Dreamscape (35 page)

Like hell I
will. With the discussion, Daegan has loosened his hold on me just enough for
me to crack him in the ribs with my spike-covered elbow. Not wasting a second,
I twist away from him, allowing Seth to pull me against him.

Daegan
chuckles, tracing a line of dark blood that oozes from his side before he pulls
his dampened finger into his mouth. Smiling, he dips his chin in a nod. A spot
of blood remains on his lips. “Until we meet again, my lovely.”

I scowl at him
as he disintegrates into the stagnant air. Only then do I see the hordes of
shapeless Eros circling the volcano. I glance back at Seth. “What’s going on?”

His face is
pale and pasty. “We need to leave.”

Daegan was a
distraction. Thousands of Eros circle the volcano like an unholy tornado. Eros
in their true nature cannot hold a solid shape. They need a host to maintain a
form for any length of time.

Why are they
here? What have they planned? Eros usually travel from one host to another
through physical contact. There are too many here for even my four brothers and
me to house. Amelia cannot absorb any of them in her current state, but the
rest of us can. Even though they could not infiltrate her, she could be
tainted. They could diminish her light and I will not allow that.

Several Eros
still cling to Kelsby. If we are able to save him, he will need weeks to
recover. I should have never allowed a single member of my team to accomplish a
task that I am responsible to complete. No matter how much they train, they
will never be Oneiroi. There is only one way to become like me, and I can only
choose one mate for a lifetime. Kelsby is a valued member of my team, but I do
not wish to spend eternity with him.

My eyes switch
automatically to focus on the woman I hope to one day convince to be mine. Once
Daegan was gone, Amelia took to slaying Eros, but they still spill out of the
corpse.

Not for long. I
duck and twist to avoid the Eros trained on me until I’m right in front of the
severed head. The eyes stare vacantly forward while the skin has split and
cracked until webs of sinewy flesh gleam out from underneath the ever-widening
gaps.

Without letting
myself linger on him, I kick the head and it sails into the volcano. I am only
satisfied when a slithering hiss rises up the void.

The heat from
the volcano makes the chill in the air behind me more intense. When I move
toward the body, a line of Eros blocks my access. So the dead man is their
portal. Was he meant to take them somewhere else? I shiver at the thought. They
will not make it through without him. Much must be considered, and I hope my
team is already working on how this man made it into the Dreamscape.

Something
sinister is happening, yet I have no way of stopping it at the moment. The best
I can do is close the portal.

I conjure my
blades and begin slicing until the line is riddled with holes. Amelia and
Maybell are still working at luring the rest of the Eros off Kelsby. One of the
Eros shoots straight at me like a torpedo. Its feelers brush my arm but I slice
it open before it can latch on. I cannot spare another moment for my friend.

When I turn
back around, the wall has reformed. “Zed! Peter!” I call. “We have to get the
rest of him in the pit.”

There is no
response. A chill ripples along my body as I back away, searching the surface
for my brothers. “Zed!” I yell again, then I see him. He’s taken to the sky,
completely ignoring me, Amelia, Maybell, and Kelsby. I do not see Peter at all.

Only Zed would
choose the inconsequential form of a hornet. I almost miss him and am nearly
unable to form a mind link.

“What are you
doing?”

Finally, his
answer reaches me. “We cannot blow the portal, Seth.”

I grit my
teeth. “They must be destroyed. They could find their way into the Dreamscape
should we leave it open.”

“Better the
Dreamscape than the mortal world.”

My backward
step falters, and I trip over a rock. Righting myself is easy, but Zed’s words
complicate everything. Eros roaming Earth is what we have long fought to avoid.
“What are you saying?”

He lands beside
me and transforms while I keep the general vicinity clear of threats. Zed snaps
his head toward me. “Ours is not the only portal within the volcano. The man
was a decoy.”

“That’s not
possible,” I say.

Negative and
positive energy cannot occupy the same space, yet Zed would not come to such a
conclusion lightly.

The volcano
behind us pops and hisses, signaling activation of our portal. Ian. He should
not be here.

He flies from
the mouth of the sputtering beast, engaging Eros along his ascent. Ian’s skill
with a sword is breathtaking. I had planned on having him train Amelia, but
considering recent events, I am unsure that is the best course.

“Just in time
to leave,” I yell to him while he combats a horde of Eros. His twin blades
whirr as he slices through our common enemy. Eros are not easy to destroy, but
once their energy is breeched they will usually depart rather than risk true
extinction.

Ian smirks at
me. “You’re not going to have all the fun.” His body is covered in thin oozing
lines. He fared better than I thought he would.

“It took you
long enough!”

“Says the man
that has a woman already.”

I laugh. Ian is
nothing if not flippant; however, he has a point. “We’ll work on finding one
for you. We won’t give up.”

He continues
his attack, as do I. “You should have told me about her.”

“Later. Help me
get to that body.”

Ian pauses
momentarily. “That’s disgusting.”

I slice through
more Eros, but they still keep coming. “Hence why we need to toss it into the
pit.”

“What was that
about not blowing the portal?”

“Zed thinks
it’s linked to the mortal realm.”

Ian grunts.
“How?”

Zed, for once,
lets out an irritated growl. “We shall discuss the how after we escape this
place.”

Where has Peter
gotten off to?

The mountain
rumbles underneath us, and the volcano hisses out a blubbering groan. “Time to
go,” shouts Ian as he surges forward, shredding the line until it is nothing
more than a veil of ash. He makes it to the body first. “Absolutely revolting,
Seth.”

“Just dispose
of the thing.” Now that Ian is here, the majority of the remaining Eros circle
overhead. My pride rankles a bit knowing he is more feared than I am. If I had
access to all my powers, that would not be the case. One day, I tell myself.

He nudges the
thing with his toe, giving time for one last Eros to escape. It catches him in
the chest before he has a chance to move.

I scream out
his name, racing toward him. He falls forward into the pit, but manages to kick
the body in before him. Ian attempts to shift, but the Eros keeps him locked in
his human form.

I transform
immediately. This time I choose a pterodactyl with webby wings that allow me to
glide on the slightest currents. The body plops into the waiting lava while Ian
hurtles toward the portal. It opens as it is meant to at his energy. More Eros
attack and Ian is swiftly covered in the dark monsters.

I dive for him.
He must not be allowed through the portal with Eros.

“Let him go,”
Zed yells. “The nymphs will take care of the unwanted.”

Unwanted. For a
moment a strange sense of compassion hits me. It doesn’t last long. Eros have
no redeeming qualities. They are meant to destroy. That wasn’t always the case,
but since Volos came into power, it has been all I’ve known.

Amelia screams
and I am left to decide between the woman I love and my brother. Ian will have
to face the nymphs. I listen for her voice again, but all that registers is a
pale whisper.

When I emerge
from the pit, Zed is fording off a plague of Eros that would rival those of
ancient Egypt. Amelia has her sling. Pitiful as it is, she is doing a
surprisingly good job of holding them back. Maybell has given up on securing
Kelsby and instead is firing sporadic bursts into the sky.

Even with the
body gone, there are more Eros than I care to think about. Without the dreamer,
this world should not exist. It should have shattered with him. Something is
not right. It is never ideal to exit a crumbling world, but it is preferable to
Eros being allowed to inhabit a world, no matter how inhospitable it is.

I send Zed and
Peter the message to retreat. We will have to deal with this world another day.
Zed doesn’t hesitate and neither do I. I morph into an enormous octopus,
sending my tendrils out for my team as I fall.

The minute I
clasp onto Kelsby, the darkness zings against my extra appendage. I let go of
him on instinct, but he is already on the right trajectory. His big body
tumbles over and over. With only two to keep track of now, I morph into my
human form, pulling Amelia and Maybell closer. Amelia screams, but it isn’t
from the fall.

“Kelsby!” she
yells, attempting to push away from me.

“He’ll be fi—”

Kelsby has
changed trajectory. His face is still strained against the Eros grip, but now a
dark starburst of black cankers his normally pleasant eyes.

With the
distraction, Amelia is able to squirm out of my grip. I scream a warning to her
that she fails to heed. She free-falls straight toward Kelsby. The Eros vibrate
at her presence and the moment she clamps onto Kelsby’s leg, I manage to grab
hers.

“Let go of
him!” I yell. Her very soul is at stake here, yet she doesn’t seem to
understand.

“No!”

“Amelia, let
go! You will be contaminated too!”

Seth wants me to let Kelsby fend for himself, but I can’t do
that. The idea of losing him is too dark to contemplate. I’ve lost too many people
in my life and letting him go when I have a chance to help him is
not
an
option.

Kelsby looks down at me, his wide mouth pulled in the
strangest expression. It’s both pleasure and pain and it’s creepy as hell.

His eyes blink and he stares at me as though he’s just come
out of a coma. “What are you doing? Let go of me!”

“No way,” I tell him.

The Eros attached to him slither down his frame until the
first brushes my fingertips. Warmth spreads through me, along with a zing of
euphoria that makes me laugh until I’m giggling.

Seth has my leg and is pulling me back toward him. I can’t
let the Eros get to him. In the scheme of things, he is way more important than
I am. I kick at his hand with my other leg, but he won’t let go.

My laughter continues until my sides hurt…until my face
freezes in mid-guffaw. I don’t want to die like this, with my expression a
permanent candid picture gone wrong.

The disgusting creatures attach more firmly to me, as if
they are sending feelers into my skin and setting anchor. Almost immediately,
oppression finds its way into my heart. It takes my memories and steals my
thoughts as they come, until I’m one vibrating mass of pain, yet the euphoria
remains as a taunting backdrop.

Seth screams my name as Maybell cries frantically for me to
let go. I couldn’t if I wanted to now, which I don’t. If Kelsby comes out of
this okay, it will be worth losing a slice of my soul or whatever these things
are doing to me.

They are like a sponge that could never absorb enough water
to be full. Each of them has latched onto me, and even though they are separate
energies, they move as a collective mind, trying to penetrate my thoughts,
maybe my very essence. I can’t move, but I can dodge them mentally.

They push against the drawbridge of my mind, shaking me to
the core. Fear wants to settle in my veins, but I have an advantage they cannot
conquer. Once I hit the lava, I’ll wake up back at Seth’s place. I’ll be
surrounded by comfy blankets and soothing light. This moment will be nothing
but a memory.

Maybe Seth will let me train more now. Maybe he’ll lock me
up for good?

These things like that thought. They want more. My body
vibrates from another pulse of adrenaline, followed by a spasm that ripples
from my head to my toes. Every shot of emotion they send into me stiffens my
muscles and pulls at my mind.

I’ve got to fight them, but no one has told me how to manage
it. I’m not just going to wait until they’ve gotten what they want out of me.
Something Maybell told me rebounds from the recesses of my thoughts until it’s
all I can focus on. She said darkness couldn’t exist where light resides, or
something like that.

Eros feed off emotion, just like Oneiroi, but they crave
darkness. They crave fear, any dark emotion really. What if I sent some light
their way? Would they let go? Would they be able to hold onto me still?

Not waiting another moment to test my theory, I think of the
first time I saw Justine. Her smile filled my heart with hope. I let the memory
expand until it sizzles inside my cells, lighting them up. I push the feeling
outward, imagining it encompassing the Eros attached to me. I imagine it
ricocheting through the crater and out into the sky where the other Eros wait.
My mind fills with light and the joy of being loved. That was what Justine gave
me the day she saved me, and now I’m sharing that hope.

Maybe the Eros need a menu change. What if I could help
them?

One by one they pop off me, their hazy shapes twisting and
writhing. They offer the faces of angels for a moment before the images morph
into the evil they propagate. Then they explode into tiny particles of ash that
cling to my skin.

Sadness fills me.

We slam into the barrier and water, not lava, surrounds me.

I’m so spent I can’t even think about taking a breath. It
doesn’t even matter if I breathe here anyway. I smile, letting the water fill
my lungs. Here, I’m part mermaid. Seth has me in his arms and that is enough
for me right now.

An apparition floats nearer, the most beautiful girl I’ve
ever seen. She smiles at me, her amber eyes sparkling. I smile back before she
scrapes her nail down my arm, drawing a thin line of blood that floats through
the water like wisps of sunset. Part of me wants to get angry, but I’m grateful
that I can feel levels of pain again instead of the agony associated with Eros.
When I nod at her, she frowns before she swims away. Others of her kind blink
at me, offering smiles that one by one turn to frowns.

I can’t quite decide what these creatures are, but they let
us pass. Seth yanks me out of the water and pounds my back until I expel liquid
from my lungs.

His hands roam over me, his fingers brushing the newly
formed cut on my arm. It vanishes under his touch, not a single trace of it
remaining.

Just when I think he’s going to hug me, I smile at him. He
shakes me instead, making my vision blur and my head throb. “What were you
thinking, Amelia?”

I swat his hands away. “Knock it off!” His face blurs to
black and comes into focus again. “Yell at me later. Right now I need a nap.”

Maybell chuckles and Ian does too. Kelsby lies against the
grass, inhaling giant gulps of air, his gangly legs folded underneath him like
a spider. I hope he’s okay. I’m just glad he’s with us. He’s safe. I don’t care
if Seth is mad at me. I did what I needed to do.

Seth pulls me against his chest, pressing his hand into my
hair. His body trembles against mine, and I don’t want to look at him. I don’t
want to see his disappointment. He made me promise I’d listen to him and I
didn’t.

“Shh,” he croons over and over and it is only then I realize
I’m crying. “It’s the aftereffects of being in their thrall. It will subside in
a few hours.”

I don’t want to cry for hours, especially since this is a
time for celebrating, I think. Yeah, we didn’t get to destroy the world those
Eros inhabited, but we can go back with more ammo and finish the job.

I nod, trying to sit up, but Seth won’t release me. After a
couple of tries, I relax against him. I freaked him out, and I’m sure I’m going
to hear about it, but he should know me by now.

Maybell’s face comes into view; her bright skin has taken on
a pallid undertone that worries me, but her expression is nothing but excited.
She clasps my hand. “You are the most amazing human I’ve ever met. I just knew
you were the one we’ve been searching for.”

I narrow my eyes at her. I’m probably the only human she’s
ever really met, but that’s beside the point. “What do you mean?”

Her gaze darts to Seth and back at me in a nanosecond.
“We’ll talk about it later, sweetie. Good job in there. I’ve never seen the
likes of you, and that’s a good thing.” She pats my shoulder once and helps
Seth haul me to my feet. I’m still a little wobbly, but I manage to keep myself
upright.

Kelsby’s up too. He ambles toward me, his steps unsure, but
his face beams relief mixed with excitement. Once he’s near to me, the others
back away to give him some room. He squashes me to him, nearly suffocating me
in the process. It isn’t that Kelsby is fat. He’s solid, but whatever he’s made
of moves around like jelly.

He gives a hearty thump to my back. “Thank you, my dear
girl. I was done for. If it weren’t for you those miscreants would have me back
at their base.” He shrugs. “They may have just devoured me until I was no
more.” His expression softens and I almost think it’s with regret, but then he
smiles. “Next time, you may have any rifle in stock. We could probably retrofit
a cannon if you’ve the notion.”

I laugh. I can’t help it. He hasn’t said sorry and I’m
pretty sure he won’t. It’s okay, though. Justine told me men value pride above
just about anything, and I have no intention of embarrassing him. “I’m holding
you to it.” I glance around at the lot of them. “I’ve got witnesses.”

He laughs and the others join in until Zed reminds us we
need to regroup back at headquarters. I still don’t know who the other guy is,
but I don’t have the strength to care at the moment.

Seth helps me along. I’m a bit surprised that he hasn’t
picked me up yet, but he’s patiently standing by my side, supporting me when my
knees buckle a bit.

I smile up at him and am surprised to see light dancing in
his blue eyes. For a moment everything melts away until he and I are the only
things in existence. He leans down and presses a kiss to my forehead.

“You’re not mad at me?” I ask.

“You just saved a member of my team, Amelia, and single-handedly
destroyed an Eros army. What have I to complain about?”

A grin takes over my face. “It’s about time you admit how
awesome I am.”

He tucks his finger under my chin and lifts my face to his.
“And don’t forget humble.”

I laugh as our lips touch, but pretty soon I forget
everything and everyone while enjoying this moment with him. We have much to
discuss and plan, but it will keep. Right now, I’m in no hurry to go anywhere.

Footsteps fade into the distance. Ian calls back to us.
“Don’t stay here too long. We’ll be waiting.”

Seth grunts, waiving a hand in dismissal. I chuckle until he
pulls me down to the grass and stares at me, his eyes filled with raw desire.

My stomach tumbles into butterflies. I reach up and touch
his cheek, feathering my fingers over his stubble. My heart thrums against my
chest as I brush my lips against his again. A familiar bubble of happiness
bounces around inside me. This moment couldn’t get any more perfect, except I
suddenly have a strange desire to go for a swim.

Seth smiles, his lips no longer yielding under mine. “That
can be arranged.” He glances over at the pool only feet away from us and he
frowns. “But not here.”

I’ve nearly forgotten the nymphs, but one glance at the
water brings back their strange pull and their desire for dark emotions. They
don’t seem much different than the Eros, really, but what do I know. I still
have so much to learn.

“Oh, no you don’t,” says Seth, pulling me to my feet.

“What?” I ask.

“I know that look. Come on.”

“Where are we going?”

He grins. “Somewhere we can be alone. I’m not going to start
a discussion with you right now.”

“Is that so?” I say, pushing against his chest to back away.

He cocks his head to the side. “Just shut up and hang on.”

We’re through the nearest portal within seconds. I can
hardly think as he bounces us from place to place until we stand in front of a
familiar pool. The mist from the waterfall covers my skin with pearlescent
dots.

I smile and shake my head at him. “You have a one-track
mind.”

He folds his arms around me, pulling me close. “I am a guy.”
His eyebrows pump playfully as he stares at my lips. “Fancy a swim?”

“I don’t have a suit,” I tell him.

He grins. “That never stopped you before.”

That was when I knew I was dreaming. Technically I still am
dreaming, so I slip out of my leather and boots and toss them onto a rock.

He eyes my underwear, but I dive into the pool before he can
catch me.

“Tease,” he says, diving in after me.

When his arms come around me, I clasp my hands at his neck.
“Just like old times.”

His laughter cuts through the splattering of the waterfall.
“I sure hope so.”

“You keep talking, I’m going to wake up from boredom.”

“Boredom?” he says, feigning offence.

“Shut up and kiss me, already,” I tell him, shaking my head.

His hand slides along my spine up into my hair. He angles my
face close to his. My breath catches in my throat while my skin tingles from
the chill of the water and the heat of his skin against mine. “I have every
intention to—”