“I have no idea.” Easton yanks his fingers through his hair, the strands sticking up. “This is bad, Fost. Really bad. We need to get the hell out of here and then message Mom.”
Foster presses on the gas, backing up a bit. “Why didn’t anyone warn us about this before we showed up here? And everyone else for that matter?”
“Because no one on the outside of the school knows what’s going on yet,” Easton explains, his gaze tracking the land and cars around us. “Everyone who made it inside the school has been put on lockdown and can’t communicate with anyone outside. The only reason Jane could text me is because of her gift.”
“What’s her gift?” I work to breathe evenly, to not freak the hell out.
“Controlling energy that flows through electronic devices,” Easton explains then glances worriedly at Foster. “But she said the hunters put a blocking spell up around the school and it’s making everyone’s powers weak. She could barely get the text out to me, and that’s why she wasn’t answering any of my messages earlier.” He slumps in the seat, his jaw working from side to side. “Everyone’s just trapped in there with them. We need to do something. We’re more powerful than them. There has to be a way to overthrow them.”
Foster glances at the school then back at Easton. “Send out a text to everyone you know and those on the school’s directory. That way, no one else will go inside. Then message Mom and send out an emergency signal to everyone we trust. Tell them we need to gather somewhere and make a plan on how we’re going to get into the school. We’re going to have to be careful since, once we get inside those walls, we won’t be able to use our powers.” He cranes the wheel to turn the car around. “What I don’t get is why the hunters are here and how they suddenly got in the school. Are they gathering subjects for the experiments or is it for another reason? And how did they even get in with all the spells around this place …? They shouldn’t have been able to, even through a portal.”
Rain drips down and splatters against the dirt as my fear elevates and my control nosedives. I don’t know what to say. What to do. And this overwhelming helplessness is consuming me. I want to be stronger. I want to be as powerful as Foster believes I am—as I want to be. But I’m not there yet and I’m panicking. And I don’t think it’s just my own panic I’m feeling…
No, I’m fairly positive I can feel Easton’s and Foster’s too.
My heart thunders in my chest. So does the sky. But neither of them seem to notice.
“Unless something powerful tore the protection spells down,” Foster says abruptly as he backs up the car as far as it’ll go. “Can you ask Jane if something else is in there with them?”
“No … the connection’s lost.” Easton’s fingers are hovering over his phone screen. “I’ll text Mom and Dad and let them know. Maybe they’ll be able to give us a few ideas.”
Foster shoves the shifter into drive. “You should send a text to our brothers, too, just in case the hunters plan on trying to raid more places. Tell them to meet us at the house for now. We have enough protection spells up that we should be safe there for a bit. At least until we can figure out what’s going on.”
Easton stops typing and glances up at Foster. “You don’t think the hunters are after us, do you?” His gaze travels toward the school then to the line of vehicles, some of which are trying to turn around. “Maybe they’re trying to capture us. It’d be easier to do while we are here and not around our family.”
“You don’t think they’re after me, do you?” I interrupt. When Foster tosses a questioning look at me, I add, “A couple of nights ago, I had a dream with hunters and darkness in it, and darkness said they were coming to get me. And since you said maybe I have some sort of ability connected to my dreams …” I shrug, unsure if I’m overthinking things or not or where I’m even going with this.
“Usually dreams of darkness are just dreams, little taunting whispers that feed off your fears, which might be why the hunters were in it. But I’ve been wondering why your dreams are so vivid …” Fear unexpectedly flickers in Foster’s eyes. “Fuck, what if you have a dream seer ability? It’s rare, but …” Shaking his head, he shifts the car’s gears and presses down on the gas, suddenly seeming more frantic to get out of here.
“What is that?” I ask loudly over the rumble of the engine. “A dream seer ability?”
“The ability for others to visit your dreams and you can visit dreams as well,” Easton explains, gripping onto the back of my seat as the car lurches forward. “No one can touch you while you’re there, but they can send you messages and talk to you if they realize they’re in your dreams or you’re in theirs.”
Well, that sounds weird and creepy. “I don’t think that’s ever happened to me before.”
“Some of the more powerful abilities manifest later in life, and since your powers have been so restrained with that wall around you that’s now cracking, things might just be surfacing. Plus, you’re so damn powerful …” Fear rises across Foster’s face and pours through me. “We need to get the fuck out of here.”
But the truck parked behind us, the SUV in front of us, and the steep drop off on one side of the road makes it complicated for him to get his car turned around. It doesn’t help that I started a rainstorm that’s muddying the land.
As the tires spin in the wet dirt, Foster lets out a string of curses. “Shit.” He throws the car in reverse again and tries to back up, but the tires can’t get traction. Sighing, he meets my gaze. “Sky, baby, I know this is really fucking scary, but you have to try to calm down and let the sun through to dry up the ground, okay?”
“I’m trying. But I can’t get it to stop …” I pause, question marks popping up everywhere. “Did you just call me baby?”
His eyes slightly widen. “Yeah, sorry. It accidentally slipped out. I think Porter is rubbing off on me or something.”
“Does he call people baby a lot?” I flinch as hail plinks against the glass.
He nods, peering up at the cloudy sky with a frown. “That and honey and sweetheart and every other cheesy endearment possible.” His gaze shifts back to me, and then he unbuckles his seatbelt. “We need to calm you down.” He reaches for me. To do what, who knows, but probably something that requires a lot of touching.
But I never do find out because Easton shouts, “No, what we need is a fucking portal!” His eyes are fastened on something on the other side of the windshield. “Now!”
I turn to see what has him panicking, only to regret that I ever looked.
Tendrils of shadowy smoke have curled across the land, so thick I can barely see anything. Just like the other night in my dream.
“Darkness,” I whisper in horror.
Foster pales as he stares at me, terror possessing him, as if he suddenly sees me in a different light, as if he’s afraid of me.