Chortling below them rose in volume and then Philip appeared, nearly doubled over as he hovered in the air nearby. "I think she might have kicked your ass, Bruce, if she wanted to."
"Only because I wouldn't hit a girl," Connor retorted.
"Excuses, excuses." Philip winked at Aidan's lady. "You were tearing him up good, Lyssa."
Despite her recent spate of violence, Connor had to admit he had a hard time picturing her as the destruction of anything. She was so tiny, and a bit too thin. She also had those eyes that were clear and guileless.
She looked down at the ground a good kilometer beneath them and then flung herself into his arms, clinging to him like a vine. "Oh jeez, put me down!"
Brows raised, Connor sank slowly to the valley floor. Her body was a soft, warm weight against his. He blew out his breath, part of him wishing Aidan would return to being a perennial bachelor. The other part of him acknowledged that Lyssa was a hottie with a tough spirit. Some Dreamers came to them in lucid dreams, but never had any of them been able to leave their stream of unconsciousness to walk among them.
As soon as her feet hit the ground, Lyssa stepped back and stared at the blond giant who had scared the shit out of her. Two things struck her at once. One, he was huge—close to seven feet tall, and at least two hundred and thirty pounds. Two, he was just as gorgeous as every other Guardian male she'd seen so far. He also had that same delicious accent.
"Cute outfit." He grinned.
"That's it," she muttered. "I'm changing."
"No, don't," he said quickly. "I bet Cross would love to see you in that."
Her eyes stung at the reminder, and her wardrobe malfunction faded to insignificance. "I need to see him. We need to get moving."
"Agreed," Philip said, all traces of humor leaving his handsome features. "We don't have a lot of time. The Elders have vids everywhere. They're going to know Lyssa's here."
"They took him," Connor rumbled grimly. "I have no idea where."
Lyssa stood stock-still, teary and feeling like a dumb ass. What the hell did she think she could do here? Aidan's men were more than capable of saving their commanding officer. More than likely, she was just going to get in the way.
"I saw where." Philip gestured to his men, who fell into a loose formation. "I watched on the control panel."
"Fuck me," Connor said suddenly, causing everyone to stare at him in confusion due to his low, wary tone.
Lifting her startled gaze to his, Lyssa then turned her head in the direction he was looking.
Revealed by the light cast off from the surrounding slipstreams, a smoky black stain encroached on them in a perfect circle. It widened rapidly, growing by the second.
"What is that?" she asked, her stomach roiling in dread.
"Nightmares." Philip withdrew his glaive. "Thousands of them."
* * *
Chapter 16
Lyssa watched the writhing black shadows with wide-eyed horror. They were translucent, their shape no more than a misty fog. A strange noise came from them, a high-pitched squeal that struck her already stretched nerves like nails on a chalkboard. Random words could be heard amid the cacophony, but they were too jumbled to make any sense.
"What are they doing?" she asked, crouching so she could see through the legs of the giants who had formed a protective circle around her.
The men shifted restlessly on their feet.
"They're not doing a damn thing," Connor said.
She held her tongue, but as the minutes stretched out she finally asked, "Is something happening that I'm not seeing?"
"Nothing's happening," Philip muttered. "That's the problem."
She shouldered her way into getting a little better view. "Huh." It was hard for her to reconcile the wake-up-in-a-cold-sweat nightmares with these wispy puffs of smoke. She leaned closer. "Boo!"
They slithered back swiftly.
"Shit." Connor stared at her with wide, wary eyes.
She made a face. "Sorry."
Then she noted how all the men were gaping at her. She blew out her breath and retreated back to the center. Great. Her childish moment was witnessed by all.
"They're attracted to her," Connor said with awe in his tone, "but they're afraid of her, too. I wouldn't believe it if I weren't seeing it myself."
"We really need to figure out what the hell she's supposed to be capable of." Philip turned to the side so he could watch her and the Nightmares at the same time. "I thought her presence would scare the Elders enough to give us a slight advantage. No way would I have guessed this would happen. In fact, I'd been worried about the opposite happening."
"Did you learn anything in the control room?" Connor asked.
"Can we talk about this on the way to rescuing Aidan?" Lyssa's foot tapped impatiently. "At this particular moment, I don't care what it is I'm prophesied to do."
"It's extremely important to us," Connor said, his Nordic blue eyes studying her carefully.
She sighed, chastened. "I know it is. Aidan told me he'd spent centuries looking for me, trying to figure out what it is I'm supposed to do. I appreciate what this legend means to you, and I promise, if you help me get Aidan back, I'll help you figure out how I fit into all of this."
"We need the captain here," one of the men said, his gaze remaining trained on the Nightmares. "We've never been defeated while he's in command. What good will he be to us if he's in your world?"
A murmur of agreement moved through the soldiers.
"I accept the likelihood of him remaining with you," she assured them with her chin lifted stoically. She refused to cry in front of Aidan's men. "But not like this—with half of him here, the other half with me."
"Perhaps that's it." Connor stepped closer. "Maybe the gate you'll open is not the one to the Nightmares, who clearly don't know what to make of you. Maybe it's the gate between the Twilight and your world."
"No way." Her arms crossed her chest. "Aidan told me your entire Elite force was created to prevent the spreading of Nightmares into my world. I would never jeopardize that."
"Actually" Philip said softly, "The Elite were created to kill you."
She had no idea what to say to that.
"Let's see if they'll allow us to leave without a fight." Connor sheathed his sword and withdrew the smaller blade at his thigh, before coming up behind her and wrapping a brawny arm around her waist. He pushed off gently, slowly levitating them. Lyssa clung to his arm with a death grip.
The Nightmares writhed in frenzy, the noises they made rising in volume, but they made no effort to attack them.
Philip rose, too, as did the men under his command. They continued to hold their swords at the ready until they were some distance in the air. Then Philip gave a com-mand she couldn't understand, and they all returned their blades to their scabbards. "Just beyond the rise, there's a lake."
She felt Connor's nod. "I know where it is. Let's go."
As they glided rapidly through the misty evening, Lyssa studied the landscape beneath them. This beautiful place was Aidan's world. He had spent centuries defending it at great risk to his life. Here he was nearly immortal and he had the power to make things happen simply because he thought of them. Her eyes burned with tears. Earth was not the place for a man like Aidan, she realized. He would find a way back here, and he had warned her—once he left, he would not come back.
Connor's voice was loud in her ear, "If Cross is being kept beneath the lake, there will be no way to approach the area cautiously."
Philip glanced aside at Connor. "You've been there?"
"Not completely I didn't surface within the cavern. I couldn't. From what I could tell, there's only one entrance and no way to enter with any sort of stealth."
"Damn."
Lyssa winced at the frustration she heard in the lieutenant's voice. "Once you free Captain Cross, what will happen to all of you? Won't the Elders be mad?"
All the men looked grim. It was Connor who answered her. "We know the risks."
"Will they kill me?" she asked, trying to steel herself for the confrontation ahead. Everything was a possibility. She wasn't ruling anything out.
"I seriously doubt Cross will let anything happen to you," he answered dryly.
"And you?" she asked. "And the lieutenant? None of you have any reason to trust me. Hell, I don't even trust myself. I have no idea what it is I'm supposed to do. What if I sneeze and everything blows up?"
His arm tightened around her, which she appreciated immensely because they were really high up in the air. "Do you love him?"
"Desperately "
"And if your existence jeopardizes his?"
"I expect you to take care of it."
His chest rose and fell against her back. "You would die for him?"
"If that's what it takes," she said fervently, the rushing wind making her tears flow across her temple and into her hair. "He risked everything to come to me, Connor, knowing that even if he made it alive I wouldn't remember him. We spent so little time together, but it was enough for him. He wanted me badly enough."
"You want him the same way?"
"Oh yes." She smiled, turning her head to face him, causing her hair to blow into both of their faces. She brushed it back impatiently, and suddenly found it contained by a rubber band. "Did you do that?"
He shook his head.
"Oh man."
"Yeah," he muttered. "Oh man."
They were silent for a few moments, and then he said, "When we get to the lake, we're going to dive straight in. The cavern is quite a ways down, and we need the velocity to get there. I'll warn you when the time comes. Hold your breath and don't struggle. Try to keep your body straight and your limbs tucked in to minimize the resistance in the water." Got it.