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Cameron glanced over his shoulder. Xavier smiled and quickly nodded, but I saw it. I saw the emotions in Xavier’s eyes. I saw the want and need and knew I had hit home. However, Cameron was completely oblivious or in deep denial. I assumed the latter.
“Right, just friends.” I rocked back on my heels, my smile mocking as I looked between them. “Samkiel and I said the same thing, and I still blew him.”
Cameron’s expression hardened in annoyance, his smirk falling flat. “You cannot bait us.”
“Are you sure about that? I baited one of you.” I shrugged my shoulders, looking toward Xavier, who had said nothing.
They stared at me, identical expressions of consternation on their faces. Two dream eaters solidified behind Xavier and Cameron. The warriors sensed them, but it was already too late as they spun to confront the threat. The dream eater’s mouths gaped wide, and they sucked what looked like wispy threads from Xavier and Cameron. It only took two seconds before they fell to the floor, unconscious.
Reggie came around the corner with his hands behind his back. The dream eaters moved aside, and he stepped over the sleeping Xavier and Cameron. Reggie lifted Cameron’s hand and placed it on a pad near the door. The bars dissolved, and Reggie allowed Cameron’s arm to drop before stepping inside. He carried a key I recognized, and I wondered how he had gotten it from Samkiel. He undid one wrist and then the next, my strength returning in a rush of euphoria. The chains fell in an untidy pile on the floor, and I rubbed my wrists, relieving the bone-deep ache.
“The others are asleep as well,” Reggie said.
“You’re late, and I’m starving.”
“My apologies.” He nodded toward the dream eaters. “They were a little harder to find, given your recent activities, but they owed you a favor.”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s pointless now. The map is gone.” I huffed a stray piece of hair from my face.
“It is not.”
“What?”
“I’ll show you.”
I cocked my head to the side but didn’t question his claim. If there were a chance the map still existed, then I would take it. I stepped out of the cell and over the sleeping bodies, following Reggie. The two dream eaters hovered over the two celestials, their eyes rolled back and their hands extended. Cameron and Xavier twitched in their sleep-like state, swirls of wispy magic sinking into their heads.
“How many of the Baku did you bring?” I asked.
“All of them.”
A slow smile pulled at my lips. If they all came, this whole place would be sound asleep and none the wiser of my escape.
* * *
The elevator door slid to the side on the top floor, and I paused before stepping out. The room was a disaster, as if Samkiel had been struggling to maintain control again. I had seen something similar so many times before in the blooddreams. Here, it looked like he’d tried to fix it the best he could several times.
“He is barely holding on, as you can see.”
A wave of guilt hit my gut. “I don’t care.”
Emotions flickered over Reggie’s face. Maybe regret or something else? Fear? I shook my head and skirted the large sofa. Stacks of books and other items covered the tabletop. I sorted through the texts and clutter, looking for the map. Reggie said Samkiel had restored it, and I knew he would keep it close until he could secure it out of my reach. I tossed a book over my shoulder, then another, ignoring the thud as they hit the floor. I felt Reggie watching me the whole time, waiting. My hand hovered over a thick book, shock rippling through me.
“Why does he have this?” I grabbed the thin strip of black and white photos, drinking in the images.
“I think you know why.”
These were the damned photos from that booth. Something in my chest fractured at the memory.
“You’re terrible at blending in,” I whispered, popping another piece of cotton candy into my mouth. Samkiel glared at me. I suspected it was just his go-to expression. “You know people that go to festivals have fun?”
“This isn’t fun. It’s loud, obnoxious, and overcrowded. Why are you making that gesture with your hands?”
I stopped the random opening and closing of my hand as he rattled off everything that bothered him. “Oh, I am just imitating how often you complain. Listen, I know this isn’t wild drinking games or orgies on Rashearim, but you can at least attempt to have fun.”
If his fists clenched any tighter, he might have popped a blood vessel.
“How will me having fun make your acquaintance come any faster?”
