The Dream Walker (13 page)

Chapter 28

Alaina sat at the large dining room table, her stomach rolling from nerves. She had been told that she would be getting her answers in just a little while, and that combined with the mammoth breakfast she
’d just consumed, her stomach was being a little temperamental.

The doorbell rang. She watched as Nico entered a code on the panel then opened the door. She looked over her shoulder at the staircase leading downstairs. If she could make it down there and out the sliding glass door . . .

Blake stood in the doorway. “Don’t even think about it, Alaina,” he said.

Alaina sighed. She wanted to escape, but she also wanted to finally get to the bottom of things. She turned to see who was at the door.

A small woman with black ringlets of hair came in, hugged Nico, and then walked toward her. She smiled at Alaina, and Alaina caught a glint of a diamond stud in the side of her nose. As she came closer, Alaina noticed she had blue highlights in her hair.

“
Hello,” she said. “I’m Liberty.”

“
Stay away from her, Liberty,” a man said from the doorway. He was tall and muscular, like Nico, and had chin-length blond hair. He ran his hand through it, dropped the suitcase he was carrying, and said, “We don’t know anything about her.”

Liberty rolled her eyes and smiled at Alaina.
“And we’re never going to find out anything about her unless we talk to her.”

Alaina couldn
’t help but grin. The woman might be small, but she obviously had a lion’s heart. “I’m Alaina,” she said, standing up.

Liberty walked over and put her hand out.
“It’s so nice to meet you, Alaina,” she said as they shook. “And this is Jovan.”

Alaina shook Jovan
’s hand as well. He glared at her, obviously not as friendly as Liberty.

“
Let’s get started,” Liberty said, taking Alaina’s hand and sitting down at the table. Her hand was small, her skin cool and soft. Alaina tried to pull her hand away.

“
No, Alaina. I need to touch you.”

What?
“Excuse me?”

“
I need to touch you to gauge your truthfulness.”

Alaina looked at the little woman with the kind eyes. She looked normal, but this seemed a bit crazy.
“I’m sorry?”

Liberty gave her a confused look, then gazed up at Nico and Blake, who were standing behind Alain
a
.

“
We haven’t told her anything,” Nico said.

There was a brief pause, and Liberty
’s eyes grew wide. “Oh. Then you must think I’m crazy,” she said.

Alaina couldn
’t help but smile. “It had crossed my mind.”

“
Well, we need to tell her,” Liberty said.

Alaina
’s heart felt like it might beat out of her chest. “Yes, please do tell me,” she said. “Tell me everything.”

Jovan sat down next to Liberty, and Nico and Blake took the chairs across the table.

“Tell us about the meeting,” Nico said.

Alaina stared at him. She wanted her answers first.
“Tell me about the ash,” she countered.

Nico gave her a small smile.
“Fine. The ash is from something called a Colonist. They drop it when they get excited, which is before, during, and after they kill.”

Alaina remembered Daniel had said he was getting excited at the thought of watching George kill her.
“What’s a Colonist? And why can I see the ash?”

Jovan leaned forward and looked at her.
“Your turn. Tit for tat. What are your parents’ names?”

Liberty squeezed Alaina
’s hand, as if to encourage her. Alaina swallowed a lump in her throat and said, “I don’t know my parents. I was abandoned at a church when I was a baby.”

All eyes went to Liberty.
“Truth,” she said, staring off into the distance.

“
What do you mean?” Alaina asked, trying to pull her hand away, but Liberty held firm.

“
I’m checking to make sure you’re telling the truth,” Liberty said, her dark eyes meeting Alaina’s gaze. “I wasn’t kidding before. It’s a gift Jovan and I have.”

What the hell? These people seemed somewhat normal, but now she wasn
’t so sure. Checking her for truth by touch? Seriously?

“
My guess is your daddy was a Colonist. A Colonist is base evil,” Blake said. “And because you can see the ash they leave behind, it seems that you are part Colonist.”

Alaina looked over at him. So this was what crazy looked like: three big, good-looking guys, and a little woman with blue highlighted ringlets. How odd. She had always thought crazy would look different—like the dirty and deranged homeless people she saw walking around mumbling to themselves, not beautiful, seemingly normal people as this group.

“What happened at the meeting, Alaina?” Nico asked in a quiet voice.

“
I-I . . .” She couldn’t even string a few words together to make a coherent sentence.

Blake put his elbows on the table.
“I’m part Colonist, too, Alaina. Let me guess: you have some pretty dark thoughts. You may even think about killing people. I know I have.”

Alaina began to shake. How did he know this? It was the same thing Daniel had said.
“I hate it,” she whispered.

Blake nodded.
“I get that. I’m not too fond of some of my thoughts either. Have you ever acted on your thoughts? Have you ever killed anyone?”

“
No, I haven’t. And I realized in the meeting that I never could.”

Nico smiled at her.

“Now, what was the deal with the meeting?” Blake asked.

Alaina squeezed Liberty’s hand for comfort, and Liberty gave her a small smile and squeezed back.
“It’s okay, Alaina,” Liberty said. “Just talk. We aren’t here to judge. We’re here to help.”

It didn
’t feel like help. It felt like an interrogation, and she worried what the outcome would be afterward. Who were these people? Where did a Colonist come from? Was it some government code word? Or some new gang she hadn’t heard of?

“
Really, Alaina. It’s okay. No one is going to hurt you,” Nico said.

Alaina noticed that Jovan shot him a glare. Maybe Jovan had other ideas? By spilling her secrets and her story on the meeting, she would be taking a huge leap of faith with these people. She looked over at Nico again, who gave her an encouraging smile. Something deep within her told her she could trust him, and she had learned to listen to her gut. It had gotten her out of trouble before. The last time she hadn
’t listened to it, she had ended up on the wrong end of George’s fist.

“
Daniel approached me where I work,” she said. “I saw black stuff all around him and asked him what it was. He was very surprised I could see it.”

“
When was that?” Blake asked.

“
A couple of weeks ago. He told me I was special and there were others like me. He handed me a card and told me to meet him and the others at the address.”

“
And that was the meeting where we found you?” Nico asked.

Alaina shook her head.
“No. I didn’t go the first time. I wanted to, but something told me that it would be a bad idea.”

“
Your sixth sense,” Liberty said. “And so far, all truth.”

“
Daniel found me one day after work and once again told me I needed to go to the meeting,” Alaina said. “He told me he could provide me with a fresh start.”

“
Why do you need a fresh start?” Jovan asked.

“
I’m . . . I’m being laid off.”

“
So you went to the meeting?” Blake said.

Alaina nodded, hoping he would understand where she was coming from with her next words. If he was par
t-
Colonist, as she was, then he should understand. “Daniel told me I was special, that there were others like me. He said that not everyone could see the black ash, and frankly, that fact intrigued me and scared the hell out of me. I’ve pretty much been alone my whole life. I keep to myself. The thought of finding others who were “special” was interesting. I’m also losing my job, and he said he could provide a fresh start for me.”

Blake nodded.
“I get it, Alaina.”

Alaina sighed with relief.
“When I got to the meeting, George told us how he killed a homeless woman, and how much he enjoyed it.”

“
Who’s George?” Nico asked.

“
The guy who hit me,” Alaina said, her hand going to her face.

A low growling sound came from Nico, and Blake glanced over at him, his eyebrows taking a hike for his hairline.

“Go on, please,” Liberty said, still staring off into the distance.

“
I started to leave, but Daniel told me I couldn’t. He said that once I agreed to be a part of the group, there was no turning bac
k.
”

“
And had he told you that before?” Jovan asked.

“
No. I never would have gone if he had. I don’t like being bullied like that.”

“
So you wanted to leave . . .” Nico prodded.

“
Yes. And when I tried, Daniel grabbed my arm. I noticed black ash where he was holding me, and I asked him what it was. He said he was getting excited at the thought of George killing me.”

Blake looked at Liberty.

“Truth,” she said.

“
And did the others at the meeting see the black ash?” Jovan asked.

Alaina shrugged.
“If they did, no one said anything and I didn’t hear anything mentioned, but Daniel said that everyone there was just like me.”

“
How did you get away from Daniel?” Nico asked.

Alaina couldn
’t help but smile. “The old-fashioned way—knee to the groin.”

The three men cringed and hissed, and Liberty let out a little giggle.
“They can’t even hear about someone getting one to the crotch without squirming, even if the male clearly deserved it.”

Alaina laughed.

“Okay, back on track,” Jovan said.

“
I got out the door and George caught me,” Alaina said. “And Nico and Blake know the rest.”

“
I pulled George off her, and we got the hell out of there,” Nico said.

“
Liberty?” Jovan said.

Liberty let go of Alaina
’s hand. “She’s being very truthful. I don’t sense any deception.”

“
Now please, tell me what this Colonist stuff is. Give me the answers I’m looking for,” Alaina pleaded to Nico.

Nico stared at her for a long minute, and everyone else was quiet.

“First, thank you for trusting us enough to give us the information we requested,” Nico said, his voice low. “Second, we’re now going to trust you. For us, this is a matter of life and death. If you sit here and listen to what we say, it will also become an issue of life and death to you.”

“
How?”

“
Because, you can’t tell anyone what we are going to tell you. If you do, we may be forced to kill you,” Blake said. “And if you go to the authorities with the information, chances are good they’ll want to slice and dice you in the name of science.”

Alaina shifted in her chair. Maybe she should just walk out right now—it sounded like they would let her. Her questions were still unanswered, but perhaps in this case, ignorance was bliss.

What was a Colonist? Where did it come from? How would her knowing that she was par
t-
Colonist affect the rest of her life? She needed the trut
h.
“I won’t say anything. I just want answers.”

Nico nodded.
“Okay.”

Alaina took a deep breath and sat back, ready to hear their secrets.

Chapter 29

“
There’s a planet called SR44,” Jovan began.

“
Excuse me, Jovan, but I believe the correct tense is ‘was.’ There was a planet called SR44,” Liberty said.

“
Liberty’s right,” Jovan said. “Was. That’s where Nico, Liberty, and I are from.”

Alaina
’s jaw just about came unhinged. “You’re joking, aren’t you?”

“
No,” Nico said. “We’re as serious as the sky is blue.”

Everything they were going to share would be mind-blowing to Alaina, but Nico hoped she didn
’t totally freak out. For some reason he really wanted her to accept their world as truth. After all, she was part of it as much as everyone else at the table.

“
Over two hundred years ago, twelve of the most despicable beings of our planet escaped—the Colonists. They are truly evil,” Liberty said.

“
Two hundred years ago?” Alaina asked.

“
Yes,” Nico said. “They escaped their confinement and ended up on Earth. They immediately started mating with humans.”

“
That’s where I came in,” Jovan said. “Me and five other males were sent to Earth to kill the Colonists. We were given these human bodies, and to our surprise, the Colonists took on human bodies as well. The only way we can tell if a human is a Colonist is by the ash they drop.”

Alaina sat back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest, looking at all of them.
“Seriously? You expect me to believe this crap?”

Nico laughed.
“It’s pretty unbelievable, I know, but it’s true.”

“
If you were given these human bodies, what do your natural bodies look like?” she asked.

Liberty smiled.
“We are smoky forms. We are really quite beautiful, if I do say so myself.”

Nico stared at Alaina and could almost see her trying to connect the dots. She reworked them, tried to make them fit in some other way leading to a different explanation, and she couldn
’t. Her face paled. “Really?” she said, her voice tight. “There has to be some other explanation.”

“You keep thinking on that, Alaina. I know it’s hard to believe. I had a difficult time with it myself when I first heard it,” Blake said.

Alaina was quiet a moment as she stared out into space. Everyone around the table remained silent while she tried to find some other explanation.

“What we are saying is true,” Liberty said. “Why would we make something like this up?
”

“
So, you can’t tell a Colonist unless they drop ash, and that makes it nearly impossible to find them?” Alaina said.

“
Yep. And that’s why we’ve been here for so long,” Jovan said.

“
We?” Alaina asked.

“
Yes. The others I was sent with. We’re the Six Saviors,” Jovan said.

Alaina looked at Nico.
“Are you a . . . Savior as well?”

Nico nodded.
“Now I am, but I’m not one of the original six. I was sent here to help carry on our race after our planet was destroyed.”

“
Where are the rest of the original six? How was the planet destroyed?” Alaina asked.

“
You met one of the Saviors,” Nico said. “The guy with the ponytail in the car. His name is Hudson. The rest are at our home, and one is dead. Our planet was destroyed by war.”

“
Like totally gone?”

Nico nodded.
“Just a few billion rocks floating in space.”

Alaina then gazed at Blake.
“And you’re like me? Part-Colonist?”

He nodded.
“Yep. See, sometimes the bad DNA is dominant in a person, and that person becomes a bad criminal. Other times the good genes outweigh the bad, and you end up with people like us. People who know they are different, people who are a little . . . darker than others.”

There was a beat of silence, and Alaina suddenly stood.
“I’m sorry, but this is just too much for me. I need some space.”

Liberty got to her feet.
“I imagine this must be so overwhelming for you, Alaina.”

Nico tried to put himself in her shoes, but the term overwhelming lacked as a description. To find out there were indeed aliens among humans, and that you were actually part of the alien race would be tough to swallow. And, not the mention, the “inherently evil” thing.

“I brought you some clothes, Alaina. Nico told me you were tall, so I took some of Abby’s.”

“
Who’s Abby?” Alaina asked.

“
Abby is Noah’s mate,” Liberty said. “He is the leader of the Six Saviors.”

“
His mate?” Alaina asked.

“
Yes. I suppose in human terms in would translate to his wife,” Liberty said, grabbing the suitcase. “Show me what room you’re staying in and I can help you get settled.”

“
I don’t think I want to stay,” Alaina said, eyeing them all. “I think it would be best if I took off.”

“
Nonsense,” Liberty said, taking her hand and leading her toward the stairway. “You need to rest. I’m sure you’ll come up with more questions.”

Nico watched as they disappeared into the kitchen. She might want to leave, but that would be up to Noah. Nico believed they had gotten everything out of Alaina she had to offer, but they needed to be sure.

On a personal level, he hoped Noah said she had to stay put. He wanted to spend more time with Alaina. He was definitely physically attracted to her, and she seemed intelligent and nice, with just a little bit of fire brewing beneath the surface. The more time he spent around her, the more he liked her. His attraction to her confused him, but he didn’t mind it. Not only did he hope she stayed for his own selfish reasons, but he worried about the people at the meeting. He didn't think they'd rest until she was dead.

“
So what do you think?” Blake asked.

Jovan shrugged.
“I think we’ve gotten everything out of her we can as far as what went on in the meeting. I don’t see any reason to keep her around. I think we just need to make sure we part on good terms. That we’re clear on the issue that she can’t talk about what she’s heard here.”

“
We can’t just let her go,” Nico said, feeling desperate. He really wanted her to stay, but as Jovan said, he didn’t really see a reason for her to either. “She’s got a Colonist and a possible offspring of a Colonist after her. She’s as good as dead the second she goes back to her old life.”

“
Not our issue, man,” Jovan said, standing up. “We can’t save everyone. Besides, we can use her to get to the Colonist. That’s our main goal on this one.”

Nico winced. He wanted to help her, not use her to further their mission. Hell, if he was honest, he just wanted her. The thought surprised him, but there it was.

If Noah was going to cut her loose, Nico was going to make sure she was safe.