Dreamwalker

by Allyson James

  Maya gave me an impatient look. “Of course I know you. And him, and him.” She pointed at Mick and Drake in turn. “But everyone else has gone insane.”

  I hesitated, not knowing what to tell her. Any reassurance would be a lie. There was too much magic in this situation for it not to be dangerous.

  “It’s a spell,” I began. “It’s making us dream of the past. Emmett cast it on us.”

  Maya stared at me then looked exasperated. “You mean that son of a bitch who locked us all in your hotel? Why doesn’t he go away?”

  “He didn’t …” The situation when we’d been hexed last winter had been more complicated than that, but I didn’t have time to go into it.

  Maya wasn’t listening to me. She’d glanced at Mick in sudden concern. “Mick, you okay? You don’t look so good.”

  “He doesn’t know you,” I said quickly. “He’s Mick from my past.”

  “There’s still something wrong. Are you sick?” Maya asked him.

  “In a manner of speaking,” Mick said.

  Maya looked puzzled, but she knew Mick well enough to grasp when he didn’t want to talk about something. She turned her gaze back to me.

  “So, I woke up this morning back in my own house,” she said. “Everything normal there, except I’ve been staying at Nash’s. Trying to fix his place up so a human being can live in it. I stepped outside in time to see Nash drive past in a deputy’s car, heading to McGuire’s old house. When I walked down there to see what was going on, Nash comes out with Amy McGuire and starts kissing her. What the hell?” Maya pointed a shaking finger at me. “You tell me how that happened.”

  “He’s with Amy?” I asked in alarm.

  “I just said that. I thought she was gone forever. You cleared that up. You told me.”

  When I’d first moved to Magellan, I’d come to investigate the disappearance of Amy, the chief of police’s daughter. She’d also been Nash’s fiancée.

  I frowned as I tried to keep everything straight. Maya and Nash had been an item until Nash had returned from Iraq. Their breakup after that had been volatile, especially when Nash had announced his intention to run for sheriff. He’d then turned, rather suddenly, to Amy.

  I’d thought he’d gone to Amy later than this, only a year or so before she disappeared, but then, this was a dream. Timelines often didn’t make sense in the ramblings of the brain.

  But if Nash was with Amy, right now …

  “We need to get down there,” I said.

  “Good.” Maya’s anger turned defiant. “I’m not above fighting for him this time. But I came to find you, and your hotel was all falling down again, and it scared the shit out of me.”

  “You and me both.”

  Maya’s red pickup stood at the edge of the lot, near Barry’s bar, the driver’s side door still open. Mick caught on to my worry, even if he didn’t understand it, and headed for the truck. Drake, who did understand my concern, herded Maya and me after Mick.

  “Why did you put on your work clothes?” I asked Maya curiously as we hurried across the parking lot.

  “Everything else in my closet was old,” Maya said. “I couldn’t find any of my new clothes. This is my old truck too, but looking brand new.”

  I gave her a helpless look. “Dreams can be crazy.”

  The passenger door was unlocked, and Mick held it open while I scrambled in. Mick and Drake, without speaking, climbed over the back of the pickup and settled down into the bed.

  “You are going to explain all this to me after we go rescue Nash from that bitch,” Maya told me from the driver’s seat. She put the truck in gear and peeled out of the lot in a cloud of dust.

  “Get in line,” I said grimly.

  ***

  As we drove through Magellan in the early morning light, I was struck by how little had changed in the six years between now and when I’d arrive to live here. Of course, my dream might be painting the picture as I remembered it, not its reality, but the town seemed serene and untouched. Maya navigated the curves of the highway past the diner and the New Age store, Paradox; the small churches and the gas station; Hansen’s Garden Center, owned by my friend Jamison’s wife; the police station; and finally to the residential area.

  Maya lived on the last street in town before the highway narrowed and moved toward the mountains in the south. Amy McGuire had lived at the end of this cul-de-sac before she’d had unfortunate things happen to her.

  Maya didn’t slow, despite the 25-miles-an-hour sign at the entrance to the street. She gunned the truck all the way down the road and slammed on her brakes just as she reached Amy’s yard. There were no sidewalks here, or curbs, and Maya’s momentum carried her straight into the grass in front of Amy’s house.

  Nash bolted outside before Maya was out of the truck. He was in civvies—his running shorts and a T-shirt, but he carried his gun in one hand, holster in the other.

  When he saw Maya slide from the pickup, he kept the weapon pointed skyward but he didn’t holster it. “Maya, what the hell are you doing?”

  “Rescuing you.” Maya looked past him to the doorway. “You stay away from him!”

  A young woman with blond hair had emerged behind Nash, and gazed at her, bewildered. “Maya?” Her voice was thin and worried.

  I hopped out of the truck and approached Maya, my heart thumping. I felt Mick right behind me, and Drake behind him. The morning was clear and bright, no storm. Drake was the only one of us whose magical ability was still strong.

  Nash’s pistol leveled again. He didn’t aim at anyone, but he was ready to fire if necessary, and I knew from experience that Nash was a dead shot.

  I also noticed he didn’t look his usual healthy self. Nash was a robust man in great shape, but this morning, his face was gray, his eyes glittering too brightly. With anyone else, I might suspect a hangover, but Nash didn’t get drunk—at least not anytime I’d known about.

  Amy, on the other hand, seemed … sated. She swept her gaze over us, pretending to be intimidated, but I saw the glee that lurked in her green eyes.

  “Get away from her, Nash,” Maya said. “She’s evil.” She pointed an angry finger at Amy. “Janet told me all about what you did to him.”

  This Nash, from our past, had no idea what she was talking about, who I was, who Mick and Drake were. He only knew he was a sheriff’s deputy and his crazy ex-girlfriend, Maya, had come to stir up trouble.

  He spoke calmly, in spite of his mounting rage. “Maya, move your truck and go back home. Take your friends with you. If you do it now, I won’t arrest you.”

  Not the way to calm down Maya. She stomped forward, beautiful even in the shapeless coveralls, and planted her fists on her hips. “Don’t even think about arresting me, Nash Jones. I’ll kick your ass.”

  “Maya,” I said cautiously. I came forward, my eye on Amy, who was the bigger threat. No matter how innocuous she looked, she might be possessed at this moment by a goddess of ultimate destruction.

  Amy was watching me, half confused, half delighted, the two natures warring within her. This might be a dream, yes, but gods had ways of manipulating dreams and reality as they pleased. In this reality, my mother might find a way to connect with me through Amy, to latch on to me and not let go.

  I took a breath, feeling the warmth of Mick behind me. My goddess mother could fry him in a heartbeat, and Mick, robbed of his dragon-ness, had no defenses.

  Had Emmett planned this? Was it his scheme to loose the goddess from Beneath on us in my dreams? Steal the mirror while we were distracted? Had he taken Mick’s dragon powers from him so we didn’t stand a chance?

  If so, why hadn’t Emmett neutralized Nash? Nash, though he might not believe it himself, was probably the greatest danger to Emmett’s power.

  Nash, oblivious at the moment, glowered at Maya. “Get back in the truck, Maya, or I swear to God I will arrest you.”

  “Go ahead. You know you’ve always wanted to put me in cuffs.”

  Nash’s face went fro
m gray to unhealthy red. “Do it. I’ll talk to you later.”

  Maya didn’t move. “Not until you get away from her. Come with me, Nash. We’ll talk about old times. Remember? When you used to sleep with me?”

  Nash hated to discuss his personal life with anyone, let alone in front of his new girlfriend and three complete strangers. “Maya …”

  “Are you happy?” Maya called past him to Amy. “You couldn’t stop at being prom queen and having the whole town love you. You had to steal my boyfriend on top of it. I hope Janet flattens you.”

  “Who the hell is Janet?” Nash’s gray eyes were hard as he flicked his gaze to me, Mick, and Drake. “Who are these people?”

  “My friends.” Maya said it proudly. “We’re here to rescue you, Nash.”

  “Maya, for the last time …”

  Nash’s growl was cut off by Amy herself, who stepped down from the porch. “Enough!”

  The word rang through the air, tingeing the mild day with harsh coldness. Everything about the Beneath goddess was icy and colorless.

  She came on toward Nash and put a hand on his arm. He flinched slightly then tried to hide the flinch. He was hurting.

  I stepped beside Maya. I was terrified, having no defenses at the present time against the goddess. I could only hope that she was weakened, being outside the vortex and possessing Amy’s very human body.

  Mick came up right behind us, not letting me an inch away from him. I sensed Drake’s aura become more fiery, a dragon gearing up for a fight.

  “No,” Amy said. “I don’t think we’ll have that.”

  She opened her hand, and sent a shaft of light streaking right for me.

  Mick grabbed me and hauled me down. The light sailed overhead and struck Maya’s truck, shimmering electric arcs through it like frenetic blue snakes. Drake hauled ass away from the pickup just before it exploded.

  The fireball of the truck roared into the air, a wash of heat swamping me as I lay flat, Mick on top of me. Maya screamed and started to swear.

  I struggled to raise my head and look around. Mick eased off, but didn’t let me up.

  Drake had moved to take a protective stance next to Maya. He’d pulled off the T-shirt, the dragon wing tatts that hugged his torso moving with his anger.

  Nash stared at the burning truck for a heartbeat of astonishment, then he turned around and pointed his pistol at Amy. “What the hell did you just do?”

  “Maya,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm. “You should run.”

  “Damned if I will,” Maya said, though she remained close to Drake. “I’m not letting this woman hurt Nash.”

  “I won’t let her,” I promised.

  “How will you stop her? You’re not yourself, and Mick isn’t either.”

  “Mick, let me get up,” I said. At his growl, I added. “Please.”

  He didn’t want to. The Mick of the past knew all about the Beneath goddess. He knew exactly how dangerous she was and exactly how vulnerable we were.

  Mick, though, knew how to make the most of a bad situation. He growled again but helped me to my feet, keeping hold of my hand. He might not have dragon in him anymore, but he was physically strong, and I felt his earth magics solidly within him.

  “Maya,” I tried again. “You go, and I’ll get Nash to safety. Drake, will you take her?”

  “No,” Mick countermanded me, the general in him emerging. “We’ll need Drake here. You—” He pointed at Nash. “Take Maya out. Arrest her if you need to. But go.”

  Nash didn’t like being given orders. “I’ll arrest all of you. In fact, why don’t we take a walk?” He pulled out his cell phone with the hand not holding the gun and flipped it open.

  A white light cut it out of his hands and sent it flying. “Why don’t we all stay here instead?” Amy said.

  Drake clapped a fireball into his hands and sent it straight at Amy. No warning, no preliminary.

  A white wall of magic halted the fireball then batted it away. The fire landed in the desert beyond the house, bursting weeds into flame.

  Amy laughed. “That was fun.”

  Drake sent another fireball, and another, each one swatted aside. I gathered what magic I could, ready to help him, but Mick closed strong fingers over mine.

  “We do it together,” he said. “Like I showed you.”

  His dragon might be gone, but I felt his latent power tingle through my blood, touching my own, which he’d instructed me how to tap without endangering myself. He’d taught me so much, my man of fire.

  I nodded, letting him know I understood. We tightened our clasped hands, and Mick closed his eyes, dredging up all the magics that were still a part of him.

  His aura pulled at mine, twining with it, building our power into a whole greater than the sum of its parts. This is what he’d been teaching me all this time, that the two of us together were far stronger than we’d ever be apart.

  Mick opened his eyes, which were the blue of deep waters, and looked straight at me. I smiled, feeling the joy of him.

  We turned as one, hands joined, and sent everything we had at the white wall in front of Amy.

  The wall shimmered and crumpled, and Amy let out a shout of alarm. Drake’s next fireball caught Amy and engulfed her in flames. Nash, without a word, turned around and shot Drake.

  Drake wasn’t there, having hit the dirt as soon as he’d seen Nash pivot. The bullet sailed past him and struck Maya, who’d jumped forward, as though trying to stop Nash.

  She gave a soft grunt of pain and fell. Drake, horrified, sprang up and ran to her. Red blossomed on Maya’s white coveralls in a point just above her heart.

  Nash stared, blinking, all color on his face draining. I saw the shock in his gray eyes, the sudden acknowledgement that he loved Maya above all else, and the fact that he might have just killed her. He stood frozen, the gun at the end of his outstretched hand.

  I broke away and ran to Maya, Mick with me. Dragons could heal—though I wasn’t sure if Drake could help if Maya was too badly hurt.

  Nash came unfrozen. The sound of his anguish tore through the morning as he spun, cocking the gun to fire at Amy.

  The bullet was knocked out of the air by a shaft of light so brilliant, my eyes screwed up. When I could see again, Amy was laughing.

  But she hadn’t been the one to produce the stab of Beneath magic. Another young woman, this one Native American, came around the corner of the house. She puffed on her cocked finger, as though blowing smoke from a gun, and grinned at us all.

  “Now, now,” Gabrielle said. “No one needs to move. What a cozy, family reunion.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Nash quickly upended his gun, even though the most dangerous person in the little tableau had just walked into it. Part of Gabrielle’s menace was that she appeared to be innocent and harmless.

  “Gabrielle?” I asked warily.

  Her brows snapped together. “How do you know my name?” she demanded, which confirmed my worst fears.

  This was Gabrielle of the past, before she and I had called a truce, before Grandmother had sat her down and taught her a few things. Gabrielle before I’d met her had been just this side of crazy, had caused the death of her father and stepmother, and gone on a rampage. I wasn’t certain whether she’d met our mutual mother at this point or not, but it hardly mattered at the moment.

  “You know who I am,” I countered.

  “I do.” Gabrielle looked me over. “And I know you’re not needed, Janet Begay.” She sent a shaft of Beneath magic at me, designed to kill.

  Mick jerked me out of the way, but not fast enough. He took a shot of Gabrielle’s power in his shoulder, which started to burn him alive. He dove to the grass, desperately trying to crush out the white-hot flame.

  Gabrielle shot again, but this time, Drake was ready with fire, hurling it at her without hesitation. Gabrielle’s magic broke but an instant later was back, supported by another blast from Amy.

  It was far too much for Drake to r
esist on his own. Mick couldn’t help him at the moment, and my Beneath power, while welling inside me, paled compared to Gabrielle’s and Amy’s, and I was minus a storm.

  Nash flung himself in front of the shafts of light, taking the full brunt of them. Both Amy and Gabrielle stepped back, uncertain, as the Beneath magic lifted Nash from his feet.

  It turned him around, and then, as Amy and Gabrielle stared in astonishment, Nash’s body began to absorb it. Faster and faster, the white magic poured into Nash, like a deluge down a street grating.

  He absorbed it all, his body glowing with it, until the magic broke into fragments and exploded outward. The fragments became sparks of brilliant light, then extinguished altogether, like dying fireworks.

  Nash thumped back to the ground, remaining on his feet, and drew a long, but unlabored breath.

  “Shit,” Gabrielle said in astonishment. “How’d he do that?” She sent him a smile I’d seen her direct at him before. “Want to do it again?”

  “No!” I cried as she lifted her hand. Nash only stared at her, his gray eyes moving as he tried to work out what was happening to his efficient, by-the-book world.

  I started running for Nash, praying he wouldn’t shoot me as I charged him. But I’d had an idea. I was under a dream spell, and Nash was a null. Nash’s anti-magic might possibly be able to negate the spell on me and wake me up. I had no idea whether this would work, but it was worth a shot.

  Mick was up again but weak and in obvious pain. Pissed off, though. He brought his hands up in front of him, chanting words I didn’t know.

  Drake’s palms filled with fire, he ready to throw everything he had at Gabrielle and Amy. Nash spun and met my charge, not shooting, thank the gods, but prepared to tackle me.

  I slammed into him. We both went down in a tangle on the grass, and I felt a strange pressure in my chest.

  I didn’t snap out of the dream, however. I lay there with Nash on top of me, he struggling to get to his feet and not lose hold of the gun at the same time.

  Flames soared overhead, Drake letting loose at Amy and Gabrielle. His fire was met with white light that battled the orange flames with a sound of thunder.