Unfortunately for Crow, he barely had a chance to sit upright before he felt Penelope suddenly wrap her arms around his middle. Unprepared for the motion, he didn’t have time to brace himself and fell on his back when she dragged him down onto the bed with her again. He blinked in surprise, nearly nose to nose with her now that she was leaning on his chest. She’d seemed so intent that she needed to get back to her own room earlier that he hadn’t expected her to prolong her leave.

As she joked that Preston was going to have to smuggle her out if he didn’t talk, the viceroy rolled his eyes. Sometimes, she could be even more stubborn than he was. He didn’t understand why she was being so persistent though. He’d already told her it wasn’t important, and he didn’t think he was acting [i]that[/i] differently lately. He’d just gotten a little more desirous to have her around. That was all.

Crow shifted uncomfortably on the bed as she pressed him to tell her what was wrong again. The concern on her face just made him feel even more embarrassed, since he knew he was making a big deal out of nothing. When had a dream ever hurt anyone? It was ridiculous that he had let himself get so worked up over something so harmless. Even if the nightmare did come back tonight, he would be fine—shaken, but fine. The worst that could happen would be that he wouldn’t feel as well-rested as he wanted to be in the morning.

“It [i]isn’t[/i] important,” he insisted in a quiet voice, refusing to meet her gaze as he spoke. “It was just a stupid dream. That’s it. There’s nothing you need to worry about, so can we please let it go?”