Nightmares and Daydreams: Chapter 25

The North is always cold. Even in summer. It wasn’t as frigid, but it wasn’t a warm spring day back home either. I still needed a good pair of pants and a decent fur over my armor. And a hat. And sunglasses. Summer was unbearably fucking bright, and the sun barely bothered setting.

“They haven’t moved since we confronted them,” Klah, one of Atsila’s brothers, explained. “But they haven’t left either.”

I took the binoculars and trained them on the Line—the border wall that separated the Heida from the lands where the salishan roamed. Fewer now than before, but they still appeared from time to time. From this height it was easy to see down on the Volci encampment. Half a mile across. It was a significant number of wolves.

“Ender called us liars,” I explained. Again.

“Ivy didn’t though,” Rhysa pointed out. “She seemed as shocked as the rest of us. And a little afraid.”

Rain nodded. “My senses read the situation as shock from both of them. But where Ender went into a rage, Ivy was definitely scared.”

Which was the problem. “That means they know what’s up, even if they aren’t included. And they chose not to tell us.”

Rhysa made a face. “You’re right. But why would they speak to us about a House matter?”

“They are the only House that has ever given us trouble,” Atsila pointed out.

And it was a good point. “They don’t want the North.”

“No. They just want what we have.”

I could feel my sister’s frustration from behind me. “Gigi? You have something you want to say?” Since the attack she’d been more herself, thank fuck. Like the shock of it all jolted her into action.

She stared out at the Volci camp, her hair blowing in the cool wind. No makeup. Her hair loose and a little wild. It was a good look on her, actually. “We’re jumping at shadows.” She didn’t turn to face us. Just kept staring at the camps. “We see monsters because we’re looking for monsters. If we expect everyone to betray us then, eventually, everyone will.”

Atsila bristled under his furs. “Given the level of betrayal found in other Houses, we have to be suspicious. Otherwise we’re vulnerable.”

She sniffed. “Males. Always thinking vulnerability is a weakness and strength is power.”

Gigi had a melancholy assuredness to her words. The kind that rang in my soul. “The Volci don’t respect anyone they see as vulnerable. I don’t think now is the time for that strategy.”

She finally turned and looked me right in the eye, pulling her coat closed at the neck. “I don’t think you should think at all.” Her eyes darted to all the other males standing on the top of the Line. “None of you. Your instincts have gone to your heads. What’s that human expression of yours, Rhysa? The one with the nails?”

Rhysa smiled. “To a hammer everything looks like a nail.”

“Yes,” Gigi nodded, “that’s the one. Look, Aethel is with Ender right now. She’s the right one for the job. Ivy is, without question, one of the smartest and kindest samhain I’ve ever met. Let the women handle this one, gentlemen, and let’s focus on why we’re here. The Plane has connected us to this place. Here is where the answers will be found. For better or for worse.” She sniffed again and looked back out at the horizon.

She really was different. Resigned. “You heard my sister. The Volci are being handled. Next problem.”

Atsila looked like he wanted to argue but snapped his mouth shut. Klah glowered for a moment then slapped a map down onto the table. “Here are the current known rifts.” There were far more than I’d prefer to see marked out. “These three areas have become their main focus. They put almost all their efforts into keeping these open and expanding them. If we close one, they just reopen it the next day.”

“And the Gatlin can’t do anything about that?” I glanced at Rain as I spoke to gauge her reaction.

Unfortunately all I saw was disappointment in her eyes. “No. Malachi has called in our most powerful psychics. They work around the clock and they’re still falling behind.”

“Then why aren’t you there?” Klah asked.

She shot him a look that made my balls shrivel. “I’m here now.”

Klah had the good sense to simply accept that answer. “Malachi and Rever are here.” He pointed to a large rift just north of us. “I suggest we check in with them first.”

“Agreed.” Atsila and Rain said at the same time.

Gigi sighed and shook her head. “Then let’s get on with it. Destiny is waiting.”

“This damn near looks like a fucking post card.” My past experiences in the North had mostly been the same. Low, flat, white, cold as fuck. This was very different. We stood on the top of a tall hill or low mountain surrounded by tall trees. A river of water ran below us. “You sure we’re in the right place?”

Atsila chuckled. “We’re in the right place. The North is more than the tundra.”

“I know, but shit. This is not what I think of when I think of the North.”

“We’re not far from the Line,” Klah said as he moved toward the camp. “Not as many trees as south of the Line, but it isn’t one great big Arctic adventure up here. We’re complicated like that.”

About a hundred feet from where we shifted stood the camp. Four tents surrounded a fire, large wooden table, and benches. Beyond the camp the rift glowed like something right out of a science fiction movie. About twenty or so milled around, everyone bundled up except the bear shifters, who wore varying levels of furs, but not many.

“Yo!” Malachi threw up a hand and waved us over.

“He’s lost weight,” Rhysa thought.

“Agreed. He looks exhausted.”

“Good to see you.” Malachi hugged Atsila, slapping him on the back a few times before moving on to Klah, Kris, and then me. “Don’t worry. We’ve got blood runners. I may look like shit but I’m fine. I swear it.”

I guess my concern was a little more than obvious to the psychic. “How are things?”

He huffed a laugh before hugging Rain. “One step forward, one step back. It’s like dancing. We’re constantly moving but going nowhere fast. Cousin.” He took Rain’s face in his hands and the two appeared to share a conversation none of us could hear. “It’s good you’re here,” he said after a few moments. “Rhysa, Gigi, good to see you both as well.”

“I see trouble is here,” Rever bellowed as he came over to join us. Instead of hugs he gave out hand shakes. “Beer is in the keg, food in the cooler. We’re operating on a feed-yourself-when-you-can basis. Blood runners come in around noon every day. I suggest you stay topped off.”

“I’d like to see the rift,” Rain said.

“There isn’t much to see,” Malachi replied. “It’s the same as all the others. This one has been open for about two days. It was open for a week before that. In total there has been an open rift in this location for over thirty days. We close it, they open it. Right now it’s stable. We’ve got three Gatlin keeping it steady.”

“Why not four then?” It seemed pretty simple to me. Get all the psychics up here and close these things down.

“It’s not that cut and dried, unfortunately,” Malachi sighed like it took all his strength to think about the rift. “And trust me, we’ve tried pretty much everything. We’re having a lot of success with holding the rifts stable, studying them, and then collapsing them when we know what it takes. These beings are smart, methodical, and persistent.”

“Which is why I’d like to see it,” Rain repeated.

“Fine.” Malachi held out a hand. “Follow me.”

As we drew closer I realized that the rift was much larger than I thought. The three Gatlin psychics around it looked like dolls. “This is what stable looks like?”

Malachi shrugged. “It’s big but it isn’t the biggest. Not by far.”

I could feel the power, or at least the disturbance it caused. “Have there been any other incidents?”

“They’ve tried but they have not been successful.” Malachi came to a stop at least fifty yards away. It was hard to judge the distance. “Can you feel it?”

Of course we could all fucking feel it. But then I realized he wasn’t talking to me. His whole attention was trained on Rain.

“The convergence is close,” she said quietly. “I feel like I can reach out and touch the other reality.”

Malachi grabbed her wrist. “Don’t. Not yet.”

Kris bared his teeth. “Take your hand off her.”

Malachi glared right back but released her wrist. “It’s hard to resist. Trust me, I know.”

I understood what I was feeling now. A calling. It was as if the other reality were singing to us through the rift. And it was alluring. It drew my attention and was quickly becoming all I could think about. “How are they able to stay so close for so long?” I nodded to the psychics holding the rift stable.

“They’ve shielded the part of their minds that responds to it.” He glanced back at Rain. “We use the same technique Rain has used all her life.”

She nodded slowly. “How long can they do this?”

“They work in ten hour shifts.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Impressive.”

I forced my feet to stay exactly where they were instead of taking a step closer like I really wanted to do. “Can you teach all of us how to do it?”

“Maybe. It will depend on how strong your Gatlin blood is.” She scanned the crowd. “Maybe.”

Would it be like this once the convergence took place? Would we all be seduced by this other reality and left incapable of thinking past the call? If so, we were in deep shit.

Rhysa groaned. I put my hand on her shoulder hoping it would help her resist as well.

“Let’s head back to camp,” Malachi urged. “Before you all lose it.”

Rhysa snuggled into me as we walked back. “That was intense.”

“No shit. You okay?”

She took in a deep breath and let it out slow. “Yeah. That was a struggle though. It was like it hijacked my brain.”

I kissed the top of her head. “That’s mine. The other reality can’t have it.”

She squeezed me. “How can you make that sound romantic?”

“It’s a gift.”

“Weird gift.”

I kissed the top of her head again. “But it cleared your head, didn’t it?”

I felt her relax. “Yeah. You’re good, Dray. Real good.”

We moved back into the center of camp. “So what’s our next move?”

Everyone looked to Rain. “Well,” she shrugged, “I suppose I should try to collapse it first. Even if I fail, the experience could be useful.”

“But what does closing one do for us?” Rhysa asked, still tucked into my side. “There are a dozen open and the convergence is close.”

“Close doesn’t mean it’s happening today or even this week. It could take months for this to happen and in the meantime, we need to keep this world safe for as long as we can.” Even if it did happen today there was nothing lost in attempting to close the rift.

“What about the vision, Malachi?” Rhysa asked.

I instinctively tightened my arm around Rhysa. I knew I couldn’t stop what was destined to happen, but if I could steer us onto a different path, I would use every tool at my disposal.

Malachi looked down at his feet. “It will happen here. When, I don’t know. Are you all prepared?”

“I am. We are.” Gigi said, taking Ryddyck’s hand. “When the time is right, we’ll be there waiting.”

My heart twisted in my chest watching her stand there with another male, looking determined and confident.

“All right then. The next shift change is in,” he glanced at the watch on his wrist, “about five hours. I suggest we take this time to eat and get some rest while we can. Shift change will be the best time to try this because everyone will be at full strength.”

“Agreed,” Rain said with a glance at Rhysa. “Can we talk?”

Rhysa gave me one more squeeze. Then stood up on her tiptoes to drop a kiss on my cheek. “I’ll be back.”

“I’ll be waiting.” I watched Rhysa meet up with Leena, Gigi, and Rain before accepting a beer from Atsila. “How do you handle it?”

“Handle what?” He sipped from the giant mug.

“Watch while she throws herself in danger’s way.” I was so jealous of my brother it almost hurt. Kris had a job. He helped Rain. I wanted that.

“Meditation,” he growled.

“Meditating helps?”

“Not really, but it’s all I have. Aren’t you connected to Rhysa now?”

I shrugged. “Sometimes. It comes and goes. Since we came north the connection has been fuzzy.” And I didn’t like this change one bit.

“Perhaps you are just adjusting to the conditions. The veil is thin up here and the rifts clog up the connection to the Plane.

“The Plane being close should make it easier, not harder.”

He took my mug and pulled more beer from the tap for both of us. “Only if your connection has to do with the nearness of the Plane, which I suspect it does not.”

Maybe. Only time would tell. Klah joined us with a mug of his own. “Any word from Aethel?”

He was like a dog with a bone. His need for answers certainly wasn’t dampened by the rift. “I don’t expect to for at least a day.”

“We don’t have a day to figure out if Ender or Ivy are traitors,” he snarled.

“The fuck did you just say?” Rever slammed his beer down on the table and stormed over.

Klah had the good sense to put his hands up. “Look, you might not know this, but we have a problem with the Volci.”

“I don’t care if you have a problem with grass, say her name again and I’ll pull out your throat.”

I tried to step between them, but Rever just dodged me.

“Calm down,” Klah laughed. “I’m sure she’s innocent.”

“I warned you!” Rever grabbed Klah by the throat, hauled him up in the air, and slammed his back onto the table, which was surprisingly sturdy considering the size and weight of Klah alone. “Ivy is not a traitor. I’ll kill you the next time you suggest otherwise.” His hand squeezed Klah’s wide neck even harder.

The male was so stunned from the body slam that he didn’t move at first. But then the punches started flying.

“Should we stop them?” They could really hurt each other the way they were fighting. The last thing we needed was either of them hurt.

“Nah,” Atsila said, ducking as Rever swung. “They need to get some of this out of their system. Klah’s been wound up tight and so has Rever. They just needed an excuse.”

“This is more than an excuse. Rever and Ivy are a thing.”

“Oh shit.” Atsila set his beer aside. “Then let’s break it up before they kill each other.”

Kris and I took Rever. Atsila and Malachi dragged off Klah. Ryddyck stood staring at the whole mess like we were the most fascinating thing he’d ever seen. Which actually might be true. I didn’t know if they fought like this where he was from but based on the look on his face I doubted it.

“Rhysa,” I waved, “let’s go.” My adrenaline was up and the last thing I wanted to do was sit around and watch these two patch up their wounds.

“Where are we going?” She hurried to my side all while staring at Rever panting on his back on the ground.

“Malachi said we should rest, so we’re going to rest.” I leaned down to growl in her ear the way she liked. “In this tent, naked, while we burn off the adrenaline.”