“I was dreaming,” Cole said. “I just nodded off for a second but that was long enough for something to sink its claws in me.”
“And the wound followed you into the real world?” Roman asked.
Cole and Adham exchanged a look.
“Not just the wound,” Cole finally said. “That monster ripped right through my bedroom wall.”
“I tried to stop it,” Adham said. “But it wasn’t like the shadows. It was real…too real.”
“And fucking huge,” Cole added.
Monster? Anso’s daughter had told me that nightmares were a place full of living things and now one of those living things was here. Slipped through the cracks, the cracks that were widening every day.
“You said you tried to stop it?” Roman’s neck was flush and glowing. “Where is it now?”
“We have no idea,” Adham said. “We threw all of Cole’s things into a bag and ran straight for the airport. I was afraid it might come back looking for him.”
“I’d rather have it chasing after me than showing up at my house and going after my family,” Cole said. “I thought if we left it might follow, that they’d be safe. But who knows what the hell they’ll think when they see my room destroyed? Maybe they’ll think I finally lost it and ran away. Maybe that’s for the best…”
“I’m sorry,” I said, dreading making the exact same sacrifice even though it had to be done. Especially now that the Dreamers weren’t the only ones in danger.
Cole angled away from the rest of us as he spoke to Roman. “I didn’t forget about your dad. We stopped by your house on the way to the airport.”
I cut in. “Is your father alright?”
Roman sighed, hesitating.
“What happened?” The look on my face told him it wasn’t a question.
“He’s fine,” Roman said. “I just…I asked Cole if he would talk to him for me.”
“Yeah,” Cole said, “and he definitely didn’t like being woken up in the middle of the night. But I left him with something good, something to keep him calm.”
Roman shot Cole a look but it was too late.
“Something? What sort of something?” I said.
Roman relented. “Cole can manipulate memories. I just asked him to—”
“To what? Erase you from your father’s memory?”
“No.” He shook his head, struggling to explain. “Not all of me, just...parts. Small parts.”
“Well, act—” Cole coughed, Adham’s elbow in his side. “Uh, right, the whole breaking out of jail and being a fugitive thing is sort of fuzzy.”
“How fuzzy?” Roman asked.
“I may have erased it completely.”
“Cole.”
“Sorry, but it required a little more tampering than I’d expected, especially when it came to convincing your dad to let us inside so we could get the letter and…”
“This.” A chain slid down from Adham’s fingers.
It was the locket I’d found after my great-grandmother had vanished. Anso had dragged her through the vortex as my future-self held me back, but as soon as Bryn disappeared, I ran for the grove. My great-grandmother was already gone, but as I lay there in that empty space, clutching the earth, I’d spotted the locket glinting in the soil. Waiting for me.
“Where did you get this?” I asked. “Did my gran—?”
“No.” Roman took the locket, folding it in my hand. “You were holding it when we found you in the observation room.”
I’d woken up with it. I’d carried it into the real world with me. Just like the cardinal’s feather. Just like Roman. I latched the locket around my neck, hiding it beneath my shirt.
Andre cleared his throat, trying not to interrupt. “Domingo and the others are on their way. Shay’s worked up a map and a list of Dreamers for each of us. I think it’s best if we all leave from here.”
When it was my turn to pack I stuffed my duffle bag with shirts and shoes and books and sculptures before tossing them out, one by one, nothing left but a change of clothes and my copy of Through the Looking-Glass. It had fallen in by accident, but even though I couldn’t bring myself to read it just yet, I couldn’t bring myself to leave it behind either.
I dropped the bag on the bed and lingered in my room, touching things I hadn’t touched since I’d gotten home, tucking the smells and sounds deep inside me for later. I wasn’t sure how long it would be before I was standing in this room again, but I knew if I ever did come back, I wouldn’t be the girl who was standing in it now.
Tomorrow was my eighteenth birthday.
That was one more day of being in between. Of being afraid. I was afraid of what was going to happen to me. I was afraid that it would hurt, that it would core me and fill me with things I didn’t want. I didn’t want the power or the responsibility. I didn’t want to change the future. All I wanted, all I’d ever wanted, was to be normal, and tomorrow I would be as far from normal as possible.
I heard arguing and followed the sounds to the kitchen, everyone looking over Shay’s map.
“I’m not going to sit in the Nairobi airport on a goddamn three-hour layover,” Andre grunted.
“Stassi and I have to travel as a pair,” Domingo said, “but just because there’s two of us doesn’t mean you can double the names on our list.”
Shay took the sheet from him. “Fine.” She ripped it in half. “Better?”
“Bryn…?” Dani was leaning against the doorway, dwarfed beneath her coat. Her eyes were sunken bruises that reminded me of Anso, her lips dry and cracked as if she’d travelled here through a snowstorm. Or maybe the storm was inside her, the shadow a cyclone of ice and pain.
She lowered her voice, cowering away from the noise, from me. “I’m…Bryn, I’m scared.” Tears stained her face. “I’m so scared, Bryn.”
I closed the space between us, my arms around her neck. But the moment we touched she recoiled, falling against the wall as the shadow swelled beneath her skin. It swam just below the surface, painting her dark, bulging and making her wince. She clutched herself, trying to beat it back.
Felix held her upright. “Does it hurt?”
She nodded, sucking in deep breaths.
“She can’t wait any longer,” Felix said, sweat on his brow. “We’ve got to get out of here.”
“We’ve got to get everyone under control first,” Roman said.
Lathan cleared his throat, speaking over the chaos. “Let’s all just calm down. I’m sure Shay’s worked out the most logical routes.”
“And what happens if more kids crop up on the news? These lists aren’t even complete,” Stassi said.
Shay sighed. “Then we’ll delegate.”
“Has anyone heard from Charles or Valentina yet?” Andre added. “That’s two more bodies we really need right now.”
Roman’s mouth was by my ear. “Tell them.”
I knew he meant Anso’s daughter and her warning and I knew he was right. We were running out of time. For Dani. For all of us. I wedged my way in next to Andre, Roman behind me, his hand brushing mine, urging me on.
“I have…” Their voices pinged back and forth and I raised the volume of my own. “I have something to say.”
They quieted one at a time, all turning to face me.
“What’s wrong?” Stassi asked, reading the uncertainty in my eyes.
What I was about to say could change everything or maybe nothing at all. Terrible things were already happening—Chloe and my grandmother were dead, Sebastían’s only means of protection was possessed by one of the shadows, and Cole’s nightmare had manifested in the real world—but according to Anso’s daughter there were even more terrible things to come.
“Tomorrow’s my eighteenth birthday,” I said, the temperature all around me spiking. “And when that happens, we won’t just be racing to find the Dreamers before they deteriorate. Something’s going to happen…”
“To who?” Shay asked. “You?”
“To all of us.” I took a sh
uddering breath. “To the world. Anso’s daughter came to me in a dream and she said once I turn eighteen, whatever cracks that exist between our world and the dream world are going to widen, letting bad things through. Nightmares.”
“It’s already started,” Roman added. “A monster attacked Cole in his dreams last night and it followed him into the real world.”
Lathan tensed, afraid. “Anso’s daughter came to you in a dream? How?”
“Why?” Andre added. “And what sort of monster? Like the shadows?”
I took a step back, overwhelmed. “I’m not sure of anything right now. All I know is that I have a responsibility to protect the Dreamers but I can’t do that until I find my grandmother’s sister, Celia. Dani needs her help. We all do.”
“What do you think she knows?” Andre asked.
“Everything.” I shrugged. “Something important, I know that much.”
“Do you know where she lives?” Lathan asked.
“No, she’s been in hiding for the last thirty years.”
“Do you have a picture?” Domingo asked. “Anything I could draw from?”
Domingo had the same ability in the waking world as Sam had in the dream world—to find things. But Domingo could only find things if he was familiar with them, a photo sometimes enough to strike a connection.
“What about a letter?” Roman asked.
I handed Domingo the torn envelope and he slipped out the letter. There was no return address, not even a name, and I hoped it would be enough. Domingo closed his eyes, head slightly swaying as if he were sifting through sand. He was quiet for a long time, my stomach in knots. Celia was older than my grandmother and if she was like me it would mean she’d already spent a lifetime hiding from things that were hunting her. What if she hadn’t hid well enough?
Domingo’s eyes flashed open. “Nothing.”
“What?” I stammered.
Domingo furrowed his brow, staring down at the letter. “It’s…sealed, like there’s some kind of enchantment on it.”
“Figures,” Andre said. “No one survives thirty years of being hunted by being stupid.”
“So she doesn’t want to be found,” I said.
“Or maybe she just doesn’t want to be found by the wrong people,” Roman added.
My phone buzzed and when I glanced down I saw a message from my mom. She said my uncle was fine and they were leaving the hospital.
“They’re on their way home,” I said.
“What do you want to do?” Roman asked.
I knew what he meant but staying felt just as wrong as leaving. I couldn’t leave my mom in this mess of her grief and my grandmother’s absence, of mine too. But I couldn’t leave the Dreamers to fend for themselves either.
“Cole?” His name came out of my mouth before I’d even constructed a coherent thought. But as soon as my mom’s photo had popped up on the screen of my cell phone I knew what I needed to do.
We rushed the Rogues out the back door just as my mom and uncle came in through the front, Cole anxious and standing next to me. I reached for my mom, giving her a hug she wasn’t expecting.
“Bryn, are you alright?”
I pulled away before the tears could fall. “Mom, this is Roman’s friend, Cole. He just got into town.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Reyes.” Cole took my mom’s hand and she froze. Before my uncle could notice, Cole took his too, pretending to shake. Neither of them moved or breathed. Neither did I. Cole looked back at me. “What do you want me to give her?”
I examined her face, the cracks so close to the surface that I didn’t know how she was even standing. “Something good.” A tear slipped down my face as I brushed her cheek. “Tell her I’m away at college. Tell her I love it.” I took a deep breath, ignoring the consequences of what I was about to do. “Tell her I was never sick.”
I could feel Roman behind me. “Are you sure?”
“Tell her I was never sick,” I repeated. It was the truth. I’d never been sick and everything we’d done to find a cure was for nothing. “Tell her that she’s grieved and she’s healed.”
“The luggage,” Roman reminded me.
I cleared my throat, nodding. “Tell her she’s going to see all the things she wanted to see—the penguins in Argentina and the African Safari. Tell her she and my uncle are going to go to the airport and buy two one-way tickets. Tell her they’re going to go on an adventure and have the time of their lives. Tell her that she loves my uncle and that she’s happy.” I kissed my mom on the cheek, facing Cole on my way out the door. “Tell her she’s happy.”
Roman stopped me at Felix’s car. He pulled me into a hug that almost made my knees give out, the weight of that goodbye almost sinking us both to the ground.
“It’s going to be okay,” he said. “Your mom is going to be okay.”
I kissed him, for the first time since waking up. I pressed into him, unloading every thought and every fear. Roman lit up, the tears in his eyes sparking like liquid gold.
“Bryn…?”
Roman stared at my hands still holding the letter, a soft silver scroll shining bright where his light washed across the page. There were numbers and letters and a small hand-drawn map. Celia.
52
Bryn
The two-story house was tucked away from the street by tall wisteria, grey moss hanging down and sweeping the front steps. It was late by the time we arrived, Roman and I creeping up the steps as a light flashed on behind the window. The door pushed open before we even knocked, revealing a woman with my grandmother’s eyes.
She smiled. “I hoped it was you.”
A tall older man stepped to her side and Roman’s hand was on mine in an instant, burning. The man placed a hand on Celia’s shoulder. It was burning too.
“My husband,” she said. “Rafael.”
Celia’s face fell and I turned just in time to help Felix up the steps, Dani still cradled in his arms. She was shivering, a cold sweat soaking her clothes.
“Please, she’s—”
Celia shook her head. She already knew. “Get her inside.”
The inside of the house was even more enchanting than the outside. Dimmed lamps cast moving shadows along the walls, thick curtains pulled tight over every window. Shelves and end tables were topped with old books, crocheted doilies, and vintage bottles of perfume. It even smelled like a memory, like all the best ones—cookies and clean laundry and summer nights by the water. It smelled like days and years; an entire lifetime. Because this was where Celia had spent it. Hiding.
“This way.” Celia led us to a back room, the glow from the candles and rose-colored walls making Dani look even smaller. “Lay her on the bed.”
Dani curled into a ball in the center of the mattress, her spine rigid beneath her shirt. She looked alien, the shadow robbing everything from her voice to the color of her skin.
“She’s a fighter.” Celia faced us, lost for words. “I’m so—”
“There’s no time,” I said, every passing second making me boil. “Help her. Please.”
I neared the bed and Dani lurched, her mouth pinned shut as something tried to claw its way out.
“It senses you,” Celia said. “Leave us.”
Roman tried to lead me into the hall.
“I can—”
“You can’t,” Celia said. “Now go!”
The door slammed shut, Felix, Roman and I staring straight into the grain. We couldn’t move. We could only listen. Celia whispered something, chanting. Dani moaned, coughing.
“She can’t breathe,” Felix said, his hands pressed to the door.
“God…” I fell against it too. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” I hadn’t let Celia say the words but now I couldn’t stop. Even though Dani couldn’t hear me. Even though she might never know.
“Listen to me.” Roman pulled me away from the sound of her screams. “She’s going to be okay.”
I shoved him, weak and pathetic, his arms catching me as I slu
mped to the floor.
Celia raised her voice, heat billowing out from beneath the door. We watched the light dance, Rafael wrestling with the darkness. Glass shattered, something scraping across the wooden floor.
“What’s happening?” Felix said.
There was silence and I peered beneath the door, searching for Celia and Rafael.
“Celia?” I rose to my knees, the door handle glowing hot. “Celia?”
I pounded on the door. And then something pounded back, three hard knocks that almost forced it off its hinges. My hand reached for the knob, sweating, shaking.
“Don’t.” Roman reached for it first, but before he could push the door open, it fell back, a swarm leaping out at us.
Roman lit up, piercing straight through the fog. I spotted Dani on the bed, her back arched, mouth unhinged as the storm ripped out of her. Celia was in the corner, Rafael a golden shield between her and the shadows. Felix ran straight through them, his skin burning black the instant they collided, his veins stiff and blue.
I crawled after him, Roman pressing a hand to my back as he tore shadow after shadow from the ceiling. Felix collapsed and I fell on top of him, a shadow curling around my throat and snatching me off the ground. Roman clutched my waist and then I was glowing too, the shadows all around us disintegrating. I fell straight down, Felix clutching the bed, trying to reach Dani.
I reached her first, my hands still flaming as I grazed her skin. I slipped, losing my grip. Dani stared at me, her eyes her own as her body gave birth to more darkness.
Roman caught my wrist and the entire room was washed in his glow, the force steeling Felix to the ground. The three of us locked hands, a chain of love and light. I threw myself around Dani and suddenly we were a constellation, light exploding in every direction until the shadows were falling stars and Dani was brighter than us all.
A fire crackled in the corner, Dani’s hard breaths the only other sound. For a long time we just watched her, waiting for winter to ravage her skin, for the shadow to peer out at us from between her lips. But there was nothing inside her lungs but air and nothing ravaging her body but sleep.
The Girl In Between series: Books 1-4 Page 90