Dreaming Awake (23 page)
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In the predawn hours after the ball, restlessness hummed through my body, strumming impatient chords of an impetuous song. Something had changed tonight. I felt content and yet suffused with a feeling that I was in transit. That I was about to embark upon something unfamiliar.
I wandered the halls barefoot in my ball gown, hoping to cure my restlessness by discovering something new or at least burning off some of the energy that seemed to be lighting me up from the inside. I began to take stock of my current situation, surprised, really, at how it all seemed to be just as it should be.
So, sure, I was mostly a demon now and queen of an underworld and, yes, my father was still
technically
in a coma in another realm. My life was different from what it should have been, maybe, but it was a good life.
Donny and Amelia would never let me down and they accepted me even when I changed so much. I had music again—it no longer seemed to be rote and boring, but a place that I could go to explore my own spirit. And I had Haden, the boy who woke me up when I was sleepwalking through my own life. He always saw what I tried to deny about myself, and he always accepted that those were my greatest strengths.
I found myself standing outside his door instead of my own.
Perhaps I would knock and tell him I couldn’t sleep. If he wasn’t tired, maybe we could watch a movie or just listen to music.
Or perhaps not. Maybe my restlessness brought me to his room for a reason. Was I ready for more?
Inhaling deeply, I lifted my hand and prepared to knock just as the door opened. Haden stood, sleep-rumpled and smiling wickedly, as if he’d known all along I would end up at his door.
Perhaps tonight would be the night we fell all the way under.
Perhaps.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gwen Hayes
lives in the Pacific Northwest with her real-life hero and a pack of wild beasts (two of whom she gave birth to). She is a reader, writer, and lover of pop culture (which, other than yogurt, is the only culture she gets). Visit her on the Web at www.gwenhayes.com.
BOOKS BY GWEN HAYES
Falling Under
Dreaming Awake