Rise and shine.” I had a moment of panic where I thought I was suspended between darkness and void, the sound of churning water mingling with the rhythm of great wings. A dark figure pursued me, wearing an amulet with a stone like a burning eye. He extended fingers wreathed in tendrils of pure night. Snapping from the nightmare with a start, I managed not to shout. Flailing a bit, I smacked my hand against the roof of the car. The top was up. The last thing I remembered, we were zipping along I-90 and the top was still down. Self-consciously I wiped drool from the side of my mouth. “I fell asleep?” I asked thickly. “Passed out, more like.” Lil chuckled. “Whatever you got up to at Club Heaven wore you out. Have you slept or eaten anything in the past twenty-four hours?” she asked. “You look like hell.” She leaned in close, keen gray eyes studying my face, and it was hard not to notice her very rich, very feminine smell—all spice, vanilla, and musk. I jerked away, pressing my shoulder against the rolled-up passenger-side window.
