Find Me If You Dare (Dreamcatcher Book 2) (14 page)

t took me a few seconds to collect the energy to evaporate. Picturing Kayla in my head, I blinked slowly and willed myself to land wherever she was. The quick
whoosh
of teleportation fluttered around me, then my back touched ground. I stared at a hotel ceiling through watery eyes, lying on the carpet between two beds.

Kayla sat on the one to my left. I tried to call out to her, but I just tasted blood. I’d wrecked my voice with all my screaming. It was Lian who spotted me.

She swore in Mandarin then spun toward my best friend. “Seth, get Trishna now. Screw the evaporation rule.”

Kayla’s head turned. All the color ran from her cheeks as she glanced down. She covered her mouth. When I saw her beautiful eyes and the love and concern on her face, my stomach twisted. Only minutes ago, I’d heard her deafening screams.

My heart shattered, like a bomb detonating in my chest. I squeezed my eyes closed. Someday, I truly could lose her. I’d pushed the thought out of my head for so long, kidded myself into believing I was enough to protect her. But the Nightmare’s torture forced all my emotions—all my fears—to the surface. I wasn’t omnipotent; I’d screwed up before. Who was to say I wouldn’t fail her again?

I swallowed a cry and pressed my fist to my forehead.

Seth returned with Trishna a second later. “I need to heal him in the van,” she said. “Now that you both have evaporated here, Richard’s people will follow in minutes. Help him up.”

Ivan and Seth helped me from the ground, and my knees buckled. I shouted and gripped Seth’s shirt tight in my good hand. The room spun as my brain pounded against the inside of my skull.

“You can’t seriously think Richard knows when we evaporate,” Samantha said.

“I don’t think,” Trishna replied. “I know. We’ve already run into trouble. Get him to the van. The rest of you, grab your things. We leave now.”

With my good arm draped over Seth’s shoulders, he took a set of keys from Nolan and evaporated to the parking lot. I climbed into one of the seats in the middle of the vehicle with a loud growl. Seconds later, the rest of our team popped in. Kayla, Tabbi, and Seth climbed onto the bench seat in the back, and Samantha joined Nolan in the front. Trishna sat in the captain’s chair next to mine. Seconds later, we took off.

“How did this happen?” Trishna asked, laying a hand on the side of my head that had cracked against the dungeon’s wall.

I yelped when the fracture in my skull healed and my nose repaired. “There was a bounty.” I swallowed as sandpaper ripped my throat. “All of Richard’s followers were looking for me.”

“That makes zero sense,” Nolan said.

“He was testing a theory, and since I got hit with the arrow, I’m the one who got nabbed.”

I squirmed when Trishna touched my broken arm. This was going to hurt—bad. My breathing quickened, but I nodded for her to do what she had to and squeezed my jaw shut. I groaned as she pushed my bone back into place beneath my skin, dark spots flashing in my vision.

“Sorry,” she said.

I smacked the back of my head against the seat as my arm repaired, letting out deep breaths while trying to keep myself alert. Passing out was not an option right now. Finally, my skin closed over the wound, and Trishna removed her hand. I closed my eyes and breathed through my nose, slowing my rapid pulse.

Seconds later, Trishna asked, “What theory?”

My heart stopped as Richard’s words came back to me. “Damn. You shouldn’t have touched me.”

Trishna’s eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”

I rehashed everything that had happened in the short time I’d been Richard’s prisoner—excluding the part about the Nightmares torturing my mind to the point of breaking. Trishna rung her hands and rubbed her forehead, her cheeks pale. The van was so silent; the rumble of the tires on the road sounded as loud as an airplane engine.

“All right. So, there’s a possibility I’ll get sick,” Trishna said. “At least it’ll prepare me for if I come across the disease again.”

I raised an eyebrow. Most people would be freaking out, knowing they might fall under the spell of a demonic poison. I would be. Hell, my stomach squirmed now. If Trishna died, her death would be on me. Her strength was envious.

“Wait,” Tabbi interrupted. “You said Margaret created the poison, yes?” When I nodded, she continued. “We thought the white rider was Conquest, but sometimes it’s also known by another name—Pestilence. Margaret’s the first Horseman.”

“It makes sense,” Nolan said from the driver’s seat. “That was always Richard’s first step. Make sure only the strongest survive.”

Trishna sat back in her seat with a frustrated sigh. “We are in deep shit.”

I stared out the window, fighting the urge to punch my fist through the glass. We needed to kill Richard. Now.

We were far into Delaware before Trishna felt we were safe to stop. After Tabbi’s theory, we’d consulted with Bartholomew—via a Protector-in-training still in Caelum; he
still
refused to be Unified—and he agreed. Richard was manipulating the parts of Revelation that met his needs, and whatever he’d done to convince Margaret to play her part, she’d finally conceded.

Richard now knew her poison worked, so any day, the country—maybe the world, even—was going to turn into full-blown chaos. This disease would spread like wildfire, and thousands of people would die, people the Protectors were supposed to keep safe. And if we didn’t hurry, there could be a lot less of us to guard the living from Nightmares once this war was over.

After renting three rooms—and convincing the front desk that I wasn’t in need of medical assistance—we rode the lift to the top floor. Kayla and I snagged a room with Ivan and Lian. The others dropped their things off in the rooms across the hall.

“I need to get back to Caelum,” Trishna said once we’d settled and she’d put warding spells around our rooms to keep the Nightmares out.

“I can take you,” Seth offered, but Trishna held up her hand.

“We just drove all this way because everyone evaporated,” she said. “I know how to hotwire a car.”

Somehow, that didn’t surprise me.

“Stay in touch, and continue scouting.” Trishna placed a hand on Seth’s shoulder. “We can’t afford to give up hope, especially now.”

We watched her safely snag a car and drive from the parking lot, then I slipped out of the room when my friends flicked on the TV. I could still hear Kayla’s cries, taste the dirt, feel the flames on my legs. I pressed the button for the main floor and hopped into the lift. The door dinged and closed. Not more than two seconds later, the walls spun, and I slammed myself against the paneling, unable to breathe. Tears sprung to my eyes as the feeling of being buried alive overtook me again. I pounded my fists against the metal wall of the lift, stifling a gag.

Come on, Daniel. You’re stronger than this
, I told myself.

But was I? I’d spent the last two hundred years thinking that upon my second death, I’d just cease to exist—lost in a black void. But ever since I let myself be Unified with Trishna, I’d forfeited my right to a peaceful death. I’d taken the body the Angels had restored and filled it with magic. Would I end up in Hell? Would I burn again and again for eternity?

The lift stopped, and the door opened. On shaky legs, I strode from the hotel to the parking lot outside. Hands on my head, I breathed through my teeth. This was insane; I couldn’t let the Nightmare’s torture get to me. That’s all it was: a bad dream.

Closing my eyes, I let out one final, deep breath and dropped my arms to my sides.

Jaw set, I popped my eyes open. I was a warrior, not a coward. God help me—a Nightmare wasn’t going to be my undoing.

I took off. Across the property and through the streets I ran, listening to my feet pounding on the road and focusing on my breathing and the smell of the hot summer air. Sweat drenched my shirt, and I ripped it off over my head. Crickets chirped around me. Frogs bellowed in the distance. A single car passed me on the road, but it wasn’t until my calves burned that I allowed myself to slow. It’d been too long since I’d had a good run, and damn, it felt good.

My chest rose and fell rapidly. I glanced at the nearest street sign.
Williamsburg Circle
. Where the hell was I?

Hands on my hips, I turned, eyeing my surroundings. With a sigh, I spun around and jogged back the way I came, relaxing when the hotel popped up in the distance.

Lian, Ivan, Samantha, Nolan, Seth, and Kayla sat in a circle on the floor when I entered the room, shot glasses in hand and two oversize bottles of light rum in the center.
Lovely
.

Seth catcalled—I hadn’t bothered to put my shirt back on—as I strode past to dig fresh pajama bottoms and a clean shirt from my bag. I held up my middle finger, and he laughed.

“Screw this Truth or Dare thing. Let’s play strip poker,” Nolan said, an arm draped over Kayla’s shoulders.

I ground my teeth and tried to remember he
wasn’t
hitting on my girlfriend. But did he really have to pretend they were so chummy? Not to mention, I was a little creeped he’d mentioned playing strip poker with his
sister
. I’d never seen a guy go to such lengths to keep his identity a secret.

“No!” half the group yelled, while Samantha and Seth agreed.

“Don’t forget we have to get up early tomorrow,” I said, stepping into the loo and tugging on my clean bottoms. I’d shower in the morning.

“Cities don’t really even come alive till ten, Daniel,” Samantha shouted from the bedroom. “Besides, how do
you
not want to drink? You got the shit kicked out of you.”

I opened the bathroom door as I pulled my shirt on. “Because I have more important things to worry about.” Like finding Richard and ripping his goolies out through his mouth.

Nolan pointed a thumb at me. “Are his panties always in a bunch?”

“Pretty much,” Ivan replied.

I rolled my eyes and stretched out on one of the beds, laying an arm over my face.

“Whatever. It’s my turn,” Samantha said. “Never have I ever… wanted to sleep with anyone in this room but Daniel.”

I groaned. Did she really have to say that in front of Kayla? It was
twenty years ago
for God’s sake.

“That’s a lie,” Ivan said. “You mean to tell us you and Nolan shared hotel rooms for four weeks and never once had sex?”

“Hey, I tried to get my mack on, but Sarah Connor over there threatened to cut my balls off,” Nolan said.

“Drink up, Don Juan,” Samantha replied. “You too, Seth.”

“Ah, hell,” Nolan said. “Well, then, White Russian and his lady friend, cheers.”

“Call me that again, I will punch you,” Ivan said.

Though I was exhausted and wanted to scream at them to shut up, I had to smirk. They bickered like siblings.

“Hey, I think I’m with Daniel, guys,” Kayla said. “I kind of just want to sleep.”

“Yeah, I’m sure
that’s
what you want to do,” Seth commented.

I snatched the pillow from the other side of the bed, cracking my eyelids open a bit, and threw it at his face. He laughed, and I dropped my arm back over my eyes.

“Let’s go across the hall,” Lian said, rising to her feet.

“Yeah, fine,” Samantha replied. “I’ll wake Tabbi and make her move.”

I shook my head. Why couldn’t they call it a night?

The door to the hall opened, and loud whispers followed them out of the room. A few moments later, the bed bounced, and the smell of strawberries filled my senses. Kayla laid her head on my pillow. She wrapped her arm around my stomach. “You okay?”

“Yes. Just tired.” I kept my arm over my eyes. If I looked at her, she’d see I was lying.

She was quiet for a few moments, and the silence was intoxicating. I started to drift asleep.

“How many more times are we going to have to go through someone being taken or beaten? I mean, I’ve already lost—I
think
I’ve already lost—my mom. Someday, one of you might be next, and I don’t know how much more I can take. I want this to be over.”

I sighed. Dropping my arm from my eyes, I wrapped it around her shoulders. “We all want this to be over.” I wasn’t going to tell her she didn’t have to worry about one of us dying, because it was a lie. Today was way too strong of a reminder. I flinched, remembering my nightmare.