“How were we supposed to know everyone was having nightmares?” Landon asked, and though she raised her chin, Avery saw the regret in her eyes.
“Have you looked around you lately? You all look like shit,” Reid retorted.
Landon glanced around the room before slumping back in her chair.
“Talia’s dead. She died in her sleep,” Avery said, and they all turned to look at her. “And Regan’s back. We’re all having nightmares that are hurting us and following us into our world.”
“That’s just what they’re saying at school about Talia,” Sandra said. “You know how gossip goes. She could have died in a car accident or, for all we know, she had a heart condition.”
“Come on, Sandra,” Avery said.
Sandra looked about to argue with her, but then she sighed. “Yeah, okay, that’s a huge coincidence.”
“We have to figure out what’s going on,” Reid said. “We can’t keep going without sleep.”
“I think it’s obvious,” Sandra said. “Regan has come up with a new trick, and one of us is helping him do it.”
The room grew quiet as everyone stared intently at each other and the hostility amped up again.
“But we’ve all had nightmares,” Alex said.
“How do we know that?” Isla asked. “One of us could be lying.”
Avery scanned the tired faces surrounding her. They all looked awful. There was no way any of them could be faking the fear and exhaustion emanated from them. If someone were pretending, she would personally hand them an Oscar for best actor or actress.
She looked out the front window when a car door slammed, but it was one of the neighbors. When she returned to the house, her father had taken his car and left for work. She’d told him she would go to school later, but she was beginning to realize that probably wouldn’t happen. As much as she wanted to graduate, she’d prefer to live.
“Well, I have the teeth marks from a troll embedded in my shoulder,” Shawn said.
“Are we going to have a show and tell?” Rosie asked.
“Why not?” Sandra inquired as she stared defiantly at each of them. “Let’s see if one of us has something to hide.”
Rosie started to protest before shrugging. “Why not?”
“This is ridiculous,” Landon muttered.
“Have something to hide?” Sandra taunted.
Landon glared at her before pulling the bandages off her hands. “These”—she held up her elegant hands for everyone to see the blisters on her reddened skin— “are the blisters from my first nightmare, when they set me on fire.”
She unbuttoned her jeans and pulled them down. Some of the coven members glanced away, but Landon kept her chin high as she revealed the white bandage covering her slender thigh. She removed the bandage to reveal a jagged gash.
“This is from last night, when they attacked me with a knife,” Landon said.
Pulling her jeans up, Landon stared defiantly at Sandra who rose and pulled her shirt off. Two bandages stood out against her fair skin. She tore the one on her arm off. “This is from my first nightmare, and this is from my second. Both involved werewolves.”
She pulled the other bandage off, and Avery gawked at the slices marring her porcelain skin; it was easy to tell they were claw marks. Sandra tossed her hair back and slipped on her shirt. “Who’s next?” she demanded.
Avery watched as each person stood to reveal the various wounds inflicted on them. By the time they finished, Avery craved a shower. When her turn came, she revealed the fresh burns on her legs. It amazed her to discover she wasn’t embarrassed to stand in her underwear in a room full of people.
“Well, that accomplished nothing,” Mario said when Reid finished showing his injury.
Avery glanced around the group. Their eyes were still wary, but she thought she saw trust returning.
“How are we getting these wounds?” Isla asked.
“Regan,” Avery said.
“I’ve had a lot of spare time to read,” Landon said. “I’ve found out some things about him and spirits like him from other planes. They can’t cross over unless they’re invited, like with a séance or Ouija board. However, they can cross over on special occasions like an equinox, Halloween, or a solstice. Those are the times when the line between the living and the dead is thinnest.”
“This started on Halloween,” Shawn said.
“All of it would have had to happen on Halloween. This has been going on for four days. He doesn’t have enough power to sustain it past Halloween, not like this.”
“What about the person who has the skull? Could they be using their ability to help him with these nightmares?” Alex asked.
Avery could tell Landon didn’t want to answer him, but she did. “Yes.”
The building trust vanished as they all looked suspiciously at one another again.
“But we’re all injured,” Rosie said.
“Of course, the traitor is going to cover their tracks,” Sandra said. “They’re not going to leave themselves out of this.”
“Fine,” Avery said, so tired of it all. “Let’s say the traitor is helping Regan do this and covering their tracks. However, nine of us are trustworthy, and we should focus on that if we’re going to survive this. Let’s try to figure out how to stop the nightmares instead of fighting each other.”
“They get worse,” Eric said. “I know my second nightmare was worse than my first.”
“Yeah,” Sandra agreed, “mine too.”
“Great.” Isla jumped to her feet and paced as her hands jerked against her sides.
“Isla, what are you on?” Shawn asked.
Isla glanced at them before digging into her pocket and removing a small bottle of caffeine pills. They rattled in her shaking hand.
“You can’t keep taking those,” Rosie said. “They’re not good for you.”
“And going to sleep is?” Isla retorted.
As much as Avery hated to admit it, Isla had a point.
“Well,” Mario said, “we can stay at each other’s houses. If one of us falls asleep, we can wake them up when it looks like they’re having a nightmare.”
“I was jerking on Reid last night, and it didn’t wake him,” Avery said.
“So, there’s no way to wake us once we’re asleep,” Rosie muttered.
“Maybe, if it’s right away.”
Rosie’s bloodshot eyes filled with tears. The sight of them tore at Avery’s heart, and she blinked back tears of hopelessness. There was nothing she or any of them could do. The deep loathing filling her shook her to the core. She was going to kill Regan!
“Talia died, which means Regan’s not playing around anymore,” Sandra said. “This is all-out war.”
“Jesus,” Mario said as he ran a hand through his hair. “She’s dead.”
“And it’s because of us,” Avery whispered.
Reid rested his hand on her shoulder, and she instinctively grasped it. “It’s because of Regan and whoever’s helping him.”
“There has to be something we can do to stop this,” Eric said.
“Our powers are useless in the dreams,” Rosie said, “or at least mine were. Maybe… Avery?”
All eyes swung toward her. “Yes, even mine.”
“There has to be something we can do,” Eric repeated. “Maybe if we find the person who has the skull, we can stop Regan.”
“How?” Landon asked. “We’ve tried scrying, divining, crystals, herbs, and spells to try to locate the skull and came up with nothing. I don’t know what else to do.”
Avery bit her bottom lip as she glanced around the room. Someone here was lying, and they were excellent at it. If they could only get to the bottom of that….
“Is there a truth spell?” she asked.
“I considered that, but truth spells are tricky and can easily get out of control. Plus, bending another’s will to yours can have adverse consequences.”
“I don’t think we have a choice,” Sandra said.
/>
“No, we don’t,” Avery said.
“Truth spells can be dangerous,” Reid cautioned.
“So is living like this. We’re doing it.”
CHAPTER 25
The white candles set before them cast shadows over the people surrounding her. Tension filled the air as they waited for her to start the spell. Avery gazed into the flame as she replayed the words Landon had told her to say.
Concerned that if the whole coven cast the spell, it would be too powerful to control, they’d settled on Avery doing it as she was the only one they trusted and she was the most powerful. The second she cast the spell, no one in the room, including her, could tell a lie.
That was what she wanted, so why did she feel so nervous?
It didn’t matter; they were out of options, and even if this backfired, it had to be done.
Avery took a deep breath and plunged in before she could change her mind. “I call upon the power of air. The power to move and change things, the power to bring about new beginnings and honesty. I call upon the power of air to touch and grace everyone here.”
Through the windows they’d opened for the spell, a cool breeze blew into the room. The candles danced in the breeze, but they didn’t go out as the air caressed Avery’s skin and blew strands of her hair against her face.
“I call upon the power of air to strip all lies and falsities here,” Avery continued. “I call upon the power of air to strip and cleanse and lay the truth bare.”
The breeze intensified until it became a wind lashing her hair around her face. The flames wavered and went out as the wind became deafening, and then it was gone. It took a few seconds for Avery to detect the faint breaths around her and the distant ebb and flow of the ocean against the shore. A seagull screamed as a dog barked.
“Did it work?” Rosie asked.
“Ask a question and find out,” Sandra said.
Avery knew what question she should ask, but she couldn’t gather the courage to voice it. For the first time, she realized a part of her was scared to learn who had the skull; she wasn’t sure how she would react. She lost control of her powers when her emotions were overwhelmed. What if she learned the truth and couldn’t stop herself from lashing out? What if she hurt them?
“Rosie,” Landon said, “did you break my favorite amethyst?”
“Yes,” Rosie blurted. “Oh!” She clapped her hands over her mouth as she cast a guilty look at Landon.
Landon grinned. “I thought so. The spell worked.”
“This might be fun,” Mario said.
Avery didn’t agree. Landon and Reid had warned her a truth spell could get out of control and turn on the one who cast it. She had to make sure she kept a firm hold on her powers. Scared or not, she also had to find out who had the skull.
She opened her mouth to ask the question when Alex asked Landon, “Do you still love me?”
“Yes,” Landon said, and then her face scrunched. “This is not the time to discuss that! Not in front of everyone.”
Sandra rolled her eyes. “Oh, please do; we’re all dying to learn about your boring love lives.”
“Do you always have to be such a bitch?” Rosie asked.
“No,” Sandra said, and looked as if she’d chugged lemon juice. “Do you always have to be such an airhead?”
“Yes, but that’s what everyone expects of me.”
“If you still love me, then why are you avoiding me?” Alex demanded of Landon at the same time Mario asked Eric, “Did you put the dog crap in my Nikes last year?”
“Because I have no idea what is happening anymore,” Landon said at the same time Eric said, “Nah, that wasn’t me.”
“It was me,” Shawn said, and Mario glared at him while Shawn laughed.
This was getting out of control, Avery realized as the coven fired more questions at each other. Most of them were slights that occurred years ago from old pranks or missing dolls. Avery tried to reign her power back in, but she felt like she’d unleashed something beyond her control. There was a reason for this spell….
“Wait!” she cried.
They didn’t seem to hear her as the questions came faster. The breeze had returned, and power crackled the air as she realized the coven’s magic was seeping out to meld with hers. It pricked her skin until goose bumps broke out on her arms and buffeted her until she could barely breathe, let alone think. But she had to think! There was a reason for this. There was something she was supposed to learn!
The hostility in the room grew as their powers continued to meld with hers. She couldn’t control her power and all of theirs; it wasn’t possible.
“Wait!” she cried again, but she barely heard herself over the rising wind and the voices of the coven. “The skull!” she recalled on a burst of clarity. “We have to find out who has the skull!”
They didn’t look at her. Didn’t they feel it? Didn’t they know she was losing control and something was wrong?
The room tilted. It wasn’t supposed to do that. The extinguished candle flames suddenly flared back to life and blazed upward until they shot three feet into the air as the uncontrolled power filling the room fueled them.
The voices swirling around her rose and fell in a crescendo as the changing tones pulsed with the colors of the coven. Their powers beating against her were pulling her down until there was nothing left, and she was floating away.
“Avery,” a voice whispered to her, and she realized it was the voice she heard before Lila’s accident and during the awakening of her powers. “Avery, I can help you. You need to reach me….”
The colors pulsing around the voice changed with the soothing cadences. Avery tried to follow it, but the voice vanished, and she fell into nothing.
• • •
Seizing Avery’s shoulders, Reid shook her as she thrashed on the ground. He didn’t know if she was asleep, if she’d passed out, or was trapped in a magical web.
“Get some water!” he shouted at the gawking faces surrounding him.
Avery struck out, and he dodged a blow that would have broken his nose. Grasping her hands, he pinned them to the floor as she convulsed on the floor while her head thrashed to the side.
“Make her stop,” Rosie pleaded.
“I’m trying,” Reid said through his gritted teeth. “Avery, wake up!”
Landon dropped to her knees beside him and slapped Avery’s cheeks.
“Don’t,” Reid said and knocked her hand away.
Mario ran toward them and threw a glass of water into Avery’s face. Her eyelids didn’t flicker when she collapsed onto the floor again.
“Please make her stop,” Sandra whispered.
“Wake her up,” Mario commanded.
“Obviously, I can’t!” Reid retorted. Didn’t they see he was doing everything he could?
“Grab a candle,” Eric said.
Shawn snatched a candle off the floor and handed it to Eric. He ran over and fell to his knees on Avery’s other side.
“What are you going to do with that?” Reid asked.
“Maybe it will wake her up,” Eric said.
“I think she’s endured enough!” Landon cried.
“Something has to be done,” Eric retorted. “Talia died. We can’t let her stay in whatever has her trapped.”
Reid stared at the candle in Eric’s hand. He didn’t want to inflict more pain on Avery, but they had to wake her. He had no idea what was happening to her, and they had to save her. He closed his eyes before taking a deep breath and looking at Eric again.
“Do it,” he said.
Leaning forward, Eric’s hand quivered as he moved the candle closer to her arm. Before he reached her, a shrill scream erupted from Avery. That scream tore at Reid’s heart as Avery thrashed with renewed vigor.
He was thrown off her when her body arched off the floor until her head and feet were the only things touching the ground while that awful scream continued to rip from her. Long gashes slashed around her side and, from what h
e could see, went around to her back. Blood dripped onto the floor as her shirt hung in tatters. The scream choked off as she flopped lifelessly to the floor.
The certainty she was dead paralyzed him. Nobody could scream like that, lie so still afterward, and still be alive.
Then she moaned, and Reid heard the collective whoosh of breaths releasing around him. He leaned forward and rested his hand against her cheek. Her eyelids fluttered open, and her dazed, vivid blue eyes met his.
“Avery,” he breathed.
She turned her head into his hand as she began to sob. He lifted her gently, careful not to touch the gashes in her back, but blood coated his fingers. Her head dropped onto his shoulder as her arms fell limply at her side. When he shifted his hold on her, he peered over her shoulder to look at the five slashes marring her back.
When the coven gathered around him, he saw the collective dismay and sorrow on their faces. “I’ll get some bandages,” Landon said in a strangled voice.
Reid clung to Avery as the helplessness of their situation fully sank in.
• • •
Avery sipped the herbal tea Landon had made her. She’d never been a big tea drinker, but Landon said it would help her heal faster, and she had a way of making tea as delicious as coffee. Avery ached everywhere and was fighting the urge to cry again. Tea sloshed out of her cup when she set it on the saucer.
“Can you tell us what happened?” Reid asked.
“I… uh….” Avery gulped. “I’m not sure. One second I was here and everything was so out of control. Your powers were joining with mine, and I couldn’t control any of it. Then all these colors were swirling around me as I fell. A voice called to me and told me it could help if I found it.”
“Was the voice Regan?” Reid asked.
“No. It was someone else, I think. I don’t know. It was so confusing.” She took a deep breath as a tear rolled down her cheek. “Then I was dreaming. Those faceless things were surrounding me again. They’d tied me to a pole and said they were going to beat the witch out of me. Then I felt the whip. I tried not to scream, but it hurt so much….”
She broke off on a sob.
“Oh, Avery,” Reid whispered as he kissed her.
Dream Walker (The Coven, Book 3) Page 12