Cold sweat soaked me when I once again awoke screaming. It was probably early morning, judging by the darkness that blanketed the world beyond my windows. My nightmares had still not stopped. I rubbed my left shoulder with my right hand as I tried to get my heart rate to go back down to normal. I didn’t understand. Why hadn’t they gone away yet? Hadn’t they just wanted to tell me that Andreas was there, that he had wanted to try and save me but was too late? Perhaps there was more to them than that. But how long did I have to continue suffering through them?

I slipped off the bed, too anxious now to try and go back to sleep. I pulled on a gown and started heading down to the kitchen. The only thing that could calm me now was a nice hot cup of tea. The hallway was dark, all the candles that lined the walls now extinguished; everyone else must already be asleep.

It was harder than I thought having to navigate through this house without a single candle lit. I was sure that when I had stayed here before that there was always at least one candle providing light. Of course I knew there was a simple solution to my problem, but as James had pointed out, I was afraid of fire.  And I wasn’t getting over that fear anytime soon. I made my way blindly down the hall, using the wall as my guide. 

“Lighting a candle is much simpler than stumbling around in the dark, little witch.” My stomach did a little flip at the deep timbre of the familiar voice, my heart stopping a little at his usage of the nickname he’d given me.

I bit my lower lip. “Contrary to what you may believe, I still have very little control over my abilities.”

A small flame suddenly appeared and I could see where he was standing. He was much closer than I thought. The dim light reflecting off him did little else than indicate that he was once again shirtless. I forced myself to look away.

“Is it that, or is it because you have developed a certain aversion to fire?” Damn him for being so observant.

I frowned. “So what if it’s a little of both? Perhaps I just like moving around in the dark.”

I could faintly make out his amused smirk. Sucking in a deep breath, I started walking away from him, further down the hall to where I believed the stairs were located. Of course he just had to notice and follow me.

“What are you doing up so late?” he asked, easily falling into step next to me, using his candle to provide the much needed light I craved but would never let on to.

 “I could ask you the same question.”

“And I would answer it after you have.”

I pinched my eyes shut for a few seconds before replying. “If you must know, I couldn’t sleep and wanted to go make myself some tea.”

“Great idea, considering your aversion to fire.”

I balled my hands into fists. “I do not have an aversion to fire.”

He moved to candle closer to me to prove his point, and I shied away automatically only to curse myself a moment later. “Yes, I see, you love fire.”

“What do you want, Andreas?”

“That is a very loaded question, little witch. Allow me some time to consider it and I will get back to you once I fully figure it out.”

We reached the stairs and I picked up my pace. Andreas didn’t let that deter him and matched my speed. “Why couldn’t you sleep?”

“I just couldn’t.”

He grabbed my arm as he stopped when we reached the bottom of the stairs. “Why won’t you tell me?”

“Why should I?”

“Because I might be able to help you.”

“I’m having nightmares, Andreas. And giving me a remedy to help me sleep might help for one night, but they aren’t going away. So there is really nothing you can do.” I shrugged my arm out of his hand and continued walking to the kitchen.

“Ye of little faith,” he said, catching up to me again. That was starting to get really annoying. “Nightmares only occur because we are afraid, little witch. Conquer your fear, and they will go away.”

“Easier said than done.” We reached the kitchen and suddenly all the candles burst into flames. I started, but quickly composed myself. “Anyway, you never told me what you’re doing up so late.”

My eyes landed on him, now completely illuminated by the kitchen candles. I gasped as I took in his bruised and battered appearance. His left eye was black, with mixed hue of purple around the edges, and bruises and cuts covered his entire torso. A small grin spread across his lips and I glared at him.

“Well, if you must know, I couldn’t sleep,” he replied nonchalantly.

“What happened to you?”

He looked down at himself with the same air of nonchalance and shrugged. “I got into a little sprawl with an old friend. Nothing to worry about.”

I decided not to comment on that and inside turned from him to fill the pot with water. I placed it on the stove after adding the leaves, still keeping my back to Andreas.

“Allow me.” He placed a hand on my shoulder, and I quickly jumped to get out from under it. His expression was highly amused. After our conversation earlier, I hadn’t expected him to act so casually around me. My eyebrows furrowed as I regarded him.  He lit the fire and I made sure to keep my distance from it. Who was I kidding? I was terrified of the flames.

I put space between me and Andreas as well, regarding him with a curious expression. What was he up to?

“Why didn’t you simply heal the bruises?”

“I will before tomorrow, but as for tonight, they serve a purpose.”

“And what purpose would that be?”

“It’s a reminder of something I thought I lost.”

“You love being vague in your answers, don’t you?”

He chuckled, but it lacked humor. “If you want me to be more specific, little witch, you simply have to ask.”

I leaned against the table taking up most of the middle of the kitchen, facing away from him. “I don’t know about you, but where I come from, asking more questions usually implies that the person would like for you to be more specific. Yet you seem to take it as a challenge to see how much more vague you can be.”

“You figured out my secret, now my whole plan is ruined.”

The kettle started crying and Andreas moved to remove it from the stove before I could even begin to move in its direction. He extinguished the flames and placed the kettle on the table and moved to get two cups. I poured the tea into each as he placed the cups down before me.

We drank our tea in silence as I once again turned away from him. I felt his eyes bore into my back and it made me squirm. It almost felt like those first few days I had known him. Almost. I squashed down the memory before the pain decided to resurface.

After a while, Andreas walked past me to place his cup in the sink. My eyes were trained on his bare chest and I felt like scolding myself. My cheeks flushed as memories resurfaced, memories I would much rather have kept hidden in a tiny compartment in my head. Compulsively, I moved closer to him when a jagged scar, bigger that the rest, caught my attention. I reached out to it, but stopped myself as I realized what I was doing. Andreas had gone deadly still.

“This scar, you didn’t get it tonight, did you?” I asked, my voice small.

“No.”

I pulled my hand back to me, emotion threatening to overwhelm me. “It’s the one you got when Raphael stabbed you, isn’t it?” My voice was barely above a whisper.

“Yes.”

I reached out again, and this time I did touch it, the tips of my fingers trailing the entire length of the scar. Andreas seemed to stop breathing. “With all your magic, I’m sure you could’ve healed this,” I said in the same soft voice.

“Scars are memories, little witch. Erasing one would be erasing that memory.” His voice, while trying to remain completely composed, was slightly ragged.

“And you want to remember almost dying?”

Andreas took my hand into his and I lifted my eyes to his. They were the color of water with the moon reflected from it. “No. I want to remember that you saved my life.”

My breath caught and Andreas was slowly closing the distance between our faces. My pulse sped up and I was stuck between wanting to kiss him and keeping my resolve. It turned out, the choice didn’t land with me.

“There you are, I wondered where you wondered off to,” Leita’s melodic voice chimed as she stepped into the kitchen, shattering the spell on me. I pulled my hand out of Andreas’.

“What do you want, fish?” Andreas’ voice was cold and deadly.

Leita appeared unfazed. Her eyes traveled over to me and a wicked gleam filled her cold blue gaze. “I simply came to see when you’d be coming back to bed. It’s getting lonely in that room.”

I swallowed back the lump that hitched in my throat without my permission. “I should go. You two have fun.” Not even I would’ve believed my words.

“Lana,” Andreas called after me, but I didn’t turn back. Hoping Leita would keep his attention, I walked quickly until I was out of their eye sight and then I started running until I reached my room.

I closed my eyes as I leaned against my door once I got inside. Leita’s words hurt more than I was willing to admit. There had been a part of me that had hoped that he would kick her out after our conversation earlier, but now that small piece of hope was even diminished. I didn’t even know why I had hoped that. Past experience had to have taught me one thing. Andreas wasn’t above hurting me to get what he wanted.

I sunk into my bed, breathing deeply to slow down my speeding heart. But no matter what I tried to tell myself, seeing him with Leita burned me more than any fire ever could.