by Jenn Nixon
His reply was almost instant. Yes. 8 a.m. See you then.
“Damn,” she whispered. The man was hardcore.
After she made sure the handle names from the deepnet and the video were on her phone, she went to her bed and stretched out, doing her best to relax while she had the chance, and listened to Holly snoring until the wee hours of the morning.
***
Liam lurched forward, catching Dina in his arms and picking her up. Theo lifted a brow at him, just as confused by her words and nodded before vanishing. Liam followed in his wake, reappearing in the penthouse living room.
Half of the team was waiting for them in the kitchen.
“Is she okay?” her twin, Duncan, asked upon entering, his eyes already glowing green.
“No. Where’s Caelum?” Liam asked, pushing through the group and into the base. He ignored Kim and Duncan talking softly behind him.
“Medlab,” Valtor replied, moving alongside, staring down at his daughter with more than worry. Lexa and Bates glanced up from their stations when they walked by. “Did she say anything, Liam?”
“She thinks we are all dead,” Theo answered instead.
Liam carried his fiancé into the medlab and set her down on the first bed. Caelum had his back to the door, the silver Enhancer sheen in place. Not something he usually did in the base. Yet one more thing Liam found curious. “Caelum.”
“Yes, yes,” he replied, spinning around. He gazed down at Dina and took a deep breath. “Are you certain you want me to—”
“I’m sure,” Liam answered.
“She, like you, will eventually remember everything you’ve seen at the site in New Jersey,” Caelum said, his silver eyes peering deep into his soul. “Are you strong enough for what’s to come, Liam?”
“For Dina? I will be.”
The Enhancer nodded, stepped up to Dina on the medbed, and placed his hand on her forehead. Her eyes opened, glowing a shade of green he’d never seen. When she screamed, Liam lurched forward. Caelum held up a finger, stopping him in place. Say nothing. Do nothing.
Liam felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked over to meet Valtor’s weary eyes. Duncan, Lexa, and Theo were all standing behind him just as petrified.
“Let him work, son,” Valtor said softly while his daughter’s screaming pitched higher. When Liam nodded and turned back to Caelum, Dina’s eyes were closed, but her body was shaking on the bed.
His gut twisted. Holding back tears, he watched helplessly as the woman he loved twisted and cried in excruciating agony.
Lexa and Valtor walked away sniffling.
No one else moved.
After she went slack on the bed, Caelum withdrew his hand. He glanced back and his eyes shifted from silver to blue and darted toward Duncan. “Stay with her. You’re the one she’ll need when she wakes.”
“What happened to her…to us?” Liam asked.
Caelum pressed his lips together, ran a hand down his face. “I need to revisit the site…to be certain.”
“What’s your theory?” Bates asked.
“I have many,” he replied.
“Stop dicking us around, man,” Duncan said. “That’s my sister. Tell us what you know.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t. Not yet,” he said, vanishing a moment later.
“Sonofabitch,” Theo and Duncan spat together.
Liam went right for Dina. He desperately wanted to be there when she woke, but he trusted Caelum’s assessment for the time being. Whatever had driven him mad, Caelum fixed. Since the dreams didn’t stop, Liam saw a little more each night, and soon, he’d understand it all, everything that happened to him, to her, Lexa, Theo, and Jazara.
Jazara, their new Vepsatian friend and precog, still believed they were seeing visions of the future. Lexa wasn’t convinced, she thought it was simply a weird collective dream. Liam and Theo didn’t discuss much these days, but they agreed on one theory. Someone was tampering with Dina’s mind.
His heart sank when Dina murmured and shifted on the bed. He had no idea when she last slept. By her appearance, she wasn’t eating nearly enough. Even her hair seemed longer than when he last seen her weeks ago, fighting with her, and saying terrible things to her.
“We should give her some time,” Theo said softly, coming alongside. “Caelum hasn’t lied to us once.”
“Yes, indeed,” Liam said, slipping into work mode as he glanced over to Duncan. “We have plenty to keep us busy for a couple of hours.”
“If that’s what you want,” Theo said.
“I’ll let you listen in, soon as she wakes up,” Duncan offered.
Liam shook his head. “I don’t want to intrude, but thank you. Just let me know when I can see her, please.”
“Will do,” Duncan said, nodding.
Theo led the way back into the base. They arrived to see the rest of the group staring at stations, not doing much work, probably working through everything Caelum had told them and what they’d just witnessed. Lexa was first to look up and teleported right in front and wrapped her arms around him. Liam happily hugged back.
“She’s going to be okay now, I can already feel the difference,” she said softly against his ear.
“Thank you, Lex.” Liam squeezed before releasing his hold. “Caelum said he was going back to Jersey, to the site. Keep an eye on him for me?”
“You got it.” She winked, rubbing his arm before heading back to her station.
“What’s our status?” Liam asked, heading toward the hub while Theo took a station in front.
“We’re still working that new lead on Gardner, mate. I hate to say it, but Zila may be right, he could be dead.” Bates frowned, taking Lexa’s hand when she neared his station.
“Hinta and Jazara are in the shuttle keeping tabs on our guests. Despite their lack of cooperation, we know everything they know after Duncan’s last mindwalk and nothing’s panned out,” Valtor added. “Until Dina or Caelum can give us more information on the sphere and what happened to you, I’m not sure there’s much to do, Liam. And it is three in the morning.”
“There is always something to do,” he mumbled.
“You know she’s going to be hungry when she wakes up. This is Dina we’re talking about,” Lexa said.
“Casey picked up a dozen pizzas during the last supply run,” Theo said, keeping his eyes on his station.
“I am sure if I make three it won’t go to waste,” he replied with a smirk, pausing near the stairs.
“Like that needs an answer,” Lexa chuckled.
“Very well.” Liam altered his course to the exit, sensing the others watching him cautiously. He understood. Whatever happened to his mind brought out the worst side of his personality. As he entered the kitchen and moved to the EcoFridge, he wondered if they still worried he’d snap again. More than that, he wished he knew himself.
The warped reality that lived in his head the days before the sphere appeared almost ruined everything he’d found with Dina. Friendship, family, and most importantly, love. Her love. From this moment forward, Liam knew he’d do anything he had to do to keep her safe and in his life. Without Dina, he saw no future.
Shaking the morbid thoughts, Liam set three pizzas of different varieties into the oven and set the digital timer so Aime would alert the others when it was ready. Then he went to the dojo to pass the time until Duncan called him back to the medlab.
Chapter Five
Every inch of her flesh prickled. She couldn’t breathe. Dina teleported to the lavatory without answering. As she heaved and coughed over the tiny metal sink, the floor began vibrating with footsteps.
“Hey.” The moment his hand touched her shoulder, Jazara’s vision flashed in her mind. His concern filled the air as she wheezed and gagged. “Dina?”
You promised! Her legs bucked.
Breathe, Dina. Theo caught her and carried her back to the panic room, the name more appropriate than ever as the dread and despair filled her heart. After he sat on the papasan chair, he tilt
ed her head to meet her eyes. “Promised what?”
“Not to buy me anything, especially flowers.”
“I didn’t and it’s one.”
“No.” She shuddered, covering her face with her hands.
“Dina, what the hell?” he replied, pulling her by the wrists. “A little girl in town was giving them away for St. Patrick’s Day. Why are you so scared?”
“It’s today,” she whimpered, hiding her face against his chest this time.
“What?” His voice quivered as both arms slipped around her back.
Dina clawed his shoulders. “We have to go home.”
Her body jerked. She woke with a gasp. Dina blinked at the beeping monitor next to her head. When she saw her brother roll closer in the chair he was sitting in, she shot upright and almost fell of the bed.
“Whoa, easy, sis,” he said, teleporting to his feet and catching her elbow.
Dina grabbed his arm. “D…Duncan?”
“Yeah, I’m here.” He took her hand, his energy surrounding her with calm.
She didn’t believe it and stood, reached up and touched his hair, then the side of his face. Tears welled in her eyes. Her heart dropped. “You’re…okay?”
“I’m okay.” He grinned.
Dina threw her arms around him, shaking so hard she couldn’t stay on her feet. He bent over, but didn’t let go and rubbed her back, softly shushing in her ear. She reluctantly released her hold, sliding her hands down his arms to take his hands, needing the contact. He was the only thing that felt normal.
“Are you thirsty?”
Dina nodded. He released only one hand and reached back on the table to retrieve a half full glass. After a few sips, she gave it back, unable to take her eyes off him. “What happened, Duncan? I feel really strange.”
“What’s the last thing you remember?”
She glanced down, trying to think and searched her memories. “Hiking in China, I heard a rumor about a man who could pull dreams, sorta like you do. Turned out he wasn’t real so I went back to…the ship.”
“That was a week ago, the last thing you emailed to Pop,” he said, concern crossing his face.
“A week? Whoa.”
“Yeah, we’ve been worried. Do you remember the sphere and what happened to Liam?”
“Shit. Is he okay,” she asked, shuddering.
“Yes, but only after Caelum got involved.”
“Huh? Why?”
Duncan sighed.
“Don’t do that, why?”
“Because whatever happened in that sphere affected not only you and Liam, but Lexa, Theo and Jazara too, it may have to do with the shared dream, Dina.”
She covered her mouth, instantly recalling pieces of it.
“When Liam woke up, he and Theo almost butted heads…it worked out, but there was something very wrong with Liam and you were going through the same thing up until about an hour ago.”
“Caelum put the pieces of the dream in order, but it’s not complete and there’s something else about the sphere…”
“He said you’ll remember eventually.”
“I don’t think I want to, Duncan,” she whispered, lifting her thumb to her mouth. “It feels so real. Worse than before, worse than just some fiery nightmare.”
“I can try another dream share in a few days if you want,” he offered as he rubbed his thumb over her hand.
“Yeah, maybe,” she said, quivering, and trying to shake off the fright. “Really, everyone’s okay?”
“Good, busy even, trying to find Gardner, we’re starting to think he may be dead. Hollis and Pru didn’t make it, sadly. Hinta and Pop got into it about whether or not to give them our blood to keep them alive.”
“You didn’t, right?”
“Right, Pop thought it was cruel not to,” Duncan said, shrugging.
“Guess I have a lot of catching up to do…is Liam here?”
“Yep and he wants to see you. Ready for that?”
“Not sure, we had a bad fight before all this shit went down…does he remember what happened in New Jersey?”
“Some of it, mostly what Lexa and the others saw.”
“We’ll have to compare notes…whatever it was, Duncan, they were the only ones there. I remember that much. If it is a vision, I may have no choice but to see the rest.”
“And everyone will have your back if that’s what you want. Hell, I’ll drag Caelum back here if that’s what it takes.”
Dina chuckled. “Good luck with that.”
“I’m going to get Liam, okay?”
“Thanks, bro,” she said, leaning close for another long hug, unable to shake the unsettling feeling every time they touched.
Dina finished her glass of water while she waited and did her best to keep her thoughts clear. She didn’t want anything to spoil their reunion. Since she didn’t know what to expect, she gazed down at the floor and slowed her breathing, letting the nearness of her friends fill her with strength.
“How are you feeling?” Liam asked from the doorway.
Breathing in, she lifted her head, completely unprepared for the concern in his beautiful gray eyes. She burst into tears and shielded her face. His arms were around her instantly. Dina clung to him as she sobbed against his chest, feeling his mind brush against hers, and his serene energy warming her body.
Liam brushed the hair from her eyes. His were glowing and teary when he gazed down. “Please forgive me, Dina, I never meant to push you away. I was…so afraid of losing you, I simply lost my mind.”
“You didn’t…you were right. There’s something wrong with me,” she said, reaching up and touching his cheek. “I know you’re real, I sense you again, but everything feels wrong, Liam.”
“We’ll figure out what you’re seeing. I promise. Caelum went to New Jersey to collect more data, he will give us answers,” he said, narrowing his eyes.
“He said we’ll remember…I don’t think I can,” she said, letting the tears continue to fall. Helplessness consumed her as parts of the dream came rushing back. Everything she’d seen when she touched Liam and Theo in the penthouse before she left filled her mind. Somehow, they were parts of the new dream she’d recently seen. “It’ll tear everything apart…I know it.”
Liam brushed his thumbs over her cheeks, clearing the tears as he studied her face. “What do you mean?”
“Whatever’s in my head feels real to me, like it happened. Most of it is pain and despair…so much anger.”
“You don’t have to do anything right now, we’re…I’m just glad you’re home and we’re both on the mend,” he said, brushing the bangs from her forehead. “The team has everything under control in the base, you have plenty of time to rest then to catch up, and I have pizza waiting in the kitchen.”
“I know we have to talk, Liam, but I need you to—”
I know you love me, Dina. As much as I love you. The others told me what you did at the radiation site. He ran his thumb down her cheek. It was so close to perfection. The tiny pit in her stomach threatened to ruin everything. Dina tamped it down, terrified of disappointing him, and felt the shimmer of her barrier start to form.
I will love you always, Liam. She drew him close and kissed him gently. When she leaned back and met his eyes, she saw the worry and sighed. “Caelum will figure it out and he’ll…fix the fracture in my mind. I just hope that what I’ve seen…” She released her hold on his hands and hung her head. This dream was going to ruin everything.
“Dina,” he said softly. His eyes were glowing as he smiled down. “All I care about is you. Dream, vision, whatever it is, we don’t have to figure it out now. Let’s get out of this lab, get you something to eat, and take care of you.”
“Okay. Who’s still here?”
“Val, Lexa, Bates and Theo, Duncan and Kim went back to bed.” He offered his hand. Taking it made her feel much better as they walked out of the medlab and into the base.
She didn’t expect it to change much in three weeks, but again
, everything felt different and she was starting to hate it.
Bates was first to turn around and met her near the hub for a hug. Glad you’re back, Sherlock.
Me too, Bob. She hugged Lexa next and then her father.
How do you feel, sweet pea?
Better than I look, I assume. She squeezed him tight, holding on until she saw Theo in the background. He was still sitting at a station, watching the group. The moment his head moved, she kissed her father’s cheek and turned to Lexa. “Did you leave me any pepperoni?”
“About half, and the bacon one, too,” the younger Enhancer said, looping her arm around Bates’ as he winked over. “We just wanted to see you before we left. Bates has afternoon shift in the shuttle and I promised to help Jazara with her vision blocks, slow going since…well, you know.”
Dina nodded, she remembered that much. Most precogs got their visions through touched. She didn’t envy Jazara one bit. “Yeah. Thanks for checking up on me and…I’m really glad you’re okay, too. Maybe when Caelum comes back—”
“Pizza. Go,” Lexa said, shaking her head as she and Bates blipped from view.
“She’s still pissed at him.” Her father started chuckling. “Come, let’s eat.”
“Not the only one,” Theo mumbled.
Liam tugged her toward the big chrome door leading to the kitchen. She couldn’t even glance over as she walked by the stations and ignored the twist in her gut. Her father went to the stove, Liam to the EcoFridge while she took a seat at the table, only relaxing when the door shut. They both joined her for a slice of pizza, making small talk about food and what they wanted for lunch tomorrow.
Halfway through her slice she yawned, drawing both their concerned gazes. She smirked and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I’m still tired.”
“Let’s head upstairs. Bring the pizza with you,” Liam said, picking up her glass and rising to his feet.
Too tired to argue, she yawned again and got up.
Her father patted her hand. “Sleep well.”
“Thanks, Pop.”
By the time they reach the bedroom, only the crust was left. She offered it to Liam who happily took it and shoved it into his mouth as he went to the bed to pull down the covers. Dina squeezed his hand as she passed and slipped into bed, relishing the softness of the mattress and firmness of the pillow. He pulled the sheet to her shoulders, knowing she didn’t often use a blanket, and then brushed the hair from her eyes.