Nightmare

spurned you, you killed her. The same went for Minn Araq, didn’t it?'

'Shut up,' Jeren said.

'Dorna wanted a souvenir,' Ara continued. 'Something to prove she’d been brave enough to do her brother’s bidding. So she took things-a finger, a bit of clothing, a piece of one of your presents. How does that make you feel, Jeren?'

'I said, shut up!'

'That was when you tried it on your own mother. She didn’t love you either, even after the presents. So you killed her, too. But then came the cruelest blow of all. Your mother had sold you and Dorna into slavery, and the slaver was already on his way. How did it feel to watch your sister carted away in electric shackles, Jeren?'

She had been hoping to break him down, but instead Jeren responded with nothing but invisible force. Ara flew backward several meters and plowed into the ground. She felt something snap, and it was suddenly hard to breathe. She tried to roll to her feet, but a wave of pain stopped her. Before she could react further, thick green vines sprouted from the ground and whipped around her body like snakes. A little ways away, Kendi lay similarly entangled. Jeren strode toward her, green eyes blazing.

'You’re going to die now,' he said. 'I’m going to crush you and listen while you scream.'

'It won’t help,' gasped Kendi, and Jeren spun to look at him. 'Ben knows who you are. He’s already called the Guardians. They’re on their way to pick you up right now.'

Jeren stared. Ara tried to summon up the concentration to leave the Dream, Kendi or no Kendi, but the pain that wracked her chest and back was too great. The vines continued to twist and writhe, sliding over her skin and making her cry out despite herself.

'Then,' Jeren said, 'I’ll have to kill you both fast so I can get the hell away.'

He snapped his fingers and one of the vines tore Ara’s arm off. Ara screamed, and blood spurted from her shoulder. Another scream, a different one, pierced the air. A brown-and-blue thunderbolt smashed straight into Jeren’s back between his shoulder blades. He dropped flat, and Kendi’s falcon clawed for altitude with yet another cry. Kendi, who was obviously recovering from his daze, let out a whoop of glee-

— until Jeren leaped back to his feet with inhuman ease. In his hands he held a shotgun.

'No!' Ara cried.

The gun went off. The falcon tumbled to the ground in a mass of bloody feathers.

Ben plowed through the lobby of the dormitory, past the startled night clerk, and up the hallway toward Jeren’s room. It was two doors down from Kendi’s. His chest burned and his legs ached from the exertion of running so far at top speed, but he ignored the feeling. When he reached Jeren’s door, he twisted the knob and wasn’t at all surprised to find it locked. Ben shoved against the door, but it didn’t budge. He backed up and slammed into it as hard as he could. Pain throbbed in Ben’s shoulder. The door, made of thick talltree wood, didn’t budge. Heedless of further pain, Ben smashed into it again. Nothing. Panic sprouted and spread. Jeren was at this moment attacking his mother and Kendi. He had to get inside.

A door popped open further up the hall, and Willa poked her head into the hallway. She looked sleepy. 'What’s going on?' she yawned.

Without stopping to explain, Ben shoved past her and into her room. She squeaked in protest as he bolted past her bed toward the door that lead out onto her balcony. Adrenaline singing in his veins, he yanked it open and shot out onto the shared balcony. He ran down to Jeren’s room. The lights were on, and through the clear panel of the door he could see Jeren lying on his bed. His hands were folded over his stomach and a slight smile twisted his lips. Ben tried the door, but it was also locked. With chilly fingers, he pulled his shirt over his head and wrapped it around one arm. Then he rammed into the door.

More pain pulsed at his shoulder. The door didn’t break, or even budge. He tried twice more with no effect. Jeren continued to smile.

Jeren raised the shotgun and pointed it straight at Kendi. Kendi swallowed and strained against the vines, but they were tough as steel. Ara’s face was gray, but she was somehow still conscious. Her torn arm lay a little ways away. Jeren finger tightened on the trigger, and Kendi wondered if it would hurt.

'Cole!'

Jeren jerked his head sideways. Kendi followed his gaze. Dorna stood a few meters away. Her face was pale and waxen beneath dark curls. The vines tightened around Kendi’s body and his ribs creaked.

'You can’t do it, Cole,' she said. 'It isn’t fair.'

'Shut up,' Jeren-Cole-snarled. 'You do what I tell you.'

'If you kill Ara now, I won’t be able to get her finger. She isn’t on Bellerophon, remember?' Dorna said. 'I have an unbroken line all the way back to Mom and past her to Mrs. Garvin. You can’t kill her.' Her voice dropped in pitch, became more intense. Kendi stared. 'You can’t kill her, Cole. I won’t let you.'

'I told you to shut the fuck up!' He swung the shotgun around and pointed it at her.

'If you try to kill her here, we won’t help you anymore,' Dorna said flatly. 'And we’ll stop you.'

Cole laughed. 'Who?'

The Dream rippled and a wave of nausea washed over Kendi. A moment later, a group of people stood behind Dorna. Kendi recognized the old woman Zelda and Buck in his blue coveralls. A short blond girl with downcast eyes and violets in her hair stood just behind the latter. A dozen others were there as well, both male and female. All of them were staring at Cole.

'We will,' they said in one voice.

Ben looked frantically around the balcony. Willa stood in the doorway to her room, looking frightened. 'Ben,' she said. 'What’s going on?'

Ben’s eye fell on one of the rope swings dangling from the branch above. He snatched it up and jumped onto the balcony rail. Clinging to it like a monkey, he kicked backward and sailed out over dark and empty space. A moment later he swung forward, heels pointed straight toward Jeren’s door. He hit the panel hard, but it still didn’t break. Jeren continued to smile.

Cole laughed. 'Look at you,' he sneered. 'Just can’t keep it together, can you, Sis?' He pointed the shotgun back at Kendi. 'He’ll be first. Then I junk Ara.'

With an animal howl that chilled Kendi straight through, the multitude lunged forward. Cole spun, surprised, but only for an instant. The shotgun in his hands changed shape. Cole pointed the machine gun at the advancing horde and fired. The gun made a hoarse coughing sound, and blood poured from a thousand wounds. People fell like mown grass, their bodies vanishing the moment they touched the ground. Zelda dropped and vanished, as did Buck and Violet. In the end, only Dorna was left standing. Her cheek bled scarlet from a near miss and she looked dazed. Cole raised the gun.

Ben hit the door again. The shock traveled all the way up his body and seemed to fuse his spine. A thin crack appeared. He kicked back, swung over empty space and, ignoring the pain in heels and knees, hit the door yet again and again and again.

'You won’t,' Dorna whispered.

'I will,' Cole said, and fired. Dorna staggered backward, blood gushing from her chest and stomach. She made a low choking noise and dropped to her knees. Then she disappeared.

'You shit!' Kendi said, struggling against the vines. Ara didn’t move, but she must still be conscious if she was in the Dream. Or had she already died and was Cole keeping her image here?

'You’re dead, Kendi,' Cole said with a too-wide grin. 'Sorry. It was nice knowing you.' He pointed the machine gun.

The door shattered. Falling shards made ribbons of Ben’s trousers and sliced his legs, but he scarcely noticed. He landed on his back, slid partway across the floor, and fetched up against Jeren’s bed. Heedless of the sharp polymer pieces all around him, Ben scrambled to his feet. Without thinking, he snatched up a paperweight from the desk and brought it down hard on Jeren Drew’s head.