But where would I go?
How would I survive?
This time, I would be entirely on my own. No Dash to keep away the things that went bump in the middle of the night. No Dash to catch my dinner and cook it. No Dash to navigate me through the Heights.
There was a theme: no Dash.
And I was too scared to take the leap alone.
I rubbed the bridge of my nose to relieve the sinus pressure building in my head. I needed rest, and for once, I wasn’t dreading slumber.
Sleep went from being something I’d been afraid of to a drug I craved. For in the land of dreams, I could sometimes see the one person I missed the most, the only one who seemed to understand me.
To my frustration, the visions had a mind of their own, coming and going as they pleased. And never when I sought them. If there were an ability I hadn’t been able to understand, it was the visions—the pink color.
Tonight, I got lucky, and I wasn’t going to question the gift. The visions of Dash made me feel complete. Pretty messed up, considering most of the time he was in trouble, being hunted by the Institute and its guards, yet there was something almost normal about the constant danger. I’d become accustomed to it since it was all I’d known since I’d woken up, but it didn’t stop me from wanting to save him for a change.
I had to find a way to get him off the Institute’s radar.
Chapter Seven
A vision hit me fast.
I stood in the courtyard outside my room of the Institute. Guards lay on the ground all around me. Star was at my side. What was wrong with the guards? Why weren’t they moving? I was afraid of the answer and what had left them in such a state.
I grabbed her hand, weaved through the manicured hedges, flowering bushes, and stone benches, and followed the pathway to the gatehouse.
We ran straight out of Diamond Towers and into a rocky alcove, never looking over our shoulders. Fear and adrenaline pumped in my chest, but we kept going. Star stumbled, and I knew I was pushing her to her limits. She hadn’t trained as I had. Her body didn’t have my stamina, but I wanted to put as much distance between the white city and us as our bodies would allow.
Star was so scared that her fingers trembled underneath mine. It had taken all of her courage to go through with what we had planned, but there was no other way. We had to take the risk. No regrets, no matter the outcome—success or failure. I had promised Star my protection, and that included from the Institute.
Being responsible for someone else was a heavy burden, but I wouldn’t let her down.
The vision shifted, the Institute and Star disappearing. I found myself staring at the base of a black mountain. Somber Mountain, Dash had called it. Tendrils of smoke crawled along the ground, coating the air in a suffocating thickness. My boots crunched over the rocks—even as my instincts told me to run—but through the misty shadows, I saw a figure.
I caught a scream from escaping my throat and swallowed it back. “God. You scared me, Dash.” I took a deep breath because my voice had trembled.
Dash simply stood cloaked in the white mist, watching me. “What took you so long?”
I rolled my eyes. “Are you okay? Are you safe?”
His hand extended through the fog, reaching for mine. “Come find me, Freckles. We can’t end it until we are together.”
End what?
I never got my answer. Regaining consciousness, I sat up, my eyes flying open. A low light from the moon shone in the small room as my fists balled on the bed. The vision had come and gone like the wind. I had only a minute with Dash, and I wanted so much more. I’d even take just watching him like a creeper.
I couldn’t go back in time and run off with Dash when the opportunity had arose, but instinctively, I knew Star and I would escape from the Institute. We were going to find Dash.
Rising at dawn for cheerleading practice was something I’d tolerated at one time—not my favorite thing, but a small price to pay for doing what I loved.
Rising at dawn to get the snot beaten out of you was plain wrong on so many levels. I could handle the squats, the mile-plus runs, and jumping jacks well enough. It was the dreaded sparring—the exercise not of the body, but of our gifts—that sucked.
I told myself I would get stronger. Physically and magically. And I would find a way to escape the Institute and find Dash. The vision last night had been clear, and gave me purpose for the first time since I’d been taken. I was meant to leave with Star. We just needed to figure out how and when. And in the meantime, I was going to be the damn best trainee the Institute had seen since Dash Darhk.
I collapsed on the grass beside Ryker, winded and calves burning. “I hate you,” I said in between the heavy panting.
He grinned, turning his head toward me. Strands of damp hair stuck to his forehead. “It’s a start. I can work with hate. It is only a step away from love, you know.”
I snorted. “Dream on.”
“What else is there to do but dream?”
Good point. “Sorry to say, bucko, but our dreams don’t line up.”
“Ouch.” He placed both his hands over his chest in a wounded gesture. “Careful or you’ll have a heart as hard as your sister’s.”
I rolled my eyes. “So what is the deal with you and her anyway?”
“We’re friends.”
I snorted. “Ember doesn’t have friends. From what I can see, she has a long line of enemies.”
“And are you one of them?” he inquired.
My face sobered. “No. She is my sister.”
“And my friend.”
I got it. Regardless of who she’d become, we’d both stick by her side. “Just a friend?” I teased. “My sister definitely has a crush on you.”
He lifted himself up on an elbow so he looked down at my face. “Ember is complicated. I’m not sure she is ready for a relationship.”
“Is anyone ever really ready? Especially now.” Moaning, I rolled over and made myself sit up. There was no denying that I was getting stronger and my combat skills were improving, but my body still hurt like a mother trucker. “Can I ask you a question?” I didn’t know if I could trust Ryker, but he was different than the other recruits or guards.
He rested his wrist over his bent knee. “Shoot.”
“Do you believe in what you’re doing here?”
“Going for the big questions. I’ve been part of the Night’s Guard for over a year. I’ve seen things that should only be in movies… horror shows. That said, I don’t always agree with everything Jaxson does or the methods with which we deal with certain situations, but for the most part, I do believe in what the Institute stands for: the promise of a new tomorrow.”
I wanted to have faith in my parents and the council governing the Heights, but I couldn’t shake this sneaking suspicion something else was going on. Diamond Towers was built on secrets.
“I can see by those little wrinkles on your forehead that you’re uncertain about what you’re doing here.”