|| 28 ||

“SO WE ALL KNOW what to do, right?” I looked from Mason to Angeline to Sophie. They nodded, and Sophie stifled a yawn against the back of her hand. I totally felt her pain. They’d returned to the hospital that morning to make the rounds with me, check on our patients, and reinforce everything we’d done for them the previous day. We’d all used our abilities more in the past twenty-four hours than we had since we’d gained them.

When we got back to my room at home, we ran over the plan to lure Harriet to the hypercosmic realm so we could trap her.

Ang lay on her side across my bed, her head pillowed on her hands. “She better show up tonight. I seriously don’t think I can handle the suspense if we have to do this night after night.”

“Or the lost sleep,” Mason said, and slouched deeper into my purple chair.

I glanced at my phone to double-check the date. “We have about a week until summer solstice,” I said. “We definitely need to get this done as soon as possible. The more time goes by, the more dangerous she’ll be.”

That night, Ang, Sophie, and I squeezed together on my bed like three enchiladas in a casserole dish, and Mason sprawled on the floor with blankets and a pillow. There was safety staying in the same room together.

We gave Ang and Sophie a half hour or so to fall asleep. Then Mason, the bait in our plan, entered the hypercosmic realm and wandered the cove alone, hoping to draw Harriet’s attention. I drifted into the sea of threads, allowing myself to be drawn to his thread of subconscious. I held the thread lightly, feeling for the change that would come if Harriet tried to influence him.

After a couple of hours, I told Mason we might as well call it a night.

For the next four days, the four of us spent our mornings in Danton. We realized that, as long as we kept visiting the patients and going through the same routine, it was at least enough to keep them from getting any worse. A few even got well enough to return home.

Mason and I entered the hypercosmic realm each night, but four nights in a row, our efforts met the same end as the first night.

The afternoon following our fifth unsuccessful attempt, Mason and I sat cross-legged on the floor of the tree house in his backyard. We each held triple-scoop cups of ice cream, which we’d decided we deserved after toughing it out through nearly a week of sleepless nights. I’d even ordered whipped cream and sprinkles on mine.

Just days away from the solstice, my powers literally pulsed through me. I’d learned to be careful. Even the slightest hint of a thought on my part could influence those around me. Just this morning, Dad and I had crossed paths in the kitchen for a few minutes before he left for work and I took off for Danton. I’d been thinking about how I wished I had enough money to buy my own car, and how that was even less likely now that I’d cut way back on my shifts at the café, and I looked up from my bagel to see my dad pulling out all the cash in his wallet, plus two credit cards. “I can write you a check for however much more you need for a car,” he’d said, sliding the pile of bills and cards toward me.

As if that wasn’t weird enough, I’d also discovered that I could flash back and forth between the two worlds so quickly, it was nearly like being in both places at once. I hadn’t decided whether that was really cool, or just extremely freaky.

“Can’t we just take her by surprise when she’s home watching soap operas or something?” Mason asked. He started on his second scoop. Blue bubblegum . . . Gross.

“No, if we try to capture her here in the physical world, she’ll just jump over to the dream world, where she can wreak all kinds of havoc while we’re standing here like idiots trying to tie her up or something,” I said. “We have to take her in the hypercosmic realm. And we have to surprise her and move in fast, or it won’t work. She’s gotta be scary-strong by now.”

“I know, I know,” Mason muttered into his ice cream cup. “Just wish there was a more direct way to deal with her.”

“Don’t worry,” I said, scraping the last of my strawberry ice cream onto my spoon. “When she finally shows up, what we’re going to do will be plenty direct.”

I watched him for a moment. He didn’t know about Zane’s prophecy, but did he feel a change between us? I set my cup down and jumped up, pacing the tree house to distract myself before I gave away something through our link.

Mason watched me walk three tiny steps, turn, walk another three tiny steps, turn, and repeat my route. “Whoa there, antsy much?” He laughed and showed his dimples.

I grinned, but didn’t stop. “Sorry, I can not sit still for more than, like, five minutes,” I said. I was a racehorse in a cage, seconds before the bell. It got worse every day.

Mason stood and caught my arm as I paced, and he pulled me against his chest, his arms curving around my waist. I stretched my arms around his neck, the curls of his hair tickling my hands.

He looked down at me and gave me a half smile. “Looks like you can be still for a minute.”

“I’ll give you half a minute,” I said. “Starting now.” I pressed my lips to his, and he squeezed me closer. For a glorious few seconds, I forgot about Harriet, the solstice, even the forces surging through me. But Zane’s ice-blue eyes flashed in my mind. I rested my palms on Mason’s chest, pushing gently. “I should get going.”

Mason nodded and shifted back, leaving a cold band across my back where his arms had rested. His brow wrinkled and he took a breath as if he wanted to ask me something. Then he let it out. “I’ll be over later,” he said, and then, “Wait, Corinne?”

I’d started to reach for the trap door that led to the tree house ladder. I pulled my hand back. “Yeah?”

“Is that other Shield—Zane—is he scaring you or something?”

My heart constricted. “Scaring me? No, why?”

Mason rubbed the back of his neck. “It seems like he’s been on your mind a lot. And he makes you nervous.”

I swallowed and shook my head. “No, he’s fine. He’s just been showing me some things that could help us.”

Mason dropped his arm and regarded me for a second, and I tried not to squirm under his gaze. “Just be careful. I can’t trust anyone who can bump me out of your head.”

I forced a smile that I hoped looked reassuring. “It’s okay. I know he wouldn’t hurt me.”

Back at home, I rearranged the shirts hanging in my closet and fretted over what Mason had said. And then I worried that he’d read my thoughts and know I was fretting. I finally covered my head with a pillow and managed to sleep for a couple of hours, and then I made a grilled cheese sandwich and spinach salad for dinner. There in the house alone, I could almost pretend that Mom was working a late shift and Bradley was out with his friends. Loneliness washed over me as I loaded my dishes in the dishwasher and headed down to my room.

I logged in to the message boards, hoping again that one of the other unions would know something about the songs in my dream. None of them did. Frustration and fatigue dragged at me. I set my laptop on my desk, turned on some music, and tried to relax.

My thoughts turned to Zane. Had he returned to the cove, hoping to run into me? His prophecy about the two of us still haunted me—when I had time to think about anything other than my union, Harriet, my brother, and the other sick kids. I couldn’t keep living with the weight of what he’d said, just waiting around to see what would happen, and what it meant for me and Mason. Maybe after I’d dealt with Harriet.

The sixth night began like the five before it. One by one, the rest of my union arrived, and we all settled in for the night. I didn’t want to stress them out more by bringing it up, but we were down to our second-to-last chance. If we didn’t trap Harriet tonight, or tomorrow night . . . well, we were out of time.

After I’d drifted for what seemed like half the night, keeping my finger notched around Mason’s thread, I was just about to call it when something changed. Mason’s flow of energy surged for a moment, and then faded.

My heart lurching, I let go of the thread, and in a blink I stood near the water line at the cove.

Mason! I screamed, my head whipping around as I tried to look everywhere at once.

My mind buzzed with silence.