Find Me If You Dare (Dreamcatcher Book 2)

by Vicki Leigh

  We’re safe, she sent back within seconds. See you soon.

  With the girl clinging to me like a baby monkey, I followed the nurses into a room and sat her on the bed. Her arms still circled my neck as she whimpered.

  “Lena, these people are going to help you,” I said. “But I need you to let go of me.”

  “Don’t leave me,” she replied.

  I shook my head. “I won’t.”

  When her thin arms loosened around my neck, I lowered her to a lying position, brushing light blonde strands from her face. Lena looked up at me, her blue eyes wide, bright, and glossy. I took her little hand in mine when she reached out for me as the nurses prepped her for blood work and scans.

  “What’s your name?” one of the nurses asked her.

  “Lena,” she replied.

  “And who is he?”

  She studied me, hard. I gave her small hand a little squeeze, and she nodded, smiling. “My angel.”

  “Yo, Daniel.”

  Seth’s voice jarred me awake. On the hospital bed, Lena slept beneath two blankets, an IV in one arm and a cast over the other. Last I remembered, the nurses had brought her back from a scan, saying there was a small amount of internal bleeding but nothing they couldn’t fix. Otherwise, she’d had a broken arm and leg, and a concussion. She’d survive. But when I’d tried to leave again, Lena had cried, telling me she was scared and that she wanted me to wait with her until her mum came for her. I’d checked with Seth to learn that I’d been right: her mother was dead. I hadn’t the heart to tell her—or leave her. Sometime between when I’d lifted her in my arms to that moment, the eight-year-old girl had wormed her way into my heart.

  I’d turned the TV on low, listening to the news reports tell me the entire world had been the victim of simultaneous terror attacks and waiting for Lena to fall asleep. My plan had been to leave when she was out, so I’d have a chance of getting away without my chest tightening at the sight of her tearful eyes, but I’d fallen asleep myself.

  Now, I sat up straighter in my chair, my entire body stiff. The television was off. I winced when my muscles refused to move. With all the exercising and saving Bern’s citizens, I’d overworked my body.

  I blinked a few times, trying to clear the tiredness from my eyes. “What time is it?”

  “One a.m. Kayla’s freakin’ out. She’s been trying to reach you for an hour. Took everything I had to convince her to stay put in case you were in trouble.”

  The last I’d said to her was: “Don’t wait for me to rest. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” That was before I’d fallen asleep.

  I gripped the back of my neck and stretched, my head throbbing. “Sorry. I got sidetracked.”

  “I can see that. What are you still doin’ here?”

  “Lena didn’t want me to leave.”

  “And so you let yourself get sucked in by a little girl?”

  I turned my head as far as it would go and glared at him. “She was scared. I couldn’t leave her alone.”

  Seth nodded, his eyes narrowing. As my best friend, he knew more about me than Kayla or Samantha, which meant he also knew how to read me better than anyone else. So, when he sat next to me with an, “Uh-huh,” I knew he was going to drop some profound statement. I rolled my eyes and suppressed a groan.

  “First Kayla, now Lena,” he said. “Since when did you become attached so easily? You’re supposed to be able to separate work from afterlife, man.”

  “This wasn’t work, Seth. We saved people’s lives today from a warlock we can’t stop. This goes deeper than protecting a charge.”

  “And you’re positive this has nothing to do with Tabbi?”

  My nostrils flared, and again I glowered at him. “What?” My heart ricocheted in my chest. I didn’t want to think about Tabbi; I didn’t want to feel the pain. Damn him for bringing her up.

  “Dude, she was like your sister. This Lena kid might be a few years younger, but you sure you’re not seein’ Tabbi in her? The scared little girl you took under your wing your first week of Protector training?”

  “Seth, seriously, shove off. I’m not in the mood.”

  He raised his hands. “Fine. Whatever. You ready to go, at least?”

  I glanced at Lena. She was still sound asleep; the heart monitor beeped slow and steady. If I was going to get out of here, now was the time.

  “Yeah,” I replied, my body creaking when I stood. My heart twisted as my head drummed up an image of the cabin. Why was it so hard to leave Lena behind? Seth was right. I’d allowed myself to get too attached. Again.

  I missed Tabbi more than I thought.

  Closing my eyes to hide the tears that pooled, I evaporated.

  “Oh, thank God,” Kayla said before I even finished blinking. In a second, her arms wrapped around me. Her touch was intoxicating.

  Closing my eyes, I leaned into her, embracing her tight. Her body fit mine perfectly. Her dark hair smelled like dirt and soot, but I didn’t care. Things were rotten, and repressed emotions were resurfacing, but at least she was my constant, the sun around which I rotated, the reason I breathed. No matter how shitty things got, I would not stop fighting for one more day to hold her in my arms.

  I checked my breath and relaxed my hold, keeping eye contact with the wall above her head.

  Kayla gripped my arm with one hand and placed the other on my chest. “Are you okay?”

  Nodding once, I dropped my gaze to her face. Worry lines covered her forehead, and her brows were drawn together over an intense, watery gaze. I grazed my thumb along her jaw, but a reassuring smile wouldn’t come. Gently, I kissed her forehead, then pushed her away without answering. We’d worry about me later.

  “Have you all heard the news?” I asked those who were still awake.

  They nodded.

  “I guess what happened to Bern and Yangzhou happened everywhere. They say the US was hit the hardest,” Lian replied. “Planes falling from the sky, cities turning to rubble…”

  “That’s what I’ve heard, too,” I agreed. “Ships sailed into harbors, bridges collapsed, people killed their neighbors to save—or steal—whatever they could carry… Governments are heeding ‘Giovanni’s’ warning. There’s footage of soldiers from various countries coming together, prepared to strike the moment word leaks who’s officially behind the poison and the damage.”

  “That’s another thing,” Ivan said. “Giovanni’s dead, right?”

  I nodded. “I watched him die. These ‘videos’ aren’t him.”

  “A cloaking spell—that’s all it would take,” Nolan joined in. “All Richard would need is some of Giovanni’s blood, and then whoever wore it”—he touched his forehead—“would turn into him with a few simple words. The spell wouldn’t wear off until the blood was washed off.”

  “He still has Alex and Adelynn. It could be one of them,” Samantha said.

  “It could be anyone. Even Richard himself,” Vinny added.

  “Okay, so we know the videos aren’t really Giovanni,” Kayla said, “but shouldn’t we be worrying about this ‘War’ thing—the other ‘horseman?’ It has to be either Alex or Adelynn who gave the supernaturals control of the Nightmares, right? Do they even have that kind of power?”

  “Nah, I’d bet one of them’s being syphoned to increase Richard’s power,” Nolan replied. “Even His Evilness couldn’t control all the Nightmares by himself, just small groups of them at one time—hence why he recruited supernaturals. But he’d need more magic to bind Nightmares to his ‘lieutenants’ and keep those binds in place. Which means…”

  Nolan’s eyes brightened, then darkened. He sighed. “Which means if we don’t find Richard soon, he’s just going to keep binding Nightmares to supernaturals until there’s no human left on the planet.”

  I pinched the bridge of my nose. “So, we’re back to plan A. Kayla needs to do the locator spell and find Richard. Now.”

  he cabin was crowded with only one bedroom—a room that Ivan won in a game of Rock, Pap
er, Scissors with Vinny. So, Kayla and I opted to sleep outside, and Nolan agreed to take first watch. We set up a “perimeter,” marking with twigs where Kayla would throw up the walls of the warding spell to keep out the Nightmares. The air was a bit humid, though the temperature had to be in the mid-sixties, but we decided to build a fire anyway, for light and in case the air cooled. After I piled the wood, she used her magic to ignite it. Flames roared to life.

  “You’re getting stronger,” I said. Even after a long day like today, she didn’t appear weak at all.

  She sat beside me and touched the back of my arm. “Yeah, well, I ought to be. God knows I’ve been practicing my butt off.”

  I tried to chuckle, but my mind was elsewhere. What would happen if we didn’t stop Richard? Would I lose everything—lose Kayla? She was the only good thing to come out of my two hundred years as a Protector. For over a century, I’d regretted accepting the offer and turning down the chance to die peacefully and go to Heaven. If I hadn’t been so afraid to leave my family, I wouldn’t be involved in this war and stopping some messed up version of the Apocalypse. I wouldn’t have lost so many loved ones or been so lonely for so long.

  But I also wouldn’t have met Kayla.

  I closed my eyes, shutting down as Kayla traced my muscles through my shirt with her fingertips. A soothing chill ran through my body, and goose pimples rose on my skin. I focused on that, on how the happiness Kayla brought me trumped everything. Soon, this war would be over. I’d have seventy, eighty years or more with her, and the beautiful brunette beside me would warp the tragedies of my life.

  I hoped.

  “What happened tonight?” she asked. “You’ve been different since you came back. Quiet. And you’ve barely made eye contact with me. Seth said you wouldn’t talk to him, either.”

  I growled, leaning away from Kayla’s touch. “I’m fine. Just… thinking. Can we please go to sleep?” I asked, without meeting her eyes, then grabbed the pillow I’d snatched from the sofa. I lay back, holding an arm out so she could join me.

  “Yeah, okay.” Her head found its usual spot on my chest, and an arm draped over my stomach.

  For minutes, I stared at the clear, summer sky. Bright stars lit up the scene, scattered like someone had tossed glow-in-the-dark beads on a black backdrop. A soft breeze rustled the trees, cool enough so August’s mugginess didn’t bother me but warm enough that I didn’t shiver without a blanket. The smell from the fire wafted in the air, and out of the corner of my eye, light gray smoke slithered toward the sky.

  Amazing how beautiful the world could still be while evil burned it to the ground.

  Kayla sniffled, and her chest staggered against my side. I touched her cheek. It was wet.

  “Hey.” I rolled my body just enough that I could see her face. In the firelight, I couldn’t perceive much, but the flames glistened in her watery eyes. With a thumb, I wiped the tears from her cheeks. She didn’t meet my gaze. “Talk to me, love.”

  “I thought you wanted to sleep.” Her tone was hard.

  I sighed and scolded myself. Brilliant job, Daniel. I tucked dark hair behind her small ear. “I’m sorry I snapped at you. I’m exhausted. For the first time, I feel as old as I am.”

  I’d expected that to get a smile, but her face stayed cold. A tear rolled down her cheek. I caught it. “Kayla, forgive me, please. You know I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  Another droplet fell. I blinked slowly, a boulder dropping in my stomach. After everything we’d been through since fleeing China, this was not how I wanted today to end. I pinched the bridge of my nose.

  “I know,” she whispered at last. “It isn’t you. Not really.”

  I dropped my hand from my face to find her looking at me.

  “I’ve tried to be strong, for them—for you,” she continued. “I’ve tried to be brave… But every time something happens, you close up and shut me out, and I try not to cry. I try to pretend it doesn’t hurt. But I’m scared, and no one else seems to be. And then I wonder what’s wrong with me, why can’t I be more like you or Sam or Lian—”

  My eyebrows furrowed. “Oh, Kayla, you don’t want to be like me.” I cupped her cheek. “I love your warmth and your compassion. I love your emotions, your ability to fight in the midst of your tears. These things about you… they don’t make you weak. They make you stronger than the rest of us. I don’t know about Lian, but Sam and I… we’re broken, Kayla. We stuff down the pain until we explode and hurt those we care about. I’m just as terrified as you, believe me.”

  “Then show me. Please,” she said. “Prove to me I’m not alone.” Her voice shook, and her hand pressed against my chest.

  I kissed her softly. “Baby, you’ve never been alone.”

  For a few seconds I paused, mustering the courage to open up a little, to tell her things about myself I’d never told another, not even Seth or Adrian. If I could face hundreds of Nightmares, I should be able to handle vulnerability.

  “I was afraid to leave Lena,” I admitted, my heart racing. “At first, simply because she asked me to stay, and I didn’t want her to be frightened after losing her mum. After so much death and not being able to stop Richard, we’d finally saved people. But then, it morphed into more. She reminded me of Tabbi, yes, but it went beyond that. The way she looked at me, like she trusted me, no matter what, to protect her… I felt, I don’t know, responsible for her.”

  I scratched my forehead, and Kayla stroked a thumb down my chest. No longer did she cry, but her eyes glistened, and they were so full of compassion and love. My fear of opening up to her vanished.

  “In the first few years after I died and became a Protector, I watched my siblings get married, have families, and share memories into their seventies. This forever-seventeen thing is a curse, and… God, I really do feel old sometimes. I missed out on so much, and I think—” I froze. It hit me, in that moment, what I was truly feeling.

  The day my brother James had had a son, he’d named him “Daniel,” in memory of me, and I’d felt it then—that longing to be a father, to have a child look at me the way my nephew had looked at my brother. That was the look I’d seen in Lena’s eyes, the gaze that had captured my heart. I’d stopped checking on little Daniel after he’d had a son of his own. It was too difficult to witness such joy and never be able to experience it. Until now, I’d stuffed that pain, that discomfort, away.

  My stomach twisted. Seth was right. I’d gotten attached again, but for an entirely different reason this time.

  The sad look in Kayla’s eyes told me she knew exactly where my thoughts had turned. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I guess when you’ve lived as long as you have, it’d be hard not to think about that kind of thing.”

  I nodded and cleared my throat. “With all that’s happened… I guess it opened old wounds and crashed down on me all at once. I didn’t mean to ignore you or make you feel unworthy of opening up to.”

  Her gaze lingered on mine, reading deep into my soul. But while I’d never tasted more vulnerability in my life, I had also never been so relaxed. It was freeing to let someone in and wear my emotions on my sleeve, knowing they wouldn’t see me as weak. I’d been so wrapped up in keeping her safe that I hadn’t stopped to question what it would be like to lean on each other and fight side by side.

  Best feeling in the universe.

  Kayla ran her fingertips along the stubble on my jaw. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d shaved. “Maybe we can check on Lena tomorrow?” she asked.

  I grinned. “That sounds perfect.”

  Her mouth rose in a soft smile, and she slipped her hand behind my neck. I leaned forward and met her kiss, drawing her close in my arms. We snogged until our lips were raw then fell asleep, our bodies twined together beneath the bright stars.

  It was first the chill that stirred me, not enough to snap me from my drowsy haze but enough to realize that Kayla was no longer by my side. I mumbled her name, patting the ground next to me. Empty. I opened my eyes just a cra
ck to find the fire low and the sun barely peeking above the horizon. Where would she have gone?

  A familiar, blood-curling scream traveled on the breeze.

  Kayla.

  I pushed myself off the ground, eyes wide open, and toppled to a knee, my right leg asleep. Damn it.

  Kayla screamed again from somewhere in the distance, louder this time, and adrenaline pumped through me like I’d shot myself full of amphetamines. Kayla was outside the warding spell. A Nightmare could have her right now.

  I sprinted around the side of the cabin and a short distance up the mountain, shooting my stare right and left. Kayla, where are you? I called out to her.

  Another shriek tore through my chest, and I followed the sound.

  Behind a large tree, Kayla thrashed in Nolan’s arms. Not good.

  “What happened?” I shouted, crossing the distance in a few quick strides and crouching next to her. Every muscle was tense in her body, and blood trickled from the palm of her right hand. My heart twisted. She hadn’t been poisoned, and no Nightmares were in sight. How the hell was this possible?

  “I don’t know. I was pissing when she wandered out here in a daze.” Nolan’s voice shook. “When I caught up to her, she started screaming. I can’t wake her.”

  “Kayla.” I took her face in my hands. “Kayla, wake up.”

  Again, she screamed, thrashing in Nolan’s arms.

  Sweat formed on my brow. “Follow my voice, love. You’re having a nightmare. Baby, wake up.”

  Kayla’s nails dug into my forearms, and her eyes popped open. Her irises spun, the color of liquid gold, but there was no pupil. I stumbled, falling to my knees. The urge to run away was like a siren song.

  “You have until sunset tomorrow to bring her to me,” Kayla’s voice said, deep and lyrical, a hint of a Welsh accent lacing every word.

  Richard.

  My chest burned as an animalistic growl grew in my throat. He’d possessed his own daughter? “Never happening.”

  Kayla leered, her face as dark and mischievous as the version from my nightmare. “I can feel her trying to push me out. She’s fighting so hard, screaming for you to give me whatever I want. Such a good little girl.”