Quicksilver Dreams (Dreamwalkers) (33 page)

I could feel myself going pale, sort of shrinking from the wealth and privilege that was before me. I was out of my league. Deep under water. I found myself playing with my charm bracelet, seeking strength. Why in the world would Ryder be interested in little old trailer-park me?

It didn’t help that, though polite, the dozen or so people crowding the office were distinctly chilly. Not a one of them cracked a smile in my direction, which only worked to further alienate me. They didn’t even see me.

I tried to remember what Cynthia had told me, which was that these folks had been in office for twenty years or more, so they’d seen a lot of pain and anguish in their people’s lives due to outsiders. Still, I had to actively do my best not to feel hurt, which wasn’t really working.

I tried to stay out of the way, by the door, but Ryder spotted me and pulled me toward an attractive older woman who looked chic with her mahogany hair in a bob. She was wearing a linen-and-silk version of what I was wearing.

“Mom, I want you to meet Taylor. Taylor, this is my mother, Counsel Judiciate Miara Langston.” Her pale green eyes, which I saw as she glanced at me somewhat sharply and analytically, were a mirror of Ryder’s. Those alone could have told me she was his mother.

She held out a hand to me professionally. “Nice to meet you.”

“It’s very nice to meet you,” I replied, and I shook her hand firmly. There wasn’t time for any other small talk, which was a relief to my nerves, as everyone was called to the conference table.

“Have a seat, and let’s all introduce ourselves to the newcomer,” commanded a voice from the table.

As Ryder led me to a seat at the table, I knew I would have recognized his father in a lineup. He was tall and broad, like Ryder, with deep, blue-black hair, though his had a few streaks of gray at the temples. He was also a bit more filled out with age, had a few more lines, and had bright blue eyes, but his deep voice and compelling gaze were the same.

His brow knitted, and he looked me over with a hawklike stare before turning his look on Ryder. In a cold voice, he remarked, “I see you dressed for the occasion.”

“Always,” Ryder responded with much the same tone.

“Earth seems to be rubbing off on you.”

“I hope so.”

They stared at each other in a silent battle of wills that made me, and everyone else at the table, uneasy. What was wrong with Earth, by the way?

After that, it was time for business.

Once everyone was seated, introductions were made. Because my brain scrambles when I’m feeling stressed, I immediately forgot all their names except for Ryder’s father’s. He was Talon, senior representative of the province Milak and the nation, Sunan.

Talk about stress. I was on overwhelm with all eyes on me, feeling like I was the freak show of the room. Looking around the table of representatives, I saw there might have been one or two faces that were neutral, but most were eyeing me with downright suspicious looks, which was really hard to accept. Besides that, being the center of attention was not my thing, particularly when I felt like I was being analyzed, judged and found lacking.

Recognizing their treatment of me was helpful, though. It got my inner bitch to wake up. I don’t cower for long, and the badass in my head suddenly smacked me hard.

Screw these people.
They can kiss your ass.
They
should
kiss your ass
,
because you’re the reason they aren’t mourning the deaths of hundreds.
They should be smiling at you
,
thanking you
,
warmly shaking your hand and grateful that their marketplace didn’t become the site of a new memorial.
I took a deep breath and coolly looked everyone squarely in the eye. I had nothing to be ashamed of. They were the ones lacking in manners.

I felt triumphant when Ryder’s mother gave me a small smile of approval.

Still, I appreciated it when Ryder’s hand found its way to my thigh under the table, which also gave me a hit of warmth. I squeezed his hand gently in thanks.

Not so strangely, Ryder’s mother seemed to pick up on our body language and continued looking between us searchingly, as though she suspected there was something going on. I flushed guiltily, knowing exactly what was between us. Her green eyes widened slightly, as though she’d just had her thoughts confirmed, and I looked away quickly.

If I clicked my heels three times and said
home
,
home
,
home
, would I find myself there?

“Images of the marketplace have been compiled,” Talon told the group. “The purpose of this meeting is to review the images and clarify any questions we might have over the incident. It will allow us to better evaluate the case and make necessary decisions.”

There were nods of assent all around.

At first, it all went smoothly.

The cool, 3-D imaging technology came out of a small metallic box, of which each corner was made of glass. Four different projections allowed everyone to watch from their own angles as Cynthia and I walked down the aisle of vendors toward the transfer location. The images, which were voice controlled, were stopped along the way numerous times. There were a number of questions about how I was able to pick up on the emotions, being a newcomer, when no one else in the marketplace had noticed anything. How was it that I could bypass mental shields, which everyone agreed were impossible to pass through. Did I believe I was more gifted than the rest of the people of Sunan in mind reading and perception?

The questions were borderline hostile, and I could feel Ryder tensing. Not knowing what he would do, I tried an experiment. I tried to hold my shield, but I sent him a reassuring mental blip, letting him know I was okay. That may or may not have been the reason he kept his seat. It didn’t stop his anger though, especially toward his father. His eyes kept finding the man seated almost directly across from us, his jaw clenched.

I kept explaining to the best of my abilities that I didn’t know what anyone else could do. I only knew that in that moment I was able to locate the two terrorists, though it had taken a lot of effort and concentration.

“Cynthia, did you feel the energy that Taylor is speaking of?” Miara asked her.

“Only after she was able to find the general location of where it was coming from, and only in small quantity.” Cynthia had gone quiet over the course of the questioning. Her toffee eyes were like round saucers, telling me that she hadn’t expected this meeting to go quite this way. “The truth is, she is very powerful. She was able to tap into what they were thinking despite their shields, something I couldn’t do.”

“Is that right? Can you bypass shields?” One of the other representatives was looking at me, aghast.

Ah. So it was my abilities that made me suspect.

“Not all the time. In that moment, a hit of power seemed to boost me, and I don’t know where it came from.” I shook my head to show my own befuddlement over it all. “For some reason, in the heat of the moment, I could see the bomb in my mind. They wanted to plant the bomb right next to the transfer units and transfer out before the bomb went off.”

A few gasps sounded around the table, along with murmurings about how mylunate from the transfer area would have created an explosion several times more lethal. No one would have survived.

I continued delivering my information. “The smaller one, the one that got away, was actually feeling horrified and coerced into doing what he was doing. He was holding the bag with the bomb in it over his shoulder, and both he and the large one were arming the bomb.”

Miara frowned her concern. “So what happened next?”

“I just knew that there was no time. Somehow it came to me. They were going to do this horrible thing, and only I knew about it. Then the smaller one said...” I closed my eyes to better remember. “The smaller one said that the marketplace would be our tomb. The larger one, though, he was out for blood. He felt a personal stake in this. He wanted revenge for a terrible wrong he felt was done to him by your people.”

“We wronged him?” one of the others sputtered. “That’s rich.”

“We lost close to a thousand in their attack twenty-five years ago,” one of the more elderly council members protested.

“Animals!”

“Subhumans.”

A general din of disapproving statements, comments and exchanges filled the room until Talon held a hand up for silence.

“Let’s finish watching images before we decide on the punishment for the Brausiian warrior.”

Punishment?
Was this like...a trial?

The images played on, capturing my attention again. There were a few horrified gasps from the round table as I ran at the hooded pair, throwing my shoes. I had the grace to roll my eyes at my own actions, though there hadn’t been anything else I could have done in the moment. I hadn’t exactly had the luxury of time. I smirked and happened to glance at Ryder, which was a mistake. He had a dangerous look on his face. He was not amused. Well, if he didn’t like that, he was definitely not going to like the next part. Wait for it...

The Brausiian warrior unleashed his roar of fury as his partner escaped and began his mad rush at me with his knife drawn. I heard Ryder’s sharp intake of breath, and his hand tensed on my thigh. I tried to rub it soothingly, reminding him that I was here and okay, but he wasn’t eased. The warrior’s crushing embrace, where he was yelling at me to transfer him, only lasted a few seconds. Then the warrior collapsed in anguish, and I fell into a deep slumber. End of images. Another barrage of questions began.

“What did he want?” a representative near me asked.

“He wanted me to help him escape.”

“And you resisted,” a representative on Ryder’s other side stated with some awe. I decided to omit that my resistance was less by choice than by lack of knowledge. Who knows what I would have done if I’d actually had the knowledge. He was a scary guy.

“What did you do? Why did he let go?” Talon turned to me speculatively.

“It’s hard to explain.” I looked at Ryder, who seemed shaken by the images he’d just seen. This was clearly his first time viewing them. “I sort of went Rocky Balboa on the guy. The warrior’s mind was mostly open to me, like he was new at shielding and forgot to do it. I just imagined a hurtful power, allowed it to build strength, and bombed on him mentally. I thought of a huge fist delivering a powerful left hook.”

“This isn’t new. We just never found it to be effective,” one of the other members said.

“It appears to be highly effective,” Talon responded, eyeing the still again. “This small woman was able to bring down one of the warriors.”

I decided not to mention that burst of power I was given from somewhere again, because I just didn’t want to have more questions that I couldn’t answer, which would bring more suspicion down on me. So I remained silent and let the council speak among themselves.

The general consensus was that this did appear to be effective, and following that, there needed to be experimentation done to see where they’d gone wrong in the past.

“She’s slight and was capable of bringing down the warrior without bloodshed.”

“More study of this must be done. It’s effective in the short run, but look. She became immediately incapacitated.”

“Perhaps we can experiment. It might become a weapon of choice if we can increase the lethal force and control for the effects.”

“Of course he’ll be executed, but perhaps first we could experiment on him?”

What?
Executed?
Is there not going to be a trial?
I’d felt the pain the Brausiian was in, the grief and fury over what he’d perceived as being done to him. Would he get no say? Didn’t he deserve his day in court? To defend himself? He wasn’t evil, and he hadn’t succeeded in his attempt. Didn’t he deserve, like, a prison sentence or something?

“Let us reconvene for our final decision during the morning session,” Talon interrupted. “If there are no further questions, let us adjourn.”

Immediately, the representatives began making their way out of the room, a few of them coming over to shake my hand formally and wish me well, which was better than the suspicious sideways glances I’d received earlier.

“We’ll see you later.” Cynthia gave me a quick hug, following behind the last of the representatives. “I promised my mother I’d have lunch with her.”

“All right.”

“You’re okay?” She arched a delicate eyebrow.

“Good, fine.” I pushed a quick smile at her, not letting her see the inner turmoil I was feeling. She left with Nick, who shook hands with Ryder and gave me a measured nod. He seemed to have developed a grudging respect for me and my badassness. Then we were on our own. Ryder’s parents had made their way to the magnificent desk deeper in the room and seemed to be discussing a file.

“If you even consider doing something like that again, I’ll lock you up myself,” Ryder growled quietly, for my ears only. There was a tremor to his muscles, as though he was barely containing his emotions.

“All’s well that ends well,” I snapped, and I pulled my arm out of his grasp.

“What’s your problem?” He scowled, looking thoroughly pissed off.

He was about to have company with that emotion.

Chapter Fifteen

“What the hell was all this about?” I motioned toward the now-empty table.

“It was a briefing. Most of the evidence was captured in images, which is why our public areas are under surveillance.”

“So a person accused never has a chance to speak, if their actions were caught on tape?”

“Exactly. Their actions speak for themselves.”

“So the guy has no chance?” Horror made my voice shake.

“A chance for what?” The look of incredulity on Ryder’s face said it all.

“Are you kidding me? What kind of place is this?” I couldn’t help that my voice hiked. I was aghast. “He doesn’t get a chance to defend himself?”

“What’s the problem?” Talon’s voice reared up from behind his desk.

I paused a moment, my mind debating in the space of seconds whether to say anything, and I knew that even if it meant cutting my own throat, I needed to. This was a man’s life at stake, and I had had a hand in this sentence. “I was told you were a just society, but then you deny someone their day in court? Doesn’t the warrior get the chance to defend himself?”

“Were any of you in the marketplace going to be given a chance to defend yourselves?” Ryder answered. “His bomb was going to level the marketplace. His knife was ready to eviscerate you.”

“But he didn’t actually do anything, and you don’t know that he was going to follow through with it. I felt him! I was in his mind! He wasn’t a monster. He was betrayed. Something horrific happened to him that he believed was caused by your people! Don’t you think that’s worth questioning?”

“He was going to fucking kill you, Taylor! The son of a bitch is lucky he’s in lockup, because given the chance, I’d tear his goddamn heart out. Don’t you dare defend him to me.”

“Ryder, calm yourself,” his mother snapped, her eyes narrowing on him. “There’s no reason to speak this way to Taylor. She is not from here. She doesn’t understand.”

“Who is she to you?” Talon demanded of Ryder while looking at me.

“Not your concern,” Ryder returned tightly, partly, I imagine, because he still hadn’t recovered from seeing me attacked by the large Brausiian warrior in the images, and partly because it was his father who’d asked.

“Everything that happens in Sunan is my concern.” His father raised his voice angrily and stepped out from around his desk to approach. “Haven’t you done enough? When do you start listening to those around you? When do you become accountable?”

“Talon, not now,” Miara warned, following her husband.

“Yes, now! He makes poor choices, and we all suffer for them!”

“We all thought she was lovely. She had us all fooled,” Miara countered. “You can’t hold that against him or you have to hold it against us all.”

Was this an ex-girlfriend they were talking about? And was I now being lumped into the same pile as her? The one labeled Bad Choices? The pain of that pierced my heart with a hot blade. The idea that I wasn’t good enough for Ryder wasn’t a new one to me, but it wasn’t one I thought would have been said to me in an outright manner. The familiar feeling of shame, like I was wearing whore’s clothes in the castle, hung over my head. It made me pale with a sense of disappointment so deep, I thought I’d never climb out of the darkness of it.

“I can blame him for refusing to allow proper punishment. She was found in your office, among your files. She deserved imprisonment!”

“It’s time to let that go, Talon.”

“Not when he continues to act foolishly!”

“Can’t have it both ways, old man,” Ryder said snidely. “Either she’s a hero for saving the day or I shouldn’t have brought her. Which is it?”

“You think to become involved with someone
other?
” The idea was obviously abhorrent to Talon. My self-esteem was taking a real beating in this conversation. Another wave of hurt splintered quietly through my mind. I winced.

In a menacing voice, Ryder snarled, “I will be done with you.”

Energy suddenly crackled around me. Power surged up through my feet. Adrenaline spiked and I felt myself capable of seeing through the mental barriers around me. I could feel Miara’s anger that I was causing further strife between her husband and son when she had to work so hard to keep peace between them during moments of calm. They were rarely in the same room together anymore, and it broke her heart, a heart that still ached for the empty room in her home that she’d left as it was, filled with Asily’s personal things. Every once in a while, she sat in that room with the delicately embroidered floral bedcover, when her day had been particularly challenging.

Ryder and his father had locked horns. There was anger and sorrow swirling through Talon, but he was refusing to acknowledge it. It was as though he’d made a deal with himself that if he didn’t think about it, it wouldn’t be there. By turning off his heart, he’d not only blocked out his daughter’s death, but the joy of remembering her and of sharing a full life with the rest of his family. He kept his focus on trying to bring his son to heel. In turn, Ryder’s bone-deep resentment radiated from him.

The emotions in the room were overpowering.

Sorrow that I had a hand in this weighed heavily. I wished I could have just shut up, backed down, left the room. I didn’t want to cause more pain for Miara or any of them. These were Ryder’s parents, his family, and I was forever going to damage their view of me, but this was no small thing. It was a man’s life, and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I knew I hadn’t done everything I could to stop this madness from plowing forward without thought or care.

The energy flow surging through me steadily grew in strength. It was dizzying. The mental door whispered open, briefly, in my mind again. The all-knowing, overwhelming energy that had come to me in the marketplace returned. In the same way I’d known the terrorists needed to be stopped, I knew that this moment in the timeline of Sunan was crucial. Feeling as though a sudden burst of freezing wind whipped my face, I saw the future unfold into two potential branches, all in a fraction of a second, in my mind’s eye. I gasped with the clarity of the vision.

One way would lead to bloodier warfare than either the Sunan or the Brausahad ever seen or could predict. They would both have access to Earth’s technology, and combining it with their own would lead to a war the likes of which could shake the very foundation of human sustainability. The shrieks of pain and terror from that reality had barely faded before I peered down the other possible path, which showed a cautious truce between the two peoples that had the potential to lead toward peace.

The Brausiian warrior was the key. He was of great importance to his people. To kill him would set in motion events the likes of which could destroy the fabric of both societies. The power of the vision left me breathing heavily, sweat breaking out on my brow and upper lip. What did this all mean?

As though no time had passed for him, Talon spoke to me. “We’ve experienced horrors the likes of which you will never understand, which is why we’ve had to develop a system that may seem harsh and unjust, but which keeps us alive.”

On a shaky note, I asked, “But at what expense? You’re just going to execute the man?”

“It’s the least of what he deserves,” Talon ground out.

“This will lead to war! I’ve seen it!”

Miara frowned at this.

“We welcome the opportunity to exterminate their pestilence for all time!” Talon shouted.

“You can’t! This is wrong!” My voice took on a shrill note. The door whispered closed after sharing the terrifying vision, leaving me tired and fragile. At a gut level, this was making me ill, and I turned away, holding a hand to my stomach to calm the roiling nausea, but the anger continued between Ryder and his father.

“We don’t allow outsiders to come to Sunan,” Talon intoned sharply. “There’s a reason for strict discipline and obedience. Things happen when we don’t meet expectations and rules of governance!”

Where had I heard that before, the talk about discipline and obedience? About rules and following them or something? I opened my mind and tried to peer into my memory, but I found myself inundated with the emotions swirling around us all—the rage, the sorrow and the deep familial love and loyalty that was leaving them all conflicted and confused.

“I needed to keep her safe.” Ryder confronted his father with anger that was vibrating off of him almost violently. Why such a strong reaction? Toward his father, no less? I didn’t sense that his father was a bad man, just hurt and confused, though he covered it up with his force of will.

“Why wouldn’t she be safe on Earth?”

“There were men trying to kill her.”

My mind was being tickled. Flashes of imagery—woodland with dappled sunlight—teased the fringes of my mind without allowing me to fully grasp their significance. When had I been kicking a ball through the woodlands, dodging trees? What was that?

“How does this become our responsibility?” Talon demanded of Ryder.

“Talon!” Miara said sharply.

“Because Ranik is trying to kill her, and he’s our responsibility.” Ryder’s teeth were clenched.

Don’t let this happen anymore
,
Taylor.
Help them.
I knew that sweet voice whispering desperately in my mind. Her energy was calling to me, needing me, pulling me so sharply that I couldn’t resist.

In the next moment, I was in the woodlands, sitting on a blanket with Asily, drawing a picture of her on canvas. I was using charcoal and could see that it was mostly done. When had I completed so much of it? Curiously, I asked,
Why haven’t you gone to them?
Let them see that you’re okay.

I
can’t.
They have to come to me.
You can help them with that.
This is your gift.
You’ll grow into your power as you practice with it.
You have to help them access the Gods’ plane.
Not now
,
but soon.
Promise me.
When the time is right.

“Taylor!” I felt like I could hear Ryder’s voice from far, far away. He sounded frantic as he said, “Mom, I can’t feel her! Her energy signature is gone!” I looked around with concern, expecting to see him.

Why can’t he remember you?
We were all together in the same dream.

Spirits can’t interact outside of the Gods’ plane
,
Tay.
You’re going to have to help him remember this one.

Oh.
So last night wasn’t just a regular dream.

Of course not
,
or you would have remembered it.

How will I remember this one?

I
can help you
,
but you’re going to need to concentrate on this memory as you go back.
Focus yourself.

Focus myself.
Got it.

Now go back.
Asily smiled sweetly, and just that quickly I felt my weight on my feet. I nearly stumbled from the unexpected pressure, but Ryder was grasping my arms.

“Dammit, Taylor! What happened?”

“I was on the Gods’ plane,” I breathed, blinking my eyes back into focus. The flood of dream detail, the horror and the bleak pain that continued to poison them all, played through my mind.

“What are you talking about?” Talon was clearly taken aback. “How would you know about that? Why were you brought here?” Just like that, his anger, now mixed with confusion, was directed toward me.

I realized this drama had nothing to do with me being here or my questioning of authority. This was a family still grieving over the tragic loss of their daughter. This horrible argument was a refusal to accept and grieve in a healthy, meaningful way, which meant they had never been able to move on and live freely. It was hurting all of them. Asily could see this, and she wanted to see them all heal.

The memory of Ryder’s young, grieving face shamefully confessing his guilt for something that was not his responsibility seared my heart. This was the root. Ryder, the child, was counting on me to protect him, and as I thought of his smooth-cheeked visage bowing his head in shame, my own anger bloomed over the injustice.

Though I tried to find a calm place in my mind, the punk in me was glaring daggers at Ryder’s father, wanting to bitch-slap him for turning his grief on a defenseless child. As it turned out, I didn’t have time.

The office door opened suddenly. A young man in black uniform entered swiftly, carrying a hand-size black felt bag, like a coin bag on a rope, something that could be worn around the neck.

“What is it?” Talon demanded, his voice cracking with the effort to regain control.

“Sorry to interrupt, Senior Representative, but there was a problem with the Brausiian prisoner.”

Frowning, Talon asked, “What occurred?”

“We missed this object when we caged the prisoner. We tried to retrieve it this morning while he was investigating it, and he flew into a rage. Several officers were injured and have been transferred to the medic ward.”

“Will they recover?” Talon asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, what is it? Slide the contents out on my desk.” They walked to Talon’s desk, and I trailed Ryder to bring up the rear.

Here was that frightening sense of inevitability again. I almost didn’t want to know what was about to happen. I was afraid, but I walked toward the desk with everyone else anyway. There was a tug of energy from the pictures framed across part of the desk. In one picture, the profile of an older woman holding an infant caught my attention. Somehow I recognized her and was drawn to her, which was impossible because this was Ryder’s family, and I obviously didn’t know anyone but Asily.

And yet it was like she was reaching out to me, soothing me, telling me it was going to be okay.

Why did I need soothing? The feeling of dread doubled, and I suddenly wished I could be anywhere but right here. Hadn’t I been through enough? Couldn’t I just go home and pretend none of this had happened? I’d already accessed the damn Gods’ plane! I wanted to be done.