“Yes.”
I cock my head to the side and study him intently, trying to figure him out. I can see the passion, the blaze of fire in his eyes. He believes in this; he wants it, and not for himself but for the people he cares about.
“I’ve also been having these dreams.”
I lift my head, alarmed by the caution in his tone.
“More dreams? Is someone talking to you in these ones?”
“No. In these dreams, I’m running around the streets of Foreen, but there’s people everywhere, and the Ravage Virus is wiping everyone out. I dream there’s someone I have to get home to. Someone who needs me.”
He runs a hand through his long hair, messing it up.
“In these dreams, I don’t make it home; I die on the way. But, Kaida…I recognise these streets. I know where I am. This city that I have never stepped foot in before is as familiar to me as if I’ve lived here for twenty years.”
I stare at him, unsure what to make of it.
“So, are you thinking reincarnation?” I ask in a high, disbelieving voice.
“I don’t know? I don’t know how else to explain what’s happening.”
There’s a sound, like a choking sound, and when I turn, I find Jarek and Cadel awake and watching us.
“Are you having dreams?” I ask them abruptly.
Cadel shakes his head. “I don’t dream.”
Jarek looks like he’s seen a ghost; his face has gone white, and he shakes his head but too fast.
“Jarek,” I probe.
“I don’t remember all of it, just fragments, and they are torn away from me as soon as I wake up. They are awful; I don’t want them. I don’t remember the details, but the feeling? Mordecai is right; this place is familiar. I know what’s ahead before we get there, and I keep seeingflashes of things superimposed over the world around me.” Jarek laughs. “I thought I was going crazy.”
I look between the two of them. “Dreams of Foreen before the fall of civilisation? That was seven hundred years ago,” I scoff, but a shiver of unease crawls up my spine.
“I know,” Jarek says. “Which is why I’ve tried to ignore it. But it’s weird and so strong, and I feel desperate, like I’m trying to save someone and—”
He cuts himself off, confused and pale.
“And what?”
“I die, too. I remember that much. Someone I love is helpless, and I die.” His eyes lift to me, and I think I see clarity and understanding in them before he looks away, hiding whatever he thinks he knows.
“This is insane,” I whisper and stand up, not wanting to admit that I’ve been seeing the same or similar flashes. “Maybe there are drugs in the air.”
“There’s not. The gods are walking with us in this timeline. We’re heading towards a major tipping point. Either we win and survive or we fall, and I think so will the alpha and beta gods. We will all fall together, and this time, we won’t be coming back.”
Cadel is listening with an arm thrown over his face, but, at that, he opens his eyes and scowls, they are dark and furious. The brown is red again.
How do his eyes keep changing colour?
“The gods are dead,” he snarls.
Then he gets up and walks out, leaving us confused and alone.
Chapter 19
Together
