by Berinn Rae
“Are you sure everything’s okay, Cali?” asked Felix.
“I’m fine. Please, I just need to figure things out right now. The drive will do me good.” Not necessarily a lie.
“I’ll get you the directions and tell Niella you’re coming to get her.” Sydney ran back into the house.
Felix continued to study her. She avoided his eyes. He had an uncanny ability to read her better than anyone, and she didn’t want to give anything away.
“How are you feeling?” Joel’s question caught her off guard.
“What?”
He pointed to her arms and bandages. “You don’t look too bad. Felix made it seem like you were seriously injured. Guess Collette doesn’t know how to construct a very good bomb. You’re lucky. Are you feeling better?”
Cali looked down at her arms and noticed they were nearly healed. Completely.
What the … ?
“I feel … great actually.”
Felix looked just as puzzled as she felt. “How’d you heal that fast? These were all open cuts earlier.”
“She’s Wolverine, man.” Joel was truly impressed.
Felix shot him a look and took one of her arms to remove the bandage. Underneath was nothing but slightly tender, smooth, pink skin. He went to the bandage on her face.
Cali held her breath. “Well?”
Felix took a step back. “The same thing. You’re … healed.”
Sydney came over waving a piece of paper. “Got your directions right here. Want me to come with?”
Cali pocketed the paper. “I got it.”
Sydney’s face flashed with something like hurt before she covered it up. “Are you sure? You’re going to have to help Niella into the car, fold up her wheelchair, and heft it into the back of Felix’s Hummer.”
“Like I said, I got it.”
She only made one wrong turn the entire journey and that was because Sydney’s bubbly script made her p’s look like r’s.
Cali’s first reaction to Niella’s home was, I need to get a job working for Sydney. She had no idea how Niella afforded the place. She never in her wildest dreams would have thought a vet clinic secretary would be making enough to afford a house like that, but the proof stood right in front of her.
Unless she’d done something before working for Sydney.
She’d have to remember to ask but first she had bigger questions to breach.
Niella was outside waiting as Cali parked in the driveway. When she got out of the Hummer, Niella had already wheeled herself over to the passenger door. Cali hastened to her side to help. Wrong move.
Niella shoved her hands away. “I got it,” she snapped. She continued to struggle. Felix’s Hummer was just a tad too tall for her to get the right leverage to pull herself up.
Cali braced herself and grabbed Niella around the waist. “What the hell did I tell you?” Niella barked instantly. But Cali wasn’t listening. She only lifted her high enough to grab the “oh shit” bar then unceremoniously let her body drop.
Niella clamped her mouth shut on what Cali was sure would have been a good cursing. Instead Niella glared at her. Evilly.
You’re welcome.
Niella pulled herself in, one of her legs twitching.
Cali jumped back.
“What?”
“Your leg. It moved.”
Niella gave her one of the bitterest smiles she’d ever seen. “I’m not paralyzed. My legs are just mangled.” With that she shut the car door in Cali’s face.
Cali wheeled her chair around to the back of the Hummer where, after much cursing, she was able to collapse it and shove it inside.
“Look,” she said as she climbed back into the driver’s seat. “There’s a reason I’m here to pick you up.”
“You mean besides wanting to spend time in my charming presence?” Niella asked sarcastically.
Cali held her own attitude in check. Don’t piss off the Dreamer. She’s the only one with answers. “There’s something I want to ask you.”
Niella quit fiddling with the radio. “Of course there is. Don’t insult my intelligence, Cali. I knew there had to be a reason why you wanted to come pick me up. No one seeks me out for social events.”
Cali’s mouth opened before she could stop herself. “Well, maybe if you weren’t such a punk ass you’d get invited to the party a little more.”
Niella stared at her for a long moment, her face impassive. Had Cali pissed her off? Hurt her feelings? She highly doubted that last one.
“Sydney told me over the phone that you were acting strange. At least you’re not one to dawdle. What the hell do you want? And if all you want from me is to answer a damn question then why am I being forced to leave my home?”
Cali backed out of the driveway, collecting her thoughts. Why was she bringing her to Felix’s? Was it to save face? Did she want the group to trust her when in fact she didn’t trust them in return?
Why did she care so much what they thought of her?
She had planned to tell them what she’d learned. She wasn’t going to leave them defenseless. But she had to know first and foremost if she could trust them.
She pulled out onto the main road. “I learned some information I think you all have the right to hear, but before I give you anything I want to know what you Dreamed that day. About me. I didn’t want the others around when I asked.”
Niella arched one perfectly plucked brow. “Why do you want to know now when for the past week you’ve been nothing but placid?”
Her grip tightened around the steering wheel. Don’t read too much into her diversion. It’s an honest question.
That didn’t stop the niggling inside of her. Had she been right? Was Niella holding out on her? Were they trying to keep her for themselves for whatever reason?
“Let’s just say I’m curious now. I’ve been through a lot in the past week.” More like the past twenty-four hours. “I’m sick of not understanding. If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine, but don’t expect me to tell you anything when I can’t — ”
“Yeah, yeah,” Niella cut in. “When you can trust us. Right? Look, I know all about your little suspicion of us, okay? We’re not the bad guys. We aren’t using you, we’re not going to use you, and we’re never going to use you.”
“How did you know what I was going to say?”
She shrugged and continued to toy with the radio until she found a fast-paced dance song. “I know quite a bit about you. Not by choice, mind you, but if I constantly think about someone or something I can almost direct how I Dream. There’s been a lot of mistrust on our end too, about you.”
The comment stung more than Cali liked to admit, but what the hell had she expected?
“We’re constantly wondering about you,” Niella continued, “and that leads to me catching glimpses of you and your history. I get why you don’t trust us. I really can’t blame you for that. That asshole Tyson did a number on you. If that happened to me, I’d probably be just as paranoid as you.”
That was a little disconcerting.
They drove a few more blocks in silence.
“And you expect me to just go along with that?” said Cali. “To believe everything you’re telling me?”
“I know you won’t, but I’m just saying we’re not the one attacking you in your apartment or trying to kidnap you. I Dreamed about you being taken by a man in your parents’ house. Dark hair, dark eyes. His appearance has slowly come into focus, though not by much.”
Dark hair? Dark eyes?
Cali’s stomach clenched.
Vander Donahughe had dark hair and eyes.
“But Collette was the one who came after me that day.”
“Only because I sent Felix to go get you. The future is in constant motion. By altering one piece, it’s only fair to assume the future as a whole would change.”
“And you saw that we were … were … ”
Niella’s face softened. She really was beautiful when she didn’t have that ang
ry scowl on her face. “Soul mates?” she supplied helpfully.
Cali stared straight ahead. “He’s not using me to further his power, is he?”
The question had nagged at her until she was sick from it.
“As much as Felix can annoy the hell out of me, he’s really a good guy. But I don’t need to defend him against you. You’ve seen it better than any of us. If you have any grievances with him, then you’re going to have to take them up with him.”
Fair enough.
They were almost back to Felix’s when Cali realized she hadn’t gotten all the information she wanted. “What else did you see in your Dream of me?”
She was met with silence.
“Niella?”
She glanced over.
Niella’s head was propped against the window, eyes closed, face peaceful.
No one falls asleep that fast.
She shook Niella’s shoulder. Nothing. Most people she knew jerked awake when she moved them in their sleep.
Unless …
Cali’s foot slipped from the gas.
Niella was Dreaming.
“Holy fuck.” She gripped the wheel like a lifeline. She didn’t know the Dreams could take her whenever they wanted. She’d thought she Dreamed when she went to bed or took a nap.
Her eyes dropped down to Niella’s mangled legs. Oh, God, had she been driving when she’d had a Dream? Was that how her legs had gotten like that?
Cali felt sick to her stomach.
She focused on the road, forcing her eyes to stare straight ahead.
Her gaze wandered.
She pulled them back but that didn’t stop the questions. What was Niella Dreaming? Were they in danger? Was Felix in danger?
When Niella moved Cali nearly screamed.
Just like that Niella was awake. Cali spared a glance her way and almost wished she hadn’t.
She was crying.
Chapter 17
Felix.
Cali’s first thought was that something horrible had happened to him. “What’d you see?” Her first instinct was to stomp on the gas but the cars ahead of her were blocking her path.
When Niella didn’t answer she gritted her teeth. “Well?” she pressed.
“Nothing.” Niella wiped at her face.
“Bullshit,” Cali spat. “Is it Felix? Is he hurt, going to be hurt?”
She turned the wheel sharply to cut across the street. Horns blared. Niella screamed, her hands shooting out in front of her to brace herself on the dashboard.
Cali nearly took the Hummer up a curb. She threw the huge vehicle into park and got up in Niella’s face, sick of being left in the dark. “What did you see?”
Niella’s eyes were shut tight, fresh tears leaking through her shut eyelids. When she finally cracked them open, Cali got a good look at the stark terror before anger burned it away. Niella shoved her back in her seat. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” she yelled. “Are you trying to scare me into answering you? Traumatize the woman who was in a car crash even more? Huh? Is that your plan?”
So she had been in an accident.
Cali pushed her pity aside. Something told her Niella wouldn’t want it anyway. “I’m sick of being in the dark, Niella. I really am. I’m going out on a limb here and trusting you guys. If you know so much about me then you know how much this blind trust is costing me. I need to know what you saw that day. I need to know that I’m not just being played by anyone and everyone around me. Please.”
After a few seconds of silence Niella finally spoke. “I saw a cage. I felt pain, both from you and Felix. I got flashes of your powers, of you and Felix, something connecting you two together. There were others there, more pain, more blood.” She sighed as if weary. “It’s really not much help, and I still don’t know when this is supposed to happen. You may have already avoided it, but that’s all I can tell you.”
She’d take it. “And what about what you saw a few minutes ago?”
“That doesn’t concern you.”
Cali temper flared. “The hell it doesn’t. Stop alienating yourself. Whatever the hell it is you saw had to be something powerful to make someone like you cry.”
“Someone like me?” She gave a humorless laugh.
Cali didn’t let it faze her. “Yes, someone like you. Someone strong. You’re a hard-ass, Niella. I know them when I see them. You can stop acting like the whole world is against you. Trust me, it gets old very quickly. You may not think the others care for you, but they do. I can tell. You’re little group dynamic is something I’ve craved my entire life. And you better not fucking tell anyone I said that to you.” That pulled a small smile out of the Dreamer. “If you expect me to trust you then you’re going to have to trust me too. I won’t judge you. What did you see?”
Niella inhaled deeply and stared her dead in the face. “Myself.”
Oh.
That was the last thing she’d expected to hear. Had she seen herself killed? Cali didn’t even want to think about that. But what else could have been so bad as to make her cry?
She swallowed the lump in her throat and forced herself to speak. “What happened?”
Niella’s hands rubbed absently along her thighs, as if they were paining her. She caught what she’d been doing and stopped. She opened her mouth and shut it. Cali didn’t push. She’d speak when she was ready.
“I was walking.”
Cali was momentarily stumped. “And that’s a bad thing?”
Niella jerked the waistband of her pants down. Her whole lower half was covered with scars, some big, some small. Some puckered and thick, others white and thin. It was like a road map on her skin. “I’m never going to walk again,” she seethed. “They did everything they could to try to put me back together again.”
“Maybe the doctors were wrong,” Cali ventured.
Niella rubbed her forehead. “I doubt it.”
Cali wanted to push the issue but Niella’s cell phone went off before she got a chance.
“Yeah?” Niella answered, her voice defeated.
Sydney’s bubbly voice was muffled on the other end.
Cali started up the Hummer and pulled back out into traffic. There was no way Niella would broach the subject of her walking again. That window of opportunity was now closed. She didn’t blame Niella, not really. She could understand the need to forgo hope. After what Niella had been through, holding out for the dream to walk again was probably exhausting. No wonder she was so bitter all the time.
“We’re almost there. Don’t worry. See you soon.”
Niella hung up and tucked her phone away.
“They think I kidnapped you?” Cali couldn’t help but ask.
Niella shrugged. “You didn’t. I highly doubt you could.”
They exchanged knowing smiles.
The rest of the drive Cali felt lighter. Niella didn’t seem to be in too much of a bad mood either. She didn’t complain when Felix helped her out of his Hummer or when Joel wheeled her inside.
Sydney was already waiting for them as they entered the sitting room. She was leaning over the counter in the kitchen. She came around the island to take a seat on one of the couches with Joel. Felix took a seat opposite them with Niella positioned as if at the head of a table.
Cali sat next to Felix, dropping down onto the couch so she was pressed against him. She craved contact with him, wanted to sink into his skin.
He’d donned a shirt since she left but she remembered all too clearly the look and feel of all those muscles. She pushed deeper against him. Felix gave her a questioning look but she ignored him, giving no outward appearance that she knew what she was doing.
His hand slid lazily over to her thigh where he absently started to trace random symbols on her leg.
She suppressed a shiver.
“Why are we all here?” Felix asked.
She forced her mind to concentrate on things other than Felix’s hand on her leg, his body pressed against hers.
Just the thought of V
ander Donahughe was like a bucket of cold water. She leaned into Felix again, only this time for comfort.
“I went in for my job interview today. I was supposed to meet with Vander Donahughe of the Kratos Corporation.” She dug out the business card and handed it over. “But it turned out the interview was a fake.” It hurt to say the words. Again she felt humiliated, as if everyone else would have realized what was really going on except her. “Collette was there.” Felix’s body went stock-still. “I overheard her talking with this other guy named Jente.”
“It was a ruse?” asked Sydney.
Cali nodded. “Apparently one three months in the making. Vander approached me back in April during one of the festivals I attended in the Inland Empire.”
“Shit,” said Joel. “If he’s spent that much time and effort on obtaining you, he’s not going to sit by and let it all fall apart.”
Cali’s stomach clenched. Felix’s hand tightened around her knee protectively. “That wasn’t everything.” She locked eyes with Niella and continued. “Collette and Jente kept talking about matches and a cage.” Niella’s eyes grew wide. She’d had her own sneaking suspicions after Niella told her about her Dream but now she was certain. The cage Niella had seen was tied in with the Kratos Corporation. “I know Vander Donahughe was the one responsible for trying to kidnap me, but I also think he’s holding some kind of underground fighting arena using people with powers.” Which meant that even though Cali had avoided him, there was still a huge possibility she’d find herself back in his possession. Niella’s Dream could still come true.
Sydney was horrified. “Is that why he’s after you? So he can pit you against someone in a fight?”
If only. “I don’t think so. If that was all he wanted, he would have had Collette take me out and bring me to him. But for some reason he doesn’t want me harmed. He must think there’s something special about me.”
“Could there be something we haven’t been made aware of?” Felix asked Niella.
She shook her head. “I think I would have seen it or at least have felt it. Cali’s the same as any of us. I don’t know why he wants her.”
“I could try to find out,” Cali volunteered.
Joel, Sydney, and Niella gave her looks of disbelief. Felix said quite firmly, “No.”
