by Sarah Noffke
“Where does it go?” Dahlia yells over the shredding sounds the storm is making.
“I don’t know,” I say back. “But it’s our only chance.”
“And I can go through there with you?” she says.
“I don’t know,” I say again.
Her hand is wet and warm when she slips it into mine. “Let’s go,” Dahlia says and pulls me through the passage.
Chapter Thirty-One
I stumble through the portal. Fall. Land on a hard surface. I’m coughing when I tumble through the door. Rain seems to be caught in my throat and the bright light overhead is a stark contrast to the gloomy house we just left. But I open my eyes and endure the strain to find the best sight of my life in front of me. Lying on my chest, tangled in my arms, is the love of my life. Dahlia and I lie curled up on a ground which is covered in moss and stone. She lifts her head and I recognize at once that she’s not glowing like she did in soul form. Neither am I. Dahlia and I are both lighter in appearance, the form one takes when dream traveling.
“We’re in the dreamscape,” she says, pushing up off me and to her feet. I do the same.
“The key to that statement is ‘we,’” I say, wrapping my arm around her shoulder and pulling her into me.
She’s taking in our surroundings, which I notice at once aren’t typical. We are in a walled-in garden which is rich with roses and fruit trees. Medicinal herbs line one wall and a fountain punctuates the center of the space, which isn’t small, but the walls make it feel quaint. However, there’s something not quite right about this place and my mind doesn’t at first find what it is.
“The bird,” Dahlia says, pointing at a sparrow perched on the edge of the fountain. It’s frozen and sits staring blankly ahead. I walk over and realize the coy fish in the pond are frozen too, floating in the water in mid-swim.
“It’s like this world has been paused,” I say, finding a few other animals that are unmoving. Rabbits, bugs, birds.
“So this isn’t the dreamscape?” Dahlia says.
“It is, because we’ve taken on dream travel form, but this isn’t our dreamscape. I think it’s a parallel universe,” I say, taking Dahlia’s hands and leading her through the space. “Maybe it’s a copy of our world. A backup of sorts.”
“I didn’t know that was possible,” she says.
“I didn’t know half of what’s happened recently was possible,” I say, gauging the details of our surroundings. But then Dahlia stops beside me and tugs on my hand.
I tear my focus off this strange world and regard her. Dahlia’s eyes beg for my attention. “Ren, you did it. Somehow you did it.”
I half smile at her, a mock look of offense on my face. “How could you ever have doubted me?” I say.
“It astounds me that after all this time, you continue to stun me. You are absolutely the most amazing man ever,” she says and rises up on her tiptoes and kisses me softly on the cheek. It doesn’t feel like it would in the physical realm or the Land of the Souls, but I feel it still and the fact that forever I have my Dahlia is enough. I did do it, and still the full realization of the future spreading before us hasn’t hit me yet. I have kind of been through a pretty major ordeal though.
Dahlia steps back, her hands still in mine. “You wanted to never lose me and now you have me for eternity or however long we’re granted in this place,” she says, waving at the space around us.
I push her dark brown hair away from her face, my fingers pausing on her jawline. “You’re going to grow extremely tired of me.”
“Ren Lewis, you’re the only person I have never tired of.” Then she takes my hand and leads me to an archway that’s bathed in vines and roses. Sitting on a twig is a ladybug. I reach out and pick up the insect, which is alive, but not alive. It’s like we are, in the in-between.
“What a strange place,” I say, musing on the stillness of the bug.
“What a beautiful place,” Dahlia says and she reaches out and touches the wings of a butterfly perched on the petal of a rose. And then there’s a flicker. An awakening. The wings of the monarch beat, pushing air away. The butterfly’s antennas twitch and then the creature that was frozen takes flight, flitting through the air and away. Dahlia steps back into me.
“Just like in the vision,” she says in a hush.
“Vision?” I say.
She turns and gives me a guilty smile. “Before I died I had a vision that I could touch things and bring them to life. I fantasized then that it was one of my Dream Traveler gifts, but then I died and…”
Her words trail away.
“I think it’s definitely your skill, because I can’t bring anything in this world to life,” I say, taking the ladybug still in my hand and placing it in Dahlia’s. It has barely touched her palm when its wings buzz and then the insect flies away through the garden.
A smile full of her amazement lights up Dahlia’s face.
“It appears you can bring this world to life, if you so desire it,” I say, regarding her with the same amazement she had shown me moments before.
“It would appear,” she says, her eyes dancing over the garden at our backs, the possibilities probably springing to her mind.
“And that means we could make this world as we want it,” I say.
“Giving life to that which is good,” she says, completing the thought in my mind.
I extend an arm to her. “Shall we go and discover what’s out there?”
She wraps her arm around mine with an excited nod.
When we come to the entrance to the garden, I realize what we couldn’t see with the trees and walls of the garden blocking the sky. And I realize how amazing this world really is. The poetry of it creates a tender ache in my chest. Below us stretches green rolling hills flecked with houses and bordered by waters of a lake. Above us the green and blue lights of the Aurora Borealis grace the sky. My thoughts from before circle back around in my brain. The first time Dahlia and I dream traveled we gazed at these lights. And then I had thought that the Aurora Borealis was proof that other worlds exist. My instinct told me they were the bleeding over of these other worlds. And to look back and see how perfect the symmetry of this all is steals my breath. It makes me realize how incredibly complex and beautiful this world with all its realms and dimensions truly is.
I turn to Dahlia. She’s wearing an expression that perfectly explains how I feel inside. Grabbing both her hands, I pull her to me. Her fingers break from mine and she slides them around my neck.
“I love you, Ren Lewis.”
I almost laugh against her mouth as she kisses me. “I love you” doesn’t feel quite like the right thing for me to say in this moment. It doesn’t seem like enough.
I separate from her, but only an inch. “I love you, Dahlia. And I never knew what love was until we met and I lost my soul to you.”
Epilogue
When I was born, the doctors said I wouldn’t live the night through. I was born with a broken heart. And for most of my years on earth I have been certain that God shouldn’t have allowed a healer to save me. I thought I was too powerful. Too wicked. Too cursed. And God and I have battled for all of my life, sometimes finding peace and other times him checkmating me. However, I understand now the reasons he saved me. As a man who has worked to find holistic solutions to the world’s problems for the majority of my years, I understand God better than most. And now I realize why he gave me so much power. I thought he was tempting me. But that was never the case. And from my newly appointed position, I understand so much more. God wasn’t trying to scar me. He wasn’t playing a game with me. This entire time I didn’t realize that God was training me. Preparing me. Ensuring that one day I was ready when I accepted my final role.
Some don’t want to live forever in a world they view as evil. And some want to live forever in a world they know they cannot fix, but they are afraid of what comes next. However, only two will ever live forever in a world of their choosing.
I’m Ren Lewis. And I
am a God who has created my own world.
The End
Want to find out what happens to Adelaide when she takes over the werewolf case? Get Alpha Wolf to start a werewolf adventure unlike any other.
Get it HERE!
Acknowledgements
Writing this series took just over fourteen months total. However, I have a lifetime of people to thank. The first thank you goes to Kelly for encouraging me to write Ren’s books and loving them even though they weren’t always pleasant. Every writer needs a Kelly in her corner, pushing her to do her best to entertain the readers. You, like me, are a nerd girl and one of my favorites.
Thank you to my notch squad who makes so much of my current production possible. Steph and Jess, I can’t do what I do without you. Seriously. You two astound me with what you do for me on a daily basis. Mentally and otherwise.
And a huge thank you to first chair, Colleen, for making me sane. That’s like the biggest and hardest job ever, but you do it. I can message you and it’s like I get a Zen moment. And thanks for the early feedback and cover help. Like seriously, are you a figment of my imagination? Too good to be true at this point.
Thank you to Christine LePorte, my editor. Haha! I made you tear up! Mission. A. Complished. Thanks for making me a better writer.
Thank you to Andrei Bat. Well, we did it again. I cranked out another story and you put up with me. Thank you for making my visions come true. I know I’m a pain in your ass. Join the club.
Thank you to the readers. You all matter more than anyone else, however, I need everyone to make this happen. Still, I don’t discount a single message, comment or post. I read everything and I appreciate it more than you know. I wasn’t supposed to be writing novels. I’m supposed to be in a dead end job that sucks out my soul, but you all are making my dreams come true, over and over again.
Thanks to the beta team: Kelly, Melinda, Heidi, Colleen, Steph, Jess and Anne. Wow! How did a gal get so lucky to score you all as beta readers? If my books are any good it’s because of your help and support.
Thank you to BOD and all the bloggers and awesome reviewers who make my books successful. I love all of you and count your support as akin to gold.
Thank you to BBC programming. If it wasn’t for you then I would have grown up watching mostly the Movie of the Week. However, you offered me something I could relate to. Something that spoke to me. I love the British!
Thank you to my friends. Heidi, your support is always my saving grace. Thank you to my sister for believing in me and keeping me alive in those early years. Thank you to Linda, Fay, Nicole, Cheryl, Stacey, Erin and to the huge community who has continued to encourage my writing.
Thank you to my Facebook community. OMG! Kris, Wendy, Tommi, Ashley, Molly, Shari, Anna, Melissa, Claudia, Michelle, Michelle, Patricia, Debra, Shelah, Danielle, Mary, Casey, Bec, Amanda, April, Beverly, Brandi and so many others. I cannot tell you how much your support means to me. Well, I hope I kind of just did.
Thank you to my family Randy, Edie, Luke, Dad, Kathy, Bea, Anne, Marijo, Laura and many of the others who keep pushing me further and cheering me one.
Thank you to all the musical artist who really inspired my heart and kept in grounded in Ren’s cold, dark soul. I couldn’t write without music.
Thank you to Carole, my mentor, for constantly supporting me. Your advice is so valuable to me.
Thank you to Glamour UK for taking a chance on Ren. To Locus magazine for showing your superbly awesome interests in the books. And thank you to Jeff for the inspiration.
And my final thank you always and forever goes to my daughter, Lydia. You are my muse. The reason I started writing. The reason I’ll never quit. One day you’ll read these books and wonder why my vocabulary and vulgarity was so pitiful. However, I hope you see the genius that is Ren Lewis. If you do, then you’ll see me.
Love,
Sarah
About the Author
Sarah is the author of the Lucidites, Reverians, Vagabond Circus, Ren and Olento Research, Soul Stone Mage and Ghost Squadron series. She’s been everything from a corporate manager to a hippie. Her taste for adventure has taken her all over the world. If you can’t find her at the gym, then she’s probably at the frozen yogurt shop. If you can’t find her there then she probably doesn’t want to be found. She is a self-proclaimed hermit, with spontaneous urges to socialize during full moons and when Mercury is in retrograde. Sarah lives in Southern California with her family. To learn more about Sarah please visit: http://www.sarahnoffke.com
Join the mailing list here for freebies, updates and more! http://www.sarahnoffke.com/connect/
Check out other work by this author here.
Reading Guide
Sarah crafted the Dream Traveler universe and has 5 series that take place there. Characters from different series bounce between the books. The reading guide below offers a suggested order for the Dream Traveler world, since there is crossover of characters between series. This should help to decrease spoilers and stay on the timeline. Other series are also listed by genre.
To find out more please go here http://www.sarahnoffke.com/reading-guide/ or email Sarah at [email protected]
Join the mailing list here for freebies, updates and more! http://www.sarahnoffke.com/connect/
Get your free book here
Click here to get started:
http://www.sarahnoffke.com/free-book/
For more books by this author or to learn more about
Sarah Noffke, please visit:
http://www.sarahnoffke.com
Table of Contents
Reading Guide
Get your free book here
REN: THE MAN BEHIND THE MONSTER
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Epilogue
Acknowledgements:
REN: GOD’S LITTLE MONSTER
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Epilogue
Acknowledgements:
REN: THE MONSTER INSIDE THE MONSTER
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty- Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Epilogue
Author’s Note
Acknowledgements
REN: THE MONSTER’S ADVENTURE
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Epilogue
Acknowledgements