Dark Dream’s Trap

by I. T. Lucas

  15

  Ella

  In her mother’s car, Ella dropped her head against the headrest and closed her eyes. “I hate disappointing Julian, but all I want to do when I get home is shower and sleep.” Hopefully, without dreaming because she had no energy for Logan either.

  Vivian patted her knee. “I’m sure he’ll understand.”

  “Yeah, he will, but he will still be disappointed. I should call him right now so he can make other plans. It’s not healthy for his psyche to spend time only with me. Julian needs guy buddies.”

  Vanessa would have been proud of her. She was spewing psychobabble like a pro. Not all of it was bullshit, though. As Ella could attest, mood certainly affected the body.

  Yesterday, even though her presentation had been emotionally draining, she’d felt upbeat and motivated by the positive response. Today, on the other hand, she had listened passively to two horror stories, and to top it off, Tessa had a meltdown.

  Ella had a feeling she would have to find a new filming assistant because Tessa wasn’t coming back.

  Maybe Julian could suggest a replacement?

  Selecting his contact, she smiled at his picture. She should make it her screen saver, but then she’d be staring at it all day long, kind of like he had done with hers.

  She wondered if he still did that.

  “Ella, are you on your way back?”

  “I am. I’m hitching a ride with my mom. Tessa had to leave early.”

  “Why? What happened?”

  Ella sighed. “I shouldn’t have asked her to do this. After I talked with you, we filmed two stories, and by the second one Tessa just fell apart. We had to call Jackson to come get her.”

  “Poor girl. She must be very sensitive.”

  Evidently, Julian didn’t know about Tessa’s past, and since Tessa preferred it that way, Ella honored her wishes. “Yeah, it’s difficult to stomach. In fact, I’m afraid that when we work on the editing, you are going to have a meltdown as well.”

  “You don’t give me enough credit.”

  “On the contrary, my love. I’m giving you all the credit. You’re a sensitive and loving soul. It will be difficult for you.”

  “I can handle it. How are you holding up?”

  “I’m drained. Emotionally and physically. All I want to do is take a quick shower and crawl in bed.”

  “Do you want me to come and tuck you in?”

  “It sounds lovely, but I’m really beat. Can I take a rain check for tomorrow?”

  “Sure.”

  “You’re the best, Julian. I love you.”

  “Love you too, sweetheart. Sleep well.”

  “I hope so.” Ella ended the call.

  Next to her, Vivian was grinning like she’d won the lottery. “You didn’t tell me that you were in the I-love-you stage. When did that happen?”

  In the past, Ella would have run to her mother with every piece of exciting news, but those days were long over. And it wasn’t the type of conversation she wanted to have over their mental link either.

  “It’s very recent. Saturday night.”

  Her mom arched a brow. “That’s it? Saturday? That’s all you’re going to tell me?”

  Ella dropped the phone into her purse. “There isn’t much to tell. We talked, and Julian told me that he loved me, and then I told him that I loved him too. Not a big deal.”

  “Well, I think it is. Congratulations.”

  “Thank you. By the way, do you know about the addiction?”

  “What addiction?”

  Crap. Magnus hadn’t told her. Should she?

  Yeah, she should. Magnus might not be aware of it, but as a daughter, Ella couldn’t and shouldn’t keep such important information from her mother.

  “Vanessa told me that over time the venom is addictive if a woman is exposed to the venom of only one male. The way it works is that you will want Magnus exclusively, and any other guy that you might have normally found attractive will repulse you. The only way not to get addicted is to have more than one immortal partner bite you.”

  Vivian frowned. “That’s the first I’ve heard of it. Magnus hasn’t said anything about it. I wonder if he knows.”

  Her mother didn’t sound upset, but Ella felt like she should give Magnus the benefit of the doubt. The guy had been awesome to her mom and to Parker and her. He deserved some slack.

  “Vanessa said that it’s not something they talk about because it doesn't concern most of them, only those who find Dormant or immortal mates. And since that’s so rare, Magnus might not be even aware of it.”

  Vivian shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. Magnus is the one for me, and I don’t want to feel anything for anyone else. And I certainly don’t want any other immortal to bite me. It is what it is. It’s not like he’s doing it on purpose to get me addicted to him. It’s just how it works for them.”

  “Well, the good news is that he’s addicted to you, too, or will be. Vanessa said it takes time for the addiction to set in.”

  “At least it’s fair.”

  “Yeah. And it gives one hell of a motivation to make up your mind early on if you want a guy or not. Dragging things out with someone you don’t love is dangerous for immortals.”

  Ella wondered if that was why Carol had ended things with Robert. She hadn’t mentioned anything about the addiction, so maybe she hadn’t been aware of it either.

  As tight as the immortal community was, it seemed like vital information wasn’t getting communicated properly to its members. The village needed an adult sex education class immortal style.

  “Did you and Julian get closer?” Vivian asked.

  “Emotionally, yes. Physically, no.”

  “Are you concerned about the addiction?”

  “That’s not the reason, Mom. I have Mr. D to deal with, and my issues to overcome. When that is resolved, I can start thinking about intimacy with Julian.”

  “Perfectly understandable. I don’t want you to feel pressured into anything. Take as long as you need. But if you love Julian, and he loves you back, the addiction thing shouldn’t stand in your way. It’s a small price to pay for love, and even a smaller one for immortality.”

  Her mother’s attitude toward this was probably the right one. It was the way it was, and if Ella wanted Julian or any other immortal mate, she had to deal with it. It wasn’t as if Julian intended to get her addicted to him on purpose, and wishing things worked differently for immortals was pointless.

  16

  Ella

  “Hello, my precious Ella.” Logan pulled her into his arms gently and kissed the top of her head.

  That was so out of character for him that for a moment Ella thought she was really dreaming, her own dream, and not dream-sharing with the Doomer.

  “I have good news for you. Your interview is set for next Wednesday. You should be getting the email tomorrow, or rather Kelly Rubinstein is getting an email. That girl has some impressive grades, and her extracurriculars are even more so.” He chuckled. “My friend was ecstatic about expediting your interview. I didn’t need to put any pressure on him at all.”

  It was on the tip of her tongue or, rather, at the end of her synapsis to ask Logan if he’d used compulsion on the guy, but then she wasn’t supposed to know that he could do that.

  “Which extracurricular impressed him the most?”

  “The charity you’re supposedly running. The people helping you are real pros. I checked out Kelly Rubinstein, and she has a Facebook page with history and friends, including your pictures with a bunch of teenagers. How did they pull off a thorough job like this?”

  Ella had no idea that Roni had gone to so much trouble for her. She needed to make him something special as a thank you.

  “They are Special Ops. They can do anything. You know, access to government databases and things like that.”

  She had no idea what she was talking about, but that was fine. An eighteen-year-old wasn’t supposed to know how those things worked. Playing dumb
was her best defense.

  “I wish I had access to your friends,” Logan said. “I could use a good hacker.”

  Was he fishing for information, trying to find out who was helping her? She hoped it wasn’t because he suspected his enemies were involved and still believed it was the government.

  She shook her head and smiled up at him. “As I said, they are my mom’s friends. I don’t even know them.”

  He let go of her and then took her hand. “Let’s take a walk. Look around you.”

  “Where are we?”

  “Amsterdam. You liked the canals in Hamburg, so I thought you would like another city that had them.”

  “I do.” She stretched up on her toes and kissed his cheek. “You’re being very thoughtful. Thank you for everything you’re doing for me. I’m so excited about this interview.” Just not for the reason he thought she was.

  Frowning, he stopped and turned toward her. “You don’t sound excited. You sound tired. What happened?”

  “I had a rough day, that’s all. A friend of mine had a mini meltdown, and dealing with that was draining. I had to call her boyfriend to come pick her up because she couldn’t even drive herself home.”

  “What triggered that?”

  She had a feeling that he wasn’t really interested, which made sense. He didn’t know Tessa, and even if he did, he probably wouldn’t care either. Logan was being really nice to her, but that was because he had an ulterior motive and not because he was a nice guy.

  “She heard a very disturbing story that reminded of her of bad things that had happened to her when she was younger. I feel guilty for dragging her into this. I knew she had issues.”

  Logan forced a smile. “I should let you get some real sleep then. I'm sure that in the morning everything will look brighter.”

  She nodded. “You are probably right. I feel tired even in the dream.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “Sleep well, my Ella. Good night.”

  When he was gone, Ella didn’t continue sleeping. Opening her eyes, she looked out the window and watched the dark silhouettes of branches swaying in the wind. It had been a mistake to open the shutters after she’d turned the light off, but she wanted to let in fresh air. From her bed, the branches looked menacing, like gnarly arms and fingers tipped with claws.

  With a voice command to the home system, she lowered the shutters and turned the light on in the bathroom. Huddling under the blanket, she thought about what Logan had told her.

  Next Wednesday was only a week from now. Was it enough time to set up the trap?

  This was actually happening. Up until tonight, it had felt like a game, but now reality was knocking on her window with dark, claw-tipped fingers.

  For some reason, Ella didn’t feel as excited as she thought she would be. Was it anxiety? Or maybe she was a little conflicted about entrapping Logan?

  The thing she needed to remember was that he was planning the same thing for her, and if he was not, he wouldn’t be there and nothing would happen. So, her guilt was utterly misplaced.

  He’d been nice to her lately, which had softened her up toward him, but it had been only a convincing act. If he really cared for her, he wouldn’t have evaporated when she was sad. It seemed that Logan didn’t like dealing with her when she was in a bad mood.

  Good to know for next time she needed to get rid of him fast. All she had to do was make a sad face, shed a few tears, and poof, he would be gone.

  17

  Kian

  “I have to go.” Kian grabbed his laptop and headed out.

  The text from Ella had arrived a little after two in the morning, but he’d only seen it when he’d checked his phone three hours later.

  Syssi stopped him at the door. “Wait. I’ll pour your coffee into a thermal mug. The guys can wait a minute longer.”

  After telling her the exciting news, he’d made a few phone calls and arranged a meeting.

  “Thanks.” Kian took the mug and kissed her cheek. “I’ll make it up to you tonight.”

  Syssi smiled and waggled her brows. “A foot massage would do.”

  “It’s a deal.”

  It had been a long time since he’d gone to work that early in the morning or scheduled a meeting before nine. He didn’t like leaving the house without making love to his wife first, but as he’d promised, he would make it up to her later.

  Smiling, he thought about the pleasure sounds she made when he kneaded her little toes. For some reason, that was her favorite part.

  Thermos clasped in hand and a laptop tucked under his arm, Kian took the stairs up to his office two at a time.

  One week wasn’t long, and there was much to do. Surprisingly, Lokan had come through for Ella and expedited her interview for next Wednesday. Kian wondered whether the Doomer had collected favors owed or just compelled someone to push her up in the list. Not that it mattered one way or another, but he was curious. What business could the Brotherhood possibly have with the university that someone on its staff would owe Lokan a big favor like that?

  As far as he knew, Navuh’s sons didn’t get to study abroad, but then his information about the Doomers’ royal family was scant and unreliable.

  “Good morning, boss.” Onegus walked in with his own mug and took a seat at the conference table.

  “Good morning, indeed. The rat has set the trap that he’s going to get caught in.”

  Onegus rubbed his hands. “Who else is joining us at this ungodly hour?”

  “Turner and Bridget, of course. And also Magnus and Julian because of their personal involvement. I’ll leave it up to you to choose which Guardians you want to take to Washington.”

  Onegus arched a brow. “I’m going? I thought Turner was. This is his kind of operation.”

  “I am,” Turner said as he and Bridget walked in. “You should stay here.” He pulled out a chair for Bridget. “I want security around the village reinforced and put on high alert.” He pulled out a chair for himself and sat down.

  When Magnus and Julian entered next, Kian motioned for them to take their seats.

  “Lokan might have shared more than Ella’s dreams,” Turner said. “If he has access to her mind and can read her thoughts from afar, he knows that she is with us, and he could have used bits and pieces of information she’s subconsciously collected to deduce our location. He also might know that we are coming for him. This could all be an elaborate setup to lure Guardians away from the village so it would be open to attack. It’s a remote possibility, but one we cannot ignore.”

  Turner was paranoid, but his advice was solid nonetheless. The village should be put on high alert.

  “Do you think we should order a lockdown?” Kian asked.

  In case of emergency, the entrance to the underground tunnel could be blocked by what looked like a rock formation, and no one could come or go until it was open again.

  “That’s an extreme measure,” Turner said. “And probably over the top. If it were up to me, you know I would have done it. But it is your call.”

  Kian turned to Onegus. “What do you think?”

  “Locking down the village should be reserved for real emergencies, and by that I mean an actual attack. I don’t think it should be done as a precaution in case of a very remote probability of one.”

  Bridget nodded. “No offense, Victor, but I’m with Onegus on that.”

  Turner shrugged. “If later we have reason to suspect that one is coming, we can up the alert level and issue a lockdown command.”

  “What’s the plan?” Magnus asked. “I assume you have one.”

  “I do.” Turner opened his briefcase and handed everyone printouts.

  “When Kian called me this morning, I got in touch with my contacts in Washington. We have an entire hotel reserved to ourselves, so Ella and Vivian will be surrounded by Guardians. We will also have five taxis at our disposal. Each time the ladies have to travel, they will be using a different car.”

  “How are we getting them
there?” Julian asked. “Are we taking the jet?”

  “We are taking both. The Guardians and I are going to leave tomorrow and lay the groundwork. The ladies will go on Monday. I’ll make decoy travel arrangements for them by train. And I’m also thinking of putting two female agents on it in case Lokan thinks to check on that. Now that he has Ella’s fake name, it will be easy for him to find where she bought tickets. An internet connected world is one with no privacy.”

  He looked at Magnus and then at Julian. “You two can either leave with us tomorrow and join the preparations in Washington, or you can stay here and escort the ladies on the plane ride on Monday. But if you want to take part in capturing Lokan, you’ll have to come earlier and participate in the prep.”

  Magnus and Julian exchanged glances.

  “Tough choice.” Magnus smoothed his hand over his goatee. “Naturally, I don’t want to leave Vivian alone for nearly a week. But I want to be on the ground when shit is going down.”

  Turner nodded. “I’m counting you in for tomorrow’s departure.”

  Magnus nodded.

  “How about you, Julian?”

  “I’m with Magnus. Who is going to escort Vivian and Ella?”

  “Arwel and Bhathian. The two used to work together and they make a good team.”

  “That’s what I thought when we originally paired them.” Kian snorted. “But back then Bhathian didn’t have Eva and was always grumpy as hell, and Arwel, well, we all know what bothers him. But I agree that they are the perfect escorts. Arwel because of his telepathy, and Bhathian because of his brawn.”

  “Is that enough, though?” Julian asked. “What if Lokan ambushes them in the terminal? If he can access Ella’s brain, he would know she’s coming on a private jet and where she is landing.”

  Turner’s lips curved up in a rare smile. “We won’t tell Ella the exact travel plans. All she will know is that she and Vivian are flying to some remote private airport in the area. It’s better not to tell Vivian anything either, so she doesn't accidentally blurt something out.”