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Authors: Erin Kellison
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belly. He drew an arm back, as if to strike—
—but Michael grabbed his wrist and yanked him up and off her. Threw the kid a couple of yards away, where he hit another column with a bone-crack and collapsed on the floor.
Jordan was trying to sit up, when Rook reached forward, presumably to help her up.
But instead he pushed her hard on her chest. “Wake up!”
She fell backward into a stunned collapse, her vision momentarily blanking. When she opened her eyes again, the early pink of dawn illuminated her bedroom curtains.
CHAPTER FIVE
Vince Blackman clicked through the file he’d found in his morning email. “Yeah, Dad, tell them this should work well.”
The file detailed the history of the other guy who’d been following Jordan Lane. Hell of a childhood. He had to be Chimera, what with the way he’d disappeared from his life so long ago. There was no record of him past seventeen.
Chimera were supposed to be able to do strange things—both in Rêve and in real life. They were ghosts. They had powers. Or they had really good PR people making them into urban legends. The spin was smart, psychological. Would carry into dreams, where they were supposed to dominate.
“I’ll show it to her this morning,” Vince said.
“They think you should already have her,” his father growled. “Does it always take you this long to land a woman?”
“There are Chimera everywhere watching her.”
“We have people watching her, too.”
We? That was a laugh. His father wasn’t one of them, no matter how much he wanted to be.
“I can’t get close,” Vince said. “She has to come to me.”
“And here I thought you were a Blackman.”
His father had made his bed and was looking for anyone other than himself to lie in it. “Careful, Dad.” His own threat. Jordan Lane didn’t deserve a life of fear. Neither did Vince.
“Son, I’m sorry. I saw them hurt someone last night.”
Case in point. The only way to do business with people like that was to refuse to do so from the beginning. It was ego and greed that had driven his father to accept to so much money without the ability to repay.
“Please, son. For me. Bring the girl in.”
***
Rook glanced up at Jordan’s tall apartment building, a knife-twisting feeling in his gut. The kiss had been spontaneous—he didn’t regret it—but the nightmare that had followed him? Shit. That the kid would attack her? And in the Agora?
She’d had a very rude awakening.
Jordan seemed like someone who did a lot of hard thinking in the cool light of day, making decisions and coming to unshakeable, maddening conclusions. With every second that passed, it felt like she was moving farther and farther from him.
He’d know when he saw her.
Beside him, Coll sipped his coffee while they waited for a break in traffic to cross the street. Coll (aka Conner for the time being) had an appointment with the Lane sisters at 7 a.m. Maisie Lane had evidently told Jordan about Coll, and Jordan had asked to meet him herself. Jordan didn’t trust her little sister’s instincts where people were concerned.
Rook hoped she didn’t mind if he tagged along. All things considered, it wouldn’t hurt if she knew he and Coll worked together.
“Fawkes tells me there was a rogue incursion in the Agora last night.” Coll took another pull from his coffee.
The incursion in question was not a rogue. It was the nightmare that followed Rook around, and its name was Joshua. Joshua Kenneth Rook, little brother, deceased eleven years.
But Coll couldn’t know about that. He wouldn’t understand anyway, sticking as close to the surface of dreamspace as he did. To Rook’s knowledge, Coll had never gone deep Darkside. Never seen those kinds of nightmares or stirred them within himself. As far as Coll knew, some Reveler had simply broken into the Agora.
“I booted him,” Rook said.
“Did you track him?” Traffic broke and they both cut across the four lanes of the
—but Michael grabbed his wrist and yanked him up and off her. Threw the kid a couple of yards away, where he hit another column with a bone-crack and collapsed on the floor.
Jordan was trying to sit up, when Rook reached forward, presumably to help her up.
But instead he pushed her hard on her chest. “Wake up!”
She fell backward into a stunned collapse, her vision momentarily blanking. When she opened her eyes again, the early pink of dawn illuminated her bedroom curtains.
CHAPTER FIVE
Vince Blackman clicked through the file he’d found in his morning email. “Yeah, Dad, tell them this should work well.”
The file detailed the history of the other guy who’d been following Jordan Lane. Hell of a childhood. He had to be Chimera, what with the way he’d disappeared from his life so long ago. There was no record of him past seventeen.
Chimera were supposed to be able to do strange things—both in Rêve and in real life. They were ghosts. They had powers. Or they had really good PR people making them into urban legends. The spin was smart, psychological. Would carry into dreams, where they were supposed to dominate.
“I’ll show it to her this morning,” Vince said.
“They think you should already have her,” his father growled. “Does it always take you this long to land a woman?”
“There are Chimera everywhere watching her.”
“We have people watching her, too.”
We? That was a laugh. His father wasn’t one of them, no matter how much he wanted to be.
“I can’t get close,” Vince said. “She has to come to me.”
“And here I thought you were a Blackman.”
His father had made his bed and was looking for anyone other than himself to lie in it. “Careful, Dad.” His own threat. Jordan Lane didn’t deserve a life of fear. Neither did Vince.
“Son, I’m sorry. I saw them hurt someone last night.”
Case in point. The only way to do business with people like that was to refuse to do so from the beginning. It was ego and greed that had driven his father to accept to so much money without the ability to repay.
“Please, son. For me. Bring the girl in.”
***
Rook glanced up at Jordan’s tall apartment building, a knife-twisting feeling in his gut. The kiss had been spontaneous—he didn’t regret it—but the nightmare that had followed him? Shit. That the kid would attack her? And in the Agora?
She’d had a very rude awakening.
Jordan seemed like someone who did a lot of hard thinking in the cool light of day, making decisions and coming to unshakeable, maddening conclusions. With every second that passed, it felt like she was moving farther and farther from him.
He’d know when he saw her.
Beside him, Coll sipped his coffee while they waited for a break in traffic to cross the street. Coll (aka Conner for the time being) had an appointment with the Lane sisters at 7 a.m. Maisie Lane had evidently told Jordan about Coll, and Jordan had asked to meet him herself. Jordan didn’t trust her little sister’s instincts where people were concerned.
Rook hoped she didn’t mind if he tagged along. All things considered, it wouldn’t hurt if she knew he and Coll worked together.
“Fawkes tells me there was a rogue incursion in the Agora last night.” Coll took another pull from his coffee.
The incursion in question was not a rogue. It was the nightmare that followed Rook around, and its name was Joshua. Joshua Kenneth Rook, little brother, deceased eleven years.
But Coll couldn’t know about that. He wouldn’t understand anyway, sticking as close to the surface of dreamspace as he did. To Rook’s knowledge, Coll had never gone deep Darkside. Never seen those kinds of nightmares or stirred them within himself. As far as Coll knew, some Reveler had simply broken into the Agora.
“I booted him,” Rook said.
“Did you track him?” Traffic broke and they both cut across the four lanes of the
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