Time Slipping (7 page)

“Go to sleeeeep, Baby Beeeee, go to sleeeeep right noowww, or your momma and your papa will tie up your wiiiings, go to sleeeeep, go to sleeeeep, go to sleeeeep my darling, go to sleeeeep, go to sleeeeep, or you won’t fly anymore…”

The rest of that nightmare lullaby was lost on me as I fell into that weird space between sleep and wakefulness, the place I knew I could force people to join me in. No one had ever been able to explain what this dreamworld was, where it actually existed, or how it really worked, but over the past few months I’d gotten kind of good at using it. And since no one seemed to suffer any side effects from it, and that was kind of a rare thing with me, I figured it couldn’t hurt to give it a shot.

The space inside my dream world was dark, so I reached out and flicked on a light switch. I liked to make it easy on myself in my own head; need a light … imagine a light switch. Need a friend … imagine him there with me.
Boom
. For some reason, the first person I thought of wasn’t Spike. It was Tony. Probably because he was the smartest fae in that B&B, and I knew if there was something going on, he’d be the most likely person to know how to get out of it. Being a wrathe who hung out with gray elves made him kind of a badass brainiac like that.

“Tony, come in here with me. Come to me. Join me in my mind.” Nothing happened, and I got a little panicky. My voice sounded a little shrill to my ears. “Tony! Stop fucking around and get your ass in here!”

Tony appeared out of the darkness, his arms raised toward me.

“Oh, thank the elements,” I said, reaching to take his hands in mine.

“Go, Jayne,” he said, his face white, his voice barely above a whisper. His fingers were ice cold.

“Go? Go where?”

“Away. Away from here.” He tried to step back, but I held tight.

“No, I’m not going away!” No one leaves my dreams until I’m damn good and ready for them to leave. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t come inside, don’t talk to the witch, don’t do anything to make her angry. Just go! Go home! Never come back!” The urgency in his tone made me both scared and pissed at the same time. I squeezed his hands hard and when that didn’t seem to have any effect, I reached up and slapped him hard across the face.

He blinked a few times and then looked around him, a curious expression on his face. “Where am I?”

“You’re in my dream, dumbass. What the hell is going on with you?”

He looked down at our hands. “I’m not sure. I … I don’t remember getting here, actually. Did you compel me in?”

“Yes, I compelled you in. But it wasn’t you who actually arrived. It was some sort of zombie-Tony.” I let his other hand go and leaned in to look into his eyes. “Are you sure you’re in there?”

He smiled wearily. “It’s me. I’m fine. Tired, but fine.”

“Tell me the name of our World History teacher.”

Tony frowned, but answered anyway. “Mr. Parks.”

Relief flooded through me. “
Phew
. I never thought I’d be happy to hear that name again.” I gave Tony a quick hug and then went back to staring him down while holding one of his hands. I left my sword hand free, just in case someone decided to act stupid; I didn’t trust what was going on here completely. “Zombie-Tony told me to go and to stay away from the B&B and the witch. He told me to go home.”

Tony’s face screwed up. “I did? I don’t remember that.” He scratched his head. “What B&B?”

I rolled my eyes and stomped my foot.
Erased memories? Jesus Effing Buttknuckles, not this shit again
. For the first time in a long time I felt alone out here in the middle of nowhere, and I really, really didn’t like that feeling. “
Ergh!
Tony, are you friggin
kidding
me?” I threw my arms up and let them drop and slap my legs.

“Jayne. Relax. Take a breath and tell me what’s going on.” It was the first time Tony sounded at all like himself, so I was encouraged to do as he said and take the time to explain. Patience was still not my strong suit. I had to breathe in and out a few times before I could continue with any speck of control. I sounded like a bull ready to charge.

“We’re on our road trip to the Isle of Skye. We got here a little while ago, to the B&B the fae set us up in, and all of you went inside except me and Tim. You’re now a guest at the Hotel California.”

His eyebrow went up, a hint of humor in his expression. “I can check out any time I like?”

“Yeah, jerk, but you can’t ever leave.”

He laughed. “Why am I the jerk?”

“Because you went inside without me! You left me and Tim out here in the friggin dark in the middle of Bum Fuck Scotland with no keys to the car or anything!”

“Why didn’t you guys go in?”

“There was a barrier keeping pixies out. He was in my hand. He couldn’t pass, so I didn’t pass.”

“And the rest of the group is in the B&B now too?”

“Yes. Everyone but me and Tim.”

He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Jayne, but I have no memory of that. I wish I did.” He stood there at a loss, shrugging his shoulders, not nearly as upset about the whole thing as I was.

“Okay, so first you come into my dream like a zombie telling me to leave, now you’re telling me you don’t remember our trip or anything. So that means that witch erased your brain
and
tried to scare me off?” I shook my head, getting more and more pissed by the second. “That’s it. She’s going down.”

“Jayne, maybe you should wait.”

“Wait for what? For her to put you in a giant crockpot with a bunch of carrots and celery and cook you for dinner? I don’t think so.” Tony was going to try and convince me to do the responsible thing, and I didn’t have time for that crap. I took a big step forward and slammed my hands into his chest. “See you later,
ass
.” I still hadn’t figured out how to un-compel anyone out of my dreams without calling them an ass.
Oh well.
It still made me smile, and I’ve always been told not to fix what ain’t broke, so
ass
it is and will remain.

I was about to wake myself up from my half-sleep state, but then I decided I’d better give the compelling one more shot. Then I could say I kind of followed Tony’s advice, which was never a totally bad thing. I chewed my lip, mulling over my choices.
Who to compel … who to compel …
Jared? He was the boss and the oldest of us; he’d probably know what to do. But he was pretty much powerless unless it came to a need for brute strength or the need to sense danger. Duh. A little late for that. He hadn’t noticed a damn thing wrong this time, and he walked right into the trap.
Nope. Sorry, Jared.
Spike? I missed him and worried about his safety. What if I never saw him again? Wouldn’t I want to see him one more time? I shook my head. Not as a zombie who might suck the life out of me before I could wake him up. Scrum would be a waste of time, as would Felicia. They were both too young and just as clueless as Tony probably, and Felicia was dangerous with that succubus appetite of hers. Becky would probably just cry and then disappear. Finn didn’t have his weapons, and he’d be more worried about Becky than anything else, so that would be a waste of time. That left one person:
Sam
. I prayed she wouldn’t show up as a twisted version of herself and spell my ass with some kind of transformation charm. I really, really didn’t want to live the rest of my life as an ogre or a toad or whatever she might come up with.

Chapter Eight

SHE WALKED INTO MY DREAM with her hair a crazy mess.

“What happened to you?” I asked, laughing a little. Sam was pretty cool most of the time; I couldn’t remember ever seeing her look this nutty. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her she was totally channeling our grandmother, Maggie the witch.

“Fate happened to me. What am I doing here?” She looked behind her like she expected someone to be following.

“I compelled you into my dream.”

“Why?” She ran her fingers through her hair, looking distracted.

“Sam, wake up.” I raised my hand to give her a good slap, figuring if it worked on Tony, it could work on her. But she eyed my hand and narrowed her eyes. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Uhhh … I’m about to slap the shit out of you.”

“Touch me and I’ll spell you like you’ve never been spelled before.”

“Where are you right now, Sam?” I asked, leaving my hand in slapping position.

“I’m in bed asleep.”

“But where?” I pressed.

“In the fae compound; where else would I be?”

“
Errrr!
Wrong answer!” I slapped her really hard, hoping it would be enough to wake her up out of her silly trance.

Her head whipped sideways and then slowly came front again. An angry red mark stood out from her too-white skin. “You are so going to die for that.” She lifted a hand and slashed it out in front of her before bringing it up and stopping it in front of my face. Her fingers were bent up all crazy, like she was a hundred years old with a bad case of rheumatoid arthritis. She slowly twisted her hand clockwise, like she was opening a doorknob, her mouth warping right along with it. A wicked smile came to her face. “Feel my wrath, elemental.”

I stood there, waiting for the pain she was obviously trying to inflict, but the only sensation I got was one of extreme boredom. I yawned. “Sorry. Not feeling anything, except maybe a little bit of boredom. Are you done yet?”

She looked a little confused, but then started twisting her hand the other way. “Feel my wrath
now
, elemental!”

I started to giggle. I couldn’t help it. She looked so crazy angry with her hair all over the place and her hand crooked up like that. “Actually, now that you mention it, I do feel a little gassy.” Tim would have been so proud.

She dropped her hand and pouted. “I don’t understand. That should have torn you to pieces.”

“Nice. I compel you into a dream and you repay me by trying to tear me up. Love you too, cuz.”

“Someone’s taken my powers?” She sounded so lost and forlorn, I couldn’t stand it. I stepped closer, putting my hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, Sam. I’ll straighten this out.”

“Don’t touch me!” she screamed, grabbing my hand.

Lucky for me, my latest training had included a little commando dwarf martial arts action. “Hands off the merchandise, bitch!” I part yelled and part grunted. I was no ninja, but I could fend off the attack of someone trying to mug me. Niles had been convinced I’d be an easy target for a pickpocket out in the real world, so he showed me all his best moves and made me practice them until I could do them in my sleep. I grabbed Samantha’s hand, shoved it off me, bent it backwards and twisted it around her back. Sam was no slouch with at least two inches and ten pounds on me, but I had her powerless now, in both magic and physical strength.
Booyah! I am so totally a ninja right now.

She was grunting with her attempts to get away and with the pain she had to be suffering. “Get off me! I’ll kill you, Jayne! I’ll kill you!”

I grabbed her in a bear hug from behind. “Not tonight, my little witchy poo, and not in my dream. This is
my
world, baby!” I was laughing and grunting at this point, trying like hell to keep a hold on her. Her arms and legs were flailing all over the place, reminding me of Spike when he got a hug from one of the daemons. It hadn’t happened in a long time, but it was always impressive when it did. I tried to remember how Scrum did that daemon thing he did, wrangling inccubi and succubi and showing them who’s boss. It was like he squeezed their air off or something. Sam was gasping for breath, so I figured I was doing okay.

“You give up yet?” I asked.

“Never!”

Something Scrum said flitted through my memory bank. He told me once that his will was stronger than Spike’s. That was how he was able to overcome a man who should have been able to beat him in a bear hugging contest.

I closed my eyes and imagined my own will — my will to keep my friends alive and safe, my will to do my job as the Mother to the fae and the companion to Biad the dragon in the Underworld. I could not screw this up, no matter what, no matter what kind of crazy black magic was trying to keep me from being who I had to be.

“Sam, you have to submit to me. Give it up. My will is stronger than that witch’s will. Do not let yourself be held by her.”

I started to feel a little desperate when she continued to fight me. Something was telling me that Sam was my last hope. My voice got a little weepy. “You are my cousin and my friend, Sam. We are together. No one can break up the Blackthorn line. No one. We’re family.”

As the last words washed over us, her struggles lessened and then soon ceased altogether. Her entire body slumped down and carried me with it. Together we collapsed on the floor in my dream room. My elbow hit the ground hard and instantly started to ache.
Dammit. Should have imagined a wrestling mat beneath me.

“Why do I feel so weak?” she whispered.

“Because some witch bitch sucked the life out of you.” I stared up into the blank space above me and then imagined some stars being there, just to make it interesting. Suddenly my dream room looked like the night sky over the Infinity Meadow back home in the Green Forest.

“That’s nice,” Sam said, a smile in her voice.

“Glad you like it. Can we talk about you being a prisoner with all our friends now?”

“If you want. You know I have no idea what you’re talking about, though, right?”

“I figured. You’re being held captive by a witch and an ogre, maybe other fae I didn’t see too, in a B&B on the Isle of Skye.”

“Why are we on the Isle of Skye?”

“We’re on our field trip to go be with Biad in the Underworld.”

“When did we leave?”

“I don’t know. Yesterday? Today? About eighteen hours ago. And Tim and I are outside the house because he got blocked by some sort of anti-pixie spell. I’m sleeping in the car.”

“Aren’t you worried they’ll come out to get you?”

“Yes. But I don’t have the keys to the van, and it’s dark as a dragon’s butthole outside, so I’m not going to go wander around in the woods. Besides, it’s really quiet outside. Too quiet.”

Sam’s voice got serious as she moved into witch-mode. “She has a spell on the entire property. I wonder how you didn’t get pulled in.”