Dream Hunter (Bailey Spade 2)

“I wanted to apologize,” he says in a low voice. “I had no idea Dr. Cipactli was involved in a terrorist plot. Had I known—”

“Don’t mention it.” I beam a reassuring smile at him. “How’s my mom?”

He glances at the nearby door. “We’ve just brought her back from the other hospital. Sadly, there’s no change in her condition.”

I walk over to the door in question and open it.

Seeing Mom hooked up to all those machines is again a punch to the heart—doubly painful now that I know she got this way because of me. I try not to dwell on that last part, though. Not when I can do something a lot more practical.

“I’d like to walk in her dreams again,” I tell Dr. Xipil.

“Now?” He looks at the clock.

It’s just past midnight.

I nod. “I’m feeling very strong. Can you get someone to help you subdue me in case I die during the subdream stage?”

He gestures in his VR, and a minute later, the uber nurse from before steps into the room.

We tell her what’s what, and I approach Mom.

No touchless business now. I reach out and place my hand on her forehead.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I’ll fix this.”

Closing my eyes, I fall in.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

A black ocean is under my feet, and fiery skies are above my head. A huge creature is flying at me. It looks like an eyeball, but its eyelashes are snakes the size of anacondas—with fangs ready to bite.

A furry pitchfork grows out of my wrist.

The pupil of the giant eye dilates, and I get the strange feeling that a malevolent intelligence is examining me, scanning and filing away my every molecule.

The snake closest to me strikes at my neck. The fangs bite into my flesh, and I feel the poison beginning to spread through my bloodstream.

I thrust with my pitchfork.

The furry weapon enters the eyeball like a fork into jelly.

The snakes/eyelashes yelp in pain before slumping as one, creating the illusion of the eye closing.

I’m in my dream palace, blood gushing from the wound and my consciousness flickering in and out from the poison. I escape my body, heal the wound, and force the poison out, causing it to hang like a black cloud above me. Jumping back in, I dissipate the cloud and exhale a sigh of relief.

“Another close call.” Pom’s furry face is grim, his color black. “You need to stop doing this.”

“I will as soon as Mom is out of her coma,” I say and teleport to her nook in the tower of sleepers.

Making myself invisible, I touch Mom the same way as in the waking world.

A teenage me is on the bathroom floor somewhere on Earth, if the primitive toilets are anything to go by. Her/my head is bashed in, brains spread out on the white tile. The windows in the place are black, so the only light comes from the flickering halogen lamps that add a macabre touch to the crime scene.

Mom stands above me holding a heavy porcelain toilet tank cover that’s covered in blood.

Ugh. She couldn’t bother to kill me in a more hygienic manner? I think I’d rather get my throat sliced with a scalpel—assuming it’s sterile.

Ignoring Mom’s nightmare, I gather all my power into a massive “wake up” jolt.

She doesn’t wake up.

I close my eyes and strain so hard my nails pierce my palms.

This jolt doesn’t work either.

Healing my wound, I try the jolt again. And again. And again.

After what feels like a thousand attempts, I have no choice but to give up.

The disappointment is bitter on my tongue. Only the knowledge that the Lucid Dreamer project isn’t complete yet keeps me from utter despondency. I should get a much bigger boost when the game goes live, and I’ll try it again then.

It’s bound to work when I have more power. I have to believe that.

For now, I might as well jump out and let Mom be.

I’m about to do just that when my gaze lands on the black windows.

The secrets behind them call to me like sirens to lonely sailors.

Was Felix right? Is there something horrible Mom’s hiding? Could she have tried to kill herself so I wouldn’t learn whatever is behind one of these windows?

More importantly, could I use that secret to make her wake up?

Like the proverbial cat who bites the dust due to its overpowering curiosity, I float toward the nearest window.

Below me, Mom is too busy with her daughter slaughter to notice.

Before I can talk myself out of doing it, I fly into the onyx-like glass.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Just like before, I plunge into an icy black lake.

Previously, my powers couldn’t help me swim to the shore, but what about now that I’ve gotten a boost?

I will myself to become lighter than water so I can float.

It doesn’t help.

I will the water to become saltier, but that doesn’t work either.