The Dream Walker (9 page)

Chapter
17

Alaina stood in front of the church and looked at the address written on the card Daniel had given her, then checked the numbers on the church and the street sign. She was in the right place. It looked exactly as it had on Google Maps.

Alaina had never considered herself a religious person, and based on the crap she had been through in her life, she often wondered if there was a God. Deep in her heart she held out hope there was a higher power, and sometimes late at night, she prayed to Him to forgive her for what she did for a living. She hoped He realized that sometimes a girl had to do what a girl had to do to survive.

Daniel had told her the meeting would be held in the basement. She walked up the steps of the church, her heart fluttering. Pulling on the large oak door, she hoped she wouldn
’t be struck by lightning when she entered.

A priest stood at the pulpit talking in low tones to the ten or so people who were all kneeling on the front pews, which were a beautiful cherry wood. A large wooden carving of Christ on the cross was mounted on the wall behind the priest. The carpet was beige, and even in the dark Alaina could see the stained glass windows that lined the sides of the church. She imagined they would be beautiful during the day as they cast colored shadows around the nave. A peace came over Alaina, and she felt drawn to the scene. She looked down at her blue sundress and suddenly felt very underdressed. Again, she took in the scene in front of her and began ticking off her sins. Taking the Lord
’s name in vain. Stealing. Oh, and that little one of thinking about killing people, and thinking about it quite often no
w
.

She wasn
’t worthy to step foot into the tranquil scene before her. She was bad news in a pretty dress.

Just as Daniel had said, to her left was a doorway leading to a staircase. She took a deep breath and made her way down.

In the basement there were four rooms. Three of the doors were shut, but the forth was open. Alaina walked over and looked in. The group of eight—seven men and one woman—was sitting in a circle, and it looked as though the meeting—or whatever—hadn’t started yet.

“
Hello, Alaina,” a voice from behind her said.

She startled and turned around. Daniel stood inches away. She hadn
’t even heard him. “You scared me, Daniel,” she said, trying to calm her heartbeat and taking a step back. It seemed the guy liked to get in her space, and it made her uncomfortable.

“
Sorry. Please come in. I’m so glad you decided to join us,” he said, gesturing into the room.

Alaina suddenly felt the urge to run. Maybe she should back out right now, but the fundamental fact was that she wanted to know why she could see things other couldn’t, and why she was having these dark visions of killing people. She wanted to hear about this so-called “new start” Daniel discussed.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to smile. “Thank you, Daniel.”

Chapter
18

Nico sat down and ran his finger over the black table in front of him. A nice line appeared in the dust. Brandy hadn
’t been kidding when she said the room hadn’t been used in a while.

Blake had gone to the front door of the club to meet Noah and escort him in. While Nico waited, he thought about Brandy and those lovely milky-white legs, and he wanted them wrapped around him. His time on Earth before the Saviors had been about surviving, not looking for pleasure. As he thought about Blake and Brandy, he wondered if he should dive into the singles’ pool and see what happened. Even as he thought it, it didn’t seem right. He considered the love he saw on a daily basis between the Saviors and their mates, and he preferred that. He wanted to have sex with a female with a good case of
“I love you” kicking him in the ass.

Hearing voices down the hall, he stood and went to the door. He glanced out and saw Noah and Blake coming.

“Hey,” Nico said as Noah walked into the room.

“
Hey, man,” Noah said, cracking his knuckles.

“
You ready to do this, Noah?”

“
Hell, yeah. I do want some whiskey though.”

“
I’ll grab you some,” Blake said, heading for the door.

“
No, forget it, Blake. My mind’s fried enough with Abby’s little disappearing act. I don’t need any alcohol right now. I need to be as clear-headed as possible.”

Blake walked back in and took a chair, and Noah did the same.

“Have you heard from Abby today?” Nico asked.

Noah nodded.
“Yeah, I did. She said she got a massage and facial today. She’s living the high life while I’m worrying about her and barely holding my shit together.”

“
Did she tell you where she was?”

Noah shook his head.
“She said she doesn’t trust me not to go and get her. And she’s probably right.”

Nico studied Noah. He looked better today than yesterday. It wasn
’t as if Abby had died; she just decided to check out from the relationship for a while. So going on that theory, Noah technically wasn’t an SR44 male without his mate, but he was acting like one. If Abby didn’t come back, Nico wasn’t sure if Noah would survive it.

“
Is she coming back?” Nico asked.

Noah shrugged.
“I don’t know. I sure hope so. I’ll tell you one thing, though. Her being away has really shown me—“

All three males turned to the door when they heard footsteps coming down the hall. It sounded like a herd of dinosaurs.

“They’re right in here,” Brandy said.

“
Thanks, Brandy,” Blake said, moving to the door as The Platoon filed in.

Brandy glanced around.
“I’ll just head back up front now.”

“
Good idea,” Nico said.

Nico and Blake put themselves in front of Noah, and Nico pulled his gun out and kept it to his side.

He had to admit, Micah was an impressive figure. The guy was a solid mass of flesh standing at six foot eight. His brown hair had grown out a bit, and his facial features were hawkish and hard. Next to him stood Jael, Micah’s right-hand man, and one of the biggest assholes Nico had ever met. Simon and Titus were the bookends of the group.

Nico met Simon
’s gaze, but couldn’t detect anything from the male. Simon had always been quiet, and it was hard to gauge what he was thinking.

Not thirty seconds later, more footsteps were heard down the hall, and Annis, Cohen, Hudson, and Jovan appeared, their guns drawn. Rayner was waiting in the car in case a getaway was needed. So far, everything was going as planned.

“I thought this was supposed to be a civilized meeting,” Micah said, eyeing the Glock Cohen was aiming at him.

“
It is,” Noah said, “but you can’t be trusted. Unload your weapons on the table.”

“
You get to keep yours though, I take it?” Jael asked, pulling a gun from under his jacket.

“
Of course,” Hudson said.

“
That doesn’t seem fair,” Micah said, putting his gun on the table.

“
Just like it wasn’t fair for your friend over there to open fire on three guys sitting in a car,” Jovan said, motioning to Jael.

“
And I see you’re all using our gift,” Noah said, speaking of the contacts that the Saviors had given them to dim the glow of their SR44-colored eyes.

Micah sighed.
“Yes, and our lives have become much easier,” he said. “As for the shooting, that was bad judgment. I let my anger get the best of me.”

Noah stepped out from behind Nico and Blake. Before Nico knew what was happening, Noah had Micah on the ground and was punching him in the face. A second later, he was on top of Jael, doing a rerun of what he’d done to Micah. The rest of The Platoon made a move for their weapons, but the Saviors all cocked their guns, stopping them.

Nico was surprised at Noah’s agility, as he’d never seen him move so fast. He went over and pulled Noah off of Jael. “It’s enough, Noah,” he said quietly. “Don’t waste your energy.” Nico did get satisfaction when he saw that Micah’s lip was cut and his nose was bleeding.

“
That was unnecessary,” Micah growled, getting to his feet. Jael followed suit.

“
That
was for Talin, you piece of shit,” Noah said, straightening out his jacket. “That felt really, really good.”

Micah stared at Noah, both males breathing hard. This wasn
’t going the way it was supposed to. They were supposed to talk about Colonists, not beat the crap out of each other.

The tension in the room was growing, and Nico was certain they were one wrong move away from a bloodbath. Emotions were too high from Talin
’s death.

“
Perhaps we should all calm down. We’re here for a purpose,”Nico said. He figured he better step into the peacekeeper role before it all went tit
s-
up, as Hudson liked to say.

“
Nico’s right,” Hudson said. “Let’s dial it down a notch, boys.”

Blake went over to the table and scooped up the discarded weapons.
“I’ll just move these over here for safe keeping,” he said, putting them in a corner of the room. “And let’s remember that the government will have another clue to the existence of you guys if there are any bodies.”

“
They already have bodies, dumbass,” Jael said.

“
And if you don’t shut your trap, Jael, I’d be more than happy to make you their next one,” Hudson said with a smile.

“
Let’s get down to business, Micah,” Noah said, taking a chair at the table, motioning for Micah to sit across from him.

Micah sat down and gestured for Jael to take a seat next to him. He blotted his nose with the sleeve of his jacket. Hudson sat down next to Noah and laid his gun on the table in front of him. Nico had watched Hudson get ready for the night, and he knew that under the windbreaker were three knives and two more guns. The guy was a straight-up killer when needed, and Nico was happy Hudson was on their side.

“You’ve seen the picture of the rat,” Micah said.

“
Yes,” Noah said.

“
And what did you think?”

“
I think you could have faked that.”

Micah rolled his eyes.
“Why would I go to the trouble of doing that?”

Noah shrugge
d,
then leaned over the table. “Who knows? I know nothing about you except you’re a crazy, cold-blooded-killing motherfucker. I trust you like a mouse trusts a snake. The only reason that I’m here is because Nico and Annis believed we had to check it out.”

Micah nodded and sat back. He looked at Nico, then at Annis.
“Thank you both.”

Jesus. What was it with the manners? Maybe the guy had been reading
Dear
Abby
as Blake had mentione
d
.

“
Very well, Noah. I understand your hesitancy to trust me—us. We have been trailing this man who killed the rat. Tonight we followed him to a church. We didn’t go in. I would suggest we all go there and pay him a visit. Find out what he’s up to.”

Noah sat back in his chair and stared at Micah for a moment.
“You seem certain that you’re on to something.”

“
I am. I just don’t know how big it is. My gut tells me we need to work together on this.”

The silence in the room was heavy.

“Fine. Here’s the way this is going to play out, Micah. You and one of your buddies will go with Hudson, Blake, and Nico to check it out. But not Jael.”

“
Why not?” Jael asked.

“
Because I want you here with me.”

“
Why?”

Noah leaned into the table.
“Because you killed my friend and fellow Warrior. I want you to sit here while I decide whether or not to let Hudson gut you like the pig you are.”

“
Noah, come on.” Micah said. “We agreed—“

“
That’s the way it’s going to be, Micah.”

Nico saw a flash of the crazy in Micah’s eyes that he had become accustomed to. Micah
’s pupils dilated, and his nose flared. It vanished as quickly as it came.

“
Fine,” Micah said, standing. “Let’s go, Simon.”

Nico and Blake exchanged glances. Nico was worried about the situation, but he was certain this was the best course of action. Jael was a mean son of a bitch, and if there was going to be any trouble, he was the one who would start it. It was better if he stayed right where he was, and Nico was glad Noah had picked up on it.

However, Nico was surprised at first with Micah’s choice of Simon, but then it made perfect sense. Simon was calm and level-headed, and they needed that.

Nico took a deep breath and followed Blake out into the hot night air. Micah and Simon followed, and Hudson brought up the rear.

“Jesus, it’s hot,” Nico muttered.

“
Do you know why?” Blake asked.

“
Because it’s summer?”

Blake nodded.
“It’s summer. You live in the desert. That’s what happens in the desert during the summer, so quit your bitching.”

Of course.

They arrived at the Hummer. “I’ll drive,” Nico said. “Micah, you’re up front. Simon, you’re in the middle, and Blake, behind me.”

“
And I’m right behind you, Micah,” Hudson said. “Please give me a reason to shoot you.”

There was brief stare-down before Micah got into the vehicle. Hudson climbed in behind him.

“If you shoot him, I’m not cleaning that shit up,” Blake said.

“
Me neither,” Nico said. “You make a mess, you clean it up, Hudson.”

Hudson laughed.
“With pleasure. Nothing that a little soap and water won’t take care of.”