Tangible (Dreamwalker)
Page 13
The blinds over the window were slightly open and I could see day was already blending into night, which in summer meant it had to be past eight. So much for my day off! I hadn’t had a chance to do anything remotely relaxing.
We were high up, so the only things I could see in the distance were the winking lights of the city below and the clear indigo sky. No moon to look at yet.
When there was nowhere else for my gaze to stray, because I was standing at the end of Mara’s bed, I glanced down at her motionless body. I had so many questions but doubted she could answer any.
She was connected to a bunch of machines I couldn’t even begin to name. One made a continuous beeping sound, the rise and fall of a vertical line marking her steady heartbeat. There were other things connected to her arms, including an IV unit. A thick tube was pressed into her mouth and her eyes were closed, both arms at her sides as if she were already dead.
“It’s not pretty, is it?”
For the second time while inside this hospital, I jumped. I turned enough to find Mara standing beside me. Her long, straight, black hair hung down to her waist, shiny and silky, not limp and dirty like it really looked. She was also wearing low-ride jeans and a clingy T-shirt that stopped high enough to expose her trim abdomen.
“You’re not dead, though,” I said.
She shook her head and the curtain of dark hair swayed around her. “Not yet, anyway.”
“Then why can I see you?” To be honest, I’d never gone near a person in a coma before, so I didn’t know how close someone in this condition was to death. This was a first for me. The implications of a spook catcher being able to communicate with coma patients made my body chill. Which also begged the question—could we all do it? Or was this a result of my other magical side?
Mara shrugged. “I guess I’m in limbo or something. You know, not quite dead yet barely living. Those machines are keeping me alive.”
“It sounds cruel.”
“Trust me, it is. I’ve begged for release so many times. I’m not even sure how long I’ve been stuck in limbo. I’d rather move on than linger in this state. If only the doctors would listen to me.”
I didn’t want to ponder what she was saying. The fact her family hadn’t given the okay to shut down the machines after all these weeks made me wonder if they even knew about her condition. The Council did its best to minimize contact.
Some parents and guardians didn’t like to deal with their spooky offspring and gladly sent their girls off to the Council, while others were proud and kept in contact. I didn’t know if Mara still kept in touch with hers.
I sighed, turning to face her. I stared into her lovely, light brown eyes. She looked sad, but seemed to be trying to hide it behind her usual cheerful façade. I’d known her for a while. She started with the Council about six months before I left. I trained her in a few things and we’d stayed in touch—an email here, a phone call there, but nothing overly social. Still, I liked her. She was powerful and a very genuine person. Mara was the epitome of what you see is what you get. I hated to see her in such a helpless position.
“What happened to you?” I asked.
“I’m not sure, but it’s still happening…”
“What do you mean?”
“I can’t remember everything, just snippets. Things that don’t make any sense to me, but might mean something to you…”
Before I could respond, she wrapped both of her cold hands around mine and a jolt of pain rushed into my head. I couldn’t look away, glaring into her eyes as I tumbled into a scene that made my skin crawl.
Tangible
Jody Wallace
Dreams don’t come true, but nightmares do.
When Zeke Garrett is reactivated to mentor the next dreamer that pops up on the Somnium’s radar, he’s sure it’s a mistake. The covert organization is still struggling to conceal the fallout from his last assignment, a fatal catastrophe.
From the first blast of her pepper spray, he realizes this neonati, whose nightmares manifest vampires straight from the pages of pop-culture, is more than he bargained for—a potential dreamwalker. But before her training can begin, he has to convince the stubborn, mouthy woman she’s not dreaming.
Maggie Mackey hasn’t slept well in a month, but that doesn’t explain how the monsters from her nightmares suddenly seem so real. Or why, when a team of intimidating, sword-wielding toughs rescue her, their leader captures her mouth in a swift, knee-weakening kiss.
Once he tears himself away, Zeke’s mental forehead smacking begins. Their embrace has confirmed they have a rare tangible bond, a phenomenon which fooled him once before. Somehow he must tutor the woman of his dreams without getting attached. Otherwise her nightmares could become his own.
Warning: Contains lots of cussing, pop culture references and monsters with nasty, big, pointy teeth.
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B
Cincinnati OH 45249
Tangible
Copyright © 2013 by Jody Wallace
ISBN: 978-1-61921-596-2
Edited by Holly Atkinson
Cover by Kanaxa
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: May 2013
www.samhainpublishing.com
Table of Contents
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
About the Author
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