The Luna Queen's Rebirth (Ellie and Dominic) novel Chapter 512

Chapter 512

Nico’s POV

Dad’s voice stopped first, somewhere past midnight. Then the stairs creaked under Mom’s feet, slowly, as she limped after him. Eli had been down for hours, of course. After that there was nothing but the wind coming off the mountains, the old beams settling, and me, laying flat on my back on top of my blankets, listening.

I gave it an hour of silence before I quietly got up, pressed my ear to my parents’ door, and listened. Nothing.

Good.

I went out my window the same way I had a hundred sleepless nights before and crossed the village with my hood up. Amelia unlocked her door before I finished knocking. She’d waited up, as usual. Still dressed, a cup of tea having gone cold on the table.

“You’re doing it tonight,” she said.

“I have to.”

“Nico.” She caught my sleeve. “Her door has never opened. What if there’s a reason for that? What if she…” She looked around and lowered her voice as if afraid of being overheard in her own apartment. “What if she catches you in there?”

“I don’t know. Nobody’s ever caught me,” I replied.

“That’s not an answer.” She folded her arms.

“It’s the only one I’ve got.” I took her hands. They were cold. “I think my sister is still alive inside that mountain, and the only person who knows what really happened up there isn’t going to tell the truth. Furthermore, even if I told my dad my suspicions, he’s not going to believe me without proof.”

Amelia huffed. “Fine. But I’m staying awake and watching you, and if you so much as twitch, I’m pulling you out.”

I smiled wryly. “Fair enough.”

It took some time to slip away, my pulse racing too fast for even Amelia’s lullaby to knock me out. Finally, after what felt like forever, I opened my eyes: I was in the hallway.

It was the same as it always was. Long. Dark. Doors on both sides, running on forever, each one humming faintly with someone else’s sleep. I had rules in this place. Rules I’d made for myself years ago. Look, don’t linger. Take nothing. And never, ever force a locked door open.

Tonight, I was breaking the last one.

Eli’s door hung open a crack, just like always, gold light spilling through. Inside, a T. rex the size of a barn was wearing a saddle, and my little brother was on its back, roaring at the top of his lungs while it thundered through a canyon that made no geological sense whatsoever. Dinosaurs again.

I smiled and moved on.

Dad’s door was open too. That surprised me. He usually slept too lightly to dream at all, like me. I looked before I

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