by Jenn Nixon
Caelum shook his head and staggered to his feet. His eyesight cleared in time to see the pissed off blonde standing in the doorway, her palm facing him with her glowing blue barrier in place. “Dina, stop.”
She tilted her head.
His jaw dropped. “How—”
“You taught me,” she said. Then a hint of surprise filled her emerald eyes. “Are…you a ghost? Shut up.”
“Ghost? No, Dina…I’m here to help you,” he said as calmly as he knew how while trying to see into her thoughts. “Something happened at the Pine Barrens.”
“But you’re dead.”
Caelum’s eyes reverted to his natural Enhancer state, showing him much more than most beings could comprehend. He saw nothing but her arms crossed over her chest. Normally he acquired radiant energy, internal organs status, neural activity and so much more. He shook his head, perplexed. “No, I’m not.”
“I was…saw it,” she mumbled, shaking her head. “Shut up.”
“Who are you talking to?”
“Please leave, I need to sleep. I need to dream. I’m almost there.” Dina lowered her hand and backpedaled into the panic room. “It has to be quiet.”
Caelum pushed off the command chair and approached the doorway again, ready to deflect an attack this time. “I’m here to take you home.”
She threw her head back and laughed.
“Dina,” he said, stepping closer.
“Back the fuck off, ghost,” she snapped, lifting her hand to his chest.
“I’m not a ghost. Listen to me, Dina Ranger,” he bellowed, using every bit of persuasion he had, growing more aggravated by the second. “Your family is—”
“Dead. Dead. All dead!” She started gasping for breath, doubled over and palming the console in the middle of the room. Dina shut her eyes, struggled for every wheeze in and out of her lungs. “Need to dream. Need to sleep.”
“I don’t know how in the universe you’re blocking me, Dina, but you must listen,” Caelum barked, slamming a fist onto the console. She blinked a few times before meeting his gaze. “Something happened to you, to your mind. I only need you to let me look inside to help you.”
“Every time I needed you…Shut up!” The scowl on her face faded and panic filled her eyes. “The dreams are real, but incomplete. I need to sleep. I need to dream.”
“You can sleep as long as you want, just come with me back to the base.”
“There is no base, there is no home. It needs to be quiet.”
“I’ll show you how to make it quiet and block them all, Dina.”
“You already did, how do you think I’m blocking you? Shut up!”
Caelum was running out of non-physical options. A quick thought sent an extra bit of energy to his fingers. He rubbed the tips together, building the force. “Your father, brother, and fiancé are waiting for you, Dina.”
“It’s not my fault you all died! Why are you haunting me?” she screamed, terrified.
“I’m trying to help,” Caelum huffed, curling the small ball of energy in his palm. “Please, Dina, come home with me.”
“This is my home. Leave. Now.” She blinked then stared at him, not afraid all of the sudden.
He opened his hand. Dina’s shield sparked and pulsed. His attempted kinetic assault bounced off the Shrian-Human hybrid and struck him in the chest.
“Leave!” she screamed as the blueness of her shield brightened. Her eyes began to glow. She grabbed her head. “Shut up!”
Caelum flashed to her side and grabbed her hand. The barrier shocked him so hard he lost his grip. Dina glared up at him, lifted both hands, and sent him sailing through the ship, colliding into the wall on the far side of the command center. The blue shield protecting her appeared around the doorway, making it impossible for Caelum to bring her home, let alone help her.
“Shut up!” Dina screeched.
He shook off the pain of her assault, getting to his feet slowly, his eyes never wavering from the doorway. Caelum felt the lump in his stomach turn to uranium when Dina began pacing the small space inside the panic room, arguing with herself again. Without access to her mind or her cooperation in returning home, Caelum was powerless. All his strength and wisdom meant nothing if he couldn’t help her.
Dina whimpered softly, disappearing from view. When he heard her sobbing, his heart constricted.
He refused to give up. This woman had helped protect Earth, kept Elexanji safe, tried to save his friends, and saved Theo, twice. He owed her so much more than a life. He may not belong with these people or on this world, but he promised to keep watch over this team.
Caelum walked up to the blue barrier in the doorway, watching her rocking gently in the corner of the panic room, and went back into his own memories, recent ones, looking for something to indicate when the trouble began. He needed to find a way to connect with Dina. Bring her focus back from wherever it was, and help her realize what happened. And he needed to do it soon.
Chapter Three
Aime’s annoying wake-up ringtone on the Satphone rang through the air. Dina rolled onto her side and reached over without opening her eyes, feeling for the phone.
You can’t hit snooze, Dina. Too much work to do, a deep voice penetrated her mind.
I know, she replied, opening her eyes to see a single green rose lying next to her phone on the crate beside the mattress. Her heart dropped. She shot upright, gasping. “No.”
“What’s wrong?”
Every inch of her flesh prickled. She couldn’t breathe. Dina teleported to the lavatory without answering. As she heaved and coughed over the tiny metal sink, the floor began vibrating with footsteps.
“Hey.” The moment his hand touched her shoulder, Jazara’s vision flashed in her mind. His concern filled the air as she wheezed and gagged. “Dina?”
“What?” she called out as she shot up from the sleeping bag, frantically glancing around the room. Dina blinked, realized she was in the panic room of Rivia’s ship, and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. The images from the dream were still inside her head. A small smile curled up her mouth as she grabbed her Netphone and furiously typed out everything she saw. This was the first new piece to the puzzle. You already know. “Shut up!”
Someone sighed.
She glanced up to see the blue shield filling the space where the door had been and thought something move beyond it. Then she remembered. “The ghost.”
“I am not a ghost, Dina,” Caelum, the super gorgeous Sarpian Enhancer walked up to her shield and his blue eyes peered into the room. “I’d let you into my mind, but it would overwhelm you.”
Dina tried reconciling his appearance with her memories. They didn’t correlate. She’d seen him die. She’d seen them all die. “Prove it.”
Caelum’s eyes flashed silver and the entire ship began to shake. “Does that help?”
“Could just be an earthquake.”
He laughed, shook his head, and paced the room. “In all my many, many, years, I’m certain no one has ever aggravated me as much as you are presently. What can I do for you, Dina, to prove I am here? To help you.”
The sting of tears threatened her eyes. “Can you bring them all back?”
“Who?”
“Everyone,” she choked. It’s all your fault.
“Dina, I promise you, your friends and family are safe and waiting anxiously for you at the base. Whatever you think happened is only in your mind. It fractured when you were in the Pine Barrens. I can help you.”
“In my mind?” she asked, rubbing her temple. He’s lying.
“Yes.”
“I don’t believe you, where’s Theo? Where’s Lexa? Did they make it or are they dead too?”
“They’re at the base with everyone else, Dina. Listen. To. Me.” His voice got deeper, vibrating through the shield and into the room. She wanted desperately to believe him, but her memories they were real, every second. “Come back to New York, that will be all the proof you need.”
“But I n
eed to remember the dreams, I need it quiet.”
“Once you see the truth, maybe you’ll let me help, then it can all be quiet, Dina. Have you ever known me to lie?”
“Lie? No, disappear and take your sweet ass time when you promise to come back to help, yes.”
“I have my reasons for keeping a distance from you and the team, and I’m willing to explain that as well, back at the base.”
Dina stared into his silver eyes long and hard. With her blocks and the barrier up, she didn’t know if he was lying or not, but she had always trusted him. She pulled the shield from the door and slipped it over her skin, feeling too vulnerable without it in present company. The corner of his mouth rose up as she walked out of the panic room.
“You’re making the right choice, Dina. I will meet you in the lobby.”
She nodded. He vanished in a silver blip. Dina stared into the room, feeling her heart sink, unsure she was ready to see the state of the penthouse, but willing, once more, to go back and see what was really true once and for all.
When she reappeared in the pristine, ornate lobby, her jaw dropped. Dina crinkled her brow as the front door clicked and Caelum pulled it open. He motioned her in. She walked in and froze. Shaking her head, she stepped backward, throwing her hands over her mouth.
“No, no…this is wrong. What the fuck…are you showing me?” she spat as her head spun and pulse race. Then she heard his voice.
“Dina?”
She glanced through the apartment and saw his bright eyes and dark features come into focus. Dina teleported into the living room. Her eyes widened. He smiled as he stepped out of the kitchen. Tears spilled down her cheeks. “Theo?”
“Welcome back,” he said, approaching.
Shaking her head, Dina stepped back. “No…you’re…how are you so young?”
Theo froze in place, his brow creased. “Young, what?”
“Do you think this is a game?” She screeched as she spun around, aiming her hand at the Enhancer’s chest. “Like some Ebenezer Scrooge shit? What the fuck?”
“I assure you, Dina, what you see is truth. Your mind is—”
“Is what?”
“Broken,” Caelum answered, frowning.
“Fuck you,” she yelled and returned to the panic room with a thought. She sent the shield to the door, knowing he’d return. I told you not to believe him. “Shut up, shut up!”
Her scream vibrated the walls. She blasted her energy at the door to the lavatory, leaving a fat dent. As she slid to the floor, Dina pulled her knees to her chest, feeling the air leave her lungs again. The hyperventilating turned into hiccupping, which soon became sobs.
“Dina?”
She glanced up and sobbed harder. “Why are you doing this to me?”
Theo palmed either side of the doorway and pressed his face as close to the barrier as possible. “Everything Caelum said is true, something happened to us in New Jersey. You and Liam took the brunt, there was this weird shield—”
“I know!” She stood up, wiping her cheeks. “It was the only way, I told you. I knew you’d try to stop me…shoving your hand in the shield like that, what were you thinking?”
“No, Dina.” Younger Theo blinked at her making her feel like she had two heads. “The last thing you told me, when you left the base, was to tell your father that you’d check in when you were settled and that you were sorry.”
His words were so familiar. She tilted her head, studying his face. Dina moved closer to the shield.
“How old are you, Theo?”
“By Aime’s calculations one forty five,” he said, studying her now. “How old am I supposed to be, Dina?”
Her mouth ticked up. She shook her head. “I knew this was a ploy. You can’t get into my head. No one can. Not anymore. I’m not answering you. You need to leave and I need to sleep.” The hot ex-general ran both hands down his face. He wasn’t frowning but his eyes said all she needed to know. “I’ve seen that look a thousand times. There’s nothing to fix, Theobrax—”
“How do you know that name?” he roared, slamming both hands against the doorframe, rocking the entire ship in place.
“You told me,” she barked, feeling that sensational tingle ride up her spine. “You don’t scare me, General.”
“Don’t test me, Shrian. Who told you?”
“You fucking did, Theo, stop playing games.” She narrowed her gaze and tilted her head. “What, ghosts don’t have memories?”
“I’m not dead!” He bashed his fist into her shield. When it cracked, Dina gasped and recalled it to her body, feeling it sputter and shake as she teleported to the back wall. She directed more energy to the barrier, making it glow. Theo rushed into the panic room just as she aimed her hand to his chest. “Who’s in your mind, Dina? Who told you my name?”
“Stop haunting me!”
He punched the wall beside her head, the sleeve of his shirt brushing against the shield creating a vibration through the barrier. His dark, pain-filled eyes stared down into hers and turned glassy.
Dina lowered her barrier, lifted her hand, and lightly touched the fabric of his polo collar. You’re real?
Pain turned to confusion as he pulled his fist from the wall. Yes, Dina.
I don’t understand…you look so young, how?
When did I tell you my name?
Dina reached up and touched his chin. The second time I kissed you. I bribed you. Why don’t you remember?
Theo clenched his fist and stepped back. No, Dina, the question is what are you seeing in your head? Something is wrong. Please come back to the base, let Caelum help you like he helped Liam—
“Get out!” She lifted her hands, filling them with energy, bringing her shield back bright and strong as rage chilled her veins. “How dare you say that to me? Let Caelum help. Ha! He’s dead, Liam’s dead, Theo knows this! You’re not Theo.”
“Shit,” he grunted, rubbing a hand over his head. “I’m sorry, Dina. He thought I could get through to you—”
“Perhaps I can,” a voice called from the command center, sending a shiver raging up her spine. Her whole body shook as his face emerged from the darkness. His snowy hair moved as he walked and his breathtaking gray eyes shifted around the room. Dina’s heart stopped. He moved next to Younger Theo, patted him on the shoulder. None of this made sense. He couldn’t be real. The man she loved more than life itself stood before her. The man she sacrificed everything for tilted his head, lifted a cocky smile to his mouth, and shoved a hand into his skinny jeans. “Hello, Dina.”
“Liam?” Her head swam. She lowered her barrier and all her blocks. His calm serene energy slammed into her. It had been so long since she sensed him that she could almost die happy now. “Why are you doing this? Are you punishing me because I let you die?”
“No, gorgeous, I’m very much alive,” he replied, offering her his hand.
“How?”
“Does it matter? You can sense me, I see it in your eyes.”
Despite the quakes riding up her arm, she extended her hand. When their fingers touched, her eyes rolled back and she dropped.
Chapter Four
One grainy video. Sanjeeta knew it was possibly a hoax, but her hacker ‘friend’ from the deepnet group promised Marjorie sent it to another friend through a messenger app on her phone. A boy of about twenty was holding a piece of paper behind his back with a word written on it. Marjorie called out the word. He wrote another. She repeated the word. This went on for two minutes as the crowd at the party got louder. The ending killed Sanjeeta. Someone shouted freak before it cut out.
Each of the dozen times she watched the video, that damn word made her wince. She hated it. Felt it rattle through her bones. The lamp beside her couch tipped. Sanjeeta jerked her hand to stop it from falling, and then directed it slowly with a finger until it settled into place.
As she logged onto the deepnet to thank her friend, Sanjeeta stifled a yawn and glanced over to Holly sleeping on the couch. She didn’t want t
o admit it, but it was nice having a semi-friend to pal around with, even with Holly’s mind constantly falling into the gutter. The new start she carved out for herself after the Desai family blow-up freshman year had almost bit her in the ass recently. If the Good Samaritan hadn’t given her that money, she’d be homeless now or worse, in jail.
Sanjeeta scrolled through the message board, looking for any responses to her previous post or anything new or worrisome. Her eyes went to the white card with his number on it. Harvey had been her good luck charm. Two days after meeting him, she’d gotten promoted to Assistant Manager at the pet shop, found out the government lowered the interest rate on student loans, and sort of made online friends who’d been going through the same weird shit she had the last fifteen years or so.
Again, she worried Marjorie Allen was dealing with the same issues. Had she run away? Were the possible missing psychics from the deepnet group connected or just a coincidence? Aware she was not a detective, Sanjeeta glanced over to check on Holly, then the time, worried it would be another sleepless night. The one habit from college she had hoped to break when she found a job only got worse. She was lucky if she slept four hours a night. Eventually it was going to catch up with her and she’d sleep for a year.
Her tablet beeped. Sanjeeta scrolled up to the top, reading the head of the newest post. Anyone hear from Grump333y? She clicked the post and frowned at the rest of the message. Grumpy and the poster HatGrrl44 were supposed to meet for lunch.
Sanjeeta checked to see if his handle was still in the members list, then his last login time from this morning. Four people in two weeks. She shivered. Didn’t feel like a coincidence. Tapping the screen, she shut down the tablet, picked up her phone and typed in Harvey’s number and a message.
Can you meet me at Howlligans and Ruffians Pet Shop tomorrow? I’m there 8-6 –Sandee She hit send, then cursed, and typed in her full name and sent that next, remembering that’s the one he used, not the nickname from college.
