Heartless (Blue Fire Saga) (27 page)

Leesa nodded. Dominic’s plan made more sense than anything she could come up with.

“Yes. We’ll get you set up with a car, and then I’ll spend the evening studying about dreams.”

35. DREAMING

S
itting cross-legged on her sleeping mat, Leesa thought she was as ready as she would ever be to try to summon a dream about the xenorians and her mom. With the aid of her illumination spell, she had spent almost an hour pouring over the dream chapters in her book of magic. Even after an hour, her magical light had shown no sign of weakening, but she had pretty much memorized every word about dreams in the book, so she let the light fade out. She hadn’t needed it to practice the visualization techniques described in the chapters.

For the past two hours, she had been working on those techniques and now felt comfortable and confident with them. There was just one problem:  despite the late hour, her body and brain were so keyed up she didn’t think she was going to be able to fall asleep. Talk about a Catch-22, she thought—without sleep there would be no dreams, but her urgency to dream was preventing her from sleeping.

She turned toward Rave, who had spent the entire time sitting by the cavern entrance and quietly watching her, ready to help if needed, but realizing there was nothing he could do for the moment. Enough pale moonlight spilled into front section of the cave for her to see his outline, if not his features.

“What’s troubling you?” he asked.

Leesa wondered briefly how he knew she was troubled at this exact moment, but then realized his keen eyes could probably pierce the dimness well enough to see the expression on her face. If her face reflected her mood, it would certainly appear troubled.

“I need to go to sleep if I’m going to have any chance at summoning a dream, but I’m too wound up by everything that’s going on. You wouldn’t happen to have any chamomile tea or something around, would you.”

Rave stood up and crossed to where Leesa was sitting. He sat down beside her.

“No, but I’ve got something even better. Turn around.”

Leesa shifted her position on the mat so that her back was to Rave. Letting his magical heat flow into his fingers, Rave began gently massaging her neck and shoulders. She sighed as the delicious warmth flowed into her. She closed her eyes and breathed slow deep breaths, relishing the feeling. As Rave worked her muscles, she could almost feel the tension draining out of her body. Soon, she found herself totally relaxed—and even better, she was starting to feel sleepy.

“That’s enough,” she said when she was beginning to have trouble keeping her eyes open. “It feels totally wonderful, but any more and I’m liable to fall asleep before I get a chance to try summoning a dream.”

She reached up to her shoulder and took one of his hands in hers, gently pulling it toward her lips and giving it a soft kiss. “Thank you, sweetheart.”

“My pleasure, as always.”

Leesa stretched out on the sleeping mat. “Lie beside me, please,” she said, “but don’t touch me. I don’t know how that might affect what I need to do.”

“As you wish,” Rave said.

Leesa could almost hear the smile in his voice. She smiled, too, then closed her eyes and began the process of trying to summon the dream she wanted.

The images were sharp and clear. Leesa watched them unfold as if observing from a low hill slightly off to the side. Her raised vantage point allowed her see everything. For the first time in any of her dreams, she was included in the tableau unfolding in front of her. It felt strange to watch herself like this.

On one side, five people stood on a grassy field, gathered fairly close together. In addition to her mom and her brother, she recognized the three xenorians, who looked exactly as she remembered them from her first dream. One of the men held Bradley, the other held her mom. The xenorian woman stood a step or two in front of them. Her name was Rome, Leesa remembered. The men were Smith and Jones.

Leesa watched herself step out from the trees and move slowly toward the xenorians. She named her alter ego Dream Leesa. A moment later, Rave and Dominic emerged from woods and positioned themselves a few steps behind Dream Leesa. The xenorian holding her mom pressed some kind of small black device against her neck. Sunlight glinted off two chrome prongs. The prongs reminded Leesa of vampire fangs, and she had no doubt they could be just as dangerous. Dream Leesa moved forward cautiously, stopping about ten feet away.

“I see you brought some friends with you,” Rome said. “They will not help you, even if they possess magic, I promise you that.”

“They’re not here to help me. They came to make sure I arrived here quickly and safely. And to help take my mom and brother away.”

Rome’s expression did not change.“Whatever you say. Just make sure they stay back, if they value their own safety.” She moved forward a few steps. “I need to touch you, Leesa. It will do you no harm, I promise.”

Dream Leesa held out her hand, signaling Rome to stop. “Not so fast. I need to make sure my mom is okay first.”

Rome edged aside
.
“Go ahead. Get as close as you want. We have not harmed her in any way. Behave yourself and she will remain unharmed.”

Dream Leesa stepped slowly forward. Jones grinned as she approached.

“Are you okay, Mom?” Dream Leesa asked.

Her mom nodded. “Yes. I’m so sorry I got you into this, sweetheart. I don’t know what they want.”

“That’s okay, Mom. I do.”

Leesa watched with increasing amazement as events continued to unfold on Brennan Field.

When Leesa opened her eyes, she saw Rave lying close beside her, watching her expectantly. The first pale wash of early morning light was leaking into the cave, bathing his face in a soft, yellowish glow. He smiled.

“Any luck?” he asked.

Leesa thought back to her dream, fixing as much of it as she could into her memory. The beginning was fresh and clear in her mind, but the further she delved into the dream, the more broken and disjointed the images became, until the end was barely recognizable at all.

Her book had warned about this possibility. What was seen in dreams might or might not occur, depending on a multitude of factors, and those dreams that did come to pass might not unfold in exactly the same manner seen by the dreamer. Those things that were more certain to happen would be more clearly seen and remembered. Things that had a lower probability of occurring would be more difficult to recognize and recall.

Leesa could see the first part of her dream—encountering the xenorians at Brennan Field—as if it was happening right in front of her now, which told her that that part, at least, was almost certain to occur. There was no surprise there; she had no choice but to meet them on their terms if she was to have any chance at saving her family. The following sections of her dream became increasingly less clear—and thus increasingly less certain—which troubled her greatly. Any change from what she had seen in her dream could prove disastrous. Still, she saw no option but to follow through and hope that even the less certain aspects would come to pass. And if they did, she still needed to plan about what to do afterward—her dream had left several important questions unanswered. She wasn’t too worried about that part yet, though—she would have plenty of time to think about those things on the journey back to Connecticut.

“Some luck,” she said, responding to Rave’s question. “I did dream about this afternoon. The beginning was clear and sharp—which means we’ll almost certainly confront the xenorians at Brennan Field. And my dream did show me a way out of this mess, but whether things actually unfold the way I saw them is less certain. We’ll just have to hope they do, because I don’t see any other way.”

She kissed Rave on the forehead and pushed herself up to her feet.

“Let’s get going,” she said as Rave stood up beside her. “I’ll tell you more about it on the way home.”

Dominic was waiting for them up in the stacks when Leesa and Rave arrived at the library. The wizard was seated at the same table where Leesa had practiced so much magic recently. With midterms ended, the fourth floor was once again silent and empty.

“Did you have any luck?” Leesa asked before she even sat down. “Did you learn anything that can help us?”

Dominic shook his head slowly. “No, nothing, I’m afraid.”

Leesa slid onto one of the seats. Rave remained standing beside her, his hand resting lightly on her shoulder in a gesture of silent support. She hadn’t really expected Dominic to learn anything, but she had hoped he might, had hoped he would provide some alternative to following her dream, which was so risky.

“I went to your family’s apartment,” Dominic continued. “They were not there, of course. Nor did I see anyone watching the place. The same thing at your dorm. Apparently, the xenorians are content to wait for you to show up at Brennan Field.”

Leesa leaned back in her chair, disappointed but not surprised.

“What about you?” Dominic asked. “Did you dream?”

Leesa nodded. “Yeah, I did.”

She described her dream in as much detail as she could recall. The beginning was easy, but the further she got into her vision, the more difficult it became to describe things clearly. She did the best she could.

“I don’t like it,” Dominic said when she was finished. “The second half of your dream is too vague and unclear. You know what that means, I believe.”

Leesa nodded. “Yeah—your book made that very clear. It means that what I saw there is much less certain to come to pass.”

“Exactly. It’s too risky.”

“I don’t care. We don’t have any other choice. I’m going. I hope you’ll come with me. I know Rave will.”

Rave squeezed her shoulder lightly, letting her know he was with her whatever she decided.

Dominic looked at her hard. “I could stop you, you know. Prevent you from leaving here…even if Rave tried to help you.”

Leesa met his gaze evenly. “I know. But you won’t. You know that if anything happened to my mom and brother I’d never forgive you. You said it yourself—I’m the only apprentice you’re ever going to get.”

Dominic sighed. “Yes, you are. And I could not have asked for a better one. So I guess the three of us are going to Brennan Field.”

Leesa got up and kissed Dominic on the cheek. “Thank you.”

36. RISKING IT ALL

L
eesa stepped slowly out of the shadows of the trees onto the grass at the east end of Brennan Field. She had shared her dream and her concerns with Dominic back in the library. The wizard had been unable to come up with any alternative plan, and knowing he would not be able to dissuade Leesa from trying to rescue her family, he had reluctantly agreed to go along with her vision, trusting that it would either unfold as she had seen it or that they would be able to improvise somehow should the need arise. He had not been happy about it, though. Leesa was too valuable to risk—if he lost her to the xenorians, he would never have another apprentice.

As Leesa walked out onto the field, she recalled the two previous times she had been here. Most recently, she had watched Rave and his volkaane friends disappear into the woods along with Stefan and two other vampires as the unlikely allies set out to hunt the super vampires created by the black waziri Josef. Before that, she had almost seen Cali killed by Edwina just a few feet from where Leesa now stood. She wondered why the xenorians had chosen this place. Perhaps the woman had sensed the magic used here and wanted to compare it to Leesa’s.

None of that really mattered now, so Leesa shook the memories from her head. A cool breeze rustled her hair, which hung loose down her back, but it was not the wind that sent a chill though her.

The xenorians had apparently kept their word. The three agents had come alone, bringing Bradley and her mom with them. They waited about thirty feet from the trees, far enough to not be surprised by anything that might appear from the woods. One of the men—Jones, if Leesa’s dream had been accurate—stood tight against her mom, gripping her arm with one hand and holding some kind of taser-like device against her neck with the other. She knew Rave could flash over there and disable the weapon with one touch, but doing so would put him within reach of the xenorian, which she could not allow. She had witnessed the xenorian’s special power in her dream—even Rave would have little chance against it.

She met her mother’s eyes, which were filled with worry and fear. Leesa guessed her mom was probably less worried about her own safety than about Leesa’s, but Leesa didn’t care. She tried to maintain a confident expression to provide some reassurance to her mom while silently cursing the xenorians for putting her through this. Her mother had already suffered more than enough in her life. Leesa’s anger fortified her resolve.

The second agent held Bradley by the arm. He possessed no electrical device that Leesa could see—though the hand hidden in his coat pocket certainly spoke to the possibility of a concealed weapon. For now, he was most likely assuming that the threat against their mom would be enough to control Bradley. Leesa’s anger flared once again. Her brother had also endured more than enough torment in the last two years. He did not deserve to be caught up in something like this.

Rome stood in front of the rest of them with her arms folded across her chest, looking at Leesa with a half-smile on her lips that gave no sign of any warmth.

All three of the agents looked exactly the same as they had appeared in Leesa’s dream, right down to their dark blue suits, which gave her some small hope that her dream had been accurate in other ways as well. She moved four paces farther out onto the grass. Rave and Dominic emerged from the woods behind her, Rave on her left and Dominic on her right. As instructed, they remained two steps behind Leesa.

Rome’s eyes widened almost imperceptibly. Leesa saw a tiny bit of surprise in them, but saw no sign of concern or fear at the appearance of the two men.