“I almost didn’t.” I gestured back and forth between us. “There’s something weird about this thing with us.”
She toyed with her straw, grinning at me. “There’s a ‘thing’ between us?”
“Did you dream about me last night?”
She shrugged. “Maybe.”
“Did you or didn’t you?”
She sipped more of her milkshake. “I did.”
“And where were we?”
“We were in this gazebo thing in the woods,” she said.
I sat back in my chair, feeling the blood draining out of my face.
“What?” she said.
“You were wearing a white dress,” I said. “We talked. We almost…”
She shook her head. “That’s not what I dreamed.”
“It’s not?” I said. “So, we aren’t having the same dream, then. Just… similar dreams? What was happening in your dream?”
She blushed again, going back to her shake. “Stuff.”
“Oh, so, in your dream we were…” I swallowed. “Like what you said you dreamed about doing in my dream.”
She wrinkled up her nose. “What?”
I leaned forward, lowering my voice. “What were we doing in your dream?”
She laughed, embarrassed. “Hunter, it was just a dream.”
“Were we like, you know…” I lowered my voice even more. “Doing it?”
She turned an even deeper shade of red, but she leaned closer too. “Maybe.”
“In the gazebo,” I said.
“Yeah,” she said. “Um, I’ve had that dream before, actually. I’ve had it a lot. For months, actually. It’s always the same dream. You and me going at it in a gazebo in the rain. I didn’t think you were real. I thought you were just, you know, a figment of my sexually-frustrated imagination.”
“So, you always dream about… that?”
She nodded.
“Weird,” I said.
“I guess that’s not what you dream about?”
“No,” I said. “Unfortunately.”
“Unfortunately?”
My turn to blush. I picked up a fry and popped it in my mouth. I chewed. This was really weird. I should probably tell my parents about it. I always told my mom about the dreams. But she and my dad were leaving town, and the thought of trying to explain this was basically too embarrassing for words, so…
“Hey,” she said, “I didn’t try to be friends with you because I wanted to reenact my dream or something. I don’t know you. And I’m not… like that.”
“Like what?”
“Well, I mean, I’m sort of waiting for the right person to do that with for real.”
“Oh.” I blushed harder. “I wasn’t saying that I wanted… Not that I don’t want, but that I…” I shoved my fries at her. “You want one?”
She giggled. “You’re definitely an interesting one, Hunter.” She took a fry.
“We need to try to figure these dreams out,” I said. “Look, I’ve had dreams like this my whole life.”
“About me?” she said.
“No, not about you,” I said. “About other stuff. It’s like an ability I have. I have dreams about the future sometimes.”
“Really?” She took another fry, intrigued.
“But usually, they’re not like this. Usually, they’re warnings about something bad happening. And I don’t think there’s anything bad about you at all.”
“You really have dreams about the future?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Guns N’ Roses is always playing in the background. It’s weird.”
She made a face. “I wondered about that.”
“What? There’s GNR in the dreams where we’re, um…”
“Yeah,” she said. “Usually it’s ‘You Could Be Mine,’ but once in a while it’s ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine.’”
“That’s weird,” I said.
“Yeah,” she said.
“Maybe if we tried to dream at the same time or something,” I said. “Like if we both went to sleep at the same time, in the same place. My parents are going out of town, and so if you wanted—”
“Hold it,” she said. “You’re asking me to sleep over?”
“Yeah,” I said. “But not in the way you’re thinking.”
She chewed on her lip. “I don’t know if my parents would go for it.”
“Well, sneak out, then,” I said.
She raised her eyebrows. “You seem pretty eager for a guy who’s not trying to get in my pants.”
“I’m not,” I protested. I picked up a few fries. “Look, maybe I like spending time with you, but it’s not the same thing. Anyway, you make me really nervous.”
She sipped on her shake, her lips curving into a smile. “I make you nervous, huh?”
I rubbed my forehead. “Did I just say that out loud?”
“I’ll think about it,” she said.
“About what?”
“The sleepover.”
“Oh. Right.”
“I’ll text you.”
* * *
~azazel~
“What’s this I hear about you bringing a girl here?” I said when Hunter came through the front door. “And where the heck have you been? School ended an hour ago.”
“I texted Dad,” he said. “I told him I was staying late for a study session.”
I folded my arms over my chest. “And the girl?”
Hunter scuffed his foot against the floor. “I can’t believe Chance told you that.”
“He was concerned,” I said. “And with good reason, don’t you think?”
“She’s just a girl from school. It’s nothing.” He started back the hall, towards his room.
“I don’t think so,” I said. “You are not getting out of that so easily. Come back here and talk to me.”
He sighed and turned around. “Mom, please.”
“Hey, Hunter,” I said. “You know you can tell me anything.”
He looked annoyed. “No, I can’t.”
“What?” I said. “What can’t you tell me? If it’s stuff about girls, is it better if you talk to your dad?”
“No.”
“You don’t have to be embarrassed about liking girls, Hunter. It’s normal.”
He rolled his eyes. “Please, Mom, I do not want to do this.”
I kept talking. “And I know that you haven’t been able to be normal, but you really need to try to hang on a little bit here, okay?”
“Hang on?”
I nodded. “If we can stop Imri, it might mean that things would be safe enough, that if you wanted, you could bring girls over. Maybe we could settle down somewhere a little more permanent. We could take prom pictures and everything.”
“I don’t want to go to the prom.”
I cocked my head. “You sure?” After all, when Jason and I had been eighteen, it had been pretty important to him. Of course, our prom had turned into a bloodbath, but…
He sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe. But that’s not what this is about.”
“Okay,” I said. “What’s it about, then?”
“Nothing.”
“Hunter.”
“It’s nothing, Mom. She’s a girl I met at school. We hung out. The end. There’s nothing else to it. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”
Great. This was going really well, wasn’t it? I put my hands in the back pockets of my pants. “All right. If that’s really all—”
“It is.”
“Okay, but in case it’s not,” I said, “just listen to me for a minute, all right?”
His shoulders sagged, and he pressed his lips together in a firm line.
“While your father and I are gone, you do not see this girl or any other girls from school. We clear?”
“Sure.” He glared at me.
“If things go well with Imri, then we’ll reassess, but until then, it’s too dangerous. They could hurt her, they could use her to hurt you, and you don’t know enough about her to trust her.”
“Okay, I get it, Mom. Can I go now?”
I sighed.
* * *
~hunter~
“What’s she doing here?” said Chance.
Paige and I were in the living room. She’d texted me earlier to say that she could get away from her parents, and she wanted to try the dream experiment. Since my parents had left earlier, I didn’t see any reason why she shouldn’t come over.
Paige gave Chance a little wave. “Hey. Chance, right?”
Chance heaved a huge sigh. “What the hell, Hunter? I thought Zaza talked to you. It’s not safe.”
“She did,” I said. “But Mom’s not here, and Paige and I have… stuff we have to do.”
“Paige can’t stay,” said Chance.
Paige wrinkled up her nose. “You don’t like me very much, do you?”
Chance dragged a hand over his face. “I’m sure you’re a very nice person, but there are things you don’t understand.”
“Right,” said Paige. “Like who’s Zaza?”
“My mom,” I said.
“Oh.” She still looked confused. “So, why do you call her Zaza?”
“She’s not actually my mother,” said Chance. “She’s just my dad’s girlfriend.”
“Oh, so you guys are like half-brothers,” said Paige.
“Technically,” I said. “We’re cousins. See, his dad and my dad were brothers, but his mom’s dead and my dad’s dead, so it made sense to raise both of us together.”
“Wait,” said Paige. She pointed at Chance. “His dad is your mom’s boyfriend?”
“Yeah,” I said.
She pointed at me. “But your dad was his brother?”
“Uh huh.”
“Whoa,” she said. “Was that kind of like… awkward?”
I furrowed my brow. “Actually, I never thought about it like that.” Even though my family situation was sort of strange, I was always too busy being chased and nearly killed to ponder what my parents’ relationship had been like. I turned to Chance. “My mom and my real dad? Were they like… together?”
Chance was looking a little disgusted. “I don’t know. You know, when I was a kid, they kind of explained it to me, but… I remember my dad was kind of pissed off.”
“You think?” said Paige.
We were all quiet for a minute. I was trying to think about what had happened. I knew that Chance had been born when my mom and Jason hadn’t been together, but I knew they’d been together afterwards, when Chance was a kid, which must mean that my mom and my real dad had…
“This isn’t important,” said Chance. “You distracted me. The point is that you can’t have her here. If I have to stay home and babysit your ass, then—”
“You don’t have to stay home,” I said. “I’m fine.”
“No,” he said. “You’re not. Or are you forgetting what happened just last night?”
“I took care of that on my own,” I said. “What are you worried about? I’ll set the alarm system.”
Chance folded his arms over his chest. “I’m not leaving you by yourself.”
“Fine.” I shrugged. I took Paige by the arm and started to lead her out of the living room. “Come on, this will probably work better in my parents’ room.”
Chance stepped into our path. “If she stays, I’m calling them and telling them she’s here.”
“If you tell them she’s here, I’ll tell them where you took me last night.”
He groaned. “Don’t do this, Hunter.”
“Stop being a douche, Chance,” I said. “We have never been left alone in our entire lives. Why spoil it?”
He considered. “You know what? You’re right.” He disappeared down the hallway and came back carrying his coat.
“You going out?” I asked.
“I think I am,” he said. “Set the alarm. Call me if anything bad happens. And make sure to use a condom.”
I winced.
He was out the door.
I turned to Paige. “So, my brother’s an asshole.”
* * *
Paige lay back on my parents’ bed.
I settled down next to her, careful that I wasn’t touching her.
“So,” she said. “You think we should try to go to sleep?”
“That’s the plan,” I said.
“You don’t think we need to do anything to try to make sure our dreams are synced up?”
I stared at the ceiling. “Like what would we do?”
She didn’t say anything.
We were both quiet for several minutes. The silence seemed palpable, and I struggled to think of something to fill it with.
Then I felt her hand sliding into mine.
I let out a slow breath at the sensation of her touch. Her hand was warm, and I liked the way it fit into my own. I tightened my fingers around hers.
“Maybe that,” she said, and her voice was soft.
“Yeah, okay.” My voice was barely above a whisper too.
I let my eyes flutter closed. I’d try to get to sleep now.
Next to her. Touching her.
My pulse began to speed up.
“Hunter?” she said.
“Yeah?”
“Why did your brother say it wasn’t safe for me to be here?”
I squeezed her hand. “Don’t worry about it. If anyone tries to get in the house, the alarm will go off, and we’ll wake up. And I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Do people try to get in your house a lot?”
I swallowed. Should I lie to her? What if I did get her killed just by being around her?
But the dreams. They had to mean something. And it felt… it felt right for her to be here.
I turned my face to look at her, only to discover that she was already staring at me. “There’s a reason I move around a lot, and it’s not one of my parents’ jobs. It’s me. People are… people are after me.”
I waited for her to pull away, to be frightened. But instead, she only looked sympathetic. “That must suck.”
I laughed a little. “Pretty much. Yeah.”
She squeezed my hand this time. “You think we’re okay, though?”
“I do.”
“Then let’s go to sleep.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
~hunter~
“Sweet Child O’ Mine” was playing as I crested over a hill covered with bright green grass. The sun was shining in the sky, glowing golden and beautiful. I felt an odd sensation, as if I’d just come home after a long absence, as if I belonged here forever.
At the bottom of the hill, I could see five figures.
To my surprise, I recognized two of them as my parents. They were both dressed in flowing bright white clothes, though, and they seemed to glow. They were both smiling, and they looked happier and more at peace than I’d ever seen them.
My mother smiled at one of the other figures, a woman with blond hair. “We do have what we wanted from you. But we won’t break our word. We will give you a child.” She glanced at my dad. “However, I’m sure you’ll agree that there is no reason this child should be born of Darkness only.”
“Darkness and Light,” said my dad, “should never be apart.”
My mom inclined her head. “You taught me that.”
“No,” he said. “You taught me that.”
And they grinned at each other like idiots. Had I ever seen them smile at each other like that? Had I ever seen them so carefree? So… joyous?
One of the men spoke up. “But without our powers, what will happen to us? We’ll get back there, and we’ll be mobbed. People will be angry.”
“You may have to run away and hide for a bit,” my mom said.
“Yeah,” my dad said. “Away from people. Pretty much all people, considering you were controlling their brains for years.”
The other woman reached for the man’s hand, her eyes wide. “As long as we’re together.”
He nodded reassuringly.
“Do you still want the baby?” my
mom asked.
“Yes,” said the woman.
“Of course,” said the man.
My mother and father joined the couple’s hands together.
There was a blinding flash of light.
And then I saw the man and woman together again. They were in an RV and there was a little blond girl, not much more than a baby, in the woman’s arms, writhing in pain and screaming.
The two of them were both trying to soothe the child, but nothing seemed to be working.
The baby’s screams were horrible—heartrending. It sounded as if she was being ripped in two.
“Something’s happening to her,” said the woman. “Kieran, something’s happening!”
“Paige,” crooned the man. “Paige, baby, calm down.”
Paige? Was this Paige? The Paige lying next to me?
“She can’t calm down,” said the woman. “I’m telling you, they’re taking her from us. You call that hospital, Kieran. I bet anything they’re waking up from that coma, and they’re taking her from us!”
But then I was zooming backwards out of the room as fast as I possibly could, like I was going to light speed in reverse.
I shut my eyes against it, feeling like I was going to be sick.
And when I opened them, I was in the gazebo again.
The rain was pounding on the roof like a thousand drumbeats.
Paige was pressed against me, her legs wrapped around my body.
Her skin was bare. It was wet. Her hair was wet. She had thrown her head back. She was breathing hard, moaning, clutching me.
I was…
I was inside her.
All around me, people were advancing on the gazebo, carrying machine guns. “Darkness and Light should never be apart,” they said. “Never be apart. Never be apart. Never be apart.”
I dug my fingers into Paige’s hips, pulling her even closer to me.
I was engulfed in her.
She felt amazing.
Never be apart. Never be apart. Never be—
* * *
Paige was screaming.
I sat up next to her in the bed. My whole body was covered in sweat.
She was thrashing on the bed next to me, her eyes closed.
I seized her by the shoulders. “Paige. Paige, wake up.”
She clawed at me, still screaming.
I shook her harder.
Gasp Page 19