Page 374 of Once Upon a Fable

I recognized it and all the evil it represented.

Slowing, I sucked in a breath as Kas dropped to his knees on the dirt where he’d once marched to kill me. An area of forest where nothing grew, not even weeds.

He sank forward, digging at the ground. A snarl ripped up his throat. “You’re dead. You can’t have her. I won’t fucking let you.”

I halted on the graveyard, breathing hard.

Kas continued to dig, his hands scooping and nails clawing at the earth. “I buried you. You can’t touch her.”

My heart thundered.

What did he see that I couldn’t?

What nightmare was he stuck in this time?

“Kas?” I stepped forward carefully. “Are you—?”

“Gem.” He growled my name, adding more speed, more mania to his bare-fingered digging. “Fuck, Gem!”

He didn’t see me—not in the same world as me.

Whatever he was thinking broke him apart. He wiped his cheek with the back of his hand, smearing blood and dirt.

Blood?

Had he hurt himself?

Unable to stand there while he dreamed whatever he dreamed, I stepped into the clearing. Memories of Kas marching me out here with a spade at my back came thick and fast. We’d tumbled in that very spot. We’d become enslaved to the raw connection between us before I’d struck him on the head and run.

That day, I’d left him alone to perish or survive, choosing myself over him.

Today, I choose him.

With fear lodged in my throat and my heart racing, I closed the distance between us. Kas continued to attack the ground, throwing dirt left and right.

A small hole had formed, giving way under his onslaught, digging into the grave where he’d thrown the monsters of this place.

Why was he trying to dig them up? What sort of horrors did he see?

“Kas?” I touched his shoulder, making him flinch. “Kas, please...it’s me.”

He didn’t respond.

Fury glowed on his face, etching into his skin as he glowered at the graves. “Gem—”

The way he said my name broke my love-sick heart.

I knew I should keep my distance. I knew it wasn’t safe to be near him when he was so entrenched in a nightmare, but I couldn’t let him stay there. I couldn’t leave him trapped.

Dropping to my knees beside him, I reached forward and cupped his hands with mine, stilling his digging. “Stop. It’s okay. Everything is alright.”

His head snapped up. His black, dilated gaze caught mine. I sucked in a breath, hoping against hope that he recognized me and didn’t see someone else.

My hopes went unanswered as he bared his teeth and narrowed his eyes to slits. “You.” He rose on his knees, towering over me. “So you want a piece of her too?”

Who? Who did he think I was?

“It’s me, Kas. No one else. Gemma. Wake up. Please,pleasewake up.”