The handle turned toward her, and water poured out. Her shoulders slumped as she realized at least part of her nightmare wasn’t real. She splashed water onto her face before straightening and waving her hand at the sink. “Off.”
With a flick of her wrist and a small burst of power, the faucet turned off. Avery stripped and climbed into the shower. She had to keep the water cooler for her legs, and she had a difficult time looking at them as she showered. Between the bruise on her thigh and the burns, her body was looking battered.
When she finished, she climbed out and searched underneath her sink for the small first aid kit stashed there. Pulling it out, she opened it and searched through until she found some burn cream to apply to her legs. Her stomach churned as she dabbed the lotion onto her burns. She had no idea how this was possible, but she would figure it out.
She wrapped a towel around herself and poked her head out to make sure Reid was still sleeping before hurrying over to her bureau. She removed a T-shirt and yoga shorts and returned to the bathroom to brush her hair and dress.
When she left the bathroom again, she stood and studied Reid as he continued to sleep. She contemplated waking him but decided against it. At least one of them should get some sleep tonight.
She walked over to one of her bookcases and removed a couple of the Books of Shadows her father gave her. She set one of the leather-bound books on her nightstand and settled against her headboard to read the other.
She opened the Book and searched for something on dreams that were much too real.
CHAPTER 22
Bolting awake, Eric’s eyes darted around his brightly lit room as his heart hammered. He sat on the bed with his fingers clamped on his sheets. After learning what happened to Talia, he shouldn’t have risked falling asleep, but he’d been so exhausted. Besides, Talia wasn’t one of them; it had most likely been something else that killed her.
He’d told himself this so he could sleep, but staring at the claw and teeth marks in his legs, Eric knew he’d only been deluding himself. Talia had gone through the maze, Regan knew who she was, and he’d gone after her again. Except this time, she hadn’t survived. How many more of them was Regan willing to kill to get his way?
How long can someone survive without sleep?
He was about to find out.
• • •
Pacing back and forth, Mario barely heard the words he mumbled under his breath. No matter what happened, he couldn’t bring himself to crawl into bed and go to sleep. The idea of doing it sent a shiver down his spine.
He glared at the increasingly slow clock on his wall. Something had to be done about this, but he didn’t know who to talk to. He trusted Avery, but she was back with Reid, and he didn’t trust Reid. Hell, he wasn’t sure he trusted Avery anymore. Everything was so jumbled in his mind that he didn’t even trust Eric.
He was exhausted, and because he couldn’t sleep, he wanted to punch something until it was in a million pieces.
He wasn’t sure, but after seeing them, he suspected the other members of the coven were having nightmares too. But one of them had the skull and was helping Regan.
• • •
Tina’s fingers kneaded the blanket on her lap as she sat on her bed. If she stayed awake tonight, she would be all right. Maybe tomorrow she would try to sleep, but tonight, she wasn’t ready.
All day, she considered telling Lila and Karen what happened last night, but she feared they would think her crazy. Besides, Karen was moody all day, and Lila had been distant. She hadn’t helped the situation by being tired and snippy herself. For the first time since they became friends, she could count the number of words they’d spoken to each other on one hand.
She wanted to call Avery back and talk to her, but Avery had enough to deal with; she didn’t need the ranting of her sleep-deprived friend. This had to have something to do with Regan, and though it made no sense, she felt if she said it out loud, she would somehow give him power.
Or maybe she couldn’t bring herself to admit to her friends that what he was capable of doing now was far worse than anything they ever experienced before.
• • •
Reid woke and rolled over to look at Avery sleeping beside him with a Book of Shadows on her chest. What was she doing with the Book, and when did she wake up?
He gently pulled the Book from her grasp. She murmured something in her sleep but didn’t wake when he pulled the blanket up to her chin. Smiling, he kissed the tip of her nose. “I’m never letting you go again.”
Rolling over, he padded over to the bathroom. Whenever Avery woke up, she hadn’t turned off any lights afterward. He noticed the discarded nightgown on the floor but didn’t think much of it. Closing the bathroom door, he went to the sink before washing his hands and splashing cold water on his face.
He turned the water off and dried his face before opening the door to discover three men standing beside the bed and staring down at Avery. His blood ran cold when the men lifted their heads to gaze at him. They had no features on their smooth faces; they were just blank slates radiating malice.
“What are you?” he asked.
“We are what he needs us to be,” one of them said.
The chilling words caused the hair on his nape to rise. He didn’t have to ask who he was; he knew it was Regan. Before Reid could say anything more, one of the men removed a knife from his black robes and lifted it above his head as he held it over Avery’s chest.
“No!” Reid shouted.
His power surged forth and burst out of him in a rush meant to kill these hideous monsters. They didn’t blink as his power did nothing to them.
The blade flashed as the faceless man brought it down. “No!” Reid shouted as the thing buried it in Avery’s chest.
Avery’s eyes flew open and a gurgled sound issued from her as blood flew out of her lips, and her fingers clawed at the knife. Reid bellowed as he sprinted across the room, leapt onto the bed, and ran across it to tackle the thing that stabbed Avery. He’d kill them for taking her from him.
Before the creature could recover, Reid slammed his fist into its face, but without a nose or lips, it was like hitting clay as the face bent inward, but the blow didn’t cause any damage. He jerked away from the hands grasping at him, but eventually, they overpowered him and pulled him away from their friend. Their hold on him was unlike anything he’d ever felt before; they were stronger than a human.
“Two for the price of one!” one of them said.
Kicking and fighting, Reid twisted to the side to break free of their grasp, but he couldn’t break their hold on him. Avery’s blood dripped from the knife as the shadowy figure lifted it over its head before plunging it down. Reid lurched to the side but not in time to avoid the blade.
• • •
Avery glanced over when Reid twitched in his sleep. Frowning, she looked at the clock on her phone. She’d been up for two hours, but the only thing she’d discovered about dreams was how to induce psychic visions or chase away nightmares. That spell might prove useful, but for some reason, she didn’t think it would be enough to drive away these nightmares.
When Reid didn’t move again, she turned her attention back to the Book and flipped the page. She found a Post-it stuck to it.
This spell is off limits, the note, written in Landon’s neat handwriting, read. Landon must have left the note when she was going through the Books with Avery over the summer.
Avery pulled the Post-it away and glanced at the warning before the spell. Definitely off limits. She stuck the note back on the page and moved on.
“No,” Reid murmured.
When his face scrunched up, and he twitched again, she set the Book aside. She rested her hand on his shoulder, but he didn’t seem to feel her as sweat beaded his forehead and he moaned.
“Reid.” She shook his shoulder. “Reid, come on, wake up.”
He thrashed away from her as his hands flew into the air like he was fighting someone off. The muscles in
his neck stood out as he bared his teeth and his back arched off the bed.
“Reid wake up. Please, Reid. Wake up!”
Her voice broke on a hitching sob as she jerked on his arm. Tears rolled down her face as dread filled her. Talia died in her sleep.
She yanked on his arm, but he still didn’t respond. Running out of options, Avery raised her hand to slap him awake if she had to. Her hand froze in midair when a vivid red gash appeared on his bicep and blood spilled free.
Before she could react, Reid bolted upright so suddenly he almost hit her. When he turned to look at her, terror etched his handsome features. Her hand still hung in the air between them when he grabbed her and crushed her against him.
“You’re alive,” he breathed.
Her hand lowered to his shoulder before she draped her arms around him and buried her face in his neck. She inhaled the scent of sandalwood and sweat on him as her fingers traced the solid muscle of his shoulders before dipping down to dig into his back. She clung to him, needing him as badly as he needed her.
“Reid,” she whispered. “Reid, your arm.”
He sat back from her and looked down at the blood trickling down his bicep. “What? How?” he asked.
“I’m guessing a nightmare,” she said. When he gave her a questioning look, she elaborated, “I had one too. Come on; I’ll tell you about it while we clean you up.”
She climbed out of bed, and he followed her into the bathroom. She pulled the first aid kit out again and set it on the sink as Reid stared at her discarded nightgown on the floor.
“I dreamed that was there,” he said. “But you were wearing it when we went to sleep.”
“I was,” she said.
She opened the kit and removed the alcohol pads and bandages. As she unwrapped the pads, she told him about her nightmare and showed him the burns on her legs. Wrath clouded his face as she spoke, but he didn’t interrupt her.
“And then I woke up,” she finished.
“I dreamed you had the Book,” he said as she wet a towel and wiped his blood away.
“My nightmare was very detailed.”
“So was mine.”
With the blood out of the way, Avery inspected his wound more carefully. “I don’t think it needs stitches. What happened?”
As she cleaned and wrapped the injury, he told her about his nightmare. She finished taping the bandage into place as he ended his story.
“They killed you,” he murmured as he cupped her face in his hand.
“I’m still here,” she assured him and rested her hand over his.
Bending over her, he kissed her. Heat pooled through her until it spread into her toes and she melted against him. If he’d meant for it to be a quick kiss, he was mistaken as her mouth opened to his, and their tongues entwined. The growing intensity of his kiss stole her breath, and she let herself fall further into it; everything in their lives was so wrong, yet this was unbelievably right.
When his arm encircled her waist and he lifted her, Avery gingerly wrapped her legs around him and let him carry her into the other room. He laid her tenderly on the bed and was careful of her wounds when he came down on top of her.
If she didn’t stop this, Avery knew where it would lead, but whereas she hadn’t felt ready for this stage in their relationship before, it was all she craved now, and she’d seen the condom Reid carried in his wallet. When she’d asked him about it a couple of months ago, he’d blushed and said they handed them out after sex-ed class.
Neither of them had ever done this, but she loved him and he loved her. They would be safe, and wounded or not, she needed this connection to him and his love to chase away the pain and sorrow of her nightmares. Right now, that was all that mattered.
CHAPTER 23
Avery lay within Reid’s arms as he nuzzled her hair and trailed his fingers down her back to her hip. She was still sore from what happened, and it had all been so fast, but love enshrouded her as he held her close.
She hated the idea of anything intruding on this small bit of peace and happiness they’d found, but they had to discuss what happened. “I love you,” she whispered.
“I love you too,” he said as he hugged her.
“The nightmares.”
Reid’s hand stilled on her hip. “The nightmares.”
“Is it Regan?”
“It has to be, and maybe whoever set him free.”
When Avery shuddered, he hugged her closer. Her eyes drifted closed when his fingers massaged her neck. Then the full horror of what happened hit her, and she bolted upright.
“The coven! This is what’s wrong with them!” she blurted as she turned to look at him. “This is probably what happened to Talia too. But she… she… didn’t wake up.”
Reid’s hand fell away from her neck. “You’re right.”
“Why didn’t the coven say something?”
“Because they still don’t trust each other, or us.”
“Oh, son of a….” She lowered her head into her hands and rubbed her temples. “Those idiots. Talia might be alive if they’d said something.”
“You can’t think like that, Avery. And after what happened in my dream, I don’t think there’s anything we could have done to help her. My powers didn’t work in my dream.”
“Mine either,” she admitted. “Some of them look like they haven’t slept in days.”
“I don’t think Landon has,” he said.
Overwhelming despair filled her as Reid wrapped his arms around her again and pulled her down against him. The coven was in worse shape than she’d realized.
• • •
“What are you doing?” Mario demanded.
Avery undid her seat belt and climbed out of her dad’s car as Reid finished parking his Jeep in front of her. When Reid hopped out of the driver’s side, they examined their vehicles and nodded to each other. They’d effectively parked so they blocked the road.
No one in the coven would get past them this morning, and they could move to let their neighbors by if it became necessary. Avery hoped they weren’t here long enough for that to happen.
“Get out of the truck,” Avery said as she walked toward Mario.
“What?”
“Get out of the truck!” Reid roared.
Avery jumped as his voice reverberated down the street. She’d never heard him sound so irate before, but she knew how he felt. Sometime during the sleepless night, her despair vanished and wrath replaced it.
Unfortunately for Mario and Eric, they were the first members of the coven she and Reid encountered. Mario leaned out the window of his black truck to glower at them from swollen, bloodshot eyes. Sitting beside him, Eric stared out the windshield at them.
“I am not getting out of this truck,” Mario said. “Now move; I’m going to be late for school.”
“You’ve never cared about that before,” Reid retorted. “Now get out.”
“You don’t have any other choice,” Avery said.
Mario released a string of curses that made Avery’s eyebrows rise, but he opened the door and climbed out of the truck. He slammed the door shut as he focused on Avery. “What do you want?”
“Watch how you talk to her,” Reid growled.
Mario’s hands fisted as he turned toward Reid, but then he stopped, and his anger faded. “Sorry,” he muttered. “I don’t know what got into me.”
“Rough night?” Reid asked, and Avery heard the bitterness in his voice.
Mario didn’t reply as he leaned against the truck, and Eric climbed out to join them. “What’s going on?” Eric asked.
“We have to talk to you,” Reid said.
“So, talk,” Mario said.
“Not until everyone else is here,” Avery told him.
Mario rolled his eyes and leaned against his truck. Eric rested his hand on the hood and crossed his legs.
“Here come Landon and Rosie,” Reid said when Landon’s car broke over the hill and barreled toward them.
Ma
rio and Eric jumped back when she came to a screeching stop beside them.
“Watch it!” Mario snapped.
Landon didn’t acknowledge him as she climbed out of her car to stare at Reid and Avery. “What are you doing?”
“Helllloooo, Landon, you almost hit us,” Eric called over to her.
She glanced at him. “Sorry,” she muttered before focusing on Reid again. “Are you going to get out of the way?”
“No,” Reid said.
“Not a very good apology,” Eric said.
“Not at all,” Mario agreed.
“Oh, get over it; you’re fine,” Rosie snapped as she climbed out of the passenger seat. “What is going on?”
Mario waved a hand at Reid and Avery. “They’ve lost their minds and are holding us captive on our street.”
“This is crazy, Reid,” Landon said.
“This is saner than anything you’ve done in days,” he retorted.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Reid leveled her with a look that made Mario and Eric step back, but Landon held her ground. “Yes, you do,” he bit out.
Before Landon could reply, Alex’s Jeep Cherokee broke over the top of the hill with Shawn in the passenger seat. Following closely behind was Sandra’s Mustang convertible. Alex braked behind Landon’s car while Sandra skidded to a stop behind him.
“What’s going on?” Alex asked as he opened his door and stepped out.
“Are you nuts?” Isla yelled from Sandra’s car.
“If you plan to keep those cars in one piece, you better get them out of my way,” Sandra said.
“Now that we’re all here, we’re going to my house so we can have a chat,” Avery said.
“About what?” Sandra demanded.
“Your nightmares,” Reid said.
Avery watched as the color drained from all their faces.
CHAPTER 24
“I cannot believe you guys didn’t tell us!” Reid snarled as he paced in her living room. The way he walked reminded Avery of a caged tiger about to break free and pounce. “What were you thinking?”
Dream Walker (The Coven, Book 3) Page 11