Dream Walker (The Coven, Book 3)

by Erica Stevens

  A scream lodged in her throat as trees rushed at her. She kept her foot on the brakes, but they did nothing to slow the downward momentum of the car as it bounced off trees like it a pinball. The back end caught on something and went to the right, only to bash against something else and swing to the left.

  The screech of metal twisting and the scrape of tree branches filled the air, but somehow it all remained eerily hushed as she and Tina stayed mute while they bounced in their seats. Hitting a tree stump, the car left the ground and went airborne for a few feet before crashing back to the earth.

  A branch hit Avery’s side of the car and tore away the mirror before smashing out her window. Safety glass rained over her lap and scattered across the console. Spiderwebs shot across the front windshield when another branch crashed into it.

  Then through the trees whipping by them, a gigantic trunk loomed out of the darkness. Avery stomped on the brake until she was practically standing in her seat as they plunged toward the tree.

  No! Reid!

  What had she done? She was going to die, and he would never know how much she loved him.

  As the car plummeted toward the tree, a sense of calm settled over Avery. She shut out the thumping sounds battering the sides of her car as her power swelled. A burst of blue light erupted from her and encircled the tree before they crashed into it.

  CHAPTER 7

  “Reid, are you listening to me?”

  Reid turned to look at Landon perched on the edge of his bed. He frowned as he noted the shadows under her luminous blue-green eyes and the pinched look around her mouth. Her deep auburn hair hung lankly around her face and down to the middle of her back.

  She’d walked into his room a couple of minutes ago, but he’d been too busy looking through some photographs he’d recently taken to really notice her. Something about his pictures of the ocean and dunes reminded him of Avery, but then, most things reminded him of her. A twinge of sorrow tugged at his heart, and he forced himself to focus on his twin.

  “When was the last time you slept?” he asked. Landon could sleep for a day if no one woke her, but now she looked as if she hadn’t slept in a couple of days.

  Landon tensed as if he’d struck a nerve. “I don’t know; I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

  “Alex?” Landon was the one who tossed Alex out, but she was still upset about their breakup. Though she’d been the one to end it, Reid believed Alex had given up too quickly and hadn’t fought for Landon when he should have.

  “No… well, sometimes, but other things too.”

  He glanced at her bandaged hands; she’d told him she was trying to perform a spell that backfired and the candles burned her. Reid didn’t entirely buy it. She’d never had an accident with a spell before, but he didn’t know why she would lie to him about it. They never lied to each other.

  “Now, as I was saying before,” she said.

  “I wasn’t paying attention,” he admitted.

  She rolled her eyes. “Is there something between you and Talia?”

  “Me and Talia?” he asked stupidly.

  “Yes, Talia. Short, blonde, follows you around like you’re a rock star even though you’re more like a groupie.”

  Reid glowered at her as he folded his arms over his chest. “I know who she is.”

  “Is there something between you?”

  “Of course not; my relationship with Avery just ended.”

  “It’s been a month, and I’ve seen you move on pretty fast from a girl before.”

  “I’ve never dated anyone seriously before, and I love Avery, in case you forgot.”

  “Sometimes love doesn’t stop people from doing stupid things; it usually makes them do stupid things.”

  “True,” he had to agree. “There’s nothing between Talia and me, but if there was, what difference would it make?”

  “A big one. That girl is horrible,” Landon said. “And I know you’re upset, and people use rebounds to get over their heartbreak, but please don’t let your rebound be with Talia.”

  Reid opened his mouth to tell her it was none of her business, but he bit back the words. He didn’t like her prying into his life, but if their roles were reversed, he wouldn’t want her with someone like Talia either. The way she’d used Avery to get closer to him pissed him off.

  The problem was, he didn’t know how to get rid of her. He tried not talking to her, and when that didn’t work, he told her he wasn’t interested, but she remained persistent. She called him ten times a day; he never answered the phone, yet the calls didn’t stop. Something was wrong with her, but he had no idea how to handle it.

  “Why are you asking me this?” he asked.

  “You two looked awfully cozy dancing together last night.”

  He winced and ran a hand through his hair. His actions last night wouldn’t help him shake the girl; he didn’t know what he was thinking when he asked Talia to dance, but he couldn’t undo it now.

  “I shouldn’t have done that,” he admitted. “It will only encourage her.”

  “Then why did you?” When he looked at her, Landon sighed. “To make Avery jealous.”

  “Yeah,” he admitted.

  “Reid—”

  “I don’t need a lecture, Landon. I was an ass, I know it; let’s leave it at that, okay?” He loved his sister to death, but sometimes she could be too judgmental.

  “Yeah, okay,” she said. “If it makes you feel any better, it worked. Avery did not look happy to see you two dancing.”

  He gave her a sad, half smile. “It doesn’t make me feel better.”

  Landon chuckled. “I didn’t think it would.”

  “What about you and Alex? Have you talked to him?”

  “I was going to….” Her voice trailed off as her gaze fell to her hands, and she fidgeted with the bandages.

  “But?” Reid prompted.

  “But I’m not ready yet.”

  Something about the way she said it didn’t quite ring true, but again, he didn’t know why she would lie to him about it.

  Landon rose and yawned. “I’m going to sleep.”

  She turned and padded toward his door.

  “Landon,” he said when her bandaged hand fell on the knob.

  She looked at him over her shoulder. “Yeah?”

  “You would tell me if something was wrong, wouldn’t you?”

  He didn’t think she realized her smile looked more like a grimace. “Of course.”

  And now he knew she’d lied to him, but he didn’t know why. Before he could question her, she opened the door and left. Reid stared after her as he tried to decide whether to follow her and push the issue or to let it go until she was ready to talk. He decided to wait until tomorrow, when she had some more sleep, before turning his attention back to the photos.

  He examined the pictures as he tried to decide which ones to enter in a contest for a Cape Cod travel brochure. He tried to focus on the photos, but his attention was drawn to Avery’s house.

  Earlier, he’d seen a bunch of people go inside before Tina and Avery left. Reid didn’t know what was going on, but he wished he was there too; he would give anything for the old camaraderie they shared before Regan started tormenting them, and he needed Avery back; his life felt incomplete without her.

  In the matter of one night, just one night with Regan, his world was torn apart, and he had no idea how to fix it. Everything and everyone he’d always counted on was falling apart. He didn’t know the people he’d grown up with anymore, and one of them was a traitor. Reid knew only one thing for sure anymore; he would go through hell and back to make sure Avery stayed safe from Regan.

  He turned his attention back to the photos. As he sifted through them, an increasing feeling of unease churned in his stomach, and he lifted his eyes to Avery’s house again as a chill ran down his spine. Without thinking, his hands clenched on the photos, and he crumpled them.

  No! Reid!

  The two words, screamed in Avery’s voice, burst i
nto his mind and knocked him back a couple of steps. When he crashed into his bed; his knees buckled, and he collapsed onto the mattress.

  Avery! Avery!

  Silence met his frantic cries for her, but still, he was sure it had been her, and she was in trouble. Reid rolled across the bed and jumped up before racing across the room. Pulling his door open, he sprinted down the hall to Landon’s room and threw open her door. Landon jumped and squeaked as she spun away from the window.

  “Reid! What is it?” she cried.

  “It’s Avery. Something’s wrong!”

  “What? I’m sure—”

  “Something is wrong. Call Rosie and tell her to get over here now. Then call Sandra, Shawn, and Isla and tell them they’re coming with us, whether they like it or not.”

  “You’re acting crazy.”

  “Tina and Avery are in trouble. Don’t ask me how I know, I just know. I heard her and felt her, and now she’s gone. Something is wrong, and we need the coven, call them.”

  “I will.”

  He didn’t wait to watch her do it before he turned and sprinted down the hall.

  CHAPTER 8

  “Avery! Avery!” the frantic words barely penetrated the fog clinging to her mind.

  Her ears rang, and the thick, coppery taste of something clogged her mouth. She worked her jaw as she tried to rid herself of the taste, but it wouldn’t go away. Was it blood? When she swallowed, she realized it was blood.

  She moved her tongue and groaned when she felt the soreness at the end of it. She must have chomped down on it, but why? Then, beyond the ringing in her ears and the blood in her mouth, other things registered. Why was she so sore?

  “Avery!”

  She almost jerked away from the hand on her arm, but then Tina’s voice sank in.

  “Avery, please wake up.”

  “Ugh.” She spit blood out of her mouth.

  “Oh, thank God,” Tina breathed, and her voice hitched. “Are you okay?”

  “Wha… what hap… happened?”

  “An accident. Something jumped out in front of us.”

  Memory was sluggish in coming but when it did, Avery’s heart lurched, and she lifted her head to blink at the white thing in front of her. “Where’s the steering wheel?”

  “Behind the airbag,” Tina said.

  “Oh,” she muttered and managed to push it down so she could see beyond the windshield.

  The smoke rising from the crumpled hood spiraled lazily in the air while the engine ticked as it cooled off. A tree stood in the middle of the crumpled hood while the headlights illuminated more trees in front of the ruined car. She remembered sending her power out before the crash. It hadn’t been in time to completely stop the blow, but she’d formed a barrier to protect them from the worst of the impact.

  “Are you okay?” Avery asked.

  “Yes,” Tina said. “Mario’s gonna be so pissed about his pizza.”

  Avery chuckled then groaned when she felt the tenderness of her tongue and body. Slowly, she turned her head to look at Tina. For a second, her vision swam, and her stomach rolled before she blinked Tina into focus.

  She felt something trickling down the side of her head and lifted her hand to touch the sticky ooze sliding down her cheek. Blood; she didn’t have to see it to know that. Then the fiery pain in her leg sank in, as did the aching in her back.

  “What was that thing?” Tina asked.

  Avery was so focused on the discomforts of her body that she hadn’t thought about what caused the accident. And then she recalled the monster lurking in the middle of the road and the way the car bounced off it. It had all happened so fast that she hadn’t gotten a good look at it, but it reminded her of Sandra’s nightmare werewolves from the maze. However, it was impossible for one of them to be in their world.

  “Nothing good,” she muttered.

  “It looked like a wolf.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Avery, there are no wolves on Cape Cod.”

  “There’s a ton of coyotes.”

  “That wasn’t a coyote.”

  “I know,” she admitted.

  She gripped the steering wheel to pull herself up straighter in the seat. Every battered muscle in her body protested the motion, but she gritted her teeth and got through it to take in the condition of the car. The front windshield was gone, and her window had been replaced by a tree that wasn’t getting out of the way anytime soon.

  They were facing down the embankment at a near sixty-degree angle. Keeping one hand on the wheel, she fumbled with the other to search for where she left her phone in the console; it was gone.

  “Do you think it’s still out there?” Tina whispered.

  Avery realized the music was continuing to play when an upbeat dance song came on. The catchy tune grated on her nerves.

  “I don’t know.” Avery couldn’t think about that right now; she just needed out of this vehicle. “Can you get out?”

  Tina gripped her door handle and pushed against the door. When it didn’t budge, she pressed her body against the door and shoved, but it still didn’t open. “No. There’s too much damage, but we can climb out the front.”

  “Yeah, we’ll do that.”

  Avery was reaching to undo her seat belt when she heard the crunch of leaves outside. Her hand froze, and she lifted her head. To her left, she saw only bark, the woods remained in front of them, and to the right were more trees, but they were a few feet away from the window.

  The hair on her nape rose, and she lifted her gaze to the rearview mirror which had somehow remained intact. And there, through the glass of the rear windshield, she saw two vivid blue eyes blazing at her from the darkness. She couldn’t make out anything else about what stood back there, but she suspected it was the thing that drove them off the road.

  And she knew it had something to do with Regan. Those eyes were too similar in color to his for this to be something other than one of his nasty creatures.

  Her mouth went dry as those eyes held hers. She contemplated getting out and running, but she suspected fleeing the car would prove more disastrous than staying. Out there, they would be exposed and easy prey for the monster. In here, with her powers, she might be able to make a stand against it.

  The unclick of Tina’s seat belt drew her attention, and then Tina rested her hands against the dash to brace herself against the incline and gravity. “Tina, no,” Avery hissed.

  Tina turned toward her, but Avery’s gaze remained locked on the rearview mirror. Slowly, Tina turned in her seat and sucked in a breath. “Avery,” she whispered, “what is that thing?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “We’re not somehow in the Nightmare realm, are we?”

  “I don’t think so,” Avery said.

  “What do we do?”

  Before Avery could answer, her phone started ringing. She didn’t dare take her eyes off the thing in the mirror, but she wanted to find her phone and silence it.

  “That’s the third time your phone’s gone off,” Tina said.

  Avery must have been unconscious the other two times it rang. “It’s probably Mario looking for his pizzas. Can you see it?”

  “No.”

  Avery shuffled her feet around in the hopes of finding her phone so that she could stomp it, but she couldn’t locate it. Finally, it stopped ringing.

  “Do you still have your phone?” Avery asked, careful to keep the panic from her voice.

  “Hold on.” Tina shifted in her seat before removing her phone from her pocket and handing it to Avery. “Who are you going to call?”

  That was a good question. Normally, she would call the police to come and help them out of this, but she had no idea what would happen if she brought a bunch of humans here. Would that thing eat them? She wasn’t willing to take the chance.

  Her dad was out of town on business until Wednesday, but even if he wasn’t, she didn’t want him around anything having to do with Regan. It was bad enough Regan tormented her and h
er friends, but she couldn’t handle it if he went after her parents too.

  Only a few options remained. Lifting the phone, she punched in a number and hit send as the creature vanished from view.

  • • •

  “Can’t you go any faster?” Reid demanded.

  Rosie glanced at him before skidding around a turn. “I’m already doing twenty over the speed limit. Getting pulled over isn’t going to help anyone, and we have no idea where we’re going!”

  “Avery went to El Monaco’s for pizza,” Mario said.

  “So you’ve said,” Rosie retorted, “but that doesn’t do us any good. She could have taken any number of side roads to get there. She could have gone somewhere after getting the pizza, or someone could have taken her somewhere. We’re pretty much driving aimlessly around right now.”

  Reid fisted his hands on his legs as he tried not to let frustration get the best of him.

  “Reid, are you sure about this? She might already be back at her house,” Landon said.

  “Lila and Karen would have called if she’d returned,” he answered.

  “She should have been back by now,” Mario said. “The guy at El Monaco’s said she picked up the pizzas twenty minutes ago.”

  “And she could have stopped somewhere after,” Rosie said.

  Reid glanced in the side mirror at Sandra’s red Mustang right on their bumper. Rosie squealed around another turn and stomped on the gas.

  “No,” Eric said. “I mean, she could have, but she would have gone to pick up the rest of the food while the pizzas were cooking.”

  “How do you know?” Landon asked.

  “Because that’s what normal people would do.”

  “That doesn’t mean Avery did it tonight,” Landon said. “She could be buying chips and dip right now before heading home.”

  “Then why isn’t she picking up her phone?” Reid demanded.

  “Well… ah…” Landon glanced at Eric and Mario who stared back at her with raised eyebrows. “Maybe she’s avoiding you.”

  Reid glared at her, but she had a point. “Mario, call her.”

  Mario pulled out his cell phone. Reid tried to look away, but his gaze remained riveted on Mario as he sat with his phone against his ear while he tapped his foot. “Nothing,” Mario said.