Settling himself on the ground, Darien ruffled his feathers and preened them a couple of times before closing his eyes and focusing once again. This time, when he faded, he pictured his body replacing the image of the hawk. Darien opened his eyes when the transmutation was complete. They glinted with excitement, and his grin threatened to split his face open.
“I did it! Did you see?”
Susan smiled, but kept leaning against the wall. “Yes, I did. I’m happy for you.”
He raised an eyebrow at her unenthusiastic response.
“I’m sorry. This will take some time to get used to. I really am proud of you though.”
“I didn’t think about that.”
She shook her head and stepped forward, reaching out to him. “No, it’s okay. It’s something that I want to get used to. But it’s still kind of frightening.”
“It’s still me. I promise it always will be.”
“I know.” She paused for a moment and a grin snuck back onto her face. “It was kind of funny when you hit your head on the ceiling.”
Darien rubbed the back of his head, which only made Susan laugh again.
Darien and Susan sat near the entrance to the cave, watching Richard’s truck cut back and forth up the trail as it approached them. He parked the truck and came out to join them, sitting with a straight back.
“How’d it go?”
“I’m ready. I can shift now.”
“Not yet. There’s still one more piece.”
“I thought he just needed to learn how to shift. He can, I’ve seen it. He did it twice today while you were gone.”
“You still need to learn to control your dreams. You can do things there that you can’t do in the real world. And if you can’t control your dreams, you’ll be vulnerable every time you sleep. I wanted you to learn to shift first before you worried about the dream world.”
Darien stood up and turned to square his shoulders up with Richard. “Alright, let’s start. Teach me.”
Richard’s shoulders tightened and Darien saw his jaw muscles clench as he ground his teeth. “If you’re going to be talking to her anyways for your plan, you should ask Alyssa to teach you. I never was very good in the dreams and she’s one of the best I know.”
Richard snapped his gaze up to match Darien’s. He stood and took a step forward, closing the space between them. He jabbed a finger into Darien’s chest. “But don’t think for a second you can trust that witch. She’ll save the best tricks for herself and will try to trick you into some kind of debt. Keep on your guard and call out to me if she tries anything. I’ll be listening.”
“Got it. I’ll be careful.”
Their dinner was quiet and Darien wanted to rush through it. Now that he was so close to putting his plan into action, he wanted to finish his training and take the next steps. His foot tapped the floor as he fidgeted while waiting for the food to cook. When they finished, he curled up, trying to go to sleep right away, but his excitement kept him awake for the better part of an hour. Only after he focused on emptying his mind and being still was he able to drift to sleep.
Darien found himself standing in the clearing he had come to associate with his dreams. It was overcast, but warm enough that he didn’t feel a need for a jacket. The clearing was empty and quiet except for the sounds of the forest. He looked around, making sure that he was alone. The only thing he saw was a hawk in the distance, circling a couple of times before it dove under the trees.
He had managed to enter his dream, but what now? Richard said he needed to find Alyssa and call out to her, but he didn’t know what that meant. He should have asked Richard for more details before being in a rush to drift off to sleep. If he woke up, he didn’t know how long it would take him to fall back asleep, or if he could find his way back here.
“Alyssa!”
There was no response. Darien made a quarter turn and repeated the call. It may not have been what Richard meant but it was the only idea he had. After calling out four times, Darien watched for any sign of the woman before collapsing in the center of the clearing. There had to be some trick, some sort of psychic call that he needed to send out, but he didn’t have the faintest idea how to do it.
A chill ran down Darien’s spine and he knew he was being watched. He sprang to his feet and whirled around, looking for the intruder. Alyssa walked towards him from the edge of the trees, wearing her red dress and taking long strides as she covered the distance between them.
“Good evening, Darien. It’s good to see you. I was beginning to worry since you disappeared. I heard about the incident at Susan’s apartment and feared the worst. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about your friend Erik. I tried to warn you.”
Darien’s rage spiked as she repeated her warning. It sounded like she was speaking to him like he was a child. He forced himself to calm down and unclench his fists. He needed her expertise and a burst of rage wouldn’t help.
“I need your help. Richard said I should ask you how to work my dreams.”
Alyssa rocked back on her heels and lifted her eyebrows. She recovered, putting her pleasant mask back in place, but Darien still noticed the response.
“I’m surprised he’d suggest you come to me for anything.”
“Perhaps you don’t know him as well as you think you do.”
Alyssa closed her eyes and dropped her head, conceding the point. “Very well. Before we start, there’re a couple of things you need to know. First, there are two ways to enter dreams. You can project, or you can enter them physically.”
Alyssa’s hand shot out and Darien jerked back, trying to avoid the blow. He didn’t move fast enough, but her hand passed through him as if she wasn’t there.
“Both have their advantages, and their risks. The other thing you need to know is that in a dream, your will is what matters, not your strength. You have an advantage if you’re in your own dream. But with enough practice and enough will, you can alter the dreams of others.”
Alyssa held out her arms and the scenery behind her changed, unfurling to either side until it surrounded them. The forest and the clearing disappeared and Darien found himself standing in the center of a stone cathedral. Large bookcases lined each of the walls, filled to the point of overflowing. Every wall had at least one stained glass window set in it, stretching over fifteen feet tall. The penetrating rays of the sun made it look like they stood in the center of a kaleidoscope.
Darien turned around, looking at the cathedral in wonder. It was amazing and filled him with a sense of awe. He’d never seen anything this detailed and intricate in his dreams before. He reached out to touch a statue of a saint and felt the individual lines carved into the cold stone.
He whipped around to face Alyssa. “You need to teach me how to do this. I need the crash course right now.”
“Why the sense of urgency?”
“I’m working on a plan. Something I’ll need your help with. I thought about what you said, and I’m gonna disappear. To do that I need to be able to manipulate my dreams. I also need you to help with the whole disappearing part. You said you had connections, right?”
Alyssa held up a hand to quiet him. She took a deep breath. “Let’s start with training, and then I’ll see what I can do. You will owe me for this.”
“I’ll do what it takes.”
“Very well. Let’s start your first lesson.”
Chapter 20
Time spent in dreams was different than time in the real world, something Darien was thankful for. He managed to get several lessons from Alyssa and felt ready to lay the groundwork for his plan. It was time to test what he had learned and see if he could pull it off.
As he entered his dream, he was back in the clearing and the day was bright and warm. The colors of the trees shimmered in a cascade of orange, yellow, and brown. The air was laden with pollen. Clouds of it drifted on the gentle breeze. Darien looked around the clearing. Both it and the edges of the woods were empty and everything appeared calm. Satis
fied, Darien squared his shoulders and braced his feet shoulder-width apart. He cupped his hands around his lips.
“Sasha!” he screamed long and loud. He repeated the call several times before settling down to wait. He crouched down, resting with his weight on his ankles and watched the perimeter of the clearing.
Clouds rolled in from the east. They moved like a colony of wasps, swiftly covering the clear sky. A low rumble caused the trees to rattle together and lightning flashed. The clouds reached for the sun, trying to devour it in darkness. Darien stood up and closed his eyes. His eyebrows knit together and his hands clenched in tight fists. The clouds parted around the sun, spreading out to either side. A dark line ran along the sky with the sun shining brightly on one half and a dark rainless thunderstorm on the other. Even before he opened his eyes, he knew she responded to his call as the mark on his chest grew cold enough to burn. Darien opened his eyes and saw a black panther and a small human form standing in front of him near the tree line.
“Welcome,” Darien said, his voice calm but lacking all traces of warmth. “If it isn’t Sasha and her friend, Inky.”
The woman tensed and clenched her fists. Darien grinned at her reaction.
“That’s not my name. Stop saying that.”
Darien shrugged, trying to appear more relaxed than he felt. “It suits you and you won’t tell me your name, so I’m afraid you’re stuck with it.”
“The next time I get you on the altar, I’ll teach you respect for your betters.”
“It’s my dream, not yours. I control what happens here.”
A bolt of lightning seared the ground inches from Darien’s feet, leaving a burnt spot.
“Not completely. You’d do well to remember that.”
Darien focused as Alyssa taught him, calling up a wind from the west. He continued to concentrate and it picked up in intensity, threatening to push the clouds back. Sasha closed her yellow eyes and dropped her head to the ground. An answering wind rose from the east, but the clouds continued to retreat. Inky also concentrated, and the winds howled. Trees groaned in protest. The darkened sky pushed forward, beginning to eclipse the sun. Sweat dripped from Darien’s brow with the force of effort.
“Enough!” Inky commanded. Darien and Sasha both complied, relinquishing their grip on the weather. The sun and clouds remained frozen in a standoff. “Why did you summon us here Darien?”
“It’s simple. I want to make sure my friends are safe. If you’re willing to agree to that, I’ll go with you and you can complete your ritual.”
There was a slight pause, and then Sasha let out a low growl that Darien understood as “What’s the catch?”
“No catch. You meet me in person. When you’re there, you guarantee my friends’ safety. Then, I go with you. I want to give them time to get away before any of your kind can get carried away.”
“A certain blond one in particular?” Inky rubbed her hands together and Darien was sure she was smiling.
He didn’t respond, but his eyes were steel. The panther stalked forward on large paws, claws extended. Out of habit, Darien took a few steps back.
“How about we take you right now?” Sasha asked.
Darien looked around and saw several Shadows surrounding him. They reached forward with grasping hands, trying to pull him to the center of the clearing. His eyes narrowed as the Shadows reached right through his body. He smiled a wicked grin as the shock showed on their faces.
“How?” Sasha froze as she asked the question.
Darien turned around to face her. “I’ve been practicing. I’m not here physically, like you are. I guess that means the storm is more of a threat to you than me.”
Darien released his grip on the sun as he finished his sentence, willing the storm to fill the entire sky and increase in ferocity. The clouds burst forward like a dam had been destroyed. Darkness covered the clearing as sheets of rain fell down from above. Bolts of lightning struck the ground and the occasional Shadow with alarming frequency. The thunder echoed through the clearing hard enough to knock people to the ground as they scrambled to get under the trees. Throughout it all, Sasha and Inky didn’t move a muscle. They glared at Darien and he felt the mark on his chest burn.
“Where?” Sasha growled, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end.
“The warehouse on Colorado Ave, near the West Seattle Bridge.”
“When?”
“Three o’clock, this afternoon.”
Darien jumped out of the dream, willing himself into his body. He felt a jerking sensation that made his stomach lurch. He felt like he was thrown onto the ground and found himself on all fours on top of a stone pillar. It was barely five feet across with ragged edges before a drop off to the unseen ground far below. A tall woman stood on the opposite edge of the pillar, looking down on him. Her red hair was cropped short and she held her chin up. It took him a moment, but he remembered her face. She was in the beam of light that appeared after he received his first mark.
“You’re learning fast, as I did. We are more alike than you know. This time, I didn’t need to save you. But, you still have much to learn. I have so much to teach you.”
“Who are you?” Darien asked as he picked himself up off the ground.
“When you’ve finished business, come to Texas. Stay strong, and I’ll find you.”
Darien came out of his meditation with a start. It felt like he was shoved back into his body. It was a sensation unlike any he’d ever experienced before. The image of the woman on the rock pillar burned in his mind. He stood up, shaking some feeling back into his limbs. Susan and Richard both watched him.
“Were you successful?” Richard asked.
“Yes, they’ll be there. I’m sure of it. They seemed a little shocked at what I’ve learned to do.”
Susan started loading their gear and supplies into the back of the truck. “That’s the Shadows taken care of, and Alyssa agreed to your plan. All we’ve got left is get the lieutenant to show up, and hope no one notices the trap.”
Richard, Susan, and Darien piled into the truck and drove back to Seattle. Rain gently fell as they reached the industrial district. It was about twelve forty-five in the afternoon when they reached the warehouse. Richard pointed it out as he drove a meandering route through the wide streets.
“This is the place I set up. Three cameras inside all link up to a satellite emitter on the roof.” Darien saw a faint silhouette of a small dish on top of the warehouse.
Richard pulled off on a street two blocks from the building. Susan grabbed the rifle case, and the three of them walked into an abandoned building a block and a half from the trap. He brought them to a small room with a view of the street and warehouse. In front of the window was a small case with several switches. The first three had red lights over them, indicating that they were synchronized with a detonator.
“From here you can see the satellite attached to the roof, broadcasting to the IP address Alyssa gave us. That’s where I’ll be. I’ll make sure she gets what she needs. Susan, you should be able to see me clearly from here.”
“What about the rest?” Darien asked.
Richard took the scope from Susan and handed it to Darien. “Look through the second floor window of the warehouse. That’s where you’ll need to stand. When the time comes, look right at this window. That’ll be the signal to Susan so she knows to detonate the explosives. Just flip the switches in order. They’ve been set to make the doors go up in flames first and trap everyone inside. The final blast should level the building. After that, we’ll meet near the truck.”
“How’re you getting off the roof?”
“Let me worry about that. You focus on shifting and getting through that storm grate. Otherwise, this won’t be a staged death anymore.”
“Alright, time to place a call.”
Darien turned to walk away, but Susan reached out and grabbed his hands. She pulled him back into an embrace. “Be careful. Make sure you get out of there and come
back to me alive, okay?”
After they parted, Darien and Richard left Susan alone in the building and walked back to the truck. Darien plugged his phone into the truck charger and waited while it turned on and went through its boot up process. He ignored the missed messages and unlocked the phone to the recent calls screen. He found Lieutenant Olson’s number and called it.
“Lieutenant Olson? It’s Darien. I think I’m willing to make a deal. I’m in trouble, and if you can get me out of it, I’ll agree to talk to your superiors. I’d need you to come get me. I’m down in the industrial district at the large warehouse on Colorado Ave near the bridge. Please, I don’t have much time and my phone’s about to die.”
Darien pulled his phone out of the charger and the device powered off. He shoved it back into his pocket. He walked with Richard until they stood against the wall of the warehouse, getting limited cover from the roof overhang. There was nothing to do for the moment but wait and hope that his plan worked. Darien shivered as a stream of cold water ran down the back of his neck and the length of his spine. He glanced at Richard, but the other man didn’t seem to care about the weather. A few blocks away, a car splashed through a puddle.
“You hate them, don’t you?” Richard asked.
Darien looked up at Richard and the drops fell straight into his eyes. He put his hand up to shield them as best as he could. When he spoke, his voice was flat. “I want to kill them for what they did to Erik. And to me.”
“Don’t let your hate blind you, kid. You need to keep your mind calm or else you won’t be able to shift when you need to.”
“I know.” He‘d heard that litany more times than he could count over the last several days. “But that’s a lot easier said than done.”
Richard continued to stare across the street. “They’ll get their due. Everyone does.”
Darien pressed his lips together and walked around the corner to the front entrance of the warehouse. He used the small door near the massive sliding door used for large trucks. He inspected the inside of the building. It was empty of people but filled with barrels and construction equipment. The metal barrels were tightly sealed. The air in the building was heavy with the scent of gasoline and machine oil. Rust covered the construction equipment. The windows were caked with dirt, and the rafters had heavy cobwebs draped between them. It looked as though the warehouse hadn’t been used for years.
The Shadow Chaser (The Sheynan Trilogy Book 1) Page 17