Emerge: The Captive: (Book 3)(73)
Quinn crumpled in a heap on the dirty floor.
“You’ll stay here and think about what you’ve done.” Daniel left him alone in the darkness of the cold crypt. “And then we’re taking you back. You don’t belong here anymore.”
Quinn curled up and cried himself to sleep.
~~~
He stared up at the odd yellow sky. The puffy white clouds were edged in gold and the warm breeze across the lake lifted his spirits. For the first time in ages, Quinn felt free.
He sat on the rocks beside the still waters of Lake Clara Meer and stared up at Sterling Tower, trying to remember how he’d gotten here.
The unreality of this place bothered him. It was too quiet. Piedmont Park was never quiet.
It’s the dreamworld. The thought brought clarity to his mind as recent events began to slide into place. He was back in Michael’s dungeon as punishment for his escape attempt.
“Michael’s learned some new tricks.” Using the faces of his family to punish him cut Quinn deeper than anything else could.
“But Michael doesn’t know I can come here.”
Quinn stood, staring across the lake. Livia had to know he was a dreamwalker by now, but she’d wanted this gift to develop naturally. Why wouldn’t she warn Michael not to let me sleep? She can’t be protecting me. Not after I tried to escape.
“No. She’s not letting me sleep.” Quinn paced along the water’s edge, trying to put the pieces together. “I’m so sleep deprived I’ve finally collapsed.” But she would have put him in a magnetized cell, specifically so he couldn’t enter the dreamworld.
“She’s underestimating me.” Quinn stopped his pacing.
Livia was a pro at working with young Immortals with new gifts. Young Immortals far less powerful than Quinn. She wouldn’t anticipate that he was even capable of fully entering the dreamworld yet, or that he would even know what to do if he happened to stumble his way into it.
“That’s where you’re wrong, Liv. I know exactly what to do.” He turned and walked back up the path to the bridge. The Scholar had told him there was another dreamwalker here. Someone he could trust. He just had to find him.
Quinn walked halfway across the city before he realized he could simply think of a place and he was there. With the whole wide world of dreams at his fingertips, he didn’t even know where to begin to look for a man he knew nothing about.
But before he could think of a plan, he was back in the waking world and under Michael’s influence.
~~~
“I need more time.” Quinn cursed his Immortal body for its ability to go days without rest.
In the weeks since his escape, he’d spent every possible moment in the dreamworld. It gave his mind a break from the torment his body was experiencing. But he was never there long enough to find the man he sought.
Sometimes Quinn heard voices, but he quickly learned not to follow them. The few times he had, he found himself caught up in the random nightmares and dreams of others. Quinn was working completely on instinct. It was much too dangerous to experiment with this gift. So he simply waited and observed, moving on only when the dreamer was safely enveloped in a dreamless sleep.
He avoided the temptation to follow the voices, but it was especially difficult when he recognized someone he loved. He often heard Allie and Aidan. But he could never seem to find them. Whenever he went looking for them, he inevitably ended up walking the cliff sides of Kelleys Island just as he did now.
“I should have turned around.” He sat down in the tall grass, resting his arms on his knees as he gazed across Lake Erie to the city skyline in the distance. When I realized I was back at the train station and not at the crypt, I should have turned around and kept fighting. But in that moment, he’d fought as hard as he could. There was no other choice but to open the door and return to Soma.
With a last look at the home he loved, Quinn got to his feet and headed back down the hillside, eager to get away. He couldn’t stand the sight of home for another second.
“Stay where you are!” A voice echoed like a boom from the sky. Quinn halted, looking up in confusion, unsure if he should show himself or leave this place immediately.
“Quinn? Wait!” a man called just as he hurried back into the cover of the forest.
How does he know my name? He turned back to see the man appear along the path behind him. The enormity of the man’s lifeline threatened to send Quinn running in the opposite direction.
“I can help you.” The man stood at a safe distance.
He was almost as ancient as the dreamworld, but Quinn was wary of trusting anyone who just happened to find him.
Quinn found his voice. “How do you know my name?”
“A friend sent me to find you.”
“You’re a dreamwalker?”
“So you do know what this place is. Very good, Quinn.”
“Who are you?”
“My name is Navid.” He closed the gap between them, offering his hand. “Let’s have a chat, shall we?”
Quinn nodded. He had nothing to lose.
Navid gripped his shoulder and Quinn felt an odd lurching sensation in his stomach.
He stumbled over the uneven ground. They were in a forest of ancient redwoods, the sky blocked by the enormous canopy arching overhead.
“Have a seat.” Navid gestured at a fallen log that looked like it had served as a seat for an eternity of conversations. “You are the first new dreamwalker in a very long time. You need me, Quinn; this place is dangerous. There are others here who can’t be trusted.”