Find Me If You Dare (Dreamcatcher Book 2) (15 page)

“You’re not okay,” Kayla said.

Damn
. That’s what I get for uncovering my face. No point in lying now. “All right, no. I’m not. But I will be, and I don’t want to worry you. I thought Richard was going to kill me, but he didn’t. That’s all you need to know.”

She propped herself on her elbow and flicked her hazel gaze across my face. I kept mine devoid of emotion. Still, she shook her head.

“The way you looked at me when you came back… Something else happened besides Richard testing to see if your blood still carried the poison, didn’t it?”

“Kayla—”

She forced herself out of my hold. “No. I’m tired of you always thinking I need to be shielded from everything. You hold me back from using my Spirit magic because you’re afraid I’ll faint. You never let me into your head. Would you please, for once, treat me like I’m not some breakable doll?”

My chest constricted. The need to protect people—especially the girl I loved—was so ingrained into me. To turn it off would be like changing who I was. But she was right. She’d survived her father torturing her with Nightmares. What happened to me today had happened to her, too. She
was
strong, and I was pushing her away.

“You’re right. Again. I’m sorry,” I said. “I don’t think you’re fragile. I simply…” I tucked hair behind her ear. “I love you. That’s all.”

She put a hand back on my stomach. I tried not to focus on its proximity to the waistband of my trousers.

“I love you, too. Please don’t shut me out,” she said.

I nodded, and then she lay in my arms again. Nauseated, I told her what had happened with the Nightmares, what I had seen, and how I’d never experienced that kind of terror in my existence. Kayla’s eyes filled with tears, and when I finished my story, she kissed me with such compassion even my toes tingled.

We fell asleep in each other’s arms, and a piece of my broken spirit mended with her love.

here are we going today?” Lian asked as she stepped out of the bathroom.

I shoved a small, sheathed blade into my boot. After what happened in Washington D.C., I wasn’t going anywhere unarmed again. We’d just have to be careful to avoid places with metal detectors.

“Philadelphia. It’s closer. We’ll hit Baltimore tomorrow,” I replied.

Lian nodded and joined Ivan on their bed to slip on her shoes. Kayla finished tying back her hair, then the four of us met the others in the parking lot. Seth, Samantha, and Nolan all wore sunglasses, and their cheeks were flushed. The corner of my mouth rose. They looked like they had terrible hangovers.

“Good morning,” I said as loud as possible when we neared the vans. They flinched.

“Good God. His mouth is like a foghorn,” Nolan said.

“That’s what you get for drinking until
four a.m.
and making me sleep in the hall,” Tabbi replied.

Shawn snatched the van’s keys out of Nolan’s hand. “Looks like Abigail and I are driving today.”

“Hey, I am a good drunk driver. I’ve only gotten two tickets, and both were when I was sober,” Nolan said.

“Oh, would you get in?” Samantha scolded. She climbed in after Seth, and Nolan followed.

Not in the mood to deal with all the drunks, I hopped into Abigail’s van with Kayla, Tabbi, Lian, and Ivan. It was a blissful, quiet ride to Philadelphia.

In the city, we found a central parking garage and separated in the same groups as last time, so one person could scout while the other protected them. Kayla and I first stopped for a bite to eat, her “feelers” on, and then we wandered the busy city at a slow pace until we reached the Philadelphia Art Museum.

“Can we check it out?” she asked.

“As much as I’d love to, we really aren’t on holiday.”

“Oh, come on. We can’t visit places like Philadelphia and not sightsee a little. We didn’t really get to see anything in D.C., and there are hundreds of people in the museum. What’s the difference between going inside and waiting out here while they enter and exit?”

I scratched the back of my neck. Could it be harmful to visit for an hour or so? And wasn’t I going to try to relax a bit when it came to Kayla? “All right,” I said after a sigh. “Let’s go.”

Grinning, Kayla took my hand in hers, and we jogged up the massive staircase of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

She giggled. “I feel like Rocky Balboa.”

“Who?”

Her mouth gaped. “Seriously? You’ve never seen a
Rocky
movie?”

When I shrugged, she shook her head. “We’ve got to catch you up on pop culture.”

We reached the top and entered the museum. The inside was incredible, with architecture that reminded me of Ancient Greece and beautiful paintings and sculptures on display across the foyer. I led Kayla to an information stand to grab a museum brochure.

“Blast, this place is bigger than I thought,” I said, scanning the map as I stepped out of the way of traffic.

Kayla peeked over my shoulder. “We don’t have to see everything.”

“We won’t be able to. Pick your favorite exhibit, and we’ll get the tickets.”

Deafening shots from multiple machine guns filled the room, each pop like an axe pick to my lungs. Screams echoed through the museum as visitors ran for the exits, tripping over people who had already fallen. Dozens of men and women, dressed in all black with their faces covered, marched in from every entrance, dropping body after body. My breath caught in my throat as alarms wailed through the building. I pulled Kayla into my arms, turning my back to the noise, and tried to evaporate. Screw throwing off Richard’s sensors. I’d rather spend tonight on the run again than risk getting shot by lunatics.

We didn’t go anywhere.

Bloody hell—this wasn’t just some random shooting. There were Magus involved, and my money was on Richard’s coven.

I yanked Kayla to the floor, covering her body with mine, and went invisible, taking her with me. Hair lifted on my nape as bullets flew over us. Kayla flinched beneath me, squealing through closed lips.

You’re okay,
I said to her mind.
No matter what you hear, don’t move and don’t scream
.

She whimpered but gave a curt nod.

We need back up at the Art Museum,
I called out to the rest of my team.
Richard’s coven is here with machine guns. Forget about the no-evaporation rule. Grab your weapons and get here immediately. Just know once you get in, you can’t evaporate out.

Daniel, it’s happening everywhere,
Samantha replied.

We’re stuck, too,
Lian said.

“Attention citizens of Philadelphia,” one of the shooters shouted through a megaphone. “You are test city number one. The white horse rides tonight.”

I peeked over my shoulder and watched as ten masked individuals with machine guns circled the remaining civilians, forcing them into a tighter group. Children clung to their parents. Couples shuffled to the center of the room, arms wrapped around each other. Their cries and whimpers were louder than my heartbeat.

The largest man in the group turned his head to the shooter on his right and nodded. Weapons unloaded into every man, woman, and child. Eyes closed, I snapped my head toward Kayla as screams filled the museum once again and pressed my forehead against hers. I squeezed her tighter and covered her mouth with my hand when she whimpered.
You’re all right. I won’t let anything happen to you.
We couldn’t be discovered, not now—not ever. I was
not
going to let Kayla die. If a bullet hit me, fine. I’d take them all to keep her safe. Thank God we were far enough away from where people had been congregating, so no one knew we existed.

Bullets stopped flying, and the sudden silence sent shivers down my spine. The scents of blood and gunpowder lingered in the dusty air. With my eyes still closed, not ready yet to witness the violence, I listened for the sounds of footsteps. At least twenty more people came from other parts of the building.

Volcanic bile rose in my throat. How many people had they just murdered?

“Anyone escape?” one of the men asked.

“No. Not a single survivor.”

My teeth ground.

“Good. Check one of the bodies.”

A few seconds passed. Someone ripped fabric. I opened one eye and peeked over my shoulder. Not a single inch of floor could be seen beneath all the corpses and blood. My throat ached. It was like a World War II concentration camp all over again.

“It worked. Now what?” a woman asked. The hems of her light blue jeans were splashed with red. I snarled.

“Now we let the humans clean up our mess,” one of the men answered. “And in a few days, the whole country will be infected. All it takes is a little of this blood in an open wound as small as a pinprick. I bet you half the country will be dead in a few months.”
Oh no
. “Let’s go.”

Richard’s followers ran out the back door, laughing and clapping one another on the back. Heat burned my face, and my hands clenched. They just slaughtered hundreds of people, and they were
celebrating.
Those wankers were going to get what was coming to them.

I waited until the room was so silent I could hear the air conditioner running. Keeping my hands on Kayla so she remained invisible, I turned just enough to survey the rest of the room. The shooters were gone, but the sight before me left me shivering.

Children, teens, and adults, male and female, piled on top of one another throughout the room, covered in blood. Not all of it their own. Some stared at the ceiling with glassy eyes, others lay face down, and some were still wrapped in the arms of their loved ones.

“Oh my God,” Kayla said, her voice shaking.

Her fear shot me full of adrenaline. I went visible and took her face in my hands. “Are you all right?”

Her gaze flicked around the room, unable to linger on one body too long. She dug her nails into my arms again.

“Kayla, are you hurt?” I asked more forcefully.

Catching my stare, she shook her head and sat up, her eyes filling with tears. Kayla tucked her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around her shins. She jumped when one of the corpses slid off another.

“Stay here,” I said, then stood and knelt next to one of the bodies. It was a woman in her thirties. Her eyes stared blankly at the ceiling, her lips slightly parted. My stomach caught in my throat, and I let out a short puff of air before ripping her shirt where the bullet had gone through.

I jerked back, cringing. Dark, spidery veins covered her torso, originating from her wound. Around it, her skin was black. Like the arrow that had pierced me, the bullets must have been laced with poison. Damn. That was why they’d chosen machine guns over all the elements at their disposal. Even the blood of the dead could be carriers for Margaret’s disease.

I dug my nails into my palms. We were too late. Richard’s apocalypse had begun.

Jumping up, I caught a glimpse of a small, silver box. Slowly, I stepped around the dead bodies then crouched next to it. On the cube were the same markings as the bracelet Alan had slapped on my wrist.
This
was how they’d kept me from evaporating without Richard being present.

Knowing it wouldn’t be long before the police arrived, I returned to Kayla. She stared at a single spot on the floor and trembled from head to toe. I held her face in my hands.