See How She Fights (The Chronicles of Izzy #2)(36)

“Sorry guys,” I muttered to everyone as they moved with us.

“Stop apologizing. We wouldn’t have been here had we not wanted to. It is an honor to be asked to participate in such a ceremony,” Conall admonished as he walked beside me.

“Fine, but at least let me say thank you. I really appreciate ya’ll more than you will ever know. Thanks for taking that pain away.” I yawned loudly causing Kennan to snuggle me closer to his body. “What time is it?”

“It is almost dawn,” Molly muttered as she rubbed her eyes.

Well, that explained why everyone looked so drained.

“Good grief. I didn’t realize it had been that long.” I was beginning to wonder if time moved differently on the other plane. “Does time move differently in the dreaming and in visions?” I asked the group. Surely one of them would have the answer.

“Yes.”

“No.”

They all said at once. So, mixed reviews. I was just going to go ahead and assume that time moved differently. It had not felt like I was up on that chair all night. However, the intricacy of the tattoo did belie its time consuming application. As we shuffled into the outbuilding, I let my mind wander to Ren and walking on the other plane out of my body. I wondered if Isadora had any information on it. I also wondered if this stupid mark on my arm was still going to glow now that I had the protection mark on my back.

We all changed quickly, exhausted from the night’s activities, and headed back to the house in silence. Kennan and I made our way into our room and crawled into bed almost fully clothed. As I curled my body into the heat of Kennan’s, I felt truly safe for the first time in months. With the new tattoo and Kennan at my back, all felt right in my world. I breathed deeply and let the dreaming take me.

**********

I expected to see Ren and was surprised by her absence. I searched the fog hoping to find her. Only she would be able to tell me if my mark was still glowing. Well, her or one of the other sightless Seers. I pushed through the fog seeking her out. That’s when I heard it. Laughter coming from the distance. I strained my ears and heard two people talking. As I moved toward the voices a building came into sight. I began to wonder if this was the dreaming at all or if I was in some sort of vision again.

Come to think of it, how in the world was I supposed to know the difference between visions and the dreaming if they kept intersecting? I brushed it off and made my way toward the colossus that was the building. From the exterior it looked to be a factory that had fallen into disrepair. I tried to find some sort of identifying mark but the further I moved the fainter the voices grew. I decided to worry about where I was later and find the source of the noise.

I made my way back around to where I heard the voices. I could clearly hear Xavier talking to the woman again.

“Soon, my love. We just need two or three more and you will be back with me once more. Then we can end her together,” the woman said.

As I moved closer I could finally see them through a window. Her body was still masked in a cloudy darkness and no matter how my mind tried to remember where I’d heard her voice it would not.

“My patience is wearing thin. If you keep dragging this out she will find you. Do not underestimate her. Her abilities grow with each day. There was a reason I tracked her down. If we don’t move quickly she will be out of our grasp and the plan will be for naught.” Xavier gritted his teeth together. He looked as though he was still growing stronger, the bastard.

“She is nothing to us. There is no way she will stop us in time. Besides, she can’t even figure out who I am. I’ve placed a veil upon myself.”

“We shall see. Regardless, I am asking you to move the plan forward. Stop being so discerning and get the woman. She is the key. Surely you have a plan to take her.”

“It is all under control, Darling. You just leave everything to me,” she purred.

Something in the way she said “Darling” brought to mind a woman I’d met briefly at the lab. I didn’t want it to be true, so I brushed the thought aside immediately. I couldn’t even imagine her being behind this.

I moved around the building once more, trying to find more clues. Perhaps if they were meeting in the dreaming they were also physically at this place. I couldn’t imagine anyone coming here for fun. I looked around, and as I glimpsed a sign, I felt myself being pulled out of the dreaming and into the present.

**********

“Izzy, I need you to wake up,” Kennan was shaking my shoulders, trying to pull me out of my sleep.

“What? What’s happened?” I asked blearily. I wondered how long I’d been asleep. I was still exhausted.

“Isadora is missing. She was supposed to arrive in Denver on Council business this afternoon and she never showed up,” Kennan sat back on the bed away from me, rubbing his hand down his face. A sure sign that something was amiss. I was officially worried. I had not even known she was leaving. Although, I supposed keeping that sort of thing a secret was probably smart.

“Has anyone talked to Conall or Breanan? Surely one of them would know where she is.” I got up and started to pace the room. I looked over at the clock and noticed that I’d been asleep quite a long while. That answered the time thing. It definitely moved at different speeds outside of this plane. It was almost three in the afternoon.

“No one has been able to reach Breanan and Conall won’t talk to anyone. He said that when you woke up he needed to discuss something with you. Which is why I am waking you up.”