Into Dreams: A Gina Harwood Novel (Gina Harwood Series Book 3) Page 34

  Victor dropped his eyes and shuddered. He did know that.

  “The jobs I’ve been running haven’t been standard ones,” the small man explained, his eyes bright with anxiety. “I’ve been searching for elder talismans. They’re our only possible hope if the Old One gets free.”

  The revelation shocked Victor. “We had three in the vaults,” he responded slowly, seeing the glowing stones in his mind. “What happened to those?”

  “We still have them,” replied Yori. “I’ve relocated them to my pod in the barn. But they won’t be enough. Not for this.”

  “How many have you found?”

  “One,” answered the man with shame in his eyes, and his head dropped lower. “Only one. There were many leads, but...” he sighed. “Only one.”

  “If three won’t be enough…” Victor didn’t finish the thought.

  Yori met his eyes, but didn’t finish the sentence for him, only shaking his head sadly. “Get cleaned up. And rest. We will all need our strength, sooner than later.”

  Victor struggled back to his feet with Yori’s help, and Yori led him out of the office and toward the residential suites, where Victor’s rarely-used apartment sat next to the others of the unit. The pair left bloody footprints in a trail down the hall, and Victor couldn’t help but wonder if that was an ill omen for what was to come.

  65

  Charlie Parker felt the urge to kick another flamingo as she clamped her phone shut and gritted her teeth together, but stormed back up the stairs and into the house without further avian violence. She’d been told in no uncertain terms to gather up and babysit the group, while taking them to one of the few spots on earth she was legitimately afraid to return, and it sounded like a less-than-spectacular job. “Why there?” she’d asked, and Hanagawa had snapped his answer back at her - “I’ll fill you in once you get there” - which was both unlike him and unacceptably vague, and pushed her anxiety to heretofore unseen levels.

  Mama LaVey watched her walk towards them over her cup of coffee, her eyes following Charlie’s movements warily as she might a stalking lioness. “You look like you need a hug, cherie,” the mighty woman remarked, a small smile tugging just at the edge of her mouth.

  “What’s up?” asked Chaz, standing to his feet at her approach.

  “We have to go,” she snapped. “All of us.”

  A low wave of questioning grumbles bubbled up through the room, and Charlie snapped her fingers impatiently to regain their attention. “To HQ?” asked Chaz.

  “Snow Hill,” she replied, and the young man’s face reddened, flinching from the answer.

  “What?” he whispered hoarsely. “Why?”

  Charlie shrugged, but the movement was arrested by a sudden shiver that passed through her spine. A mere glance from the thing oozing through the tear had taken Gina down, and Charlie, though she had escaped the monster’s notice, never wanted to lay her eyes on that scene again. “I don’t know,” she replied, and her voice was sharp. “But we need to move fast.”

  “To fix Nate?” asked Chris, hopefully. “Can someone fix Nate there?”

  “I think so,” Charlie lied, having no information to go on except the need to move the group to another location. “He wasn’t very forthcoming with the plan, but it sounded urgent. We’ll find out more details when we arrive.”

  Chaz locked eyes momentarily with her, his brown eyes telling her that he knew a lie when he heard one, but he remained silent.

  “Then let’s go,” urged Chris, pulling Nathan up out of the chair alongside him excitedly.

  Mama LaVey hadn’t taken her eyes off of Charlie’s face, and Charlie held her gaze evenly without flinching. “You too, Mama,” she demanded, and the woman’s face broke into a surprised smile.

  “Well, ain’t you a sweet-talker all of a sudden,” she cooed, shifting her large frame in the chair and setting her cup on the table. “How we gon’ get to this Snow Hill? I ain’t got a car big enough to fit.”

  “Where’s the nearest elevator?” asked Charlie.

  LaVey’s eyebrows rose at the strange question. “Elevator?” she echoed, blinking at the request. “Maybe the mall? Downtown? But it’s gon’ be closed at this hour, cherie.”

  Chaz smiled at the woman, but it wasn’t reflected in his eyes. “Trust me, that doesn’t really matter,” he said with a chuckle tinged with worry. Charlie could feel his anxiety without telepathy, the way his muscles tensed too-hard on every movement; she placed a hand on the young man’s shoulder, causing him to flinch away in surprise at her touch.

  “I’ll take Chris and Nathan in their van,” she said, anxious to be on their way. The sooner they got to Snow Hill, she figured, the sooner they could leave. And maybe she wasn’t lying - maybe Hanagawa had a plan to fix Nathan. She didn’t know. Charlie Parker despised not knowing. “Chaz, you take Mama in the mustang, and take the lead. We’ll follow.”

  The ride through town was quiet, and the two young men with Charlie didn’t speak a word as she followed the green mustang closely. They looked tired, despite the last few days of rest at LaVey’s hospitable home, but their faces were painted with hope, and Charlie returned her eyes front with a pang of guilt. I hope I’m not lying to them, she thought, thinking of how disastrous the last trip to Snow Hill had been. The similarities between Nate and Chris to Jake O’Malley and Marcus Owens weren’t lost on her, and she gritted her teeth as she drove toward their destination, remembering the two boys aflame and screaming in front of that awful red wall. It won’t end the same, she promised herself. Morgan’s lifeless eyes floated in her memory and she winced. I won’t let it end the same, she amended. She grabbed onto the thought and held on tightly, letting it echo in her skull until it pushed the unpleasant memories out of the way and left her only with an angry resolve.

  They pulled into the vacant mall lot, and pulled up to the door. “I’ll have someone pick up the cars,” remarked Chaz as he hopped out of the seat and flipped open his cell phone. He worked quickly, but stroked the top of the car fondly as he did so, and Charlie rolled her eyes and got to work on the door.

  “We’ll need the van, though,” argued Chris, looking back and forth between them confused. “To get to where we need to go?”

  Charlie slid a small card into the locked door and pressed in the small activation button on the side to disarm the electric lock. The door slid open without argument, and she replaced the card deftly in her front pocket. “The alarms are going to sound,” she advised, ignoring Chris’ question. “Just follow me, quickly.”

  “I don’t do nuthin’ quickly, lady,” murmured Mama, and she tiptoed up to the edge of the entry. “We’re gon’ get arrested, and for what? What’s your game?”

  Charlie sighed and gritted her teeth, grabbing Nathan by the arm and pulling him with her through the doors. “Hey!” he cried out, and then clapped his hands to his ears as an earsplitting klaxon began to sound. “Jesus!” he exhaled, looking up at Charlie. She retook his elbow and began to run toward the main circle, where she could see the glass elevator between floors, ignoring the commotion and angry outbursts behind her. C’mon Chaz, she thought to herself as she skidded to a halt in front of the elevator doors. Corral them.

  She withdrew the same card she’d used to unlock the doors and folded it over so that it fit into the emergency key slot. She jammed it in and turned the lock smoothly, the card expanding to fit the tumblers and locking in place. The elevator mechanism began to whirr and she saw the cables twitch as the car began to rise to their floor. C’mon, c’mon… Chris and Chaz arrived next to her, and Mama rolled towards them as quickly as she could. Charlie’s head snapped up as she heard shouts from across the building, and saw two security guards running down the path. One trip only, she thought, reaching out and grabbing Mama’s hand and shoving her into the glass elevator with an “oomph!” as soon as the doors opened. “Everybody!” she hissed. “Pile in!”

  Chaz pushed a sputtering Chris in and followed, and Charlie pressed in agai
nst Mama with Nathan and closed the doors. “Why can’t I see out?” asked Mama, putting her hand up against the smooth opaque metal as the elevator began to descend.

  Charlie Parker took a deep breath as the elevator doors opened, and was both relieved and fearful to see the barn’s considerable basement space revealed. There were already several halfway operatives - certain investigators, crypto or forensics experts they’d worked with in the past who could be called in for big ops - waiting for her at the end of the hall, but no Hanagawa in sight. They were wearing full white radioactive suits, including the helmets, and Charlie’s eyes widened in concern. What did Yori tell them? she wondered. “Why are you suited up?” she asked coldly.

  “Agent Hanagawa advised us to take all precautions in advance of your… guests,” answered a man in the front of the team. He looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t place him. “What are your orders?”

  Charlie blinked, and ushered everyone out of the beeping elevator carriage. “Orders?” she snapped. “Where is he?”

  The white suit shrugged at her. “We haven’t seen him. He said you were in command until he got here.”

  “Goddammit, Yori,” she whispered, looking down at her cell phone, but deciding against it. She grimaced at the man in the suit. “Name?”

  “That’s Max Artell,” informed Chaz, jumping up next to her. “He helped us on that lycanthropy thing in Maine.”

  “Oh,” she replied, nodding as the recognition came back. Helpful guy, but not particularly well-suited for the work. Conspiracy theorist. He and Chaz had gotten along like gangbusters. She wondered why Yori would tap these unknowns instead of any of their multitudes of more-qualified operatives. “Well, Max, get the rest of the team out of those ridiculous suits. We’re not hot.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” saluted the man, and Charlie grimaced, feeling her eye twitch. Hanagawa hadn’t just saddled her with the three from Virginia, no, he’d saddled her with an entire team, too, and next to no information. How many times did she have to tell the man that she wasn’t good with people? Her favorite days were the ones that she worked a case alone, in the cover of darkness, just her and the truth hiding behind some dark corner. She was quite certain today would not be counted among her favorites. Charlie Parker flipped open her cell phone and dialed his number, waving off the myriad of questions that Nate and Chris were firing at her. Mama LaVey had found a cushy chair in which to sit, and sat in it, watching the activity with bemusement. That, thought Charlie with envy. I wish I could just do that.

  66

  Leaving the ruins was bittersweet; Gina took one last look at the previously beautiful, lonely castle, now crumbling, its towers jagged and uneven. She knew to her core that the palace reflected the loss of Kurenas, but that it still stood at all gave her hope that perhaps his presence persisted somehow. Regardless, she had found what she came seeking, and her face broke into a smile when her eyes rested on the tall, tanned blonde man with the out-of-place beard and piercing blue eyes. Her heart had a hard time processing the loss of the king while at the same time coming to terms with seeing Morgan Snyder alive and better than well, her emotions ricocheting between grief and elation. She chose its fast-beating giddiness, for now. It made for a nice change from the last few months.

  Of course, she had found more than just what she was seeking, and Kyrri trotted beside her with a grim purpose on his face. She’d found her dreamquest. Save this world, she sighed to herself, remembering the king’s words and hoping it wasn’t at the cost of her own. Gina pushed these thoughts away for the moment, trying to savor the happy feelings of the moment prior, but the king’s vision oozed into the forefront of her mind. She could still see the mountain clearly, the shadow behind it, and knew that it would be the location of her final showdown. She also knew that it wasn’t close. The path he had laid before her flickered once more in her memory, a winding path through the desert to the edge of the pool of night, a black chasm that seemed never-ending. It would take at least a week, not counting the time to backtrack into Gak for supplies. Hurry up and wait… again, she complained to herself. The desert was too sparse to rely on Kyrri being able to forage enough food for all five of them, and none of them had enough food or water to get further than the two-day trek back to town. It was unfortunate, but there was no sense in dying on the way.

  Gina rubbed her shoulder, feeling light as air now that their belongings were packed onto the back of the two horses that Morgan and his large, islander friend brought with them. She shook her head in amazement. Agni had struck up a friendly conversation with Toma, and they seemed to have a lot in common and a very similar conversational style, which surprised her. Toma seemed to put everyone at ease immediately. It was a rare gift, and one that Gina had often wished she possessed throughout her lifetime. She quickened her pace to match Morgan’s, and surprised herself by intertwining her hand in his. Morgan looked at her in shock, his blue eyes wide in his tanned face, but didn’t flinch away. She squeezed his hand, briefly, and let her hand drop back to her side, her cheeks red. The physical contact had unleashed a wave of images from him, and she struggled with fortifying her mental wall. She’d spent so much time wishing for her powers’ return, she had forgotten how difficult it could be to keep everyone’s thoughts away, lest she stumble on private thoughts that she felt guilty about seeing, and it seemed even harder here to keep her thoughts separate from those around her. “I want to hear your story, Morgan,” she said in a light tone. “Distract me from the walking.”

  Morgan smiled at her, and the familiar grin made her heart skip a beat. Enjoy it, she commanded herself. Enjoy feeling like a human being for once. She let her heart race and laughed aloud. “Really,” she said. “Tell me everything. I want to know.”

  So he did. He began his story at the cemetery, which dampened her enthusiasm somewhat, but Gina quickly found herself lost in his story, so different than her own journey. It was awful, terrifying, but it had moments of simplicity and beauty, and once the story involved Toma, he jumped back to join in the telling, adding his boisterous laugh and offbeat commentary whenever Morgan paused to take a breath. They had just finished describing the gritty, industrial city of Rinar when Morgan paused and frowned at her.

  “Are you having trouble keeping up?” he asked, pointing at her feet. She had fallen back into a slight hobble.

  “I’m fine,” she replied, waving off the question and hoping he’d return to the story quickly. The distraction was a welcome one, as she could feel her feet blistering again on the hot sand.

  “Her feet are in terrible condition,” offered Agni helpfully, and she glowered at him before sighing and nodding. They were. The days off in Gak had helped tremendously, but she hadn’t let them rest long enough, and had spent too much time wandering through the desert to let them heal completely. “And she is stubborn,” he added with a chuckle.

  “Mati’s a great riding horse,” offered Morgan, sliding his arm around her waist and causing her heartbeat to catch irregularly again. “Here, I’ll help you up.”

  Gina was perfectly capable of mounting the horse herself, having taken lessons as a youth, but allowed him to lift her onto Mati’s back with seemingly little effort. She watched his arms as he did so, her mouth open in a surprised “o.” He’d always been a handsome man - a fact she’d despised for the first several years she’d known him, as their personalities had done nothing but clash - but here, his body was sculpted and perfect. She wondered how much of that was actually him, and how much was the Dream. Mati barely seemed to register her additional weight, his ears flicking back once, but his pace continuing unhindered. She slid her feet into the stirrups and steadied herself to match her mount’s rolling gait, thankful to be off of the ground.

  “Better?” asked Morgan.

  “Wonderful,” she sighed, patting the horse’s neck. “Thank you.”

  “Where were we?” asked Toma, linking arms with Morgan and walking jauntily next to the horse. “Ah, Rinar.” He sighed. “Not
the prettiest city…”

  Gina closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel of the animal beneath her, and the sun warming her face and shoulders, listening to the story unfold as it bounced back and forth between the two storytellers. Their tale continued until the sun was low in the sky, and Agni led the group to their previous night’s stopping point to begin setting up their minimal camp. Toma and Morgan were describing the attack on the mountain pass in detail, and Gina was listening carefully.

  “Sounds like the same people who attacked us,” commented Kyrri, and Morgan nodded.

  “Yeah, I hate to skip around, but we followed several out of Gak who were on their way to find you,” he replied, and Kyrri began to nod before the realization that Morgan could understand his words hit him, and he mewed in surprise.

  “You can understand the Cat, too,” mused Agni aloud. “It is a rare gift, yet you both possess it.”

  “We’re both Dreamers,” commented Gina, sliding off of Mati’s back and wincing as her feet hit the ground. Morgan frowned at her impatience, hurrying over to help her walk to camp. “I’m okay,” she said, “really. I can walk.” She hobbled over to where Agni had spread his cloak and laid hers out next to it, sitting hard on the sand. “Maybe all Dreamers can understand Cat-speak.”

  “I’ve noticed I can read all the signs, too,” remarked Morgan. “And I’m pretty sure no one is actually speaking English.” He shrugged. “I’ve given up trying to make sense of it all.”

  Gina thought of the columns in Calephais with the illegible hieroglyphs and wondered. “Why are they after us? Did Crowell send them?”

  “The Brotherhood worships the Unspeakable,” said Agni. “Not the Faceless One. The two creatures are true brothers, but they are rarely allies in the old stories. And I doubt he needs to send anyone. If he really wanted you dead, you would be dead. We all would be dead, not just the King.” He spat on the ground and looked as though he’d eaten something sour. “I know that it is impossible to kill him, but I would just like to stab him through the heart anyway. Just once. Even if it does nothing.”