Dreamscape (24 page)

When I catch a glimpse of her hand, blistered and damaged,
I cringe. Her questions have distracted me from my task.

Moving beside her, I gently grasp her arm above the last
coiling line of blisters and rip the sleeve at the seam. When the fabric floats
to the ground, I have a full view of the horrible damage. She has to be in
agony, but she is facing me without giving a glimpse of her emotions.

Her wounds are disturbing in numerous ways, not the least
of which the bubbling pustules that coil around her arm like a viper. Her body
should not react to the venom meant for me.

She is more present than I thought possible on her first
venture into the Dreamscape. She’s vulnerable, but so, so brave.

When my fingers hover over the damage, she bites her lip
and flinches before I have a chance to touch her. I glance at her and our eyes
connect. Not taking my gaze away from hers, I raise her arm near my lips and
blow.

The injury withers away into the nothing it should have
been. I take another breath and she closes her eyes, her breathing erratic now.
I smile, letting my lips brush her skin along the path of blisters.

She gives a tiny gasp when I pull one damaged finger into
my mouth. That little sound sends a rigid slice of pleasure through me.

She snatches her hand away before I can complete my task.
Smiling, I stand up and give her a questioning look.

Her breathing still hasn’t recovered, and I have no
intention of letting her calm down, just yet.

When I move to claim her mouth, she struggles in my arms
for the briefest of moments until she yields under my touch, allowing me to
devour her essence. I take every ounce of her I can get. She intoxicates me.

I pull her closer, savoring the taste of her, savoring the
soft contours of her body that I would love to explore more fully. She could
never be anything other than new to me.

Boisterous laughter from behind us interrupts any further
interaction with Amelia. I release her and glare at the intruder.

My voice comes out strained, but not as malicious as I
intend. “What are you doing here?”

Amelia stiffens in my arms, turning her head just enough to
get a glimpse of the prat I deal with on a daily basis.

“You’re late,” barks my brother. He makes a show of eyeing
Amelia, surely to infuriate me. The worst part is it’s working. He gives a slow
smile. “Who’s this?”

He shouldn’t be asking such a question. He should be
jabbing me about taking my pleasure with fantasy women. He shouldn’t be able to
tell Amelia is anything different than an illusion, but in all the excitement,
I haven’t shown her how to dampen her life force.

She twists in my arms. “You first,” she says, giving him a
hard stare, making me brim with pride.

Ian narrows his eyes as they eat up her frame. I want
nothing more than to pummel his face for even looking at her, but I keep myself
where I am.

“I’m anyone you want me to be, honey,” says my
not-so-subtle sibling.

Amelia shifts out of my arms, rolling her eyes at Ian while
picking imaginary lint off what’s left of her jacket. “Someone should really
teach you guys about suave because what you’ve got is nothing but amateur.”

A sharp round of laughter rushes out of me. “I’d say that
sums him up.”

“Shut up,” says Ian. He turns to Amelia again and smiles.
“I’m his brother, and you have created quite a problem for me.”

“I haven’t done anything for you,” says Amelia, staring at
him, her lips turning in a frown. “I’ve had no hand in what’s happened the last
little while, so don’t go laying something on me that is so not my fault.”

Ian holds up his hands. “Whoa, hold on there, girlie. Suave
may not be my thing, but you need a lesson in chill.”

“Oh, I’ll chill once I know you’re not a threat.”

He shifts his legs wider and puffs out his chest. “What if
I am a threat?”

Amelia alters her stance, just like I taught her. She’s
ready for anything, or so she thinks. Ian—although my brother—is not one to
fool with in his current situation. He’s gone longer than I have between
recruits. Oneiroi are better equipped to handle the Dreamscape and the Erobos
when we have a Sibylline to diffuse the darkness, yet having a recruit we don’t
convert can leave us vulnerable. Ian was a mess after he let the last one go,
even though they fought constantly.

Not to be intimidated, Amelia licks her lips. “Bring it,
stud.”

I step in front of her. Ian will level her and take
pleasure in the act, woman or no. When I glare at him, he glares back. “I was
on my way,” I tell him. “We got sidetracked.”

“Since when do you let some chit distract you?”

Amelia pokes her head around my shoulder. “Hey, I’m no
chit. I have no idea what that even means, but I’m not it.”

Ian laughs. “Really? Seems you’ve gotten yourself in plenty
of trouble for only being a shadow, and you, miss, are most definitely a chit.”

“Whatever you say, douchebag. I’m only here for the ride.”

Ian stutters, “Do-Douchebag?” A rouge tinge creeps into his
face. “No one calls me a douchebag and lives to say another word.”

Amelia laughs, cocking her head and flipping him off—with
both hands.

Oh, bother.

When Ian lunges, I grab him in a bear hug. “Go back to
headquarters. I’ll be along shortly.”

“What about our meeting? We have things to discuss, and
you’ve just loaded us with a major problem.”

“Later,” I tell him. “Go.”

He stiffens, no doubt attempting to assess a way out of my
hold. To my surprise, he leans into me, leering at Amelia over my shoulder.

“I have a long memory, chit. Just you wait.”

“You will leave!” I tell him.

“Yeah, sure,
brother
. Zed will be furious. We don’t
have time for distractions. You should have warned us you’d picked up a warm
body.”

I had hoped to drop Amelia at my office before I met up
with him. “I will be there shortly!” I tell him. “I will deal with Zed. You
cannot help me here.”

He storms away, looking back with acid in his stare before
he shifts into a crane, soaring into the distance in a matter of moments.

A relieved sigh bubbles out of me. I had hoped to keep Ian
from meeting Amelia for a few days. A few centuries would be preferable. Now, I
will have to rethink my strategy.

When I face Amelia, she’s staring into the distance, a
worried veil over her eyes as she tracks Ian’s departure. She should be
worried. Ian is this close to converting to Erobos. He doesn’t need her to help
him along the way. I will have to be careful. I will have to make sure Amelia
and he do not meet up again anytime soon.

What the hell? That guy has the temper of an erupting
volcano. A deep frown pulls on my mouth. I may have made a mistake. I thought
he’d banter with me. He seemed like he was playing, having some fun. I was
trying to feel him out, not incite him into wanting to kill me, but he kept
pushing my rather faulty buttons. His type is usually all talk. Bravado, piss,
and wind. Unfortunately, he’s no poser.

That has to be a record. Usually, it takes at least a half
hour to get someone I’ve just met close to strangling me.

I’m normally pretty good at reading people, but that guy
was not people. He was something else, which makes me more aware that the man
standing in front of me is also something else. He’s not human.

How has it taken me so long to recognize that for what it
is, to understand what the differences could mean for me? Does Seth have the
potential to be volatile like his brother? I eye him up and down, not
pretending at all. He needs to know I’m assessing him. He needs to know I’m
wary.

Seth reaches out to me. “Come, I’ll take you back to your
world.”

It takes me a second to process what he said. I lock my
knees and fold my arms. “I don’t want to go.” I glance around the nondescript
field we landed in, trying to take in as much as I can. The dewy grass licks at
my knees through my dress. “I thought you were going to show me around.”

He shakes his head mournfully. “That was before you
antagonized my brother.”

“I did no such thing. He’s a beast. Didn’t your mother ever
teach him how to behave?”

Seth cocks his head to the side, shaking it in a scold. “I
never said I had a mother, Amelia.”

“Everybody has a mother. It’s how the world works.”

He lifts a quizzical brow. “Your world.”

I flip my hair out of my face, pulling out more of the pins
that are digging ruts into my scalp. One by one, I toss them onto the grass.
Seth watches my every move as if I’m a mechanical doll he’s trying to figure
out.

He wants me to believe he just poofed into existence? Not
likely, but the truth is I have no idea how he came to be. I guess everything
has to be created.

Unfortunately, I don’t have time for chicken versus egg
postulating. A choke comes out of me as my imagination glitches an image into
my head. What if Seth hatched from an egg? Even if he did, he’d still have a
mother. Stifling a giggle, I give myself an inward shake and focus. I have to
convince Seth to let me stick around.

If I agree to go back to my dream world or whatever, who
knows how long it will be until I get out again. To stay, I have to make myself
useful.

“Okay,” I say, and he raises his other brow. He’s so on to
me. Maybe I could use a few lessons in suave too. I raise my brows back at him.
“I thought you had a job for me. If you take me back now, how’s that going to
happen?”

He growls and shoves his fists into his hair, tilting his
head to the darkening sky. “Why couldn’t you just be silent? Ian is a threat to
you now. Do you understand that?”

I frown. “He made it pretty clear.”

“Not clear enough, apparently.”

“What’s he going to do? Like you said, my body is safely
tucked away in your realm. He can’t do any real damage, no matter how much he
tries.” My skin still burns from that nightmare’s icky lick, but I’m not
telling him that. When I wake up, this will all have been a dream.

Seth inches closer, until his chest blocks everything else
from view. I crane my neck to look up at him. Jeez, he’s tall; I will not let
him intimidate me.

Instead of yelling at me more, like I expect, he glides his
arms around my neck, pressing my face into his chest. “I couldn’t stand it if
anything ever happened to you, especially if harm came to you by my brother’s
hand.”

“I’ll be fine,” I tell him, giving him a good squeeze around
his waist. I linger a little too long, but I can’t seem to stop myself from
touching him. After a moment, I make myself move away. “Have a little faith,
will you? With you on my side, what could possibly happen?” Somewhere inside
this strange man is the guy I fell in love with—a friend and lover that would
do anything for me. The thought comforts me. I just wish I remembered agreeing
to come here. I sort of hoped I would remember when I came into the Dreamscape,
but it’s as if those memories are locked tight inside me.

Seth groans, and I bite back the disturbing thoughts that
answer my question. If I’m going to ever gain my freedom, I have to help Seth
first. He’s just as trapped as I am, more so. I don’t want that for him. He’s a
good person…so why was he cursed…how did it happen?

A realization makes my knees watery. Somewhere along the
way, I’ve become attached to him. I care about what happens to him. Even if I
could escape now, how could I leave him to the horrible solitude of his realm?

Another realization slams me in the head. I’d miss him.

How did that happen?

I take a deep breath to steady myself, but the only thing I
manage to do is sway from the smell of him. He has the same effect on me as
sniffing gasoline. I’ve got to snap myself together.

His hand trails down my back, under my jacket, and back up
to my hip. His warm fingers lap at the exposed flesh of my back. Fire explodes
in my belly. I need to keep a safe distance from him, but is there such a
thing? Why did I have to cave like this? I want nothing more than to erect a
barrier between us again, but it’d just be made of noodles—transparent ones at
that.