The Dream Walker (17 page)

Chapter
38

Alaina rode in the front seat next to Nico. What a difference between now and the day before yesterday when she was being held against her will in the back of the Hummer.

Sighing, she was unable to take her mind off her dream. It had seemed so
real
. She glanced over at Nico and her cheeks warmed. She wondered what he would do if he knew she spent her sleeping hours in his arm
s
.

It seemed as if it had lasted all night long. Their bodies moved together like perfect dance partners, writhing and thrashing about at times, while at other times they held each other and gently explored each other
’s bodies with delicate caresses. It was the best sex she had ever experienced, dream or not. Besides the physical pleasure, she felt different today as well. Her thoughts weren’t as dark, and her soul felt a little freer. Her future, although uncertain, looked a little brighter, and she was a little excited by it.

She also felt so connected to Nico. It was as if he knew her most intimate thoughts, and he hadn
’t judged her. She had shared with him freely in her dream, something she didn’t do with anyone in reality.

“
What are you thinking about?” Nico asked.

A knot of desire formed in her belly as she looked him over: his snug red T-shirt, the loose faded jeans, and his mess of hair brought back erotic images that she had no business thinking about.

“Nothing,” she said. “I just had a really strange dream last night. I was remembering it.”

“
Anything good?” Nico asked. Was he trying not to smile?

“
The dream was . . . interesting,” she said.

“
Well, better than a nightmare, I suppose.”

“
Yes. It was much better than a nightmare.” But she wasn’t about to divulge the contents of her dream to him.

They rode in silence, and Nico took out a card from his pocket.
“If you need anything, Alaina, you can call me on my cell, okay?”

He came to a stoplight and scrawled his phone number on the back of the card. Handing it to her, he said,
“I mean it. Anything.”

She was touched by his concern and his trust.
“You know I’m not going to say anything about any of what I learned, right?”

He hesitated a moment, then nodded.
“I believe you, Alaina. Just be careful, okay?”

A car honked behind them, and Nico faced forward again.

Alaina shut her eyes. Because of that stupid dream, she felt such a deep connection with Nico it was almost frightening. And because of that connection, she didn’t want to say good-bye.

But that was the nature of the beast that was life. People came into your life, and people left. She was used to being alone. She would pack her stuff and get on the road in a day or two. After a while, Nico would be nothing but a distant memory, a pleasant pit stop in her life to think about in the futur
e
.

They pulled up in front of her apartment building. It wasn
’t the nicest place, but there was worse in the city.

“
I’ll walk up with you just to clear the place and make sure there’s no one waiting for you,” Nico said, getting out of the car. He met her at the sidewalk. “You get some things and get to a friend’s house, okay?”

She nodded and followed him up the path. It was then she noticed he had a gun tucked into the back of his jeans. Apparently, he meant business.

When they reached her apartment, he looked up and down the hall as she unlocked the door. When she opened the door, Nico grabbed her shoulders, spun her around so she was behind him, and brought out his gun. “Me first,” he whispered.

She followed him in and stayed close as he checked every closet, under the bed, and behind the shower curtain.

Once he was satisfied, he shoved the gun back into his waistband. “Nice place,” he said, as he stood in the living room.

“
Nothing like where we were just at, but it’s home.”

“
Not anymore, Alaina. You need to go as soon as possible.”

She nodded. The thought of Daniel showing up sent shivers throughout her body.

There was a moment of silence, then Nico said, “I better get going, Alaina. The others are waiting for me.”

Tears stung her eyes, but she reminded herself that she would be fine. It was time to start over, and she needed to be strong. Texas awaited her, big bugs and all. Despite her pep talk, she threw her arms around Nico and held on. He was so strong, and it felt good when he held her. They embraced until she stepped away.

“Thank you for everything,” she said, meeting his gaze. “I understand myself now, and that’s always a good thing.”

He smiled at her, a quirky half-grin that made him so endearing.
“Yeah, it is. Take care of yourself, okay? I’ll swing by in a few hours to make sure that you’re all right, and you call me every hour.”

“Every hour?” she asked.

“Yes. And if I don’t get a call, I will be busting down doors looking for you.”

She smiled, feeling like a princess being looked over by her prince. “That’s very valiant of you.”

Nico laughed. “I don’t know about that. It’s what any SR44 male would do for a female.” He brought his hand to her cheek. “I’m going to be keeping an eye on you until you are tucked away in your car and out of the city heading toward Texas.”

She nodded, and he walked over to the door. He looked out into the hall and then back at her.
“Remember, lock your door and get out of here as soon as you can.”

“
I will.”

“
Good-bye, Alaina.”

The door closed and she flipped the locks. She leaned against the door, feeling a loss of sorts, but not really understanding it. She had known Nico and the others for twenty-four hours, so there wasn
’t time to form any real bond or connection. Yes, she was linked to them because of what she was, but it didn’t mean anything in big picture. She wasn’t part of their group or family. She had a fake connection to Nico because of her dream, a connection he wasn’t even aware she felt. She was alone.

She swiped at her falling tears. It had to be that damn dream making her feel so upset.

She took a deep breath and tucked the card Nico had given her into the pocket of her shorts and looked around the apartment.

It was time to start the new phase of her life.

Chapter 39

Blake
’s head throbbed as he sat in the War Room waiting for Noah and Rayner. It was late in the afternoon, and he had slept very little the night before. Maybe he was getting too old for the party scene, because he sure felt like he needed a good, solid, three-hour nap.

He had wound up at the Black Cuff last night, dancing and flirting with anyone who would look his way. In the end, though, he had hooked up with the waitress, Brandy.

And frankly, he was sorry he hadn’t done it sooner. As he glanced across the table at Annis and Cohen who were talking quietly, he wished he had quit wallowing in his own self-pity shit a long time ago and just gotten back to business of no-strings-attached sex. It was better this way, and if last night was any indication, he’d been missing out on a lot.

It seemed that Brandy had some extravagant tastes in the bedroom. He
’d thought he’d seen and done everything, but no. Brandy had taken him to school and educated the hell out of him.

Sure, it had started out with some innocent kissing on the couch, but when things got heated, she pulled out some handcuffs, nipple clamps, a feather, and whipped cream. He shivered in a good way and rubbed his chest as he remembered what she had done to him with the feather and nipple clamps. Man, that girl was something else.

“Why do you have that stupid smile on your face?” Jovan asked, bringing Blake out of his reverie. Damn him.

“
No reason. Just happy to be here,” Blake said.

He glanced at Nico, who looked like he
’d just lost his puppy. Why did the guy have it so bad for Alaina? They’d barely spent any time together.

“
So I’m thinking some turkey tonight for dinner,” Hudson said. “Any thoughts?”

“
Sounds good to me,” Cohen said. “Mashed potatoes as well, I hope?”

“
Sure. We can do some of those,” Hudson said, pulling out his phone. “I’ll see if Bev can head to the store and get the grub.”

“
Why don’t you just get up and ask her?” Jovan asked.

Hudson shrugged.
“First, I don’t feel like moving. Second, she’s down in our quarters with Killian, and I hear Noah coming. The meeting’s going to start.”

As Hudson asked Bev to go to the store and gave her a quick rundown on the list, Rayner and Noah came in. Neither looked happy. Their jaws were set, their eyes hard. Some bad shit must have gone down, and Blake took a deep breath to prepare himself for it.

“Okay, people, listen up,” Noah said. “I’ve been on the phone all morning with my contacts over at Phoenix PD.”

That never meant anything good.

“There were a total of fifteen murders last night, and three attempted murders.”

Hudson let out a low whistle.

Oh, crap. That was a lot of bodies.

“
You would think we were in Chicago or something,” Cohen muttered.

“
I know. As of now, they can’t connect any of the victims to each other, except one couple who was stabbed walking home from a dinner date. It seems as if the others were all random.”

Blake had an idea where this was going, and his headache got a little worse.

“They sent over the crime scene photos, and in some of them, there is ash, so we know that a Colonist was involved.”

“
I’m guessing that it’s the people who were in that meeting with Alaina,” Hudson said. “Looks like our Colonist has gotten himself some hardcore followers.”

“
I just wish we knew for sure if everyone in that meeting was related to a Colonist,” Nico said. “I know the guy in charge said that everyone in the meeting was just like Alaina, but I’d really like a solid “yes” or “no” on that one."

“
Yeah, that would be good to know exactly what we’re dealing with,” Rayner said.

“
With this many murders, I’m going to call it and say that they are all Colonist offspring who received the bad gene. And that means we need to start patrolling,” Noah said. “ I’m also thinking twelve of us is better than six.”

“
What are you going to do, clone us?” Hudson asked.

“
Are you thinking of pairing up with The Platoon?” Cohen interjected, ignoring Hudson.

Noah nodded.
“It would be twice as many of us out there with one common goal—getting rid of these bastards.”

There was silence, and Blake saw the logic in the situation, but still didn
’t fully trust Micah. However, things were spiraling out of control with that many murders happening in one night, and sometimes you had to trust, whether you wanted to or not.

“
So, here’s what we’re going to do. I have a call into Micah about combining our resources and patrolling together.”

There were groans around the table.

“Stop it, guys,” Noah said. “This is serious shit. We’ve got one of our bad boys making a little army with Colonists’ offspring and maybe just some human trash, but I’m betting the former. We need to get a lid on this. To do that, we need Micah and the others.”

Blake listened as Noah outlined his plan, which he would share with Micah when he called back. They would split up into groups of two, one of Micah
’s guys with a Savior. That way the Saviors could keep an eye on The Platoon and they wouldn’t The Platoon wouldn’t outnumber them. The groups would then patrol downtown, starting tomorrow night.

Thank God. Blake could get some sleep.

“Blake, you won’t be going,” Noah said. “There’ll be a high police presence and possibly the FBI called in. You need to stay away from them.”

Blake sighed, knowing Noah was right. There was that little issue of him pissing off a lot of government people by breaking into a government facility and rescuing some SR44ians. He was most likely on the government
’s “Wanted” list and should definitely stay away from anyone in authority with a badge.

“
So, let’s take a look at the crime scene photos,” Noah said. “Rayner get the lights. Blake, can you work the computer, please?”

Blake got up and moved over to the bank of computers. He had reordered the large white screen Noah had destroyed when he found out Abby had left, and hung it just before the meeting starte
d
.

Blake hit a couple of keys, and the first photo shone on the screen.
“This is the couple who was stabbed,” Noah said. “They found their bodies in an alley. Meet Kevin and Julie Irving.”

“
Why were they in an alley?”Blake asked. They looked to be in their mid-thirties, professional types. Despite the blood—they had been stabbed multiple times—Blake could see they were nicely dressed, as if they had just finished dinner and a movi
e,
or a concert. She had on a pair of black pants and a pink shirt; he wore a green collared shirt with a logo of a local golf course and gray pants. They didn’t look like the type who ended up in alleys.

“
Don’t know,” Rayner said. “The police think they were lured there. Their backgrounds don’t indicate any illegal activity, like drugs or anything. In fact, he was in middle management at a bank, and she was an executive assistant. They were terribly normal.”

“
Any kids?” Hudson asked.

“
No,” Rayner said. “The one blessing in this mess.”

They stared at the picture in silence. Blake could see traces of ash on Julie
’s pink shirt and Kevin’s face. This was definitely done by a Colonist.

But one person—even a Colonist—taking over two people? He must have had help.
“This had to be a two-person job,” Blake said.

“
Agreed,” Noah said.

“
I wonder how they would be lured into an alley,” Hudson murmured. “What would cause them to go down there?”

“
Maybe someone saying they needed help?” Nico speculated.

“
Good call, Nico,” Cohen said. “I bet that’s it.”

The meeting progressed, and they looked at one death photo after another. They studied the pictures of the crime scenes. Blake
’s headache got worse, and his stomach churned. God, the carnage was incredible. Some were shot, others were stabbed, while some were asphyxiated.

“
So, I’ll wait for Micah to call back, and we’ll get started tomorrow night with the plan,” Noah said.

“
Why not tonight?” Hudson asked.

“
I want us prepared,” Noah said. “I want to dot all our T’s and cross our I’s before we go in.”

“
I think you mean cross our T’s and dot our I’s,” Rayner said.

“
Whatever, Rayner,” Noah said, rubbing his forehead. “I want the details ironed out.”

“
We could just suit up and go,” Hudson said.

“
No,” Noah said. “We wait until I think we’re prepared. I’m going to map out the city and divide it into grids. I want to study these pictures a little bit more and read over the reports coming in. Tomorrow night.”

Hudson shrugged.
“Okay, you’re the guy in charge.”

“
If anyone doesn’t have anything else, we’re done,” Noah said.

“
Anyone up for rolling around on the mats for a while?” Jovan asked.

“
Sounds good to me,” Nico said, and they left.

“
I’m going to see if Faith wants to roll around in bed with me,” Rayner said with a grin.

Cohen and Annis left with Hudson. Blake tried to find the energy to get up out of the chair, but he just couldn
’t seem to muster it. Noah leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. “This is some scary shit,” he said.

Blake nodded.

“I can’t believe Abby’s out there with this crap going on,” Noah said. “When the cops sent this stuff over to me, I was terrified one of these pictures was going to be of her.”

“
But none of them were,” Blake said.

“
No.”

“
Have you heard from her?”

“
Yeah. I talked to her earlier today.”

“
And?”

“
And I begged her to come home. I told her we can work it out, come to some sort of compromise,” Noah said. “I told her I needed her.”

“
What did she say?”

“
She said she’d think about it.”

Blake nodded and rubbed his hand over his hair.

“I’m tired of looking at this shit,” Noah said, standing up. “I’m going to get some whiskey.”

Blake watched him leave. He hoped Abby came home soon, and he hated to think about what the consequences would be if she didn
’t.

He turned off the computer, stoo
d,
and stretched. Yep, it was definitely time for that nap.