--System Message--
Initiating Dream Phase
------------
The river went away. So did the cold, and the ribs, and Selina's hand on his hood.
For a while there was nothing at all.
Then there was noise. It was the biggest noise Alex had ever heard, and it went right through his chest.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
He opened his eyes. They weren't his eyes.
He was sitting in a high seat made of blue crystal. Below him, a huge bowl of an arena fell away in rings, packed with thousands of shapes, long-armed ones and glowing-eyed ones, all on their feet, all roaring at a giant of a man who stood on a balcony and smiled at them with his fangs.
And the hands in his lap were small and pale, with neat nails.
'Oh no,' Alex thought. 'Oh no, no, no. Luna. LUNA. Please tell me we're not going back to the bedroom.'
'Hehehe.'
'That's not an answer!'
'Relax, Lexie. We're past that part. You're strong enough now for a little more. I'm taking you back to where we were cut off.'
