Chapter 86 Nightmare memories
The nightmares didn’t come gently.
They slammed into me like a door kicked open in the dark. myscream tore through the corridor, raw, broken, animal in a way that even I didn’t recognize until my throat burned and my lungs begged for air. I jolted upright in bed, sheets twisted around my legs, skin drenched in sweat, heart hammering so hard it felt like it might crack my ribs from the inside. It was 3AM.
My room felt wrong. Too small. Too bright. Too much like the containment rooms in the lab.
“No, no, no ” I gasped, clawing at the blankets as if they were restraints. My hands shook violently. My beast surged awake beneath my skin, snarling, panicked, confused by the sudden flood of terror.
The smell hit me first. Burned metal. Ozone. Blood. I wasn’t here anymore.
I was small again my feet didn’t touch the floor. My wrists were bound with something that bit into my skin, cold and unforgiving. The lights above me flickered, humming loudly, painfully. I could hear my own heartbeat echoing in my ears, could feel the way my chest struggled to pull in air.
“Please,” my younger voice whispered in the memory. “Please..”
A man’s silhouette moved behind the glass.
My father.
Not the version the Council spoke about. Not the brilliant scientist. Not the man reduced to a name in a file.
This one smiled.
The crack of electricity split the air.
I screamed again, this time awake, this time real.
The door to my room burst open so hard it slammed against the wall.
Darius.
He was barefoot, wearing only loose pants, his hair disheveled like he’d run his hands through it too many times, chest bare and marked with tattoos that caught the low light of the room. His eyes glowed faintly, wolf close to the surface, panic sharp and immediate in his expression.
“Lyra….”
I didn’t let him finish.
The moment I saw him, something inside me broke cleanly in two.
I collapsed into him.
My legs gave out, and he caught me without hesitation, strong arms wrapping around me as if he’d been made for this exact moment. I buried my face against his chest, fists clutched, breath hitching as sobs tore out of me in uneven, shuddering waves.
His body was warm and solid.
Not the cold metal of a table. Not the hum of restraints. Not the sterile emptiness of the lab.
“Hey,” he murmured urgently, one hand coming up to cradle the back of my head, fingers threading gently through her damp hair. “I’ve got you. You’re here. You’re safe.”
I shook violently against him, every muscle locked tight as if I were bracing for pain that never came.
“He electrocuted me,” I whispered, the words slipping out before I could stop them. My voice sounded far away, fractured. “My father… he tortured me. And my mother. I saw it in my dream.”
Darius went completely still.
Still, like a predator who had just locked onto a target.
His jaw tightened. His breath slowed, deliberate, controlled. The hand at the back of my head pressed just a little more firmly, grounding me, anchoring me.
“I’ll find her,” he said quietly.
The promise in his voice wasn’t loud. It didn’t need to be. It carried weight, old, dangerous, unyielding.
I held onto him tighter, fingers curling like she was afraid he might disappear if I let go. My sobs soaked into his skin, my tears hot and relentless as the dam finally broke.
We sank down together, his back against the wall as he guided me to sit on the floor, never loosening his hold. I curled into him instinctively, knees drawn up, my body fitting against his like it knew exactly where to go.
Time blurred.
Minutes stretched into something heavier, slower. My breathing gradually eased, though my body still trembled with aftershocks. Darius stayed completely present, one arm around my shoulders, the other resting securely at my back, thumb moving in slow, steady circles.
The nightmares didn’t try to pull me back under.
Instead, memories leaked into my mind in fragments.
Silence settled between us, not empty, not awkward. Just heavy with everything unspoken.
Eventually, my sobs softened into shallow breaths. My body grew heavier against his, exhaustion finally overtaking adrenaline. My beast, once frantic, curled inward, soothed by the steady presence holding us together.
“Stay,” I murmured, barely audible. It wasn’t a command. It wasn’t even really a request.
It was fear, stripped bare.
Darius didn’t hesitate.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he said.
I drifted in and out of half-sleep, still pressed against him. Each time my breathing stuttered, he adjusted his hold, grounding me again with quiet murmurs and steady warmth.