Never Sleep

by Cady Vance

  We all nod but stay silent, almost like we’re in a classroom at school and Gabe is the instructor.

  “Good. Now. Who wants to go ahead and get the tests over with?”

  Lottie shoots her arm into the air, and he waves for her to follow him. She bounces away after tossing a grin at me and Florence, hair swishing behind her. Gabe leads her through a closed door and signals to Lucas.

  Lucas moves from my side to stand before the group. He grins wickedly at me. “Alright, raise your hand if you want to sleep now.”

  My hand shoots into the air, along with three or four others, except for Odin. He’s too wrapped up in Gemma, where they’re whispering quietly together in the corner. Lucas counts the hands and then moves out of sight through a bathroom door.

  Odin and Gemma inch over to me while we wait. “You like him.”

  My face flames, and I stare hard at my scruffed-up slippers.

  “Nice accent.” Gemma wiggles her eyebrows suggestively.

  “He’s a good guy,” Odin says. “I approve, kid sister.”

  “Hey, I’m sixteen now.” I laugh, but it feels forced. I can’t help but wonder if he’ll still call me his kid sister when he knows the truth.

  “And I’ll always be older than you.” He elbows me, sending me teetering before he grabs my elbow to hold me steady. “Whoa there. Let’s get you a nap before you pass out on us.”

  “A nap sounds good.”

  Lucas reappears and moves to each of us, dropping pills into palms. He leaves me for last, directing the other kids to couches and bean bag chairs scattered throughout the living room.

  “We’ll get you all set up in your rooms as soon as we get some sheets clean. For now, sleep wherever you want in here.” He lowers his voice and turns to me. “But you can take my bed.”

  I cough and feel every drop of my blood flooding my cheeks. Odin’s watching us. I can feel his eyes on me. When I turn to look, he only grins and gives me a nod. I smile back before turning to Lucas and his bright blue eyes. Odin will be in good hands now, with Gemma.

  He leads me away from the group and down a short hallway. At the end, he pushes open a door and ushers me inside. I tread in on timid feet, eyeing a very boyish room scattered with clothes and gadgets and papers. The dark brown colors look warm and cozy.

  Before I can decide where to sit, he brushes the t-shirts off his thick comforter, sits down on the bed and pulls me into his lap. “Glad to be here, eh?”

  “You have no idea.” I try not to think about the fact that I am in his bed.

  “You don’t seem like you’re completely happy, Thora. Did something else happen in there while we were waiting for you?”

  I nod, sigh, and squeeze my eyes shut. “There’s something more about me that I found out. I’m not me, Lucas. I’m some other girl’s Personality. In this body. I have been…for six whole years.”

  “I see,” he says, tracing circles on my wrist with his thumb. “I can see how that might be a hard thing to process.”

  “You don’t seem surprised?” I ask, staring into his bright eyes.

  “The way you were acting made me think it was something like this.”

  “Lucas, I don’t know how to live my life if I’m not me.”

  “You are you, Thora.” He shakes his head. “Just because they did something to you, it doesn’t mean it’s not you inside.”

  “I just need time, I think.” Time to process what this means for me.

  “Sleep will clear your head, I promise.” He smiles. “You ready?”

  I nod. He holds open his palm, and I pluck the red capsule into my own. It’s so small but so big at the same time. Lucas grabs a glass of water sitting on his bedside table and hands it to me after I’ve popped the pill into my mouth. I swallow, hoping the medication takes effect right away and also hoping it doesn’t.

  “I’m so glad you’re here now. Safe. We’ll have a proper chat about everything after you sleep.” He leans close to kiss my cheek. I try to breathe normally but know I’m failing.

  “Thank you,” I say. “I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t met you…”

  “I know,” he says. He pushes a strand of my red hair behind my ear, his breath hot and quick on my lips. His face is only inches away, and I can barely focus on his words with his lips so close to mine. “But this is your home now.”

  I fall into his kiss, and his lips move hard against mine. My fingers reach up and clutch his shirt, and I don’t care at all that we’re in his room, who I am, where I came from. All that matters is this kiss. All that matters is having Lucas as close to me as he can possibly get. All my pent-up fear, frustration, anger and sadness pours out of me and into this kiss, and I feel just as much passion coming from him. My entire body is a shockwave, and I’m left reeling from it.

  We break apart, and I take a quick breath to steady myself. I wish I could hold on to how amazing I feel in this moment. Alert, strong and in control. But I know it will be gone in only a matter of days when the sleepless nights pile up on me. Or maybe they won’t now that I have this medicine.

  “I don’t want to be like this forever,” I say to Lucas in a soft breath.

  “I know,” he says. “But you’re amazing just as you are, you know. I care about you.”

  My heart leaps, and I lean into his body, enjoying the hard planes of his chest.

  “I don’t want to be like this either, you know,” he says.

  Our noses graze as we shift even closer. The soft bed creaks underneath my weight. “What do we do?”

  “We have leads. We have ideas.” His eyes sparkle. “And we have Florence’s iPod with the formulas from the Clinic, don’t forget. It’s a start.”

  “But is that enough?” I ask.

  “We’ll find the cure.” His serious expression falls away to reveal that goofy grin of his that sends butterflies storming around my belly. “In the meantime, we were in the middle of something, eh?”

  I smile back at him and lean forward for another kiss. My fingers tangle in his fluffy hair; his soft lips move against mine, gentler now than before. Slowly, softly. My body relaxes against his. So many emotions are flickering through me, but I know one thing for sure. I don’t want to be anywhere but here.

  My eyes feel soft and heavy, and I find them fluttering shut, my hands slacking in Lucas’s hair. I murmur against his lips and feel his body shifting away from mine. I want to reach out and grab him back, but my hands are limp and weak.

  “Ah, there we go.” His soft voice sounds like a smile. “Time for your dreams, America.”

  Things come in patches, my conscious here and then not. Lucas’s strong arms shift my legs onto the bed. He lays my body back onto the softest pillows I’ve ever felt, and he covers me with a heavy blanket. Fingers swipe aside a strand of hair from my forehead. Soft lips leave a kiss there, and it’s the last thing I grasp onto before I feel myself drift away.

  I hope that kiss follows me into my dreams.

  The End.

  Enjoy reading Never Sleep? Click here to join Cady’s mailing list and be the first to hear about new releases! Also, please consider writing a review on Amazon, Goodreads or wherever you hang out online, to help others decide if they would like it. You can also pick up Bone Dry if you'd like to read more of my work, a YA novel about a con artist, a comic book nerd, and some shamans attacking a New England town with some serious dark magic. Now Available at Amazon.

  Other titles by Cady Vance

  Available Now

  Bone Dry

  The Madmen’s City

  Coming Soon

  Bone Carved, A Prequel Short Story (Available February 2015)

  Bone Cold (Available 2015)

  Storm (Available 2015)

  Clash (Available 2015)

  Acknowledgments

  First, I must thank my parents, as always, for encouraging me to follow my dreams. You supported me every step of the way when I had the crazy idea to move to New York City. Thank you for th
at first trip that made me fall in love with the bright lights and bustling streets.

  Thank you to Josh, for cheering me on to write my books and for listening to me ramble on about what a great city New York can be. Thank you for loving it, too, though maybe not as much as I do.

  A big thank you to my writing pals, Shana Silver and Chandler Baker. Shana, you always believed in this manuscript, and you helped me work out some plot points (Odin!) when I got stuck. Chandler, your Gchats always encourage me to keep at this writing thing.

  A big shout out to Ashley, Chrissi, Mary Ann, Lisa and Carol. I had some of the best times of my life with you guys in New York (and other places!), and I’ll never forget them. I miss you guys!

  Lastly, thank you to New York City. You are my favorite place in the entire world, and you, my old friend, inspired this book.

  About the author

  Cady Vance is the author of YA and NA speculative fiction. After growing up in small-town Tennessee, she decided to embark on a grand adventure by packing up her bags and moving to NYC. Now, she studies for her PhD in the UK and dreams of seeing the universe.

  www.cadyvance.com