MAYA
My scream shredded the quiet as I bolted upright. Sweat soaked me, and my lungs were burning. My arms flung up to block claws that weren’t even there.
For a second, I was still in the forest. Then the guest room slammed into focus.
But I wasn’t alone.
Xander sat in the recliner across the room, legs crossed, hands resting on the armrests, and his eyes locked on me. For a moment, I just kept on looking at him but he didn’t move. He was just sitting there like it was his statue. And his eyes… they glowed faintly, the exact molten gold of the creature in the dream.
“Xander?” My voice came out in a rasp.
He didn’t answer. Didn’t even blink or move.
The glow sharpened, and for one heartbeat, his face flickered, became the Gravok’s eyeless void.
“No!” I scrambled backward until the
