Lucas couldn't sleep. He lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling of his room, watching shadows from the trees outside dance across the plaster. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her. Leona. Standing in that church, defiant and beautiful, her eyes meeting his across the space between their families.
"It doesn't mean anything," he muttered to himself. "Eliza's just messing with our heads."
But he knew that wasn't true. He'd been having the dreams for weeks now, long before tonight's meeting. Dreams where Leona wasn't his enemy but something else entirely.
He rolled over, punching his pillow in frustration. He needed sleep. Tomorrow would be difficult enough without being exhausted.
Finally, near dawn, exhaustion won. His eyes closed, and he drifted off.
The dream started immediately.
