by Vicki Leigh
“Okay, let’s say I believe you,” she said, backing away. “Then, no offense, but you’ve done a pretty crappy job of protecting me.”
“Well, I have only been your Catcher for a few days.”
“Yeah, and last night was probably one of the worst ones I ever had.” Her eyes flicked from me to the floor then back to me, filling with tears.
She might as well have kicked me in the stomach.
This had been a mistake. I never should’ve attempted to be anything other than I was—a spirit. “You’re right. Last night was brutal, and I wasn’t able to keep you safe. I simply wanted you to know that I was the one responsible and to apologize for the fright my misstep gave you. I promise you’ll never hear from me again.” I stood.
She stepped toward me before I had the chance to evaporate. “No, don’t leave.” Her face whitened. Was she afraid to be alone?
Kayla wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. “I’m sorry if I insulted you. I’m just not used to… you know.”
“What?”
“Knowing that something I’d seen was actually real.”
I shifted my weight, aching to tell her how she had burned her attacker alive and how she was not a loon, but the words wouldn’t come out. It felt like too much after all I’d shared already.
Kayla watched me like she was trying to put together a puzzle. Her eyes framed with red, and I stared into them, lost in the sunlight glow of the gold around her pupils.
“So, you said everyone has one of you?” she asked.
I nodded, her voice breaking me out of my stupor. The really evil humans, like Jeffrey Dahmer didn’t, but there was no point in getting into technicalities.
“And you’re usually invisible?”
Again, I nodded. “We can choose to show ourselves, but our battles with the Nightmares are on the other side of the veil.”
“On the other side of the what now?”
“The veil. It’s like a curtain that separates the living world from the dead. If you have the power—like me—you can go from one side to the other.”
Her eyes widened again. Any more talk of dead things and I was going to scare her away for sure.
“Look,” I said, “I need to meet up with the other two Dreamcatchers who will be with me tonight. But, can I meet you for lunch tomorrow? Maybe we could eat in the garden?”
She bit her lip and gripped the hem of her shirt. “Um… yeah, I guess that would be okay.”
I nodded once. “Cheers, then.”
“But do me a favor and sign in at the desk downstairs as one of my friends from high school? I don’t want word getting around that I sneak boys into my room.” Then, to my surprise, she smiled.
I couldn’t help but return the gesture. “As you wish.”
atching was easy that night. Bartholomew finally cleared Tabbi to return to work, and I watched her pull memories of Veronica Mars episodes out of Kayla’s head. Tabbi weaved together Kayla’s very own episode of sleuthing alongside Veronica, laughing at inside jokes and stopping a criminal mastermind. She looked so blissful.
Only two Nightmares came to visit, and Samantha and Seth easily disposed of them, wanting to keep me from fighting as much as possible, given my still-sore back. As soon as the sun peeked over the horizon, the four of us evaporated back to our flats.
Giovanni still hadn’t managed to secure separate apartments for Seth or Samantha, so again Seth crashed on my sofa. I wouldn’t have enough time to get much sleep, so after showering and dressing for lunch with Kayla, I spent an hour or so with my nose in a book, not wanting to wake Seth. Then at 11:45 a.m., I evaporated to Kayla’s room.
Kayla had braided her hair over her left shoulder and was staring out her window at the courtyard below. A soft smile lit her face, and she looked happier than I’d seen in days. I warned myself not to botch this up.
Walking through her door, I took the lift to the first floor then went outside to take a good look at the building. Another point of reference was needed so I wouldn’t have to pop in on Kayla every time I wanted to see her. Something about that stood out to me as stalker-ish. As if watching her sleep every night wasn’t. I shook my head.
At the side of the building, I glanced around to make sure no one could see me and went corporeal. I adjusted the blazer I’d worn to cover up the bulkiness of the back brace then stepped around the corner of the building, entering the doors and walking to the front desk where a woman sat in pink, Hello Kitty scrubs.
“Can I help you?” she asked.
“I’m here to visit someone. Kayla Bartlett.”
She typed a few things into her computer. “Sign in on the clipboard. You’ll need to wear this the entire time you’re in the building. Drop it off and sign out when you leave. Go to floor five and check in with the nurses’ station.” She handed me a familiar lanyard with a red “Visitor” badge attached. I slipped it over my neck, signed in and headed for the lift. When I reached the fifth floor, I did as the receptionist instructed and stopped at the nurses’ station. The one in SpongeBob scrubs led me down the hall. She knocked on Kayla’s door and opened it.
“Kayla, you have a visitor.”
Kayla turned from the window and locked eyes with me. A huge grin spread across her face. “You came.”
“You doubted me?”
Seeing that she was expecting me, the nurse left the room, leaving the door open.
Kayla fidgeted with her fingernails. “Well, did you want to go to lunch?” She motioned toward the door. “The food’s not the best, but it’s something. And it seems like a really nice day for June. We could still eat in the courtyard, if you want.”
“Do we have to wait for a nurse or something?”
She pressed her hands together and bit her lip. I didn’t expect her to be so nervous. “Probably.”
As if on cue, SpongeBob came back. “Are you two going to lunch?”
Kayla nodded, and I followed her out the door.
She was right. The cafeteria food wasn’t very good. But I was hungry, so it went down easily. We sat at a small table in the shade of a large oak tree and scooped our food with plastic spoons. Kayla’s nervousness worsened the longer we sat. It was time I did some serious ice breaking. I’d been good at this talking-to-girls thing once.
“Did you know that the first-ever shopping mall was built in Rome?”
Kayla covered her mouth as she let out a chuckle. “What?”
“It’s true. The mall was built by Emperor Trajan and had more than one-hundred-and-fifty outlets. It was pretty impressive in its time.”
“And what made you bring that up?”
“Well, I figured all girls like to shop. Seemed like a good random fact to pull out of the hat.”
She smiled and swirled her mashed potatoes with her spoon. “Not all girls like to shop.”
“I beg to differ. Seems to be inherent in their D.N.A.”
Kayla laughed. “Okay, fine. I guess we all like to shop a little.”
I couldn’t help but smile. The sound of her laugh was intoxicating.
“What other random facts can you pull out of your ‘hat?’” She took a bite of mashed potatoes.
“What do you want to know?”
She tapped her chin. “Okay, Mr. Smarty-Pants. What’s the tallest building in Canada?”
“The C.N. Tower in downtown Toronto.”
“The oldest castle in the world?”
“Well, if you’re talking total area considered palace grounds, then the Palace of Versailles.” I’d been to many of these places. The Palace of Versailles still impressed me.
She stared at me with a half-smile on her face. I wiggled my eyebrows, challenging her.
“Okay, fine. How about the oldest person, living, in the Northern Hemisphere to pick his nose under a full moon?”
I nearly spit the mashed potatoes out of my mouth and tipped my head back to laugh. “What kind of question was that?”
“A good one.” She grinned.
/> “Well, then consider me stumped.”
I took a drink from my water bottle as she moved peas around on her plate. Then she looked up at me. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“How did you die?”
Damn, I knew this question was bound to come up. “I really don’t want to talk about it.”
She frowned. “Why? Were you a criminal or something?”
“No, nothing like that.”
“Well, then what happened?”
I gave her the most roundabout answer I could. “Well, to become what I am, a Dreamcatcher, you have to have sacrificed yourself to save someone else.”
“Another solider? You said you’d gone to war.”
“Not exactly.”
She stared me in the eyes. She wasn’t going to back down until I gave her a straight answer. I sighed. “It was 1814. My brigade came over from England. We reached the mainland in August and from there marched toward Washington. It was ungodly hot. We were tired, thirsty, and hungry. A few times we passed through small villages, and one day, as I was leaning against a house, smoking on one of our stops, I heard women screaming from inside. I dropped my cig and ran in to find their skirts above their heads…”
I couldn’t say the words, not with Kayla sitting right across from me. But the look on her face told me she knew where this was going. She was so pale. Still, I had to finish my story. “There were two girls, and one couldn’t have been older than twelve. The same age as my sister at the time. I shot one of the men and fought off the other three. I saved the girls, but I was taken to the forest and killed for treason.”
Kayla swallowed and nodded. Her eyes looked at the ground.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to tell you.”
She nodded, tears brimming in her eyes. “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have forced you to answer.”
I didn’t speak for fear that I might cause her to shed the tears she was trying so hard to keep in. After what seemed like hours, she spoke again.
“Do you know why I’m in here?”
“Because you’re depressed. And afraid you’re seeing things.”
She shook her head. “No. I’m in here because of what happened the day the visions started.”
I might as well tell her I knew. To hide it from her longer would make the truth worse. “You mean what happened with your mum’s boyfriend.”
Her eyes found mine. They were wide with shock. “You knew?”
Nodding, I replied, “My partner, Tabbi, is a Dreamweaver. She reads your mind and uses your memories and interests to create pleasant dreams for you while you sleep. She’s the one who told me what happened.”
Her jaw clenched and unclenched before speaking. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t think bringing it up would be prudent.”
“‘Prudent?’ Jeez, Daniel. How much do you know about me?”
“Enough.”
We sat in silence. Kayla stared at her food, picking apart the carrot sticks with her fingers. Then her head popped up, and she looked right at me, her eyes tight. “Thank you for lunch, but I have to go.”
She grabbed the edge of her tray and tried to stand, but I leaned forward and reached for her hand. “Wait.” The sudden movement jarred my spine, and I sat back in my seat with a groan.
Kayla scrunched her eyebrows. “You’re hurt?” She lowered herself into her chair.
Nodding, I took in a deep breath. “Comes with the job.”
“Is this part of the ‘job’ then—eating lunch with me?” She clutched her tray tighter.
“No. This is… something I’ve never done before.” I was going to say “illegal,” but I figured that wouldn’t go over well.
“Then why are you? I’m not exactly the type of person people want to be friends with anymore.”
Her words brought a frown to my lips. Seth was right. I did care deeply for her. But did she really value herself so little? “Don’t talk like that. We all have things about our past we wish we could erase.”
“So you don’t think I’m a freak?”
“Not at all. And anyone who thinks that way doesn’t know what they’re missing.”
She held my gaze until a blush rose in her cheeks. She smiled softly as she looked down toward her plate. Out of nowhere, I felt a burning desire to lean across the table and kiss her. The sudden vigor surprised me, but my back brace was like a chastity belt. There was no way I’d be able to lean across an entire table.
Wanting some kind of connection, I rested my hand on hers. She flinched at my touch and blushed a brighter shade of red. Then, she gently moved her hand out from under mine and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
“We should probably be going. Lunch hour is up,” she said.
A glance at the door showed patients filing into the building. My heart sank. I hadn’t had enough time with her. But unless I wanted to push her away, I would need to move at a speed comfortable for her. That was the gentlemanly thing to do, anyhow. I hoped I hadn’t forgotten how to be one.
Standing up from my chair, I piled her tray on top of mine and held out a hand to her. She smiled and, timidly, took it. I lifted her from her seat. My back didn’t like the motion one bit, but I let out a deep breath to keep from showing the pain.
We walked side-by-side into the building, neither of us speaking, and dropped our trays off in the cafeteria. When we reached the part of the building where we had to go our separate ways, Kayla finally spoke.
“Thanks for, you know, visiting me today. It was nice to have some company other than the nurses for a change. Or Marcus.”
Recalling the cafeteria scene where he’d freaked out and propelled her into the chair, I forced a smile. “My pleasure.”
“Will I see you again?”
“I can visit you tomorrow for lunch, if you’d like.”
Her face brightened. “I’d like that.”
“Good. We’ll call it a date, then.”
She giggled. “Are you hitting on me, Mr. Graham?”
It’d been a long time since someone called me that. I didn’t like the formality. But I wasn’t going to ruin the moment. Instead, I continued to smile and played along. “Don’t flatter yourself, Miss Bartlett. You’d know if I was hitting on you.”
She giggled again. “See you tomorrow, Daniel.”
“Bye, Kayla.”
She turned to follow a nurse to her room. I signed out at the front desk and evaporated to my flat once I was sure no one could see me. Then I took a painkiller and fell face-first into my pillow. A grin never left my face.
omeone shook me awake. I groaned, my face still pressed into my pillow.
“Daniel, man, wake up. You gotta come with me to Rome,” Seth said.
Opening one eye, I looked up at him. Seth frowned, and he stared at me with sad eyes.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Sorry, man. I can’t say anything more.”
Dread washed over me, my stomach churning like I’d eaten too much food. When I pushed myself up, pain streaked through my spine, and I took a deep breath before swinging my legs off the bed. I ran my hands through my hair and adjusted my shirt, still wearing the same clothes I’d worn to see Kayla. “All right. Lead the way.”
Seth evaporated us to Giovanni’s office where Tabbi and Samantha both stood, their eyes cast to the floor. Giovanni sat behind his desk, puffing hard on his cigar, and behind him stood Bartholomew. His expression was as upset as the girls’.
I walked toward the desk as stoically as I could. The nervousness running through me made me nauseous. “You called for me, sir?”
“Sit down, Daniel.” He didn’t look at me.
Obeying, I sat in the chair opposite his desk. Giovanni drew in a deep breath of smoke before pressing the lit end of his cigar into his ashtray, putting it out. He put his hands together on his desk in front of him. “How do you think I keep such close tabs on my Protectors?”
Oh crap. “I don’t know, sir.”
“I have spies, Daniel. Some Protectors, some humans. And I got the most interesting call from one of them earlier. Do you have any idea what it may have been about?”
I swallowed. “No, sir.”
Giovanni smacked his hand on his desk. “Don’t lie to me! I’ve been around for a long time. You think you are the first Catcher to be infatuated with a human?”
“Sir, I can explain—”
“You broke the first code, Daniel. You revealed yourself to her! You know it’s absolutely essential the living world not know we exist.”
My heart beat fast in my chest, like someone’s fist hitting me again and again. Why had I been so naïve to think I could get away with this? Now my existence would be over, and all because I couldn’t control myself. I forced myself to appear calm. “Sir, please, if you’d let me explain.”
“No need to. I have no choice. Daniel, please follow Seth to your holding cell. You have been relieved of your position as a Protector of the Night.”
“No!” Samantha and Tabbi yelled simultaneously. They leapt at me before Seth put his arms out, stopping them. Even with his dark skin, his face was pale. He knew what being relieved of your position meant—tomorrow, I’d be executed.
I gripped the armrests. My heart felt seconds from exploding. A week ago, I wouldn’t have cared less about dying. But now…
No. I couldn’t just cease to exist. But what could I say? Pleading for my life like a coward was out of the question.
My grip loosened on the chair. Giovanni might be taking my eternity, but I wouldn’t take back what I did. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing me squirm.
As I was about to stand, Bartholomew stepped forward and held up a hand. “Giovanni, if I may, with the number of Nightmares we’ve seen with his charge, do you think it’s wise to take one of your best Catchers off her case? I think it might be wiser to forgive his sentence.”
“If I give him a pass, I will have to give everyone a pass. How do you think that makes me look?”
“You’re not giving him a pass. I am.”
Giovanni jumped up from his seat and stood inches from Bartholomew’s face. “Who do you think you are? This is my call. I’m Daniel’s superior. I make the call.”