The Eternity Cure. Julie Kagawa

and safe from each other. Having him in the same room with me as I lay exposed and helpless made me nervous.

      Jackal was still wandering around, looking for a place to lie down. I stayed awake as long as I could, listening to his footsteps, waiting for him to find a spot. I forced myself to keep my eyes open, fighting the sluggish pull threatening to draw me under, until the noises ceased.

      Finally. Leaning my head against the wall, I let my eyes slip shut, and had just started to relax when his dark chuckle echoed out of the darkness.

      “I know you’re still awake.”

      “Good for you. Shut up and go to sleep.”

      Another snicker. “What you have to ask yourself,” he continued, “is whether I’m the type who would stay awake long enough to kill you after you fall asleep, or if I’m an early riser who would kill you before you wake up.”

      “If you want your head to stay on your neck, you’d better be neither,” I growled, though his words sent a cold spear of dread through my stomach. My hands tightened on my sword hilt, and Jackal laughed somewhere in the darkness, unseen.

      “I’m just kidding, sis,” he said. “Or am I? Something to think about, before you fall asleep. Nighty-night, then. Sleep tight.”

      I struggled to stay awake awhile longer, knowing I was playing right into Jackal’s twisted sense of humor, yet unable to stop myself. I couldn’t see Jackal, couldn’t hear him, so I didn’t know if he had already fallen asleep, if he was lying awake snickering to himself, or if he was waiting for me to drift off so he could creep over and quietly rip off my head.