Charade (26 page)

“Who’d you lose?” I asked.

Something shifted behind her eyes and I knew that I was right. I knew that if Gemma hadn’t always been the strong warrior that stood before me today then, only one thing could have turned her into one. Loss. Loss of someone that meant much to her.

Cole chose that moment to jog up to us, something clutched in his hand. “Ladies,” he said grinning.

And just like that, the moment between us was gone. I knew better than to try and ask her about it again, her guard was back up and it wasn’t coming back down anytime soon. “What do you have there?” I asked Cole, pointing to his hand.

“I found it over there beneath a tree. It’s Gemma’s.” He held it up for us to see. It was a dagger. The silver blade gleamed in the sunlight and looked deadly sharp. The handle was silver with a few jewels encrusted on it, the center one being large, circular and it held all the colors of the rainbow. It was the first time I had seen it up close and I thought it was awfully beautiful to be a weapon.

“Keep it,” Gemma told him.

His eyes widened. “This one is yours.” He glanced down at the sack of daggers at our feet then reached for one of the simple ones.

“And I want you to have it,” Gemma said, pushing it back toward Cole. “You might need it.”

“Thank you,” he said, holding the dagger to his side.

Gemma seemed flustered by the second thank you that day. “It’s no big deal.” She shrugged and turned away.

I looked at Cole who lifted his eyebrow at me. I shrugged. Gemma might not be ready to admit how she feels about my brother today, but someday she would be. And until that day I was keeping my mouth shut.

*   *   *

When training was finished, Sam, Cole and I walked back to the house and I was surprised to see my mother’s car parked beside the house.

“That’s my cue to leave,” Cole said, looking at her car.

“You don’t have to go, Cole.” Then I realized I had no idea if my mom knew that Dad had another child or not.

“I gotta get home anyway, finish packing. Tell Gran I said later.” He jogged over to his truck and got in. He was driving down the driveway when Sam and I walked into the kitchen. Logan was at the table, devouring a plate of pork chops, mashed potatoes and green beans while Mom and Gran were talking over hot tea.

“There you are, Heven!” Mom said, getting up to hug me. “I came to see you before your big trip!”

“Thanks, I’m glad you came.”

“Sam,” Gran said, getting up from the table. “You must be starving since you worked through dinner. There are plenty of leftovers. I’ll make you a plate.”

“I am hungry,” he admitted and I laughed. Sam was always hungry.

He went to wash up and I helped Gran put a plate together for him. When he came back, we all settled around the table, Logan and Sam with their full plates and I, Gran, and Mom with our tea.

“Are you looking forward to the trip, Sam?” my mother asked, cradling the mug in her hands.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I’ve been getting to know your brother here. He says he’s visiting you for the summer.”

Sam nodded and reached for his water. “It’s been good to have him here.”

“You must be worried about leaving him alone while you are gone.”

I glanced at Mom, wondering where this was going.

“I would feel better if I knew he was taken care of.”

“Sam, honey, I told you. Logan is welcome here,” Gran reminded him.

Sam nodded and I could see him considering her offer, even though I knew that he didn’t want to leave Gran alone with Logan. He was too unpredictable. But we were leaving tomorrow and we had no other option.

“Well, I would just love to have Logan stay with me,” Mom said, shocking us all.

“Mom?”

“Sure! It’s been too quiet without you there. It would be fun. We could watch movies and Henry could take him fishing.” She glanced at Logan. “Logan, do you like to fish?”

He looked up from his plate. “Yes, ma’am.”

Sam looked at me and I shrugged. Mom really meant it when she said that she was going to accept Sam as part of my life and this offer was her way of proving it.

“I don’t know,” Sam said.

I looked at my mother’s aura. It was filled with blues and greens. She was calm, comfortable and I knew that she meant what she said. I would see if she was only offering out of guilt.

“I think that’s a wonderful idea!” Gran said, her aura looking a lot like Mom’s.

Gran’s acceptance seemed to put Sam at ease and he looked at Logan. “What do you think? Want to stay at Hev’s Mom’s?”

Logan nodded. “Can I eat candy when I watch movies?”

Mom laughed. “Sure.”

I just hoped she didn’t try to cook him some chicken.

“Okay, then.” Sam nodded. “Thank you. I really appreciate this.”

“You are most welcome, Sam.” She turned to Logan. “Bring your things over tonight and you can stay, that way you won’t have to get up so early to come over.”

Logan nodded.

“Wonderful!” Mom said, happy with her plans. She gave me a warm smile and I smiled back.

Our relationship was getting stronger every day. I prayed it stayed that way.

Chapter Thirteen

Heven

When the sky darkened and night fell, the back of my skull began to scream. The pain was intense and distracting, but at least I understood why I was feeling this way. There was a demon in my head. This pain was that demon’s—the Dream Walker’s—way of trying to get inside my brain and manipulate me.

I glanced at the bed and groaned. I did not welcome sleep tonight. I prayed Sam would soon be here, so that the idea of sleep wouldn’t be so bad. Turning my back on the bed and doing my best to ignore the pain, I looked at the door where my suitcases sat packed and ready. Tomorrow, we were leaving for Rome.

Tonight, all across town, my fellow classmates were packing their final items, pouring over the itinerary and texting excited messages to their friends. The anticipation of going abroad would fill their dreams with adventures and fun. I couldn’t remember the last time my dreams were full of adventure and fun.

And this trip to Italy wouldn’t be, either.

While everyone else was going for culture and learning, Sam and I had a much broader agenda. Saying we could possibly be saving the world seemed very melodramatic, but saying we could be helping to keep the world as we know it seemed much more manageable. And a little less frightening.

I heard a light sound and turned to see Sam slipping through the window.

“Did you get Logan over to my mom’s?” I asked, still a little surprised that she was being so supportive of Sam and this trip.

“Yeah, she seemed really excited to have him there. She rented movies and made popcorn for him. And, of course, she had candy.” Sam laughed and shook his head.

I smiled. “We used to do that a lot.” It made me sad that we didn’t anymore. I decided right then, that after the scroll was returned and we got home, I was going to do everything I could to put my relationship with my mother back together. She was making a great effort to accept Sam and now his brother, and I vowed to make a bigger effort as well.

“He’ll be okay,” Sam said, taking a breath and sounding like he was trying to assure himself of that fact.

“Yeah, I really think he will. At least this way he isn’t alone.”

He nodded and I glanced down. In his hand he grasped the bronze case that protected the Treasure Map. My breath caught. Sam held out the scroll and I took it, pulling it close to my chest.

“You dug it up without me.”

“I figured you had enough on your mind.” He brushed his fingertips across my forehead.

“Can you feel it too?”

He nodded. “Just an echo of it through the back of my head, so I know it’s got to be hurting you.”

“It gets worse the later it gets.” I glanced at the clock.

“I’ve been thinking about that.”

“You have?”

He lifted a golden-brown eyebrow. “Of course.”

Sam sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled me down alongside him. “Your dreams, the ones the Dream Walker manipulates, seem to only happen when I’m not sleeping with you. Is that right?”

I thought a moment, having to relive the few dreams that I have had. Slowly, I shook my head. “The first time it happened, you were here.”

“Yeah, but I got out of bed and was over there at the desk.” His eyes flicked to the corner where I remembered waking and finding him.

I gasped. “That’s why you’re body was trying to shift! You sensed the Dream Walker.”

He nodded.

It all made complete sense. Except for one thing. “Who is this Dream Walker?”

Sam cleared his throat and the area around his eyes tightened before he asked, “Have you seen him in your dreams?”

I nodded, the face flashing into my mind, pale skin and dark hair. Mostly, I recalled the power and pull he exuded. Someone wanting power and control could easily be drawn to someone like him. I felt something warm on my thigh and I looked down to see Sam’s hand lying in my lap.

“Tell me about him.”

I shifted uncomfortably and got to my feet to pace the small room. “Why?”

“So I know what to look for when I go in your head to get him out.”

I stopped in my tracks and stared. “You’re going to go in my head?”

His lips curved. “I’m already there.”

I resumed pacing. “True, but…”

“But?”

“You have access to some of my thoughts and feelings because of our Mindbond, but the Dream Walker is different than that.”

“I know. I’m going to try and get in like he did.”

“But I was unconscious then.”

“I should be able to get in while you’re sleeping.”

I couldn’t help but shudder. My head was just too crowded these days. I didn’t like feeling like my head was a playground.

“Hey…” Sam caught my hand and drew me forward, standing to look into my eyes. “It’s the only way I can think of.”

“I understand.”

“I won’t take advantage of you.”

“I know you won’t,” I said, tilting my head down. I felt ashamed that he thought he had to tell me that.

He placed his finger beneath my chin and lifted. “I promise.”

I placed a finger to his lips. “I trust you.”

“You’ll let me try?”

“Of course.”

Sam fell quiet and I was reminded of his request to tell him about the Dream Walker. “He’s very powerful, more powerful than all the others who have come after me,” I said quietly.

Sam’s movements stilled and his head cocked to one side, so I knew he was listening. “He calls me ‘little one’ and says I belong with him… in Hell.”

Sam catapulted away from me and began to pace. I shot him a worried look and lapsed into silence.

Go on,
he urged.

“He pulled me into Hell.” I paused, realizing that Hell was exactly where I had been. I just hadn’t realized it until I said the words out loud. “He showed me his castle. When I didn’t swoon all over it, he became very angry… angrier than anyone I’ve ever seen. The others are scared of him… it’s almost like he rules them.”

Sam stopped pacing and stood with his back to me, staring out the window into the night. He said nothing as I told him about what I saw when I was there and gave him a description of the man we call the Dream Walker. He barely moved at all throughout my descriptions and my stomach flipped a little at the dark mood I could feel beginning to cloak him.

“He wants the scroll and demanded that I give it to him. Sometimes he seems amused when I tell him no; other times he gets angry and screams.”

I fell silent for a few minutes. Sam still said nothing and just stared out into the dark yard. Surely, he didn’t need any other details? I did not want to talk about my dreams anymore and I didn’t think he wanted to hear any more. Tentatively, I approached Sam and laid a hand at his side. His T-shirt was soft and worn against my skin. “Sam?”

“I hate…” he murmured very low.

“What?” I turned my body slightly, trying to wedge just a portion of myself between him and the window.

“I hate that I couldn’t protect you from him.” He didn’t look at me when he spoke the words.

“I don’t blame you.”

“I want to
kill
him.” His voice was so low I had to strain to hear.

My heart began to thud slow and heavy.

“To rip him apart and scatter the pieces.”

I remembered the power and control that the Dream Walker exuded and knew deep down that this wasn’t an ordinary demon—he was something more. Something that Sam might never have had to encounter before. It scared me to the bone. How angry would this demon be when Sam broke the thread into my mind? What would his punishment be?

A small sound caught in the back of my throat and I swallowed it, pushing down the panic. Sam turned his head and looked at me, eyes wild and golden. “Let’s do this.” His gaze shifted to the bed.

“I don’t want to,” I blurted.

He sighed, but his voice was hard when he spoke. “We have to try, Hev.”

“Maybe the Dream Walker will go away when we don’t have the Treasure Map anymore.”

“Maybe he’ll be angry and punish you.”

I tried not to react to Sam’s harsh words outwardly, but inside, I was shattering.

Sam’s shoulders slumped and he sighed and hauled me against him. His chin rubbed against the top of my head as he spoke. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be an ass. But we have to get this thing out of your head.”

He was right and I knew it. I pulled away and climbed into the bed. Sam stood, watching me with a haunted look in his eyes. I lifted the blankets in silent invitation. He was beside me in seconds.

“I’m never going to be able to sleep,” I told him.

He brushed a kiss along my hairline and forehead while his hand came up to rub slow circles across my back. “I’ll wake you when it’s over.”

“What are you going to do anyway?” I asked around a yawn. It amazed me that his touch was able to calm me this way.

“Protect you,” he murmured. His deep, raspy voice vibrated my ear.

Just like that, I fell asleep.