Find Me If You Dare (Dreamcatcher Book 2) (20 page)

Trishna brushed the back of her shaking hand across her forehead. “I don’t know. I’ve been out for so long. There are still so many people not back yet, and more and more keep showing up sick.”

I touched her arm. “Tell you what: Kayla can handle the infirmary, and I’ll check in with the teams. Why don’t you get some real rest?”

At first, I thought she was going to shake her head, but then she let out a deep breath, and her knees almost buckled. “Okay, thank you,” she said. “Have Kayla heal your wounds, and come get me if anything happens.” She wandered toward the hall that would lead to her home.

I turned back to my best friend; Seth’s fever held strong. Next to him was the rest of my team, minus Nolan. I glanced at them before sitting on the bed Kayla once occupied. Each face was pale, their cheeks lined with dark, spidery veins. To my right, another coven member screamed. I turned my head as Kayla hurried to his bedside, snatching a rag from a bucket near the man’s bed. He thrashed, swatting at her as she pressed the cold cloth to his forehead. Slowly, his cries turned to whimpers, and then he fell silent.

Stomach hard, I leaned against the wall behind me and closed my eyes, shouting a silent prayer that if God was even watching anymore, he’d help us catch Richard. Fast.

startled when Kayla climbed onto the bed and draped an arm across me. Somewhere between checking in with the teams in the field, getting my wounds healed, and watching her work, I must’ve fallen asleep.

“Sorry,” she mumbled, her voice weak and slow.

“Don’t be.” I ran my fingers through her hair, and the movement sent a twinge up my spine. That’s what I got for napping in a seated position. “Looks like Trishna’s returned. We should lie in a real bed.”

“This is a real bed.”

“Yes, but it’s not a very comfortable one. My vote’s for the bigger one in our home.”

With a sleepy sigh, she pushed off me to stand. I followed suit, taking her hand in mine.

Daniel…
Chad practically screamed in my head. I winced at the volume.
Daniel, we need help. Nightmares. Louisville, Kentucky. Send back up imme—

I squeezed Kayla’s hand.
Chad?

“What’s going on?” she asked.

I held up a finger.
Chad, can you hear me?

No reply. Damn it.

I raced to Trishna, my pulse picking up speed. “Chad’s run into a horde of Nightmares, and now I’ve lost him. Is there anyone you can send with me?”

Trishna’s face fell. “Go, now. I don’t know who’s available, but I’ll try to find assistance. Take Kayla with you. You might need her.”

I glanced at my girlfriend, ready to tell her she didn’t need to come—given she was exhausted—but her glare stopped me in my tracks. She knew what I was going to say, and Trishna was right. Kayla could see Nightmares, and she was a powerful witch.

Kayla and I sprinted for our home so I could grab my weapons. With a prayer that we wouldn’t be too late, I burst through the front door, Kayla on my heels. I slung my belt around my waist. Like the perfect partner, she handed me my favorite blades and guns, and I hurriedly stuck them in their assigned places. If Nightmares were involved, there was no time to lose.

My gaze locked with Kayla’s.
You ready?

Unblinking, she gave me a quick nod and readied her stance.
Let’s do this.

I snatched her hand, pictured Chad in my mind, and evaporated.

Eight Protectors fought in a tight circle as twenty Nightmares surrounded them, snarling and slashing at the Catchers. A quick glance around the room showed we were in an old cellar. Cobwebs covered the ceiling’s wooden beams, and a light film of dust coated the air. In a corner, five Magus huddled as Chad used his powers to shield them from two Nightmares, creatures they couldn’t see. A ball of fire in one of their hands was the only light in the room.

Daniel
, Kayla said, prodding my arm and pointing toward the opposite corner—where Margaret was bound and gagged inside a metal cage.

That’s why the Nightmares were here. They were guarding Richard’s prize.

I went visible and released Kayla’s hand so I could grasp my daggers. If this battle didn’t end soon, Chad’s strength would collapse, and all of the Magus would die, along with the Catchers. Once the Magus were clear, they could get out of here.

“Get Margaret!” I shouted at Kayla before running to where the witches and warlocks huddled. Not wanting to miss and strike one of the Magus by accident, I waited until I was closer and used the Nightmares’ distraction to my advantage. I stabbed the smaller one in the side of its neck, then reached around the bigger beast and sliced its throat. Black blood squirted onto Chad’s invisible shield. One of the witches screamed.

The smaller monster swung at me before I could drop my arms from around the bigger one. Its claws caught my elbow, but the pain was too familiar and the wound shallow. Turning, I ducked the Nightmare’s next blow and stabbed my second blade into its stomach.
Take that, asshole
. The beast bent over with an ear-splitting scream. I yanked the dagger from its neck and dug it under the creature’s jaw, then, simultaneously, I ripped both blades from the fiend. It fell, limp, to the floor.

“Grab on to me!” I yelled at the Magus. When five hands gripped my arms, I evaporated to Shawnee State Park, taking them with me. Two of the Magus collapsed to their knees, sobbing, the moment we landed.

I turned to Chad. “Get them back to Caelum as soon as possible. The parking lot’s on the other side of these trees. If you call Trishna for help—”

“I can start a car with my magic. Go,” Chad said.

I nodded and evaporated back to the cellar in Kentucky. By now, the twenty Nightmares were down to ten; the Protectors had dwindled from eight to five. A quick glance at Kayla showed she struggled to get the crate open, but she was all right. I joined my comrades, dodging claws and sharp teeth, slicing through the remaining Nightmares. The skin beneath their hairy bodies was tough as rawhide.

While Kayla’s back was turned, one of the Nightmares broke free of the pack and slithered for her.
Kayla, watch out!
I shouted, pulling my blades from the body of the beast I’d just killed.

She turned and stepped back, her hands rising to light the monster on fire. But before she could expel any power, the Nightmare’s claws scraped her torso. She hadn’t moved far enough away.

For what felt like hours, all I could do was stare, watch as she gasped and faltered backward, her palms expelling no more than sparks that startled the monster. As her hands pressed against her stomach, heat burned up the back of my neck, and my nostrils flared.

This fucker was going down.

With a roar, I gripped my daggers tighter, every muscle in my body twitchy. To my left, a one-eyed beast charged me. I side-armed a dagger into its head, hitting the Nightmare in the temple with enough force that its blood caught me in the face. As the fiend collapsed to the floor, I ripped my blade from its skull, desperate to get to Kayla before the Nightmare hurt her again.

I chucked the dagger in my right hand so hard my shoulder hurt. The knife stuck in the monster’s spine. Its primal screech made my ears ache, but I closed the distance in a few large strides and kicked the bastard across the room. Before it even hit the wall, my other blade was out of my hand. The knife lodged in the monster’s throat, where a man’s Adam’s apple would be. It collapsed with a gurgling scream.

Kayla fumbled with the lock to Margaret’s cell, using her powers to try to break the charm that kept the gate closed. Sweat lined her forehead, and her bloodied hands shook. Her face scrunched with every shaky breath.

I grabbed her arm, preparing to evaporate, but she snatched it from my grasp.
No, I almost have it.
A tear fell from her eye, and the front of her white shirt was drenched with her blood.

Kayla, there’s no time.

I’m not leaving her!

Grimacing, I spun around, pulling my guns from their holsters. Bullets wouldn’t kill the Nightmares, but they’d slow them down, hopefully long enough for Kayla to finish freeing Margaret. Another broke free of the pack, charging us. I shot it in the head, and it slumped to the ground. Seconds later, the beast rose to its feet again. I pulled my gun’s trigger, and it stumbled again. Finally, one of the other Protectors stepped out of the group and dug her blade into the back of the Nightmare’s neck.

A
snap
sounded from behind me.
I got it!
Kayla said. She tugged on the door, groaning with the movement. I reached around her and pulled on the gate, and it opened with a loud screech.

All right, let’s go.
“Margaret, grab hold of me.” She followed my instructions as I lifted Kayla into my arms, and the three of us evaporated inside Allegheny Tunnel.

Kayla whimpered in my arms, and Margaret stayed on my heels, as we hurried to the entrance. Twice, I checked over my shoulder to make sure we weren’t being followed, that Richard hadn’t yet sent a team to our location. When the tunnel was still clear, I turned so Kayla could touch the wall. If my evaporation this close to home brought Magus and Protectors, I’d have to pray they’d never find Trishna’s sign on the tunnel wall.

Kayla pressed her palm against the tiny drawing with a wince and whispered the spell to open the gate. The three of us rushed inside to the sound of wailing sirens, the signal that someone without Trishna’s mark entered the city.

“Oh no,” Trishna said the moment we popped out of the tunnel into Caelum. Her gaze fell past me to Margaret. “You—stay where you are! Daniel, get Kayla to a hospital bed, now. Stop whatever bleeding you can. A healer will be there as soon as possible.”

I was almost to the entrance of the hospital’s passageway by the time Trishna finished speaking, and I hurried Kayla into the same, curtained-off room where I’d once been. I laid her on the bed.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t fast enough,” she said.

“Don’t apologize. That was brave, what you did, saving Margaret in the midst of this.” I lifted her shirt, exposing her stomach. She groaned as the fabric peeled from her wounds. Four cuts from the Nightmare’s claws. The gashes weren’t deep enough to have done any serious damage—thank God—but she was still bleeding at a rapid pace.

I fought the urge to let out a deep breath. My stomach was squeezed in a giant’s grasp. This is what I’d been afraid of: Kayla getting hurt. I’d known it was inevitable the moment I let her join me in the field, but that understanding didn’t stop the boiling in my chest. I shouldn’t have separated from her in that basement. I should’ve stayed by her side as she freed Margaret.
Damn you, Daniel.

I grabbed large strips of gauze from the metal table near the bed and pressed them against her stomach. Kayla shrieked.

“Breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth,” I told her. “Think about your favorite song or your favorite story. It’ll help with the pain.”

She gripped my wrist with her small, shaking hand and squeezed her eyes closed, breathing how I instructed. A single tear rolled out the corner of her eye, and I ground my teeth to keep from screaming.

Trishna ran into the room. “How is she?”