Restraint (The Revelation Series Book 2) by Randi Cooley Wilson Page A

okay. You’re just having a bad dream.” She tries to calm me down by brushing the tears off my cheeks. I breathe in deeply, attempting to pull my heart rate back to a normal level.
    “It’s been a while since I’ve had one of those,” I barely whisper.
    “Shh, we’re here. It’s okay, Eve,” she soothes while brushing a hand over my hair.
    We’re? Out of the corner of my eye, I notice a slight movement in the doorway. Asher’s hands are clenched at his sides, his face ashen like he might be sick.
    A bby lifts her head, noticing I’m staring at him before he nods at her and walks out of the room. With every step he takes, my heart shatters a little more. All I want is for him to run over here and hold me.
    “He isn’t upset with you . Ash is struggling with wanting to be the one to console you, Eve. He knows he can’t,” she says sadly. “You were screaming for him in your sleep.”
    I close my eyes to gather myself. “I was?”
    “Yes. This heartbreaking cry,” Abby whispers as if in pain.
    “ Crap.”
    “ Do you want to talk about it? I know this was kind of your thing with Aria, and I’m not trying to replace her, but if you need someone, I’m here. We all are. You’re not in this alone.” Her voice is sincere.
    “ It was just a bad dream. I’m all right now.” My voice cracks with the lie.
    Abby studies me for what feels like forever. When she thinks I’ve finally calmed down to the point of non-hysteria, she agrees to let me retreat to my room.
    As I make my way up the stairs , I faintly hear Asher. “Is she alright?”
    “I think so. I’m pretty sure it was just a nightmare,” Abby offers in a quiet hush.
    “What do you think brought it on? I mean , she was screaming for me like I had been ripped from her arms?” Asher questions. He sounds scared and worried.
    I sigh , wishing he would just ask me himself. Not waiting to hear her response, I climb the stairs to my room, exhausted. Just as I hit the top landing, McKenna steps into view.
    “We’re back to screaming in the middle of the night , are we, blood of Eden?” she snips.
    “Go fuck yourself , McKenna.” I brush past her and head to my room, not in the mood.
    Once in the shower, the heaviness of the day finally takes its toll on me and for the first time in a long time, I begin to cry and not the pretty, delicate, light tears most girls can pull off. I mean full-on-ugly-I-just-won-Miss-America-hiccupping sobs. I slide down and sit on the shower floor and just let the scalding hot water run over me until I don’t have any tears left.
    At the point I’m sufficiently cried out, I shut off the water and get out of the shower to dry off. I almost start bawling all over again when I notice Asher left his Property of London shirt on the counter. I get into it with my boy shorts and pretend its Asher wrapped around me. Tired, I just want to crawl into my bed and end the madness of the day.
    I open the bathroom door to find Asher lying on my bed, waiting for me. His long, muscular legs are crossed, eyes are closed and his strong hands are resting behind his head. The beautiful gargoyle prince looks so peaceful.
    Thinking he’s asleep, I take a moment just to breathe him in as my heart clenches. I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to block out the remnants of the nightmare. The need to walk over to him and crawl inside him is all consuming.
    As my eyes open, they lock o nto his. Neither of us moves. Neither of us speaks. His eyes travel the length of me, landing on the shirt and causing them to darken as my entire body flushes from his perusal.
    Asher’s face falls. “You look like shit,” he says in typical Asher fashion.
    I snort. “Thanks. You sure know how to sweet talk a girl, for being a gargoyle prince and all.”
    There is a pause. “Siren?”
    “ Your highness?”
    “ Gage told you?”
    “Yes. Though I can’t figure out why you didn’t. What’s one more secret though, right?”
    “With everything else being thrown