The Dream Walker (5 page)

Feeling better about meeting Mr. Ash, she shut her laptop and put the wine away in the refrigerator. She stretched out on the couch, turned on the TV, and decided on
Top Chef
. She couldn’t cook worth a damn, but she really admired those who could.

As she watched the contestants chop, mix, and dice, her thoughts wandered back to Mr. Ash’s proposed meeting. Really, what could possibly go wrong inside a church?

It was definitely something to consider.

Chapter
10

Annis and Cohen
’s mating ceremony was in two hours, so Nico went down to the gym for a quick run on the treadmill.

He whistled as he took the six flights of stairs that would take him to the bottom of the silo where the gym was located. Always an outcast throughout his life because of his ability as a Dream Walker, he felt like he had found a home here with the Saviors. His life finally held a purpose. His ability was being used to its full potential for the good of the people of Earth. He wasn’t ostracized. In fact, the Saviors embraced him and his . . . did he dare call it a gift?

Smiling, he never thought he would have gotten to this point, especially from where he had been six months ago.

Once the Saviors realized he had every intention of keeping his gift on the down-low, they warmed up to him. Frankly, he felt he fit right in, and he could honestly say he was happy for the first time in his seven-hundred-year life.

Nico thought of his time with The Platoon. It had been a strange ride, with Micah, the crazy bastard, at the wheel.

Micah had terrorized everyone on their journey to Earth, and to avoid being beaten by the mammoth, Nico had fallen in line behind him.

When they crashed in the Arizona desert, it had been mayhem. The government had shown up, and Nico had escaped with two females and another member of The Platoon, Titus, while Micah had been capture
d,
and Jael and Simon fled. Before splitting up, they had agreed they would meet in two days one mile west of the crash site, and they had.

Their time in the desert with the females had been difficult. With no food and very little water, they had survived on plants and bugs. Nico had scoffed as much as the females about eating insects, but then he had relented because hunger overrode the gross factor.

When Nico and Titus regrouped with Jael and Simon, it had been decided that they would need a place to live, but not until they got Micah back. They had stayed close to the crash site, hoping that one day Micah would somehow appear, and eventually he did.

They all had hiked toward the lights of the cities and stumbled across houses up in the hills of the desert. Nico had been against taking something that wasn’t theirs, but Jael insisted it was the best course of action. Nico doubted he would ever forget the terrified faces of the old man and woman when The Platoon broke into their house.

The couple had been quickly subdued, and Micah had questioned them relentlessly. When the couple divulged that the house was their “winter home,” Jael had used his gift to erase their memories and sent them on their way back to Canada, never wiser that they actually owned a house in the Phoenix area. Nico had worried about the couple’s family and friends checking up on them at the house, but none ever did.

As for the two females who were with them, they just simply disappeared one night. Nico had asked Micah about it, and he assured Nico that they were alive, but they would be kept for the sole purpose of breeding.

Nico wanted to leave The Platoon, but he knew he wouldn’t get far for numerous reasons. First being that his eyes glowed silver when the sun went down. Second, he knew nothing about operating cars, the laws of driving, or the basic laws of societal order. Sure, he had a pretty good guess, but striking out on his own, he felt guesses weren’t good enough.

Third, what would he do for work? He only had his Warrior skills, and he couldn’t see getting a job where he shot people, shanked people with a knife, or did hand-to-hand combat. He supposed he could qualify for a peacekeeper or the military, but then there was that pesky problem of his eyes again.

He didn’t see a way to survive without The Platoon. There was strength in numbers.

Micah’s behavior became increasingly upsetting, as did his followers. During the day, The Platoon broke into houses and took what they needed, often stealing jewelry and other things to pawn for money. By night, they went into downtown Phoenix, where they hit on women and brought them back to the house. Jael would once again use his powers of erasing memories so that the women had no idea what had happened to them. Nico found the whole practice disgusting.

Simon seemed to find the actions of The Platoon disturbing as well, but refused to say anything. Nico had been a little more outspoken.

For instance, when Micah and Jael brought females home to party, Jael would remove his sunglasses, the females would scream, and Jael would quickly erase their memories. Jael and Micah would share good laugh about it all, and Nico
’s skin would crawl. One night, Nico was watching TV on human drug consumption, and he realized that Jael was no better than a date-rape drug.

Under Micah he had endured some rough shit, but he had survived. At the bottom of the ranks, he had become Micah’s play toy. Nico was kept in a room in the back of the house, with the threat of death if he emerged unless asked. The happiest day of his existence on Earth was when Micah had captured Annis and Cohen. He had seen the spark of familiarity in her eyes, the small smile that played on her lips. It was in that moment that he knew he would be released from under Micah’s thumb and find his way to safety. Annis was his ticket out.

As he pushed opened the gym doors, he was greeted with the sounds of Th
e
Psychedelic Fur
s
, and he knew Annis was in the gym. The other Warriors worked out to ol
d-
school rock and roll.

Annis was in a corner of the gym standing in front of the mirrors. He watched her move, once again struck by the fact that if him or any or the Warriors were doing the moves, they would have looked like cold-blooded killers. Annis, on the other hand, looked like a floating ballerina that just so happened to be armed with a knife in each hand.

She was oblivious to his presence, and he watched for a few moments as she spun, lunge
d,
and ducked her imaginary opponent. It was an amazing sight, and he couldn’t help but smile. Yes, Annis was a force to be reckoned with, and he hoped Cohen knew what an incredible female she was and that she shouldn’t be messed with. Cohen seemed like a somewhat bright male, so Nico had high expectations for the two of them.

Finally, Annis saw him out of the corner of her eye and stood from a lunging position and smiled.

He walked over to her. “I thought you were supposed to be preparing for your mating ceremony.”

“Yes, Nico,” she said, turning to him. “But I felt the need for a good workout beforehand.”

“Of course you did,” he said, grinning. “But now you’ll be a sweaty
lovren
. Are you sure Cohen’s up to mating a stinky female?”

Annis threw her head back and laughed. She took a step forward and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I’m glad you’re here to experience this with me,” she said in their native tongue.

“As am I,” Nico said, enfolding her in his embrace.

He looked in the mirror and saw them standing there, their bodies melded together. Annis stood at almost six feet, and he was about five inches taller than her.

Her breasts encased in a black tank top pressed against his chest, her strong arms held him tight. If he didn’t know better, it could have looked like a lover’s embrace. But it wasn’t. It was the hug of two people who cared deeply about each other, but not in a sexual way.

After a moment, she let go. “I suppose you’re right. I should go upstairs and get ready. I’m sure Abby and the other females are in fits about getting me presentable.”

Nico caressed her cheek. “I’m sure they are,” he said. “I’m looking forward to watching you take your next step to happiness.”

Annis nodded and turned toward the door. About halfway across the gym, she stopped, turned around, and made her way back to him in a few determined strides.

“I was thinking,” she said. “The humans have a tradition where the father gives away the bride.”

Nico had heard Hudson speak of this, and he nodded.

“I was wondering if you would please . . . I guess, give me away? Not that I think of you as a father figure, but more of a brother. I just want to honor both human and SR44ian traditions.”

He thought about it for a moment, surprised, but flattered. He understood the symbolism. He was more than happy to accommodate her request, but on one condition: Cohen needed to be cool with it.

“Have you talked to Cohen about your idea?”

She smiled and shook her head. “No, I haven’t. But Cohen is easily persuaded.”

“Really?”

Her grin spread. “Yes. Leave that to me.”

Nico took her in his arms once again and squeezed. “If it’s okay with Cohen, then I would be honored to be a part of your ceremony, Annis.”

She pulled away, her face radiating happiness. “Thank you, Nico. I’ll see you soon for the mating.”

He watched her go and turned to the treadmill when the doors slammed shut.

An hour later, he was dripping with sweat and felt good. He ran up the stairs to his room, showered, and changed into the gold shirt and black slacks. It was tradition that the ceremony be held in the SR44 color of the female, and all the males were dressed in black slacks and gold shirts, their eyes glowing their own SR44 colors. He headed to the kitchen, where all the Warriors were standing around.

“With all this gold and our eye colors, it looks like Christmas in here,” Jovan said.

Rayner laughed.
“Males don’t look good in gold.”

“
Sure they do,” Hudson said. “It’s all about how you pull it off. It’s like a male wearing pink. It can either look good and the guy can rock the pink, or the guy can look like a d-bag who is trying too hard to look good. It’s all in the attitude, my friend.”

“
I disagree,” Rayner said. “There are certain colors a male shouldn’t wear, and gold is one of them.”

“
Liberace looked good in gold,” Jovan said.

“
Who’s Liberace?” Nico asked.

“
A guy who looked good in gold,” Hudson said. “And a fantastic piano player.”

“
I take it he’s dead?” Nico said.

“
Yep,” Hudson said. “All the greats are dead. But that dude could rock the gold.”

“
And the feathers,” Rayner said. “The Rolling Stones aren’t dead. They’re one of the greats.”

“
Liberace also rocked the velvet,” Jovan said. “And the operative word on the Rolling Stones is
yet
. They aren’t dead
yet
.”

“
Well, you can say that about any of us standing here, dumbass,” Rayner said.

“
Liberace made a mean martini, too,” Hudson said.

There was silence for a moment.

“Speaking of martinis, how about a pre-mating cocktail while we wait for everyone?” Hudson asked.

They made their way into the Great Room, and Rayner played bartender for everyone. Each got their drink: whiskey for Jovan, scotch for Hudson, tequila for Rayner, and a rum and Coke for Nico. Rooming with Cohen and spending time with the male had put rum at the top of Nico
’s list.

Blake came in looking worse for wear. He had deep circles under his hazel eyes and his skin was pale. He looked defeated, and Nico actually felt bad for him. He knew Blake still had it bad for Annis. Nico imagined it would be difficult to want a female and never being able to have her. As Nico studied him, he decided that Rayner was right: Some males shouldn
’t wear gold, and Blake was one of them.

Over the past six months, Nico and Blake had become close, as they were the only males in the house who weren
’t mated. Nico had never told Blake that he was Annis’s former lover, and he didn’t think Annis had either. Otherwise, he doubted Blake would want to have anything to do with him.

“
How’re you holding up?” Jovan asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Blake looked around at all of them.
“I’m okay,” he said. “I don’t think guys should wear gold though.”

There was a collective groan.
“You’re a little late on the convo, Blake. We already covered it,” Rayner said.

Blake walked over to the bar.
“Glad I missed it.”

“
Who will be preforming the ceremony tonight?” Nico asked. He figured he better let someone know the change of plans of him escorting Annis to give her away.

“
I will,” Hudson said. “I’m getting pretty good at it with all the practice I’ve had.”

Nico nodded.
“Annis has asked me to walk her down the aisle and give her away, as would happen in a traditional human mating ceremony.”

Hudson nodded.
“Sounds good. We’ll leave a space for you in the mating circle, and you can just slide right in.”

Nico took a sip of his drink.
“Where’s Noah?”

All of the Warriors shrugged.
“Don’t know. Haven’t seen him in a few hours,” Rayner said.

The elevator dinged in the kitchen, and everyone looked over to see who had arrived. It was Noah, and he looked good in gold.