We were galloping at full speed through nothing but blackness for a handful of seconds, and then our path was lined with images on either side. As soon as I got a glimpse of one, they changed. We whipped past them and more sprang up in a distance with no end in sight.
It was one of the most terrifying and invigorating things I'd ever experienced. Suddenly, Terror slowed to a trot and we moved into one of the scenes playing out around us.
It was Malokin, with an image of a female who looked too similar to me to be anyone but. She, or I, was standing in the center of an empty room as Malokin circled around her. From his fingers sprung a web. Slowly, he kept circling the girl, thickening the sticky covering that she struggled to get loose from. I could see her hands pressing outward as her mouth opened in a cry, but she’d lost her voice. Turn after turn, the web got thicker and denser and she struggled less and less.
“Are we in Malokin's dreams? What does this mean? I don't understand.” The horse neighed in response and then we were sprinting forth again, until we were in the field once more.
Jockey grabbed my waist as I slid down Terror's side. She nuzzled my arm before taking off into the field, leaving me standing there, shaky and breathing heavily.
“It's quite a trip, isn't it?” Jockey asked, mistaking my demeanor for excitement and not the fear that it was.
“They're just dreams, right?” I crossed my arms and rubbed my palms over them.
“Yes. Everyone's. Anyone's. Where did she take you? Did you get to see a good one?”
“Just a random dream.” I'd never seen Jockey so animated, and I wished I could partake in his enthusiasm, instead of wanting to run for the door.
“They can go anywhere in the dream world. Any mind that's sleeping.”
“Thank you, but I really need to go,” I said, my voice flat, no matter how I wanted to fake it. I took a couple of steps toward the door, wanting nothing more than to get the hell out of there.
“What about the manual?” he called after me when I finally succumbed to the urge.
“Of course. I'll give you an outline of what I need this week,” I replied without stopping.
Chapter 13
On the Job Training
We met at the end of the pier in Surfside. He was already there, standing amidst a brewing storm. Thunder clapped in the near distance and lightning flashed behind him, silhouetting his body.
He was facing away from me, hands resting on the railing. His head was angled slightly to the side, just enough to catch a glimpse of me in his peripheral vision. He knew I was approaching.
I took every step towards him as if I were approaching the gates of hell. Perhaps I was. I'd still keep going, even if it were the devil himself I marched toward. If Kitty was in hell, she was simply my seat warmer. I wouldn't let her burn for me.
I stopped by his side, just close enough to hide my aversion but hardly warm and cozy. I leaned on the railing, and bent over it slightly to watch the waves churning. The ocean smashed against the pier's support, trying to take it down, annoyed at a foreign presence where there shouldn't be one. I understood the ocean's anger at the intrusion. It was how I felt about Malokin walking around in my universe.
He leaned forward as well and rested his forearms on the railing, as I was. Every action he took was intentional. It was a common tactic, to mimic someone's actions to put them at ease. He wanted me to feel that we were alike.
We weren't. I didn't care what had happened in my past life. I'd made mistakes, and had regrets, but I'd never be like him.
“I'm assuming that you're ready to start work?”
“Kitty's situation needs to be resolved.” The fact that I’d walked away from our meeting with no answers had grated on me since the second I left. What bothered me even more was that I still couldn’t do a damn thing about it.
“Of course.” He turned and offered me his arm. It was a little too cozy, but I went along with the gesture. I swallowed back my aversion and placed my hand in the crook of his elbow.
“I know we aren't starting off with ideal conditions, but this will work out for both of us.” He spoke with so much confidence it worried me. He'd been around a lot longer than I. Did he know something I didn't? Was he aware of something about me that gave him surety?
No, I couldn't think like that. I made my choices, no one else. And as soon as I started rationalizing away from that, the quicker I would be like him. Whatever he believed, I'd prove him wrong.
“And if it doesn’t work out? What then?”
“Let's not make this meeting unpleasant for no reason. You're with me now; let's think positively about the future.” He patted my hand that rested on his arm. I'd let him. And then I'd use that same hand he touched with familiarity to break his neck as soon as I got Kitty out of this mess.
We walked toward the Jaguar, parked at the entrance to the pier. It was something I'd expect him to drive. He held the passenger door open for me, keeping to his gentlemanly demeanor, regardless of what lay beneath.
“No driver?” I asked as he got behind the steering wheel.
“I wanted to give us some privacy.”
Or to kill me with absolutely no witnesses. “Where are we going?”
“We need to make a stop before Kitty.”
“Where?” Maybe he really did want to kill me? If that was the case, he was going to get a run for his money. I wasn't going down easy.
“I wanted a little demonstration of you stopping something that was meant to happen.” He looked over at me. “I've never seen you in action. You don't mind, do you?”
I found his statement odd, but nodded. “Sure.”
I resisted the urge to fidget or show any nerves. When I'd done this before and killed the man in the forest, I hadn't realized the full picture. I’d seen someone about to get hurt and acted on instinct to protect them. It hadn’t been a planned intervention to mess with the larger scheme of things.
This was exactly the type of thing that could kill me—as in gone forever, no passing go. You lost and you didn’t get a lousy reincarnation to soften the blow. You got nothing but erased, as if you never existed at all. I knew it well now and was certain he did, too.
But I still turned and asked him, “What did you have in mind?” I asked because—right now—I didn’t have any other option.
“You'll see.”
It was exactly those types of answers that had my hand itching to grab one of the knives holstered at my ankles.
Chapter 14
A Storm is Brewing
He parked at a marina, not far away from the pier we'd just left. I followed him to the beginning of a large dock, lined with decent sized boats and the occasional yacht. It was empty for the most part, due to the rough weather caused by the hurricane riding up the coast.
The ones that moved their boats were smart. I knew about the storm Mother was sending our way. She'd been carrying on about it, back at the office, for more than a week, raving to anyone who would listen that it was some of her best work to date. The fact that we weren't in hurricane season didn't seem to take the wind out of her sails, or anyone else’s.
Without a word, Malokin indicated a boat all the way at the end, which was holding up under the waves better than the smaller vessels. It had to be a sixty-five footer, a beautiful craft, with multiple decks made of gleaming teak.
Light from the inside cabin filtered through the shades and I could see shadowed movements within.
“There are two men on that boat tonight who are arguing.” He looked at me intently and I dreaded what words would come from his lips next. “One will shoot the other in the next thirty minutes.”
Oh God, what did he want me to do? Make sure they both died? So much for going undercover to spring Kitty. I was going to have to bail on the first job he gave me. What had I really expected, though? I'd be handing out fliers for the election of a new President of the Universe?