He looked through me.
It had to be a dream then, right?
I had the sudden urge to follow him.
And I had no idea why.
At least the pain in my neck was gone.
I weaved around people, carriages. The noisy London streets smelled putrid, just like I remembered. Rain pounded the ground leaving giant puddles that were nearly impossible to walk around without walking into the street.
The man didn’t turn around again.
He stopped in front of a large building. It looked abandoned, run down, like an old shipyard or perhaps a mill.
Pulling the cloak tighter around him, he stepped through the unhinged gate and into the shadows.
“Hell,” I muttered. Why was I following him again? I shivered from the cold.
Then paused.
When had I ever been cold?
I always ran hot.
So hot it was impossible for me to think straight at times.
“Master,” a demon croaked. “They are gone.”
Bannik growled. “What do you mean gone?”
“Someone must have freed them.” The demon’s crazed red eyes darted from left to right. His long black hair was tied at the nape of his neck, his face smudged with dirt.
“I leave for an hour, and suddenly the elves are just… poof? Gone?”
“Timber said—”
“I don’t give a rat’s ass what Timber said!” Bannik yelled. “You get your orders from me! I’m trying to build your race, and the only means I have to do that just walked out the front door!” He picked the demon up by the neck and tossed him like a ragdoll against the wall.
“Enter,” Bannik whispered. “Don’t think I can’t see you in the shadows, Siren.”
I hesitated.
And then a version of myself walked forward, a version I wasn’t proud of. I looked crazed, like I hadn’t had sex in years.
I searched my brain for any recollection of this moment and came up with nothing. What the hell kind of paradoxical past was this?
“Watch,” a voice that sounded strangely like Cassius whispered.
I shivered.
And suddenly it made sense.
That bastard knew I hated dream walking!
Not only was it cold as hell, but I hated anyone touching me — Cassius knew that.
“Watch,” he urged again, louder.