11

Asuka Kawashima is a man without dreams.

Nightmares plague humanity and cross into the waking world—chasing after their dreamers and transforming them into hideous monsters that haunt New York City at night. When Asuka is faced with the choice of either dying or selling his soul to the Devil, he offers it in exchange for the chance to continue protecting people. But the Devil is sly, and while he takes Asuka's ability to dream, making him immune to nightmares, it also removed Asuka's abstract sense of dreaming. Now life is gray, hopeless, and without wishes.

A chance meeting five years later leads Asuka to Merrick Grace, a man who, despite the dismal world around them, still believes there will be a day when monsters cease to exist. When the Devil reappears, asking for a favor in return for his soul, Asuka must make another difficult decision….

If the chance to dream again—to share a life with Merrick, full of hope and happiness—is worth the risk of almost certain death.

Previously featured in the Devil Take Me anthology.