Viola didn’t wake up early the next morning, even when she had tried to sleep light and rise at the first light of dawn. The days of not sleeping well and finally getting to sleep wrapped in the warm scent of Sebastian had pulled her into a deeper sleep than she would have welcomed on her own.

She was still curled up on the bed when Sebastian woke up, took his bath and changed his clothes, finding her still sound asleep, now lying on his side of the bed. During the night he had pulled her close and wrapped her in his arms and even while carefully untangling their limbs this morning she hadn’t stirred once.

He knew she must be exhausted and as much as he would have liked to let her sleep on, they were falling behind on the journey. Had it not been for his desire to spend this time with her, he wouldn’t have let her make this journey at all and would have simply sent Matt and his most trusted warriors to bring her twin back to Silver.

Sebastian walked over to her after pulling on a black casual t-shirt, clipping on his wristwatch and running his fingers through his hair, and then lowered himself onto the edge of the bed beside her, smiling as he looked at her face.

She was sleeping so peacefully that the hand resting under her cheek was pushing her lips into a slight pout, and there was a small drool at the corner of her mouth. She would never in her life accept that she drooled in her sleep. How adorable. He flicked the tip of her nose lightly with his finger and she stirred, closing her parted lips, but didn’t wake up.

Sebastian chuckled softly. "Wake up, sleepyhead." He whispered, caressing her cheek.

She didn’t wake up and only swatted at him like he was an annoying fly.

Biting his lower lip in amusement, Sebastian took a strand of her hair and slowly rolled it inside her ear. She jolted awake with a start and began to frantically swat and dust at her ear like she was trying to remove a bug from it, but she stopped abruptly when she became aware of him laughing beside her. Realization dawned on her face and she pursed her lips, glaring at him with heavy sleepy eyes.

"Ha, ha, very funny, disturbing someone’s sleep." She grumbled, rubbing at her eyes and trying not to scratch at her ear where he had tickled her. He was still chuckling, clearly amused by her reaction, but she still wanted to sleep and began to lie back down when he caught her arm.

"We have to leave. You can continue sleeping in the car." Sebastian pulled her gently upright.

"What time is it?" Viola murmured, barely awake even with her eyes open. She hadn’t slept this well in a long time and by the moon she wanted nothing more than to put her head back on that pillow.

"Six thirty three." He told her, and he watched as she came fully awake at that, rubbing the sleep from her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Damn, you should have woken me up sooner!" She scrambled off the bed quickly, shoving him aside, and Sebastian shifted to give her room as she rushed into the bathroom. He let out a quiet laugh watching her disappear through the door. There was just something about her that never failed to amuse him. He shook his head and turned back to put on his shoes.

After a small breakfast in the hotel they resumed their journey, and this time Sebastian made a point of not stopping as he had noticed how anxious she was about reaching Nightshade.

They stopped only once at a convenience store to pick up snacks and drinks, filling a large bag between them as they were moving further into open land with fewer and fewer buildings in sight to stop for anything.

Viola fell asleep in her seat with her head resting against the neck pillow Sebastian had handed her, but woke up when she felt the car slowing down. She sat up and looked around in confusion, and then she heard Sebastian let out a string of curses and when her eyes cleared from sleep she saw exactly what had caused it.

"What happened here?" Viola muttered, taking in the enormous fallen tree blocking the road ahead of them. It was so large that the ground around its roots had cracked open, and there was no seeing past it or around it. The road was completely cut off.

"No idea. We are just one pack away from Nightshade. A storm must have come through here at some point. It looks like no one has passed this way in a long time." Sebastian said as he stepped out of the car, telling her to stay inside.

"Where are you going to?" She asked before he could close the door of his side.

He bend a little to look at her as he said, "I need to check if there is a way through. I’ll be right back." He closed the door before she could say anything.

Viola watched his figure disappear around the forest side as he went to look for a way through. The environment was so silent that the only sounds were of strange birds and crickets coming from the dense bushes lining both sides of the road, and she found herself tensing and staring at the spot where he had disappeared into the tall trees.

What was taking him so long? She worried, not liking the silence or the fact that he had gone alone into such forest.

She began to unclip her seatbelt, feeling uneasy about sitting stopped in the middle of nowhere. These roads were known to be dangerous enough that people sped through them without slowing down not to mention stopping in the middle of it.

She was pushing her door open when she spotted his figure emerging back from the trees, his face hardened as he rubbed at his temple.

"There is no way around the trees. We either go back or we take the Blue Bridge." He said as he got back into the car, turning to look at her.

The Blue Bridge. Viola felt her body go rigid. Oh no. Not that way. Everyone in the werewolf world had heard of the Blue Bridge and most had passed over it at some point in their lives. It was technically a shortcut to Nightshade, but she had specifically told Sebastian they shouldn’t go that way when he first mentioned it as an option. He hadn’t asked her why at the time, but now she could feel him sensing her sudden fear and unease because he didn’t immediately start the car.

"What’s wrong?" Sebastian asked, watching her face carefully. "It is just a bridge with enough space for cars. Why are you afraid of it?"

She had looked genuinely terrified the first time he suggested it, enough that Sebastian had decided to change course and take the longer route without pressing her on it, even though the Blue Bridge would have cut days off their journey. But now with no way around the fallen trees and no way forward except back the way they came, he couldn’t let it go without addressing the fear he had seen flash across her face.

"I...I am afraid of water." Viola said quietly, looking embarrassed even as she said it.

"You are afraid of water?" Sebastian repeated, taken aback.

Viola nodded. "Open water. The Blue Bridge goes over water that is connected to the sea. I always have this fear of falling into deep water and drowning. It terrifies me. Even the thought of it makes me shiver and I don’t know why." She admitted, wringing her hands nervously on her lap and avoiding his eyes, not wanting to find amusement in them or have him call her fear foolish and silly.

It made absolutely no sense even to her. She was perfectly fine with bathwater, found it soothing even all the time, but open water was something else entirely.

Her nightmares were always about drowning and then somehow coming out of the water to find herself standing over her bleeding sister with a knife in her hand. No matter how many times she had tried to reason herself past it, she could never bring herself to be near open water or cross a bridge that stretched over the sea. The thought alone sent a crawling cold dread straight into her stomach.