Dreamscape (34 page)

I have so much
to teach her still. Damn the Erobos, and damn Daegan. He will regret his
attempt to alter my recruit. He has no chance of capturing her.

Even if he
managed to splinter Amelia’s soul, he would not have her. His strategy makes no
sense. He would be better off to wait until she is physically present to risk
such a thing.

There has to be
more to his plan than taking Amelia, but I cannot allow myself to travel a dark
path at this moment. I must keep focused on the reasons I chose my recruit.

It doesn’t take
us long to reach the other portal; however, entering it will prove difficult.

Ian circles the
pool, his eyes searching the blackened depths where dangers await those with
darkness in their souls.

I swallow my
own fear and look to Zed, who doesn’t show a single sign of nerves. Sure, he
just got
his
recruit back, thanks to mine.

“Are you
ready?” he asks.

I nod and Ian
grunts.

“Let us
depart,” says Zed moments before he dives through the crystalline surface,
followed quickly by Peter. I push back my gnawing thoughts and follow, barely
noticing Ian behind me.

The nymphs
swirl around us, circling like sharks on the hunt. One detaches from the crowd
and draws nearer. The beautiful face in front of me twists into a sultry grin
that is somehow ruined by her razor-sharp teeth. She zips up to me, her black
hair floating about her body like a widow’s veil.

I still myself,
allowing her to appraise me. A single dark brow raises and her smile takes on
an evil twist. A talon scrapes down my arm, drawing blood, and more nymphs
circle closer.

I’m caught up
in the sway of their movement and allow my thoughts to dip into darkness again.
She shakes her head, sliding her talon along my cheek, and I stiffen. If I am
not careful they will shred me where I stand.

Swallowing, I
conjure Amelia in my thoughts. Her light, her purity, buoys me up. A smile
spreads my mouth, and my heart pounds with her song.

When the nymph
frowns at me, I smile wider. Breath is not an option, but I am in need of a
different sustenance only Amelia can give me.

With a swift
flick of her tail, the nymph leaves, taking the others with her. Ian can take
care of himself. If he makes it through the portal, I will be stunned. If he
doesn’t, we will have to take further precautions with him.

Either way,
this test is a good litmus for us all. I should really thank Kelsby, and I
might, after I throttle him.

The minute I’m
through the barrier, I spring for the rim, not even taking a moment to search
for Zed. Once on the surface of the crater, the scene disintegrates in
fragments.

Amelia is ten
feet away, Maybell right behind her. Kelsby is off a distance, but I’m not
concerned for him. Amelia’s features are pulled in disgust, and I can only
imagine what she sees until the dreamer spins around and smiles at me.

His voice is
layered with the darkness of hell. His tongue lolls over his rotting teeth as
he speaks, still counting. His presence pushes against me, threatening to steal
my power, but I am prepared for him.

What I am not
prepared for are the Eros he has inside him, and worse, the Eros that have
escaped him already.

All hushes to
movement. I lift my sword near my face, taking a breath to still my thoughts
and ground my heart.

The first one
flies at me, offering ghostly masks and vain wails as it dives for my face. I
wait until it is inches from me and slice the air in a wide arc. It dashes away
on the wind as another takes its place. Again and again I am bombarded with the
entities of the damned.

I inch my way
closer to where Amelia stands, but I can’t allow myself a moment to glance at
her. One wrong move and I could be infiltrated.

Eros, even
without a physical shell, can tempt, but they can also terrorize instantly. As
if punctuating my thought, Kelsby screams while Maybell yells out obscenities.

Zed, I’m not
too worried about. Peter has already begun dispatching the dark ones. He is the
least affected by Erobos influence. Ian has yet to show himself. Perhaps it is
better for the nymphs to push him back than for the Eros to have a shot at him.

I stagger
closer to the dreamer, who stands statue like, allowing the Eros to rush out of
him.

His skin has
turned ashen. He will not be long in this world, of which I am grateful, but
what is his intention? What has he planned?

I bypass more
Eros, who are interested in Amelia anyway. “Hello,” I say to the walking
corpse.

He doesn’t
acknowledge me, still counting. For a moment I wonder if this is the countdown
to oblivion for him, but then another thought hits me. What if he has kept
track of the Eros he houses?

“Twenty-five
thousand two hundred and two, twenty-five thousand two hundred and one,
twenty-five thousand two hundred…”

He doesn’t even
take a breath as he plods forward. I’m not waiting for him to get to zero. I
lift my sword and slice through his neck. His head rolls away from his body
with a sickening thud, followed by a gurgling hiss.

Not the best
choice I’ve ever made. Hordes of Eros rush out of his body, both from his
dismembered head and the rest of him.

I morph
immediately, choosing the form of a dragon. My wings pump until I hover over
the crater. Spikes line every inch of my skin and I use them to skewer as many
Eros as possible with one simple swish of my tail.

Now that I’m
airborne the scene becomes clearer. Amelia gapes at me, a leather strap
dangling from her fingers.

“Move!” I yell
at her, but as usual, she doesn’t listen to me.

At the last
moment she loads a ball and hurls it toward the closest Eros. It takes seconds
for the projectile to reach its mark, shattering it into tiny specs of
smoldering ash. Kelsby must have a touch of sight. He’s given her one of the
only weapons Eros cannot avoid. The blast is made to attach to dark energy, so
it doesn’t matter if they disassemble.

She goes to work
after that and so do I, my chest swelling with pride I impale more Eros. Once I
take care of the immediate vicinity, I scan for the others.

Kelsby is in
trouble. He’s got five Eros attached to him, his face drawn in the pleasure
pain that brings a shiver to my spine.

I glide
over to Maybell, who has her own set of Eros inching closer. These are stronger
than usual and more determined. Letting out a battle roar, I tuck my wings and
dive.

Seth’s a
dragon…a stinking dragon. If I hadn’t seen him morph myself, I would have never
believed it. It’s wicked cool, but I can’t focus on my desire to join him in
the sky, not with these things hovering about like grim reapers on the hunt.

Kelsby showed
me how to multiply my ammo by clicking a button on the side of the little
balls. When I do, the ball vibrates before it splices like an out-of-control
cell.

They have some
kind of homing mechanism that latches on to darkness. I don’t know the
technicalities, but I’m glad once I release them they do their job fairly quickly.

I’m trying to
ignore the decapitated body lying mere feet from me because the goo coming out
of him isn’t near as freaky as the wispy tendrils that solidify into grotesque
creatures that shift form constantly.

If I make it
out of here with my wits, I’m going to ask Seth more about them. Somehow, I
doubt they come from the same sphere as humanoids.

They fly at me
in hordes like locusts fleeing a storm, yet they are the storm. Darkness
consumes the very air, even though light still penetrates the atmosphere.

I’m pushed back
and back until I’m nearing the edge of the pit. Heat hisses up and suffocates
me. A sulfurous fog follows the heat. When I glance into the void, a small
scream escapes me.

“Seth,” I yell,
whacking another Eros with an ignited ball. It disintegrates on impact, but
more come. There are always more. “We’ve got issues here!”

Fire bursts
forth from Seth’s mouth and sprays a line of writhing Eros. They vaporize, the
only remains left floating on the stagnant air.

The volcano
burps and Kelsby groans. I’ve lost track of him and Maybell, but I quickly
locate him on the other side of the volcano. The horror of what’s happening to
him leaves my mouth dry, bile rising up my throat. His entire body is covered
in Eros. Their flimsy shells are solidifying right in front of me.

Thankfully,
Maybell is fighting her way over to him. She’s a sight to behold with her rifle
set tight against her shoulder. She sends forth another burst of bullets,
popping the Eros near her like overgrown pimples.

I click the ball
in my hand five times and load my sling. I grew up with a kid that thought it
was funny to pummel my backside with pebbles on the way home from school. One
of the only good memories I have of my dad was the day I came home with a black
eye, because of that stupid kid.

He said the
dummy probably had a crush on me, but the only thing his actions inspired was a
firm desire to crush him.

My dad taught
me to use the sling shot then. He worked with me for a few weeks until I could
knock a beer can off our weather-worn fence with one shot. I even managed it a
few times while shooting backwards. The next day, I got my revenge. All it took
was one good hit to his shoulder and the boy ran home crying. We moved right
after that, so I never saw him again, but I kept up my skills until I was in
Junior High, just in case. Seems like a blessing now.

Once I seat the
balls, I give a quick flick to the thong and release the tether. The balls race
out, snatching one Eros in its quivering eye. The other balls find their marks
not long after. Really, I think even if I didn’t know how to use a sling shot,
these things would do their job.

Using my new
technique, I make my way closer to Kelsby and Maybell. Zed, Seth, and some
other guy are up to their hairlines in Eros, so they are really no use to us.

“What should I
do?” I yell to Maybell.

She doesn’t
look at me, but I can hear her just fine. “Don’t come over here, Amelia!”

“Just tell me
what to do. I can help!”

She grunts. “We
have to lure them away from him.”

“How!”

“Think of your
worst moment then right after think of your best. It should be enough emotion
to entice them.”

As she gives
the instructions, my thoughts shift. The day I found Justine dead on the living
room floor and the first time I kissed Seth for real. The air hums with
electricity, making the hairs on my arms stand up.

One by one the
things on Kelsby detach, rising into the air like shimmering wisps of smoke.
They would be beautiful if not for the hideous images they take. It’s like
watching a macabre dance of dismembered souls. Maybe that’s what they are.

They slither
forward and I’m almost caught up in their trance. Their presence pushes against
me. At first, it prickles then slides as if getting comfortable.

Unfortunately,
I’ve been warned. Not bothering to take another look, I spin away and crash
into something solid.

Electric eyes
stare at me in a face so tempting I blink dumbly for a second.

“Amelia,” says
Daegan softly, my name a ballad on his lips.

The air kicks
up behind me as Seth lands. His thick hind legs barely have enough room on the
rim. A growl comes out of him followed by smoke that burns my lungs. “Let her
go, Daegan.”

He laughs.
“Still attempting to rule me, brother?”

When I turn
back to him, Seth is in his human form. He glares at Daegan. “You are no longer
my brother. You have chosen to be my enemy.”

Daegan twists
me around in his steely grip so I face Seth. His hands clasp in front of me,
dangling near my breasts. His breath whispers across my neck and his voice
comes out disappointed. “I have only ever been your brother. You were the one
that betrayed me.”

Seth flinches.
“An error I will never forget. It was a mistake. I was young.”

“You knew what
you were doing and so did she.” Daegen presses me closer and Seth clenches his
enormous jaw. “Is it not fair that I take the woman you love?”

“Rhea chose me.
You didn’t do enough to keep her. Amelia should not pay for my transgression.”

“Transgression?
You betrayed me. You left me for dead.”

Ice coats my
mind. He has to be lying, but Seth isn’t arguing with him. My heart could not
possibly beat any faster. My breaths puff out of me in staggered bursts. With
Daegan this close, it is difficult not to give in to his pull. His presence
both entices and terrifies me, and I wonder how long it would take until the
fear slipped away.

“You hurt her,
you will pray for death.”

Daegan laughs.
He leans in and brushes his lips across my earlobe. Electricity ignites my
belly and my head goes woozy. “Always one for drama, Seth. I have no intention
of taking fair Amelia from you. Once she learns the truth, she will come to
me.”