I peered over the tops of the trees and into the distance. “Feels too quiet,” I told Damien.
He nodded. “A new ship landed in every major city across the world. There’s got to be at least a hundred thousand more ghouls.”
A hundred thousand flesh eaters? Did he really think that many more had arrived last week? The thought made me sick.
“Think they are a new kind, like invisible or something?” Suddenly I felt like I was being watched, but I wasn’t sure if that was just me freaking myself out.
Damien’s eyebrows rose. “Anything is possible at this point.”
Master Aki sidled next to me and bowed lightly, his way of apologizing for interrupting. “No sense in worrying about things we can’t see,” he said sagely.
I swear that man never panicked. He was always cool as a cucumber.
I opened my mouth to speak, then Dawn’s consciousness merged with mine. It felt frantic and rushed. ‘Dawn doesn’t have much time. Breeders have linked with Galadria hive mind. Watch everything we do and think.’
My stomach dropped.
‘Oh God. Are you safe? Skyhome?’ If anything happened to those adorable baby dragons on Skyhome I was going to go majorly postal. She must have been fighting them off mentally so that we could speak for a moment.
‘Dawn is safe. Younglings on Skyhome are safe. Some Galadrias are not safe. Breeders know that Galadrias are friends with Kit. Breeders want Kit dead.’
That wasn’t exactly new news, but it still made my stomach turn.
‘Dawn, new ships came. On Earth. Hundreds of them.’ If she had any insight at all, I needed to hear it.
There was a pause and I sensed she was struggling to fight off the breeders from the mental invasion.
‘Dawn has news for Kit. Kit will be scared and angry.’
Fuck.
My heart jackknifed in my chest and both Damien and Master Aki stared at me now; they knew something was up. I tapped my forehead hoping they got the point, and walked a few feet away so that I could try to control my reaction.
‘It’s okay, Dawn, you can tell Kit anything,’ I told her, easily falling into the habit of speaking in third person with her. ‘Kit needs to know everything so Kit can keep friends alive.’
There was a moment of silence.
‘Scout ships came back. No new planets found. Earth is last food source ghouls can find.’
The whole world spun in that moment and I thought for sure I was going to fall over. Ever since Dawn told me that the ghouls went planet to planet harvesting bodies as a food source, it gave me hope that they would one day find another planet with a more plentiful supply of… meat, and leave ours.
‘You mean… they’re staying?’ Anger and fear, just like Dawn predicted, rolled through me in equal measure.
‘Yes… forever. Breeders are talking about culling their own population and going on a ration diet to allow humans enough time to reproduce.’
Bile rose in my throat and I wasn’t sure I could hear any more of what she had to say. I wanted to shoot things and kill people and light this entire freaking world on fire.
Forever. Dawn said forever. No child of the Earth would ever know a time without the Dream Wars and I wasn’t okay with that. The breeders were smart, too damn smart. They were willing to cull their own population to allow time for more humans to breed so they always had a food source. It was beyond horrifying.
‘We have to stop them,’ I said to Dawn, but really it was for myself.
‘Kit will stop them. That’s why breeders want Kit dead. Dawn knows things, Dawn knows Kit will end Dream Wars.’
A chill ran up my arms and then our connection broke off as a massive headache slammed into me. I hissed, grabbing my forehead, and dropped to the ground.
“Kit!” Damien slid onto the ground and took me into his arms. The headache eased a little.
The breeders, they were searching for me. I don’t know how I knew it but I knew. Taking in a few deep breaths, I opened my eyes to see everyone but Jeremy and Josephine surrounding me.
“What happened?” Damien asked, hauling me up.
Did I tell them the truth? God, it sickened me to think about it, never mind to speak it aloud. But this was my team, my family. I had to tell them everything so we could make a plan together.
Taking a deep, cleansing breath, I told my team exactly what Dawn had said. They listened with horrified expressions and I finished with Dawn’s prophecy that I would somehow change it all. These were my people and I wanted to be honest with them so they could help me brainstorm.
“So they’re here. Forever?” Maxine’s voice shook with anxiety.
Nodding, I reached out and squeezed my friend’s shoulder. “That’s what Dawn said. They’re going to take precautions so that humanity doesn’t die out too quickly, so that there’s always a food source and—”
I stopped mid-sentence as the feeling of waking up came over me.
What the...? We’d just dropped in? I looked down at my left arm, which felt like it was being yanked into the air.
Damien’s head snapped up to mine.
“Someone’s in the hotel room.” His warning was the last thing I heard in the Dream War, but before my body dissolved there, my gaze flicked over Maxine’s head to see a breeder weaving through the trees, coming right for them.
“Look out!” I screamed, but it wasn’t heard. I was already out of that world but not yet back on Earth; I’d said it somewhere in between.
The moment I felt my body jerk awake, I popped my eyelids open and leapt off the hotel bed and right at the small group of soldiers in black army fatigues who were opening the door. They weren’t ready for me, they didn’t expect this. I had no weapons and my heart was hammering in my
