[ Gansey feels cold. He knows that it's not sensible to feel cold, because there isn't actually any temperature here. None of this is real. He keeps telling himself that. Sometimes when he repeats it to himself, he'll become certain of it in his dream, and then he'll wake up. No doubt, that's part of why insomnia had become such a problem for him as he'd gotten older.

He doesn't wake up now. Objectively, he knows the creature is still getting closer. The chill he feels in the air belongs to it, just as the darkness belongs to it. But for the moment, he finds himself fixed entirely on Adam, while a conversation that has no place here is forced to play out.

Gansey's expression is miserable, but set. He absolutely believes what he's saying. ]

Blue saw my spirit, that night. On St. Mark's Eve. She even told us about it.

It means this year is my last, Adam. Don't you understand?

[ Although he's not looking at it, he feels the weight of the creature bearing down on them. ]

It's been chasing me for seven years. I don't have long to wait. That's why you can't stop this. You have to go, before it...

[ Before the dream ends, as Gansey knows it will end. ]

You shouldn't have to see.