Destined for Dreams: Book One (16 page)

“That would be great.” Jacqueline’s enthusiasm is obviously fake. “Maybe I can meet her sometime.”

“Oh, I bet I can have it arranged. I’m guessing it’s not often you get to meet someone like yourself. I’d kill to meet another nightmare inflictor. The only one I know is my father and he doesn’t count.” Nadia beams a bright smile. She’s so beautiful in the morning light.

Jacqueline’s personal thoughts ring through to me again. “What am I getting myself into? I could never meet a real necromancer. They’d know I was lying immediately. Ugh!”

“I can hear you.”
I laugh. I can’t stop myself this time.
“I hope you get caught, Jackie.”

“Shut up. I swear I’ll kill you if I’m caught.”

“You know you can’t,”
I say.

“Then I’ll make you want to die.”

I don’t argue with her. It’s not worth it. She could probably push me enough to where I’d want to die, but Nadia gives me the hope of that never happening.

“Nadia?” A melodic voice calls out. “You should come back inside.”

Alyssa flips her fire red braid over her shoulder and places her hands on her hips. When she meets Jacqueline’s gaze, she frowns. Her bright green eyes narrow for a split second and then her lips curl into a smile before she spins on her bare feet and struts back inside.

Jacqueline gazes at Nadia, but doesn’t say anything.

Nadia plays with her ponytail and shrugs. “When Alyssa tells you to do something, you do it.”

It hurts to watch her walk away. I want her to keep me company forever even if she can’t hear me inside Jacqueline’s head. It’s the thought of her knowing I’m here that counts, and that she’s willing to fake an effort with Jacqueline that gives me hope that I’ll get through it—that Nadia will be the one to free me.

NADIA

“The tension between you two was obvious. Are you okay?” Alyssa hugs me with one arm as we walk toward our rooms.

“I am now. I had to convince Jacqueline I wasn’t giving her nightmares. I think someone at the club told her,” I say. “Then, she lied to my face again about the whole necromancer thing. She’s really something. I feel bad for her, but then I don’t.”

“She should’ve been born a demon. She has the mindset of one.” She opens her door and I follow her into her room. I try not to stare at the hundreds of drawings taped to the walls. She sits on a pile of clothes on her bed and folds her hands into her lap. “Not to mention her influence on people. The council loves her.”

I cross my eyes and suck in a breath through my gritted teeth. “That’s why I’m so conflicted. She’s so nice and I can see myself being good friends with her, but then there’s Hunter and her deal with the board. She’s going to mess up soon. I can feel it. I caught her talking out loud to Hunter.”

“Did you call her out on it?”

“I wouldn’t do that to Hunter. He’s different. He’s so—” I press my lips together. “I can’t describe it. Think I can save him?”

She fiddles with her hair. “I can’t tell you that. You’re too ambivalent. You need to be absolutely certain you want to and then you need to be absolutely certain you’re going to try.”

I sigh. It’s not what I wanted to hear. I want to know that it’s possible to save someone’s soul without being put in danger. I don’t even know where I’d begin to help him. I can’t manipulate souls. “I wish you could meet him, then you could tell me if it would be worth putting myself on the line.”

She smiles. “Even if I did meet him, I couldn’t tell you that. You’re the one that has to live with this. Can you? If you think you can live out the rest of your life without any regret toward not helping Hunter, then I say don’t help him.”

I tug on my ponytail. “That’s terrible advice.”

“Why? Because I know you’re a good person?”

I moan. “I’ll decide later. I think I need to see him one more time.”

Alyssa eyes me through her thick eyelashes.

I fidget with the papers on her desk. “If you met him you’d get it.” I blush.

Alyssa smirks. “I like my dream boys, too.”

I narrow my eyes. “He’s not a dream. He’s so real, I can touch him, Lys.”

“I know. You’ve told me a dozen times already. It’s...” Her voice trails off.

“Amazing,” I finish for her. It’s the only way to describe it.

“And what happens if he gets his body back?”

I glance at the carpet. “I want it to work,” I say softly.

Alyssa stands up and pads over to me, hugging me. “You couldn’t just meet a normal boy, could you?”

I laugh and blink away my oncoming tears. “Because they’re all afraid of me. I’m scared Hunter will be, too. It’s why I’m hesitant to think of the possibility.” I wipe my eyes. If Hunter gets his body back, he’ll be normal. And then what? He’ll risk the same fate as my mother. “I could turn him insane and he could die. It isn’t fair for me to put someone in that position, no matter how much I care about them.”

Alyssa pulls away. “You don’t know that, Nadia. Only I can predict that kind of thing.” She smiles and straightens her back. “And I predict that it’ll all work out how it should.”

“Until it doesn’t,” I say.

“And then we figure it out from there.”

I love when Alyssa is right because it makes the future seem less ominous and foreboding. I wish things weren’t so subjective. I think I would fare better in a world where everything is set in stone.
You would hate that
, I think.
You need a life with options. You live for those options.

And I do.

Right now, I’m choosing to help Hunter. I just hope it’s the right choice.

16
. BREAKING POINT

NADIA

I step into the hallway to make my way back to my room when the pull of Jacqueline’s dream hits me hard. She’s sleeping more and more and will never feel fully rested, but I can’t stop myself. I’m addicted to invading her dreams. It’s too easy.

I glide into Jacqueline’s room. Pale sunlight shines on her face and she sleeps with half her body off the bed like she was too tired to get all the way in it. I reach down and touch my pale fingers to her temples and the world shifts.

Hunter leans against a large gray boulder and stares at an empty playground. A baseball field is to his right, but it doesn’t look like it has been used in ages. The grass is dead, the dugouts contain broken benches, and the bleachers have seen better days.

Hunter stands straighter. “Jacqueline’s having a hard time staying awake.”

I twist my lips to the side and nod. “It’s because of me.”

He steps closer and stares down at me. He tucks my hair behind my ear. “Don’t feel bad, Nadia.”

I pucker my lips. It’s easier said than done. Jacqueline hasn’t done anything wrong to me and even if Hunter thinks she deserves the fate we’re forcing on her, I don’t. “This is why I’m a monster.”

His brows furrow. “You’re not though. You’re only coming here because of me. If I weren’t here, you’d never invade Jacqueline’s dreams.”

Tears blur my vision. “I hate this.”

He looks into my eyes for a few moments before leaning closer and kissing my cheek. “I don’t want you to feel this way. It was never my intention for you to feel guilty or hateful. I want you to be happy just like you were when we first met.”

I stand on my tiptoes and kiss him softly on the lips. “I don’t think I can.”

The ground shakes and the sky cracks. Something is happening in the real world that’s causing Jacqueline’s dream to collapse. While she won’t wake up with me in her mind, I need to get out of here.

Hunter grabs my hands. “What’s happening?”

Fear squeezes my chest. “I have to go.”

I pull out of Jacqueline’s mind without saying goodbye to Hunter. I didn’t have a choice. I shake my head and look around Jacqueline’s room. Someone taps on the door and my heart falls into my stomach. I can’t leave without being seen.

I rush to the window, open it, and climb out. As I close the window, I hear Jacqueline moan, but I don’t stick around to see her wake up. I make my way back inside and see Jacqueline in the hallway, picking up a package left in front of her door.

I wait for her to go back into her room before heading to mine.

I feel so sick to my stomach thinking about how close I was to getting caught. In a split second, my life could’ve been over and I’d never get to see Hunter again.

I can’t let that happen.

HUNTER

A minute after Nadia left, Jacqueline’s eyes fluttered open. She wouldn’t have woken up if it weren’t for the banging on the door, and I’m angry that the unexpected visitor was just someone delivering a package. I don’t know when I’ll get to see Nadia again.

“What is it?”
I ask as Jacqueline fingers the tape of a package wrapped in brown paper.

“You’ll know when I do,” Jacqueline thinks. “It’s from Ryder.”

That incubus is really getting on my nerves. I didn’t think Jacqueline would ever hear from him again. What kind of guy sends gifts to a girl after only meeting her for an hour? I doubt it’s because he’s kind and generous. He’s sneaky and probably a perfect match for Jacqueline.

“I bet it’s a body part or something.”

“Only you’d think something like that was romantic.”

Jacqueline rips the paper from a white gift box. She tugs the lid off and runs her fingers over the black tissue paper. She’s taking her sweet time and needs to hurry up. I want to know what gift was so important that it forced Nadia to run away.

She lifts up the tissue paper covered object and opens it.

“That’s an odd gift,”
I say.

Jacqueline holds a large ring wrapped in thread. Turquoise string is tied from one end to the other, over and over again in a series of knots and looks like a carelessly made spider web. A single leather string hangs from it with a few glass beads knotted on it.

“To catch unwanted nightmares,” Jacqueline reads out loud as she rubs the card that was stuck in the web. “This must be what he was talking about when he said there were ways to find out if someone was invading my dreams.”

“How...thoughtful.”
Sarcasm drips from my words. Is this some kind of joke? I didn’t think that guy was serious. What if Jacqueline sets it up and finds out? This is inconvenient and I have no way of telling Nadia. 

“It kind of is except for the fact that Nadia is my friend.”

“I’m pretty sure he wants you to leave the compound and spend the rest of your life with him. You know if Nadia finds out about this, it’ll be the death of your friendship.”

“Relax, Hunter. I’m not going to hang it up.”

“So you believe she’s not causing you nightmares.”

She puts the dream trinket back into the box and sets it on her nightstand. I’m tempted to ask her to throw it away, but then I’d look a little crazy considering that Jacqueline doesn’t know that Nadia has been frequenting her dreams.

“I want to, but I don’t know. I’ve never had such a hard time sleeping.”

“I think someone just has a guilty conscience.”

Jacqueline stares in her vanity mirror for a second, running her hands through her dark, curly hair, before giving up and tying it into a low bun. She has dark circles under her eyes and looks like she could use another fifty hours of sleep. She blinks a few times and turns toward the door.

She shrugs. “Doubt it.”

I don’t respond. It’s too easy to argue with her.

Jacqueline gets up and walks to her door. “Can you be extra quiet today? I’m having a really hard time concentrating,” she thinks.

“I’ll do my best, but no promises, and don’t you think about throwing me in the void or I’ll never shut up again,”
I say.

“Fine, whatever.”

“You’re talking out loud again.”

“Just be quiet,” she thinks.

While Nadia mentioned that the nightmares would affect Jacqueline, I didn’t think it would last so long. Jacqueline’s always been so controlled and put together unless I really, really badger her, but I’m not talking to her more than usual.

I’ll have to ask Nadia about it the next time I see her. If I see her.

NADIA

“I’ll see you in a few days,” my father says, adjusting the black duffle bag on his shoulder. “Are you sure you can manage?”

I lower an eyebrow. “I always manage.” We have this discussion every time my father has to go on an assignment. He’s been whisked away for work so often over the years that it doesn’t even faze me anymore.

“Can you do me a favor and stay here? I know I showed you the city, but it’s different when I’m out of town,” he says, staring me down.

I look at the floor. “What if I promise not to wander the city?” I don’t really have plans to go back to the city, but I want the option of not feeling guilty if I do end up wanting to go with Alyssa.

He sighs. “I don’t know.”

It’s my turn to sigh. “I’m tired of living in this bubble. I’m tired of having to worry about fitting in. And, I’m so over people treating me like I’m some rabid monster out to eat them alive. You don’t know what it’s like to be here all the time.”

He wipes his hand over his forehead. “That bad again?”

“It never got better. I just gave up on telling you. It doesn’t make a difference, especially when the council is uneasy about me, too. I didn’t even realize how bad it was until I got to be around the people from The Haven.”

He switches his duffle bag to his other shoulder. “I wish you would’ve said something, Nadi. If you can hang on for a few more weeks, I’ll make other arrangements, but I can’t promise it’ll be any better.”

Other arrangements could mean a lot of things. I’m excited to think of the options. Maybe we could live on the beach and I’ll get to see a real sunset on the ocean. “Okay, but I want to know before you decide anything.”