if it were an incendiary device for this explosive conversation. The last bit of lethargy left his body. “Because I’m not a dick,” he said with a “no duh” attitude. “I saw your distress. You were reacting, not really thinking.”
    “But…” Cori paused. She sat up, putting more distance between them. “That is something you would be interested in?”
    Ethan cleared his throat and rubbed his face, trying to compel his cheeks not to blush. He couldn’t believe she could say that so casually to him. “Yes, I think that would be an accurate statement.” His cheeks burned red from his admission.
    “Then you should have taken the opportunity,” she said coldly. Ethan tried to hold her gaze, but couldn’t. “If you want something,” she continued, “you should seize any opportunity to have it, even if that opportunity is a little morally compromising.”
    He pinched himself to check if he was dreaming. Was she asking him to make a pass at her? “Are you saying you want me to… What are you