Dread Nemesis of Mine (18 page)

They moved on to Gigi's quarters.

"I'm filtering out random noises," Meghan
said, after several moments of spell casting failed to produce any
talking. "So I guess Gigi doesn't talk much."

A ghostly female voice emanated from the
bedroom. Meghan walked inside. Adam followed with his phone. Elyssa
stayed by the door, anxiety growing as she waited for them to
finish and hopefully find something, anything. The next person on
the list would be Beck. He was a new officer, promoted only
recently, so he didn't have his quarters here yet. Instead, he'd
probably been staying in general quarters or, at best, one of the
cottages normally reserved for grounds keeping. Could he really be
the traitor?

Adam and Meghan emerged. Adam shook his head.
"She talks in her sleep," he explained in answer to the querying
looks of the others. "Mostly nonsense." He gave a nervous laugh,
his eyes looking a bit unsettled.

"What's wrong?" Elyssa said.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Nothing I
can put my finger on. I guess I feel bad for the woman. Didn't you
hear the screaming?"

Elyssa nodded. She'd heard a lot of weird
noises coming from the bedroom while searching the rest of the
apartment, but had discarded them as useless. A sigh escaped her
lips. "There's only one person left. Beck."

"What about Ludovico?" Fausta said. "Maybe he
was the traitor and they accidentally killed him." She shrugged.
"Stranger things have happened."

"We should be thorough," Meghan agreed.

The group walked down the hallway to the next
apartment. The building wasn't large—just enough to accommodate up
to five apartments, and didn't offer many places to hide should
someone enter the main lobby. Elyssa had already scouted the other
hallways and found two emergency exits they could use. The problem
would be escaping notice in the wide-open corridors.

"So freaky," Adam was saying to Bella. "Like
the poor woman has nightmares every time she sleeps."

"She wrote about them in her diary," Fausta
said, rolling her eyes. "In great detail. I think she's obsessed
with her dreams."

"You went through her diary?" Bella said.

Fausta sighed. "Where else would I look for
clues?"

"Wait, she wrote about her nightmares?" Adam
gave her a curious look. "What the heck was she dreaming about that
scared her so much?"

The Templar dismissed his question with a
backhanded wave. "Oh, stupid things like a statue that came to life
and a house where it was always raining and foggy in the backyard
and sunny out front." She shrugged. "What's so scary about
that?"

Adam frowned. "A statue?"

"Yes. Go read her stupid diary if you're so
interested."

Elyssa's feet jerked to a halt. She almost
didn't realize she was no longer moving until she looked down.
Something in Fausta's statement had jolted her memory. Something
about a house with—oh, crap. "Where's the diary?"

"It was stupid," Fausta said, reiterating her
words slowly as if Elyssa wouldn't understand otherwise. "And there
wasn't anything else interesting in there, not like Jean-Claude's
quarters."

Bella's face turned red at the mention of
those
noises, and she brushed at her clothes.

"Where is it?" Elyssa asked.

"The top drawer of her nightstand has a fake
bottom."

Elyssa ran back, thankful Bella hadn't
rearmed the wards yet and found the nightstand in question. She
dumped the miscellaneous items from the drawer, and knocked the
bottom until a panel fell out along with a black, leather-bound
diary. The first several pages chronicled Gigi's early days at the
Templar Academy until she apparently grew tired of writing every
day and stopped. The next section was short, but chilling.

The same nightmare again. I'm afraid to tell
anyone or they might think I'm going crazy. Who is the woman in the
statue? Why can't I see her face? And what's in the fog outside the
back window? I know I saw someone out there. But I can't open the
sliding glass door.

Elyssa looked at the date of the entry. It
was more than ten years ago. She thumbed through a few more pages,
each one detailing other iterations of the same dream, scattered
randomly over the past decade. But once she reached more recent
dates, it seemed the woman had suffered the same nightmare at least
once a week. In the past month, Gigi noted the same dream almost
every night.

I'm crazy. I have to be. I'm unfit for duty.
But how can I tell Christian? Other than these dreams, I feel fine
and in control. I asked Healer Delgado about recurring dreams, and
she said most of the time they come from childhood trauma. I wish I
could remember more of the dream. I wish I could remember what
happens when I walk out the front door and into the sunshine.

A horrible realization crept over Elyssa as a
similar scene replayed in her mind. After she'd taken the White and
had the memories of the previous two months erased, she'd had the
dream of being inside a house with a fog-shrouded backyard and a
sunny front. She'd seen her own face in the fog outside the back
and assumed in retrospect the entire thing had something to do with
her memories trying to resurface.

Maybe her reasoning was partially correct. Or
maybe it had something to do with the Templar Divinity, the
self-proclaimed angel, Daelissa, who was, apparently, behind most
of the trouble lately. Daelissa had spoken to Elyssa of gifts her
people had given humanity. Among those supernatural gifts were the
ones Templars received as part of the Blessed and Novice rituals.
The rogue angel herself was the one who gave them. But what if they
came with a Trojan Horse buried inside? What if nobody was a
traitor, but Daelissa could spy on everyone through their dreams
because she was the one who blessed them? The one who touched their
minds to wipe all memory of the rituals?

She bolted to her feet. They had to find Gigi
immediately and question her. Put her under hypnosis, if necessary,
and question every aspect of her dreams. But if Daelissa really
could come to any Templar in their dreams, what good would planning
do? The woman could find out anything she wanted.

Elyssa found the others still inside
Ludovico's apartment. "We've got big trouble."

Bella's eyes widened. "The officers are
returning?"

"God, I wish it was that simple." Elyssa
waved at the others and told Meghan and Adam to stop what they were
doing.

"This had better be good," Fausta said,
crossing her arms and tapping her foot. "Because we're running out
of time."

"You'd better make time." Elyssa held up the
diary. "Because if Daelissa can do what I think she can, the
Templars won't be able to keep anything from her, and Maximus can
roll over us any time he wants."

Time ticked by at a snail's pace. Worry
gnawed at my insides, leaving me with a sick, hollow feeling. I
couldn't do a damned thing to help Elyssa or the Templars. Hell, I
couldn't even scratch my nose. I was sick to death of being tied
down and feeling useless. Though Maximus had been gone a while,
Amanda hadn't returned from wherever he'd sent her, which was
something of a respite. I'd been unable to resist struggling
against my bonds, but succeeded only in chafing myself raw.

The scrape of a foot in the hallway drew my
attention, but the angle of the table limited my view. Felicia's
head poked around the corner. She looked around the room and rushed
inside.

"I have it," she whispered, voice full of
excitement and nervousness.

"Have what?"

"Maximus's blood."

"Should I ask what you had to do to get
it?"

She smiled. "Nothing terrible. I changed out
his razor blade for one with a jagged edge, so he cut himself
shaving. Then I sneaked in and grabbed the tissues he used to blot
the cuts from the trashcan." She held up a wad of tissue with a
couple spots of blood on it.

"He's not much of a bleeder," I said.

She pulled the IV from my arm and stared at
the container of blood Maximus had collected. Her nostrils flared,
and I could tell it took a lot of effort for her to ignore it.
Shaking her head like someone awaking from a daze, Felicia took the
tissue and pressed it against the bond on my arm. It parted.

We both heaved big sighs of relief.

"Get me out of here and you can have all the
blood they took from me."

Her eyes widened. "Really?"

"As if I could put it back inside me."

She smiled and worked on the remaining bonds.
The last few seconds of imprisonment were torturous. When she
finally separated the last strap I sprang off the table and
stretched. My knees almost went out from under me, probably due to
such a long period of inactivity. Felicia jumped and hugged me.

"I did it!" She kissed my cheek. "I can't
believe I rescued you." She pointed to a bundle on a nearby chair.
"I even remembered to get all your stuff."

I was so happy to see clothes again, I forgot
to be embarrassed about being in my underwear. I didn't even want
to think about all the potty breaks I'd taken in those adult
diapers Amanda kept me in. She hadn't put another pair on me since
putting me to sleep to clean out the last pair, no doubt because
she had some other horrific way of demeaning me in mind. I wasted
no time pulling on my pants, Felicia, for her part, wasted no time
taking a sip of my blood. She sighed in pleasure. I shuddered and
looked away. "Adam would be very proud," I said as I stuffed my
arcphone into a pocket and threw on a shirt. "In fact, I think you
should tell him what you did yourself."

A gasp came from the door. I spun, expecting
to see Amanda. Instead, Katie stood at the doorway, mouth wide with
shock.

"Who—what?" she said.

I waved her in. "Katie, this is Felicia.
Felicia, Katie."

Felicia wiped a smidge of blood off her lips
with the back of her hand, and then shook Katie's.

An overwhelming sense of relief settled into
me as I realized I could kill—or save—two birds with one stone.
Naturally, I still had to find Ash and Nyte and get them out of
here as well, but my manly sense of duty demanded I rescue the
women first.

"Justin, oh my god," Katie said, hugging me
tight. "Underborn told me he might have to call off your rescue
because there's a spy in the Templars, but I was like, hell to the
no! And then I told him he could go eff himself with broken glass
because I wasn't going to leave you in here. But I couldn't figure
out a way to get Maximus's blood for the straps, and the Arcane
who's supposed to help me said she wouldn't do anything until she
got the okay from Underborn and—"

I put a finger to her lips. "Katie, it's all
good." I took her gently by the shoulders. "But now you and Felicia
need to get out of here. Is there a way I can get out without being
seen?"

Katie and Felicia nodded.

"I know of two ways out," Katie said.

"Technically, there are three viable exits,"
Felicia said, sounding a lot smarter than I remembered her being.
Then again, Adam had told me she was a whiz in school who
practically disintegrated when her family was murdered.

I peered into the hallway, checking for signs
of anyone coming. No telling how long I had before Amanda reared
her ugly hairdo again. "Lead me to the closest one. We have to warn
the Templars about the spy." I gripped Felicia's hand. "I want you
to come with me. You've more than made up for past mistakes as far
as I'm concerned."

She shook her head. "But I helped kidnap your
father. I almost killed you and Elyssa with the vamplings."

"Felicia." I took her other hand. "Look at
me."

She met my eyes with reluctance.

"I forgive you. It's time to stop letting the
past rule your life and time to make your brother do the same.
Maybe we can solve the mystery of your parents' murders and put an
end to his obsession together."

A tear trickled down her cheek. "You—you
really think it's possible?"

"Anything is possible."

She took off the horn-rimmed, geeky glasses
she favored and tossed them on the floor. Crushed them underfoot.
"I always dressed in these short skirts and nerdy clothes because
Maximus wanted me to. Said it turned him on. I'm through being
someone's pet."

I squeezed her hand. "If there's anything I
learned over the past few months, you just have to be yourself and
to hell with those who don't like it."

"Thanks, Justin." Felicia dropped her hand
from mine. "If we get out of this alive, that's exactly what I plan
to do."

I glanced at Katie. "Where are Ash and Nyte?
Do they know I'm here?"

She shook her head. "I just found out they're
not here anymore. Maximus sent a whole group back to Atlanta."

I wanted to ask her how and why, but my
questions could wait until we were clear of this hellhole.

"I'll need to scout ahead," Felicia said.
"Katie, you know the exit by the dumpsters?"

Katie nodded. "I'll take him through the
cellar."

"That's a great idea. It'd be too risky
taking him up top." Felicia held up a finger and trotted down the
hall. She returned with a sword encased in a leather scabbard. "I
got you this in case you run into trouble." She held it out to
me.

I took it and fumbled with the straps, trying
to figure out which way it went. Before long, both women took over,
strapping it over my shoulder. Katie closed the buckle and stood
back a step.

"Reminds me of that time I went to see you
fight all those other nerds in Kings and Castles." She smiled.

A grin caught me off guard as that
unfortunate day came to mind. "Wasn't that the same day I got drunk
and said all sorts of nasty things about you online?" Talk about
bottom of the barrel. It had been the day before I'd hit incubus
puberty.