The Dream Crashers ✓

21 - Reaching Headquarters

The short dagger, tucked in a holster in the waistband of my jeans, felt out of place. It pressed uncomfortably against my spine, like a cold and hard reminder of what we were planning on doing.

"How the hell do you keep these things on you all the time?" I grumbled, readjusting the dagger so it didn't feel like I was going to impale myself if I sat down.

"I don't know why people normally don't carry these things around," Mara said, tucking several kunai knives into her boots. She expertly twirled two around her fingers before sliding them into her belt.

"We've been training with our weapons for so long, they feel like an extension of ourselves," Seth explained, patting his pocket where he kept his baton. "Without them, it feels like we're missing a limb."

Luke, who was watching us equip ourselves, seemed uncharacteristically quiet.

"What's up?" I asked, squeezing his arm. "Are you okay?"

"I'm just worried. You guys have no idea what you're up against, but you're charging in and not looking back," he said, shaking his head sadly. "It just seems dangerous."

"We don't have a choice. They're gonna get Connor to open a gate, and we have to stop them."

Ever since we'd discovered Pennington was planning to use my brother to open the portal, we'd all been on edge. There had been a lot of pacing (Seth), scientific rambling (Elijah), brooding (AJ), and cursing (Mara, obviously). It was the only thing we talked about all day since we woke up, after our conversation with Lucy. After intensive debating, we decided we couldn't wait around any longer. We were taking the fight to them.

"I know, I know. But it doesn't mean I'm not afraid." His blue eyes were filled with worry, but there was also something else behind it.

"But that's not all," I said, giving him a look. "What else are you thinking about?"

"Just something you said earlier, when you woke up," he started. "About what Lucy said... about me..."

"What about it?"

He seemed to consider his words carefully before saying, "Maybe she can help."

"Has all this worrying caused you to go insane?" I asked. "She's tried to kill us – on multiple occasions even. I get you were in love with her and want to believe the best of her but—"

"That's not it," Luke insisted. "I just don't think she's all bad. She deals with a lot from her dad. And then there was what happened with her mom, which would probably make anyone go crazy. I just think if Elijah can get through to her once, maybe he can try again. Or maybe I could talk to her."

I bit my lip. "You know what we'd be risking, right? To trust her?"

He nodded.

"And she's freakishly devoted to her father."

"She let you guys escape even though her dad is after you," he said.

"Yeah, because they don't need me anymore. They took Connor."

"She didn't kill you."

"Luke, you're a great guy," I said. "And after spending so much time with you, she probably fell under that goofy nice guy charm you have. She might've let us go once for you, but she said that she'd kill us the next time we went after her."

Finally, he shrugged. "It was just an idea. I would feel better about all this if you had her on your side. Then at least you guys wouldn't be running in blindly. Or if you'd let me go in with you."