Silvia Day Read Online Free

in a sea of black. Rising upward so far he couldn’t see where the damn thing ended, it was the strongest deterrent he had ever come across. No wonder the other half-dozen Guardians had met with failure.
    He cursed and ran his hands through his hair, which was now graying slightly at the temples. Guardians didn’t age. They were immortal, unless a Nightmare sucked the life out of them. But some of the whacked-out shit he’d seen over the years had scarred him visibly. Weary and disheartened, he gripped the hilt of his sword and banged hard on the door. It was going to be a long night.
    “Who is it?” came a lilting voice from inside.
    He paused mid-swing, his interest piqued.
    “Hello?” she called out.
    With his brain slowed by the unexpectedness of the conversation, he blurted the first thing that came to mind. “Who do you want it to be?”
    “Oh, go away,” she grumbled. “I’m sick of you wackos.”
    Aidan blinked at the door. “Excuse me?”
    “No wonder I never get any sleep with you guys banging on the door with your riddles. If you won’t tell me your name, you can go away.”
    “What name do you prefer?”
    “Your real one, smart ass.”
    His brow arched as he suddenly felt as if he were the one who was mentally disturbed and not the other way around.
    “Bye, whoever you are. Nice talking to you.” Her voice grew distant, and he knew he was losing her.
    “Aidan,” he yelled.
    “Oh.” There was a pregnant pause. “I like that name.”
    “Good. I guess.” He frowned, not sure what to do next. “Can I come in?”
    The door swung open with torturous leisure, the hinges screeching and soft puffs of rust exploding from the cracks. He stared for a moment, startled at how easy it was to gain entry when he had been warned the task would be next to impossible. Then he was struck by the interior. Inside was just as pitch black as the outside. He’d never seen anything like it.
    Stepping carefully into her “dream,” he asked, “Why don’t you turn the lights on?”
    “You know,” she said dryly, “I’ve been trying to do that for years.”
    Her voice floated across the darkness like a warm spring breeze. He searched through her memories and found nothing unusual. Lyssa Bates was an ordinary woman who lived an ordinary life. There was nothing in her past or present that could explain this emptiness.
    The door behind him stood open. He could withdraw. Send for a Nurturer. Be grateful for the easiest assignment he’d had in a long, long time. Instead, he stayed, intrigued by the first flash of genuine interest in a Dreamer he had felt in many centuries.
    “Well…” He scrubbed a hand along his jaw. “Try thinking of someplace you’d like to go and take us there.”
    “Close the door, please.” He heard her padding away.
    Aidan considered the wisdom of shutting himself inside here with her. “Can’t we leave it open?”
    “No. They’ll come in if you don’t shut it.”
    “Who’ll come in?”
    “The Shadows.”
    Aidan stood silently, absorbing the fact that she recognized the Nightmares as separate entities. “I can kill them for you,” he offered.
    “I abhor violence, if you must know.”
    “Yeah, I knew that. That’s one of the reasons you became a vet.”
    She snorted. “Now I remember why I kicked you guys out. You pry too much.”
    Turning to shut the door, Aidan said, “You let me in quickly enough.”
    “I like your voice. Is that a brogue? Where are you from?”
    “Where do you want me to be from?”
    “Whatever.” The footsteps padded farther away. “Show yourself out. I’m not talking to you anymore.”
    Aidan laughed softly and admired her spirit. She wasn’t cowed, despite how miserable it must be to be alone in the dark. “You know what your problem is, Lyssa Bates?”
    “You and your friends bugging me?”
    “You don’t know how to dream. All the endless possibilities of your mind—all the places you can go, the things you can do, the people you can