Dream Killers - Complete Season 1 (The Dream Killers Book 3)

by S. M. Blooding

  They? What was I listening to?

  Dreamers.

  Right, but why?

  They attacked Dreamlanders, tearing them from Dreamland, shredding their connections.

  Why?

  To take their voices.

  Oh, dreams. No. Jeomy had called it a sickness. Was it possible the dreamers were the infection? No. That couldn’t be. Dreamland had been built for the dreamers.

  But what happened if they felt her leaving? What would they do to stop her? How would they fight?

  Invade Dreamland the only way they knew how. With their dreams.

  But who were “they” and how did they tell the dreamers which Dreamlanders to seek?

  And did any of them have my name?

  Probably not. I wasn’t a Dreamlander. Few people knew I existed. It was unlikely a dreamer would seek me out by Name.

  However, I was sick, so maybe I didn’t understand this entirely. Probably not. I wasn’t a mechanic. I barely understood what I could see, which was nothing more than the dreams of others. But each dream left me feeling more detached from my life, more alone. I had to get back for Zoe, for Bo. They were my family now. They needed me and I needed them.

  How was I going to—

  River! Kelsi’s voice sounded in my head.

  I’m here! I sent everything I had in the direction of her voice, but it was like trying to swim against a current in a force-crushing black hole. I couldn’t be certain I even moved or that my voice carried far enough for her to hear me.

  I hear you, River. Just concentrate on my voice.

  That’s what he told me the day my parents had died. We’d driven off the side of a mountain. The car had flipped so many times, I’d lost count. I barely remembered Mom’s screams, or Dad’s cries. But I remembered his voice, the man who’d found us, the one who’d stayed while they cut me free of the car. He’d held my hand and told me to concentrate on the sound of his voice. I’d been in such a state of detached shock. I kept seeing my mom, her head cocked at a strange angle, her eyes empty as she stared at my dad.

  No, River. My voice. Listen to my voice.

  Right. Yes. Kelsi. The ship.

  You’re lucid.

  So glad she’d noticed.

  You’re not free of the sickness in this time space?

  No.

  Cold hit my shoulder, sending a pulsing ache into my joint. My body jerked once, twice.

  The darkness broke and light stabbed through my eyelids.

  I rolled over onto my back and groaned. Every muscle in my body hurt as if I’d wrestled a bear or something. I opened my eyes just enough to see what was going on.

  Bo’s crew hustled. He stood on the opposite side of the wagon, peering out one of the many windows.

  Many windows. How was it that from the inside there were dozens of them, but from the outside, there were only four? Always four.

  Shakarr’s mask tipped down in my direction. “My apologies. I had hoped freezing your time would help.”

  I grunted. “Are the others okay?”

  She nodded once, her cotton-candy hair bobbing with the movement and turned. “Captain Bo, we have more hunters closing in on us from the south.”

  “How can you tell what direction south is in this thing?” Bo grumbled. “Master Rulak, if you have an escape plan, now might be a good time.”

  “Hunters?” I asked.

  Shakarr knelt next to me, her face pointed toward one of the many windows. “They’re close. I don’t know how they’re tracking us, but they’re close.”

  They. Right. Who else could tell a dreamer how to track a person beside a hunter? “They’re following the spinners.”

  Shakarr paused before she focused her attention on me.

  I stretched my neck. “The dreamers are in search of Dreamlanders, but they have specific names. I couldn’t tell if they had Who’s, but they knew who they were looking for.”

  “How do you know this?”

  “I was in the dream web. I could feel the dreamers like I was one of them.”

  She stilled for a long moment. “Captain, I think we might have a problem.” She stood and walked toward Bo.

  I needed to get off the floor. If I could only dredge two ounces of energy, I would. However, I couldn’t.

  “So what’s your plan?” Bo asked, his voice raised.

  “The location I has picked out protects against tracking, but we must gets there without a following.”

  Bo cursed under his breath as he punched the wall with a hollow thud.

  My Bo, Kelsi’s soft voice said. Let me save you, take you where you need to go as I always have.

  “We need to protect the spinners, take them where no hunter can follow.”

  The Sea of Dreams. I can lose them there.

  “It’s too risky. Candi’s out there, and we have no way of knowing if it’ll even work.”

  We cannot stay here.

  He raked his blonde hair off his face. “I don’t know.”

  When I call, you come.

  “Damn it, Kelsi,” he roared, throwing his hands down. “We’ve already gone over this.”

  She blipped to him and cupped his cheek with her silver hand. And when you call, I come.

  He frowned at her.

  A smile graced her lips as she arced back, her arms wide. White light shot from her hands, her chin, her eyes, her feet, altering everything it touched. The walls of the wagon stretched, morphed. The curtains elongated, climbing high into the sky. Sails snapped. Rigging creaked, and the world took on a gentle rocking.

  She straightened, her skin resembling wood grain. Her hair cascaded down her back in a long sheaf of silver. Captain, we are at sea.

  “WHAT’S THE PLAN?” Shakarr asked.

  I seized the railing and pulled myself to a standing position, staggering where I stood as Night’s Cruelty rode a rising wave.

  “We run.” Bo’s coat flared as he walked to the quarter deck. “As fast as we can. Master Rulak, a heading, if you would.”

  The wizened traveler’s gaze darted to the runner. “I does not know how to gives it to you.”

  Bo gestured with one hand at Kelsi. “Tell my ship, good man. Tell my ship.”

  Kelsi bowed her head with a slight smile, her fingertips over her heart.

  “Shakarr, tell me you’ve got a hold on the spinners while we’re at sea.”

  Her stiff, “I do,” trembled with a hint of question.

  Bo paused and narrowed his eyes at her. “Are you sure?”

  She nodded.

  He continued up the stairs.

  I followed in stumbling steps. “Bo—”

  Dear God, I needed to have sex. I mean the good kind, not the, oh-that’s-so-cute kind. I was about to crawl out of my skin. I couldn’t drink a cup of coffee without my body driving me insane, and me without coffee was a scary thing. I made the Wicked Witch look cuddly. I needed a ma—

  Dreams crack it! I couldn’t wait until my mind was—

  —my own. Who kept taking over my thoughts? What were all these strange voices? Was I going insane? Were they going to drill holes in my head? Maybe I had a brain tumor.

  No. Mine. I needed my mind to be mine. I dragged air into my burning lungs, turning to the blue sky. Clouds gathered along the edges of my vision, growing and forming directly above me. The guardians. They were close. I tripped on my feet and landed roughly on the stair.

  Bo grabbed my elbow. “You all right?”

  I’d seen seas like this before. Whoa. Those sails, though? No. What was this? A clipper ship? Had I traveled back in time? Was that even possible?

  What? No. I knew this ship. I focused on Bo’s face. “I don’t think so.”

  His Adam’s apple bobbed as he tucked me beside the helm. He knelt down. “You stay with me, River.” His dark blue eyes bored into mine. “Don’t you leave me.”

  One corner of my mouth lifted as the other half dragged down, my eyelids jerking. I couldn’t guarantee any—

  Oh
my god. I had traveled back in time. Holy. Crap. I’d gone back in time. I looked down to see if I was in my own body, feeling what had to be a six pack ab. Oh! Awesome! Not only had I traveled back in time, I’d hopped into the body of a ripped vessel. Okay. So, what universe was this? Definitely none I’d ever LARP’ed.

  “River?” he asked.

  The man could be a fill-in for Arogorn with that voice, though. I admit it. It made me a little jealous. “Yeah.” Whoa! Okay. Until I heard mine. Dude! I could so get laid with a voice like this! Whoever this dude was, I needed his body! Seriously.

  “You okay?”

  I lifted one shoulder. “Sure?”

  He shook his head and stood, going to the big, spoked wheel.

  He was pirate? Dude. Seriously? Not a Pirates of the Caribbean kind of pirate. No. More like . . . a Captain Hook meets Lord of the Rings. Strangest genre mash-up I’d ever seen. I twisted around, grabbing the wood railing to see why everyone was shouting. This pirate’s crew was made of men and women. Weird. What happened to the, “women bring bad luck,” rule? However, they were pretty clean for pirates. I had to give them that. And what was up with the blue statue-people? Like, seriously. Just. Creepy.

  No, no. I needed to get my head in the game. I could be losing points by standing around. Why was everyone running? What were the damage points? It looked pretty real. Like—Dude. I seriously could not get my head wrapped around the idea that this might be for real legit.

  Something whipped across my line of sight.

  I scrambled to my feet, my mouth falling open. An octopus woman? This was no Ursula, either. This woman was hot! Her bright pink hair flowed around her like a rockstar on a stage. Her ruby red scales lined her cheekbones, bringing out the power of those large eyes.

  And her breasts. I forced my mouth closed as I stared at her barely concealed chest, my body warming in response.

  Her tentacles whipped, snatching people, hurling them into the sea.

  If she were a goddess, I’d offer myself up to be her love slave, or any slave, really. Oh, hey! And I had the body for that, too. I reached up to push my glasses up my nose, only to discover I didn’t have glasses.

  Too cool. I had to find away to—

  No! I had to—

  I clenched my jaw so tight, I thought my neck muscles might snap. I had to get control. We were under attack. We had to get out. My shaking hand dropped to the knife at my belt. We had to fight back.

  Okay. Hold on. This wasn’t my kickboxing class. Jeezlawheez. When was the last time I’d been able to afford a kickboxing class, anyway? Darn, a decade ago. Jemma had been three and Jacki’d been, what? Two? Barely? So why was I in a fighting position?

  I pulled back, chills running down my body. I knew those creatures. Squid warriors, guardians of the Sea of Dreams. Where was River?

  Something wet cut the air next to my ear.

  I lashed out with my left hand and grasped the tentacle. The sucker latched onto the pad of my thumb. My right hand came away with a knife. In one smooth motion, I spun and sliced the tentacle just above where I held it.

  The guardian who belonged to the severed tentacle took a rippling step back, his bright, blue hair flashing in a shock of lightning. His large, squid eyes widened, and the gills along his cheeks opened before sucking shut again.

  Bo glanced at me. “River? What are you doing?”

  River? I shook my head and advanced on the guardian. I didn’t know why he attacked Bo’s ship and I didn’t really care. River was mine, mine to protect, to call my own. If Bo and I were here, River couldn’t be too far away. I bared my teeth and growled.

  A lot lower than usual. My female vocal chords could do a pretty throaty alto, but never anything close to a bass. What the hell was going on?

  The guardian raised his hands as his violet tentacles sought safe passage over the back rail.

  I spun. “Bo, what’s—” I stopped. I had to. Why was my voice so low? The quarterdeck was clear, so I took a moment to assess my situation. I cleared my throat in shock and surprise. I was in man’s body.

  Something moved below my belt. Dear goddess. I had a penis.

  “River,” Bo asked, guiding the helm as he watched me. “What are you doing?”

  Act cool. Just act cool. “I’m not River.” Wow. I never realized how much I took for granted, like how I existed as me when I could hear the sound of my voice.

  Bo’s ears pulled back, as did his shoulder. “Who are you?”

  I held up my hands. “Bess. I’m Bess.”

  “The dreamer in the net?”

  I nodded. “What happened?”

  “Why have you been so silent?”

  I shrugged. “I’ve been taking melatonin for weeks now to get to sleep. I opted for a tall glass of wine tonight.”

  One of Bo’s crew landed near me with a crack of wood. He grunted and staggered to his feet.

  “Awesome,” I said. “What’s going on? Why are the guardians attacking you?”

  “Why are you inhabiting River?”

  “I have no idea,” I said, my voice rising. If I’d been in my body, my shrill tone would have told a man to back the fuck off, but no. It just sounded like I’d stepped on my own toe.

  Bo flexed his one hand. “I want River back. Where is he?”

  I walked toward the stair, blood pumping through my veins with a heady stream of adrenaline. This body felt amazing. Not only was it easily ten years younger, but it was male. I wanted to play with the physical finesse. Were guys really that much better than women? “Don’t know. Got a plan for your guests?”

  He leveled a hard look at me.

  Oh, dear Goddess, that man’s eyes with the crow’s feet, and the experience just exuding from his pours. I could eat him. Alive.

  Whoa. No. What the—Bo? Oy! Ew. Gross. No.

  I let out a long sigh. “Great. So, no plan. Got it.” I leapt down the stairs, gripping the knife, and veered toward the closest fish-person. All it had taken was for me to lop off one tentacle of the guardian man and he’d hied off. I dipped into a quick squat, my muscle memory keeping my knee behind my toes, and sliced upward with my dagger.

  The green-haired squid woman reared back, her black-clawed hands raised. Her large eyes flared as she slithered backward.

  Two down.

  I went down the line, my kickboxing skills finally coming in use. Only one of the warriors remained and she kept her distance, standing tall on her coiling tentacles.

  The crew on the deck bounced their gaze between me and the warrior woman.

  She tipped her head, her pink hair flowing. “You’re not River.”

  “Glad you noticed. Who are you and what do you want?”

  She crept forward. “Vengeance.”

  “Against?”

  “The dream killers.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “Why?”

  “For killing the dreams and the dreamers they belonged to.”

  She seemed sincere with her wide, turquoise eyes and her glistening pink lips. How much of that was because she was a fairytale creature, and how much of that was truth?

  “What are you?” she asked, her voice a bare whisper.

  “I’m Bess.”

  Her large pupils trailed downward.

  One of the frozen blue statues jerked beside me. Her electro-yellow afro jiggled. Her demon-black eyes blinked.

  The squid woman straightened, studying the blue woman beside me, her hands lowered in alarm.

  Okay. So, either they weren’t statues and they’d been frozen for some reason, or they were like gargoyles.

  The blue woman studied herself. “I’m blue. Holy crap.”

  More of the blue people awoke around me, breaking from their living slumber. I heard accents from all around the world. Indian, Japanese, Middle-Eastern, Mexican, Southern. I’m pretty sure I even heard a Minnesota accent.

  I was a dreamer and I’d somehow possessed River’s body. It seemed I wasn’t the only one, though. Dreamers possessed the blue p
eople all over the ship.

  The squid woman rolled toward the nearest rail. “River, what did you do?”

  I opened my mouth, but she slipped over the rail before I could say anything else.

  Bo gripped the helm. The crew scurried into the rigging, making the ship ready. The possessed blue people and I were left wondering what to do.

  A short, lithe woman, no bigger than my thirteen-year-old daughter, surveyed each person as she sedately made her way along the deck. She wore no clothes, her skin marked with the same wood-grain as the deck. Silver hair cascaded down her back like liquid silver.

  Oh, Dreamland. What a fun and freaky place.

  The wooden woman raised her head, her silver hair fluttering in a wind I did not feel. She called out, her voice like a brilliant bell. “The shore, my captain!”

  I stumbled as a new force tossed me aside like I’d been hit by an invisible car.

  The railing folded inward. The sails snapped and fell. The deck danced beneath my feet.

  For Pete’s sake, we were going to die!

  The dreamers inhabiting the blue people must have thought the same thing. They screamed, crouching low, their hands covering their ears.

  But the crew didn’t seem fazed.

  Right. Act cool. Holy crap. I’d practically pissed myself.

  I shoved my shoulders back. The ship wasn’t going to kill us. Well, at least, I didn’t think so.

  The rails rose and became walls. The sails, curtains drifting on a cool wind that fluttered through the—well, if we’d been on Earth, I’d have called it a really long RV, or a hippie bus. Either one, really. A wooden door appeared beside me. Before I could reach it, one of the possessed Smurf people ripped it half-off its hinges and ran out.

  Into the Sea? Last I saw, that’s where we had been.

  I followed, a press of people at my back. I nearly tripped on the three steps, but managed to keep my feet under me.

  I turned once I was a few feet away. There was no way we’d come out of that little gypsy wagon. Nuh-uh. No way. Only the Doctor had a box like that. Now Dreamland did, too? Goddess, save me.