Elodie’s POV
I sleep fitfully, waking repeatedly from vivid, unsettling dreams. In them, a tall, brooding man, stalks me through the shadows. Nearby, Callie sits curled in a tight ball on the cold ground, sobbing uncontrollably as she demands to know why I kept her daddy from her.
I bolt upright, gasping for air, my nightshirt soaked in cold sweat. The suffocating darkness abruptly snaps away, replaced by the harsh, blinding glare of morning sunlight.
I blink rapidly against the bright light filtering through the blinds. No looming shadow. No deep, accusing voice. Just the gentle swaying of the ship as it cuts through the water around us.
It was a dream within a dream. A cruel trick of my subconscious.
The door to my bedroom creaks open, and Callie peeks in, rubbing her eyes with one
