Chapter 22

The second Brady opened his eyes, he knew he was in one of his mystery woman dreams. He stood atop a crested hill, overlooking the meadow, and Kaida's form was a mirage in the distance by the cliffs.

Except something was very, very off this time. For starters, everything was in black and white, including him. He had on the blue flannel pants and white tee he'd fallen asleep in, but there wasn't a trace of color. Like a cheesy fifties sitcom. Second, it was cold. As in, arctic. It wasn't sleeting, there was no hint of snow on the ground, yet his breaths expelled frost before his face and his limbs were blocks of ice.

Forcing his feet to move, he walked, then jogged closer to Kaida's position, and the harder he tried, the farther she got. It was like the meadow grew in size, expanding to keep him away from her. Panicked, he yelled her name, running.

One moment she was light years out of reach, the next she appeared in front of him. Hair up in a messy knot, she wore a pink two-piece si