The Dream Walker (12 page)

Chapter
26

Alaina stretched out, feeling groggy. A wave of uncertainty and disorientation rolled through her as she tried to remember what had transpired the past few hours. Had she finished her shift at the club and came home? It was then she realized that she wasn
’t in her own bed. Her eyes flew open. Nico gave her a small smile, and the memories came flooding back.

She had been kidnapped.

“Where am I?” she asked, looking around the room. The walls were painted a warm dark brown, the carpet was a creamy white. The bedding had both colors in it, as well as some rusty reds and dark greens. At least she was being held captive in style.

“
You’re just outside of Phoenix,” Nico said.

Alaina sat up in bed, holding the sheet to her chest, and noting she still had her clothes on. That was good.
“Why am I here?” she asked.

Nico shrugged.
“Wrong place, wrong time, Alaina. But I think you have answers to our questions and you don’t even know it.”

“
I have a few questions too,” Alaina shot back. Like why she could see black stuff that no one else could, except Nico and his friends. “And I’d like some answers now, not later.”

He stood and stretched, his smooth and firm abdomen peeking out from under his shirt.
“We’ll get the questions answered tomorrow, but here’s the deal for right now. You’ve got free reign in the house. You’re more than welcome to do anything, except leave.”

Alaina stared up at him, fear once again her companion.

“The house is really nice. There’s a billiards table and a bi
g-
screen TV right down the hall. There’s also a pool outside, but we don’t have a suit for you. I’m sure we can figure something out if you want to go for a swim. But, you need to tell us if you are going out there. We have the alarm set in the house, and we will know if you try to leave. It’ll sound like the end of time is descending on us. Trust me. I’ve set it off before.”

He walked to the other side of the room and peeked through the shades.
“It’s going to be dawn in a few hours, so if you want to go back to sleep, that’s fine. Blake and I will get you something for breakfast later.”

Her stomach howled at the mention of food, and she realized she hadn
’t eaten since lunch the previous day.

He turned to her.
“We don’t have any food in the house, but there’s a Village Inn down the road that makes a mean Denver omelet.” As he walked back toward her, she studied him. His hair was mussed, and his chin had a few days of scruff on it. His gait was confident, yet he gave her a shy smile. The black T-shirt covered his large shoulders and tapered down into a slim waist. His long legs were clad in jeans, and she guessed he stood about six foot five. If he wasn’t her kidnapper, she might consider him boyfriend material.

“
We don’t have any clean clothes for you right now, but when the others get here, they’re bringing some.”

“
You seem awfully hospitable for kidnappers,” Alaina said.

Nico stood at the door.
“We aren’t bad people, Alaina,” he said in a soft voice. “We just need to know what went down at the meeting. I think you know things that you don’t even realize—things that are important to our . . . work.”

“
And what work is that? The mob? Some government assassination group?” Her mind spun at the possibilities.

“
None of the above, Alaina. I’m going to catch a few hours of shuteye, and then I’ll see you later for breakfast, okay?”

Alaina nodded, and Nico closed the door behind him. She sat on the bed and stared at the pretty carpet for a while, feeling antsy. What did they want to know about the meeting? She went through every minute of it, but it always came back to the same thing: the ash. It was the only thing that she had in common with them that she could see. What else could it be?

Giving up, she padded to the bathroom and looked over her face. The bruise on her cheek was bad, as was the black eye. Her lip was slightly swollen. “Bastard,” she said. “Bastard asshole.”

At least George had gotten what he deserved in her dream.

As she stared at her reflection, she remembered glancing into the river, and within the glow of the light, she had seen Nico’s face.

What did that mean?

Shaking her head, she told herself that it meant absolutely nothing. It was a stupid dream.

She decided to explore the house. Nico had said she could go wherever she liked, so there was no sense in sitting on the bed staring into space.

Opening the door, she peeked down the hall. The house was quiet. After passing two other closed doors, she walked into a huge living room with black couches, a large flat screen TV, the pool table Nico had mentioned, and a bar. One wall of windows offered fantastic views of the city, and the door led out to the patio and pool. She turned, went up the stairs, and arrived in the kitchen. Shiny high-end appliances greeted her, and the stone floor felt cold under her feet. She peeked into a few cabinets, running her hand over the soft cherry wood. After finding the plates, cups, and bowls, she finally located some food. She grabbed the box of crackers and continued her exploration. Usually she didn’t eat crackers as they caused her stomach to bloat, and being naked for a living didn’t allow for a bloated belly. However, these weren’t usual circumstances. She was starving.

The kitchen led to an expansive dining room with a table that sat eight. Everything looked so new and expensive, and she marveled at the beauty of it all. Never in her life had she been in a house like this.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the city lights. She walked into another room that had floor-to-ceiling windows and two white leather couches. There wasn’t any other furniture in the room, and it was obvious that the purpose of the room was to simply relax and enjoy the views.

The horizon was turning orange. Alaina sat down on the couch and pulled her feet up under her, rested a pillow on her lap, and munched on the crackers. The night had been terrifying. George had described murdering a woman in detail, and the thoughts of George killing Alaina turned Daniel on. And then being beaten up and kidnapped . . . it all made her shiver in fear. As she looked around the room, munching on crackers, she had to admit that whatever she had gotten herself into—this so-called kidnapping—she wasn
’t minding her jail cell. Her stomach fluttered as she thought about the answers she would be getting in a few short hours.

Her thoughts floated to her dream. It hadn
’t been an unusual one. She dreamt of killing people before, and it always ended the same: with her in tears, sitting on the edge of the red river. What had been different was her feeling that someone else was there—like she was being watched. But honestly, how could someone else be in her dreams? It didn’t make a lick of sense, and she shook her head as if that would dislodge the thought.

She had wanted to find a new path in her life, to make changes. When she
’d stepped into that church, she’d really had no idea just how significant the meeting would be.

Chapter
27

Blake got out of bed and went to the bathroom. After using the toilet, he rummaged through the dresser drawers in search of some sweatpants. On drawer three, he scored. Maybe three was the charm.

He rubbed his hand over his face; he was in desperate need of some coffee. He made his way up to the kitchen, noting that Alaina’s bedroom door was open. Blake wasn’t worried about her leaving—the alarm that would sound if she opened a door or window would wake the dead.

As he reached the top of the stairs, he smelled coffee and wanted to kiss and slip a little tongue to whoever was responsible. The pot was filled halfway, and he helped himself to a big cup. He walked into the back pantry where the security cameras would show him the whole house.

Noah had originally bought the house as an investment property, but then decided it would be a safe house for the Saviors. He had the whole thing remodeled and installed a security system like nothing Blake had ever seen. Cameras were placed not only on the outside of the property, but the main living areas inside the house. Thankfully, he had skipped putting them in the bedrooms. The last thing Blake wanted was come into the pantry and get a full-on in-living-color-view of one of the Warriors getting naked and doing the horizontal disco with their mates.

He was surprised to find Nico sitting in front of the monitors, coffee in hand.

“Hey, man,” Blake said.

“
Good morning.”

“
Do you see her? She’s not in the bedroom.”

“
Yeah, I found her. She’s in the room with the windows. She’s asleep.”

Blake looked at the monitor.
“It’s called the solarium,” he said.

“
What?” Nico asked, looking at him.

“
The room she’s in. It’s called the solarium.”

Nico gaped at him like Blake had four eyes.
“It’s a room with a couple of couches in it. Why do humans have to give it a special name?”

Blake shrugged. Good question.
“Don’t know, man.”

“
What makes it different than a living room?”

“
I’m not an expert on architecture, but it’s the floor-to-ceiling windows.”

Nico shook his head and turned back to the monitors.
“That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” he murmured.

“
Really? I can tell you some things that are even more stupid,” Blake said.

“
Like what?”

“
I’ll think about it.”

Blake looked at the monitor. Their pretty prisoner was indeed asleep.
“What’s she holding in her arms?”

Nico smiled.
“A box of crackers.”

Blake took a step back. Nico had said that like it was the cutest thing he had ever seen. Like that half-breed out there holding a box of crackers was cuter than dancing cats or laughing babies.

“What’s going on here, Nico?” Blake asked.

“
What do you mean?”

“
You sound . . . different. Like you sort of like that girl.”

Nico nodded.
“I do like her.”

“
You don’t know her.”

“
I know enough to realize that she’s not a threat to us.”

Blake shook his head.
“Nico, she knows a fucking Colonist. She was in a room with a bunch of crazy fuckers, including said Colonist.”

“
And she was running for her life when we met her,” Nico said, not taking his gaze from the screen.

Okay, yeah. He
’d give Nico that. She was running from the crazy fuckers, but Blake still wasn’t willing to give her a full pass. Not yet. Not until they got the answers of why she was there and what was going on.

“
She is pretty, isn’t she?” Blake asked, studying the screen.

“
Yeah, she is.”

“
Except for that black eye. That really turned nasty.”

Nico let out a low grow
l
.

Okay then, moving right along . . .

“You ready for breakfast?” Blake asked.

“
Sure. I’ll order, you drive.”

“
Ah, man. I should have called phone duties,” Blake said. “I want a bacon-and-cheddar omelet. With hash browns and a side of bacon.”

Nico turned to him.
“Sounds like Rayner’s bacon fetish has rubbed off on you.”

Blake shrugged.
“What can I say? Everything’s better with bacon.”

Nico nodded.
“I’ll give you that.”

“
What should we get Alaina?” Blake asked. “She’s in great shape. I doubt she eats bacon.”

Nico turned back to the screen.
“I doubt it, too. Probably some foo-foo good-for-you shit.”

“
Foo-foo good-for-you shit?”

“
Yeah, like oatmeal and smoothies and stuff like that.”

“
Smoothies are good. Oatmeal should be outlawed. I always feel like I’m eating vomit.”

Nico shook his head and shut his eyes.
“Man, I didn’t need that visual, half-breed.”

Alaina stretched and sat up on the couch.

“I’ll go ask her what she wants,” Blake said.

“
I’ll come with you.”

Together they walked into the solarium. Alaina stood when she saw them.

“Good morning,” Blake said.

Alaina eyed him warily.
“Good morning.”

“
We’re here for your breakfast order,” Nico said.

There was a beat of silence as they stared at each other.

“It’s a simple question, Alain
a,
” Blake said. “It’s just breakfast.”

“
I’ll take one of those Denver omelets you mentioned,” Alaina said to Nico. “And a side of pancakes. And some bacon.”

Blake let out a low whistle. Boy, they
’d been wrong about her choice of food.

“
What’s wrong?” Alaina asked.

“
Nothing. It’s nice to see a woman who eats, is all. But I’ve got to ask: how do you stay in such great shape eating like that?”

Alaina crossed her arms over her chest.
“I’m a . . . dancer. I get a lot of exercise.”

Blake studied her, the feeling he had seen her before surfacing again.

“Okay. I’ll call it in and Blake will go get it,” Nico said, heading for the kitchen.

“
Have we met before?” Blake asked.

“
You mean before you kidnapped me?”

“
And saved your ass from being beaten into the ground. Yes, before all that.”

Alaina
’s eyes flitted to the ground, then back at him. A flash of defiance crossed her face. “No.”

Blake nodded.
“I’ll go get breakfast.”

As he headed down the stairs to get a T-shirt and some shoes, he was certain of one thing: he had seen Alaina somewhere before.