Hero Reborn (Keepers of Justice, Book 3)

by Dee J. Stone

  It worked. We bypassed Vlayne’s hold and are actually in Stealth’s dream. This is so freaking amazing!

  She’s dressed in a black T-shirt and shorts. She turns her head and blinks a few times. Her mouth drops. “Ray?”

  She jumps to her feet and runs into his arms. He’s taken aback at first, but his body loosens and he holds her close, burying his face in her neck. They stay wrapped in each other for a long time. Kale and I turn away to give them some privacy.

  “I love this dream,” Stealth whispers. “It feels so real. I don’t want to wake up.” She pulls off and looks at Kale and me. “Wait a second. I never dream about Kale…and you—you must be Stretch. Why would I dream about you when I never met you?”

  X strokes the side of her face. “Because this isn’t a dream. It’s real. Stretch has a new ability. He can enter people’s dreams. I hope that’s okay with you.”

  She steps out of the hug and stares at him. “What?”

  “He got a new ability when he was resurrected. Entering people’s dreams and having real conversations with them.”

  Stealth stares at me.

  I wave. “Hi. Thanks for resurrecting me. Sorry you sacrificed yourself. You didn’t have to…” I shut up because I have no idea what I’m saying. What do you say to the person who brought you back from the dead?

  She looks totally weirded out. Yeah, this is weird.

  X strokes the side of her face again. “We entered your dream because we need to talk to you about something important. Is that okay?”

  She closes her eyes, leaning her cheek into his hand. “Yeah. That’s okay.” Her eyes fly open. “But how are you even here? My mom…”

  “Stretch can bypass telepathic blocks,” X tells her.

  “Yeah,” I say. “As long as the person is having a dream, I can walk in.”

  She smiles a little. “That’s kind of cool. I’m glad you’re okay, Stretch.”

  “Thanks.”

  X takes her hand and gives it a squeeze. “Kale will need to erase this once we’re done.”

  “What?”

  Kale says, “That way when your mom checks up on you, she won’t know we contacted you.”

  She’s quiet for a few seconds. Kale and I shift in place. This is the moment of truth here. No one wants to hear that some of their memories will be wiped. It’s a scary thing. If Stealth doesn’t agree with this, we’re screwed.

  “I’ll only erase the dream part. I swear.”

  She nods slowly. “I get it.”

  “And if we ever drop by again,” X says, “We’ll have to update you all over again, since you won’t have any memory of us coming before.”

  “That makes sense.” Stealth lowers herself onto the grass. “I’ve missed you so much, Ray.”

  X joins her on the ground and tucks some strands of hair behind her ear. “Me, too,” he whispers, bringing his mouth to hers.

  Kale and I step away and walk around the area. The place is pretty, with lots of greenery and flowers. The wind blows through the leaves and the water whooshes down below. I see why Stealth likes to come here. It’s very peaceful and relaxing.

  “At least X gets to be with her.” Kale forces a smile. “It might not be a hundred percent real, but it feels like it.”

  “Yeah. If only we can do that with Lindsay.” We don’t want to risk it because we’re pretty sure Vlayne’s monitoring her at all times, even when she sleeps. Maybe she’s hooked up to a machine that monitors brain activity. The Blades would be suspicious if there’d be a strange reading. I mean, who knows? Stealth’s different, since she’s not held prisoner.

  Kale stuffs his hands in his pockets and continues down the path. I stretch my legs to catch up. “You okay?”

  “Yeah. Let’s get back.”

  X is telling Stealth everything from the beginning, how we were attacked and had to run away.

  “Vlayne’s responsible for the attack,” Kale says.

  Stealth nods. “Trust me, if I had a way to stop her, I would have.”

  “And Lindsay?” Kale asks. “Do you have her?”

  Stealth nods again. “There’s a guy whose job is to keep an eye on the Keepers. He saw her leave the Tower and grabbed her. I’m sorry.”

  Kale swallows hard. “Is she…is she…”

  “She’s alive, that’s all I know.” Her eyes drop to the ground. They’re a little glassy. “I don’t know where my mom’s keeping her or what she’s doing to her. If I was able to ask around or search for the location and free her, I would, but my mom would read it in my mind before I have the chance. She threatened to torture Lindsay. She…” She bites her lip. “She showed me in my mind how she was torturing Lindsay just to prove her point. Lindsay yelled so loud…no. I can’t do it.”

  Kale runs his hands down his face. His shoulders tremble. Stealth wipes the corner of her eye. “My mom used her to break down the League’s invisible walls.” Her gaze drops to the ground again.

  “It’s not your fault,” Kale says. “And you have our scientists, right?”

  She nods.

  We decided earlier not to reveal too much, since we’re not a hundred percent sure Kale can erase her memories of us. We can’t let Vlayne know her scientists are fake, or that we have the antidote. She’ll try to steal it from us and then release the instant-killing virus.

  Stealth squeezes X. Then she wraps her arm around Kale and me. “I was so worried something happened to you. I heard many of your League mates were captured.”

  “Yeah,” Kale says.

  “I’m sorry. If I would have—”

  “No,” X says. “There was nothing you could have done.”

  She lays her head on his shoulder.

  Quiet.

  “This virus,” Kale says. “We need to know what your mom’s up to. You’ve got no idea what we’re going through back home.”

  “Going through?”

  He tells her about the humans not accepting the antidote. Stealth presses her lips together.

  “Your mom’s controlling the humans not to take it,” Kale says. “You need to tell us where the Blades are hiding so we can capture your mom and force her to remove her control.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Please, Stealth.”

  “I…I know what my mom’s doing is wrong. I hate it and wish I could change her mind. But I can’t. And she’s my mom…I don’t want her to die.” She looks at X for a second, then at the ground. “My loyalty is to the ShadowBlades. That was the deal I made. I can’t tell you where our headquarters is. If I tell you and you guys attack, my mom will give the order to torture Lindsay, since she’s in a different location. No. I won’t do it.”

  “But, Stealth—” Kale starts.

  “I don’t want you to come after me, either. I don’t want you to save me.”

  “Ella…”

  She tears her gaze from the ground to X. “I don’t want you risking your life to free me. I made a deal to be a ShadowBlade and I need to keep it.”

  “Don’t do this,” X begs. “Please.”

  She gets up and walks to the edge of the cliff. Peering down, she crosses her arms over her chest. “If I leave the Blades, who knows what my mom will do? I won’t take any chances.”

  X opens her mouth, but she turns around. “Ray, this is hard enough. Don’t make it harder.”

  “Ella...”

  “Please.” The water down there starts to thrash against the bottom of the cliff. Winds blow at us, so strong they nearly knock me off my feet.

  X paces around, plowing his hands through his hair. When he returns to Stealth, he says, “Run away with me.”

  She stares at him.

  “I’ll protect you.”

  She sighs, shaking her head. “My mom will always be one step ahead.” She walks to him and rests her hand on his chest. “I made a choice.”

  He shuts his eyes tight. His hands fist at his sides.

  The water’s banging now, like it wants to destroy the world. The winds
are so fierce my body’s about to shoot into different directions. The sky gets dark. It’s so cloudy, like rain’s going to splash down.

  This must be happening because of Stealth’s emotions.

  She pulls X into her arms. “I can’t stand hurting you. Please, Ray. Accept my decision.”

  His face is buried in her hair. He shakes his head.

  I motion Kale that we should step aside again to give them some space. He agrees, and just as I’m about to follow him down the path, I’m hurled a few feet back and inching closer to the edge of the cliff.

  “Help!”

  The winds are vicious now. Pushing me like they seriously want to send me to my death.

  “Guys! Help!”

  I can’t turn around, so I’m not sure if the wind threw them away, too. My body feels like it’s in one piece, but I can’t be sure. The winds are making it hard to see anything. And to breathe.

  I’m thrown over the edge and clutch on to it for dear life. This is just like in those movies, except only the bad guys die. The heroes miraculously find the strength to pull themselves up. With this body that’s about to fail me and the winds pretty much paralyzing me, I’m dead.

  “Stretch!” Kale calls. It’s so hard to hear him through the howling winds. It sounds like a wicked witch shouting in my ear. “There’s a tree a few feet away. Wrap your arm around it!”

  I don’t know what he’s saying. What tree? But I do as he says and raise one hand off the cliff’s edge and lengthen it, tossing it toward where the guys are, or where I think they are. A few seconds later, someone grabs my arm and binds it around something that feels like a tree trunk.

  The winds are even stronger now that I’m dangling in the air. The only thing anchoring me is my arm.

  “Are you guys okay?” I yell.

  “We’re fine. Stay put until the storm ends.”

  My arm gets longer and I fly further away from the others. “It’s Stealth,” I tell them. “She needs to calm down.”

  “I’m trying.”

  It’s no use. The storm’s getting worse. I’m swaying like a kite caught in a hurricane. I don’t want to be here anymore. I’m going to die. What’ll happen to the guys? Will they be stuck here? Will Vlayne find them?

  I flail around, trying to avoid the winds that are going to tear my face apart. It feels like my body is fighting to be woken up from the dream. Oh, crap. “Kale!” I yell. “You need to erase Stealth’s memories now. I’m waking up!”

  “Are you serious? I can’t—”

  “You need to!”

  “On it.”

  My arm’s killing me. It’s like a rubber band that has no more elastic left. Eventually, it will break. That’s going to happen to me if I don’t wake up.

  “Kale? Did you do it?”

  No answer.

  “Kale? Kale?!”

  Oh, no. Are he and the others okay? I strain my neck, but all I see are thick clouds. The wind makes my eyes tear.

  My body’s pulled and pushed all over and I’m spinning and twirling in one spot. I’m seconds away from losing my arm, when I feel the bark disappear and I’m launched into the dark, stormy sky like a slingshot.

  After tumbling around for what feels like hours, I fall splat on the ground, face-first. Someone crashes on top of me, and another person on him.

  “Man.” Kale sits up, rubbing his head. “What’s with the landing?”

  Glancing around, I realize we’re back in our room.

  They’re alive. I’m so happy to see them I could, like, hug them. But that’d be too weird. I’d give them dude hugs, though. We’re all on the floor. We must have fallen off our beds. X’s got his arms folded as he leans against the wall.

  “Did you erase Stealth’s thoughts?” I ask Kale.

  “Yep.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, man. I double checked right before we were pulled out.”

  Phew. Good.

  He shakes his head like he can’t believe what happened. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m okay.” I look at X. “What about you? I’m sorry about, you know, Stealth and everything.”

  X doesn’t say anything, but by the expression on his face, I know he appreciates my concern. He won’t talk about it, though, and I’m not going to prod. “We have to go back,” he says.

  “Why?” I ask. “She won’t tell us the Blades’ headquarters. Unless you were able to read it in her mind, Kale?”

  “Nope. Just like with my dad, I was only able to access her thoughts on the dream. Nothing else.”

  That sucks.

  “She won’t tell us where the Blades’ headquarters is,” X says, “but maybe she can tell us about the virus.”

  “What do you mean?” Kale says.

  X’s eyes roam around like he’s trying to put his thoughts together. “Maybe she can tell us exactly how Vlayne’s controlling the normies. Maybe we can undo it. Maybe we don’t need to kidnap her in order to have the normies take the antidote. Stealth knows something. I saw it in her eyes right before the storm hit.”

  “I’m game,” Kale says. “Tomorrow. Same time?”

  X nods. “If that’s okay.”

  “Yep. What about you, Stretch?”

  “I’m in.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Opening my eyes the next morning, I see someone standing over me. I let out a small yelp and fall off the other end of the bed.

  “Sorry!” It’s Furball. Her hands reach for me and pull me up. “I hope it’s okay I came in here.”

  I look around. Kale and X aren’t here. Furball points to a plate filled with pancakes on the nearby table. “I brought you breakfast. Kale said you worked really hard last night. Something about figuring out a way to get the humans to take the cure? So I thought you’d be hungry…”

  I stare at her.

  “What?” she asks, her cheeks getting a little red.

  “Why are you being nice to me?”

  She tucks some red hair behind her ear. “Can I sit?”

  “S-sure!”

  She smiles shyly and lowers herself onto the edge of my bed. She folds her hands on her lap. I reach for the pancakes. “Thanks. I’m starving.” I stuff my face. “Any updates?”

  “Samson, Cindy, and some others left a few hours ago to figure things out.”

  I peek at the time. Almost lunchtime. Wow, I must have been really tired. I can’t wait until the guys and I go into Stealth’s dream tonight. Hopefully we’ll get some info from her.

  “Also, did you hear the news?” Furball asks.

  “No. What happened?”

  “Symptoms of the virus have returned. They’re running out of medicine to treat everyone. Villains are still attacking humans, but not as much since the government’s special agents are taking care of it.”

  Oh, damn. I wish I could speed up time so we can talk to Stealth again.

  I’m not hungry anymore and push my plate away.

  Furball says, “So what are you, Kale, and Ray doing to…I mean, how are you getting the humans to take the cure?”

  I almost forgot I need to tell her about entering her dreams. It’s not gonna be easy, but it’s only fair.

  “Furball, I need to tell you something. You’re probably gonna hate me, but you need to know this.”

  “Okay...”

  My shoulders slouch. “You know how you found this place because I told you about it in your dream? You said yourself it was weird, right?”

  “Right.” Her face twists in confusion.

  Man, this is harder than I thought. I take in a breath. “Well, the reason I told you that was because I actually came into your dream. I traveled.”

  Now she looks even more confused. “Huh?”

  My leg twitches on the floor. I place my hand on it, because I don’t want my body to go all over the place right now.

  “Stretch, what are you talking about?”

  “I…” I scratch my nose, trying to hold in a sneeze. Now’s not the ri
ght time to send her flying into oblivion. I can’t say it. Just can’t. I don’t want to lose her. But she deserves to know. She needs to.

  “You can tell me.”

  I know I can. I’ve got it in me to spit it out. That’s all I’ve gotta do, then deal with the consequences.

  Staring at the floor, I start, “I can go into dreams.” I slowly look at her. Her mouth’s so wide it nearly touches the floor.

  “Go into dreams? How?”

  “I guess I got a new power once I came back from the dead. When I think about the person before I fall asleep, I enter their dream. It happened with you and I’m pretty sure I’ve entered my parents’ dreams, but I can’t confirm that since they’re not here.”

  She falls back on the bed. “How’s that possible?”

  “I just go in and become part of it.”

  She doesn’t say anything.

  “I’m sorry. It’s not like I meant to do it. And I don’t want to do it again. The guys said we need to find a way for you to block me out.”

  She smiles a little. “I’m glad you told me. Thanks.” Her eyebrows furrow. “So how do I keep you out?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe once I tell Samson and Cindy, they’ll teach me how to control it. For now, I guess I’ll have to stop thinking about you before bed.” I trace my finger on the bed. “It’s not going to be easy. I think about you, like, all the time.”

  Her smile widens and her face gets red.

  “The next time I go into your dream,” I say. “I’ll try to get out. Or maybe you can wake up or something.”

  She slowly, hesitantly, reaches for my hand. I let her slide hers into mine. I stare at our interlocked fingers. “Don’t worry about it so much,” she says.

  “You’re not mad?”

  “No. It’s kind of weird and creepy, but you’re not doing it on purpose. I don’t want you in my dreams. I mean, I do, but not you, you know? But I don’t want you to beat yourself up over it.”

  “I’m really sorry.”

  “It’s fine. Promise,” she says.

  “Okay. You’re awesome.”

  She giggles, then quickly covers her face like it slipped out. She clears her throat. “So what does your entering dreams have to do with the humans?”