Page 88 of Obsessed in Blood
While she was sprucing, he’d have time to meet with Sergi and Simone. They’d been working on an alternative strategy based on Cressa’s prescient dream. He’d experienced two with Cressa before, both of them ending in blood, and both coming true. He wasn’t going to take a chance with this one, and he rubbed the back of his neck, recalling her vivid retelling.
He found Sergi and Simone in his office, pouring over a map on his desk. “Have you settled on the necessary changes?”
Sergi grunted. “We’ve considered her description of the building’s interior. It might not be accurate, but it’s more than we have.”
Simone gave Devon one of her withering stares before arching to stretch her back. “It would have been helpful if she’d had the dream a few days ago before we spent all our time reviewing the original plan.”
“No one wishes it more than her. While her skill at creating constructs has increased under Colantha’s tutelage, neither she nor Colantha can explain her prescient dreams or why they appear when they do.”
“Or so she says.” Sergi was still focused on the map, and when it grew quiet, he peered up at Devon. “Not Cressa, Colantha.”
Devon nodded. “I had hoped she’d have more insight into them.”
“Perhaps she feels the dreams have warned us enough in advance,” Simone muttered.
“Or perhaps I haven’t been able to study her dreams long enough to give you any other advice.”
The three of them turned to find Colantha staring at the espresso machine for several seconds before she began tinkering. “Prescient dreamwalking has only been studied on the surface. We can document the dream, how much of it comes true, and the timing of the dream to the actual event, but they’ve never given consistent results, not even with the same dreamwalker. And those with the ability are quite rare and, for many, their sanity becomes questionable over time.”
“What does that mean?” Devon’s question was drowned out by the sound of the machine, which seemed excellent timing on Colantha’s part.
Once the espresso was poured into a demitasse cup, she glanced at the group. “Anyone else for an espresso?” When they shook their heads, she picked up her cup and approached the desk, staring down at the map.
“Don’t worry about your dreamwalker, vampire. I would say the same is true of Hamilton.”
“He’s also prescient?” Sergi asked, finally taking his eyes off the map as he sat back in his chair.
She nodded and found a seat. “Not as much as Cressa, or perhaps it’s more that it’s not prescient in the same manner. What Hamilton perceives in his dreams are happier days or positive moments in time. Or they had been before his abduction. He hasn’t had a single prescient dream while under Venizi’s less-than-pleasant accommodations, but he’s had one since we’ve connected.”
“And what did it tell him?” Devon asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer.
Colantha sipped her coffee as she considered her answer. “I’d rather not go into specifics without his permission. Dreamwalking is still a dream and can be quite personal. But I’ll share this small piece. He sees himself free of Venizi, but it can only happen if a roadblock is removed. Now, at the time, even with my tutoring, he couldn’t define what that roadblock was.”
“When was this dream?” Sergi asked.
“Now that’s the right question. It was before Cressa’s dreamwalk, and before you ask, I didn’t tell her anything of Hamilton’s prescient dream. I’ve told no one, not even Lyra. These are still early days for removing his trauma and allowing his natural dreamwalking abilities to recover, which I might add are healing at a remarkable rate.”
“And Cressa knew nothing of this?” Simone asked.
“She’s had little time to do any dreamwalking with us. When she has, they’ve been focused on Hamilton’s memories of the island, validating his previous details or discovering slight tweaks in his memories. It is possible that during those dreamwalks, she subconsciously found something that triggered her prescient dream, or it’s just as likely it had nothing to do with them at all. Did her previous prescient dreams suggest a connection to anything she’d been doing prior to the event?”
Devon shook his head before thinking it through, but he considered each dreamwalk before he spoke. “The first one was when she fell through the window at a ball. We’d been training earlier in the evening, but she’d never been to Raul’s house and wouldn’t have knowledge of the stained-glass window, nor the construction material left at the side of the house. Yet her dreamwalk provided those specific details, including my decision to give her my blood to save her life. The second dream was a horrific event with the shifters that neither of us could have imagined.”
Colantha shrugged. “Cressa told me the same thing, and Lyra agreed with the second dreamwalk, which she had somehow become a part of.”
“She’d been wearing Cressa’s medallion at the time,” Devon offered.
She grinned. “Which only makes it more confusing. I came here now, not to interrupt what must be difficult decisions, but to tell you of my dreamwalk with Hamilton an hour ago. He’s had another prescient dream. It appears the roadblock has disappeared, but there’s still a darkness that hovers. After he revealed this information, I told him of Cressa’s dream. We are in agreement that a change to the plan is necessary for success. We also believe the darkness remains because you’ve yet to determine your final course.”
“That’s hauntingly cryptic.” Simone glared at Colantha, who simply nodded.
“Hamilton did offer one piece of advice that I don’t understand but thought you might.”
“And what’s that, dreamwalker?” Simone refused to give her an ounce of leeway.
“The answer is in the cave.”
ChapterThirty
