I froze. Jeremy just talked in the Dream War. That didn’t happen often. It meant he felt safe, and it was a relief to know that.
Opening the door, I jumped out and waved to the crowd before breaking into a run when I saw Dawn. Her pink feathery fur was unmistakable.
“Dawn!” I shouted out loud, emotion welling in my chest. I hadn’t expected to feel so overcome, but I was on the verge of tears for some reason.
I crashed into her, putting my arms around her neck and laughing.‘I’m so glad you’re okay,’I told her.
She nuzzled my side.‘Dawn is glad Kit is okay too. Breeder connected with Galadria and used hive mind, but Dawn killed breeder so Galadria mind is now safe.’
Pulling back, I looked at my friend more closely now. She had fine scratch marks near her eyes and some of the feathers on her side had been ripped out.
‘Are you okay?’
Dawn nodded.‘Spent time in birthing pool. Dawn is fine.’
‘My friends and I are so tired. Can we sleep here?’I was having a hard time concentrating, I was so exhausted.
Dawn nodded.‘Kit and friends always welcome at Skyhome. Not much room right now but will make space.’
‘We will sleep under a bush, we don’t care,’I told her as she led me away from the helicopter and through the throngs of Galadrias, who were moving to make a path for us.
‘Coco went to Earth. Didn’t die,’Dawn mused. I peered over my shoulder to see my team following us.
Hive mind. She knew everything Coco knew. ‘Yes. That was scary.’
Dawn stopped and peered back at me, her big huge eyes somehow growing wider.‘Kit can end the Dream Wars and Galadrias can live on Earth.’
It had been the first thing that had popped into my head when I’d seen Coco come through and not shrivel up and die. That I could somehow… expose all of the ghouls to our atmosphere and kill them off but keep the Galadrias safe.
‘No green food on Earth,’I told her.
She shook her head.‘Maybe something similar…’
‘Maybe.’I didn’t want to get her hopes up.
She led us to the small cave I’d inhabited before, and I grinned when I saw the sleeping bags, a hairbrush, and a bottle of water.
‘Galadrias have been collecting human things and keeping them here for Kit and friends.’
Although we never really talked about it, Dawn had foresight. She probably saw us coming.
‘Thank you. Very thoughtful.’I placed my hands at my sides and gave her a deep bow, as I would Master Aki.
She bowed back and then wished me a nice sleep. Our crew filed into the cave, some spilling out onto the grassy lawn area in front, and we started to set up camp. I’d never seen Skyhome so full and bustling.
“So it’s safe to sleep here?” our pilot asked as he laid out a bedroll.
I nodded. “Your body will stay here and you will just dream, like before.”
He looked at me incredulously.
“It’s awesome,” Damien added as he tucked Jeremy into his sleeping bag and laid a weighted blanket over him. He was wearing earplugs and an eye mask so that he couldn’t see anything, basically shutting out all outside sound or light, the way I used to sleep before these fuckers landed on Earth.
My gaze flicked over to Maxine, who was looking extra jumpy. Her eyes darted around the cave walls and back out to the Galadria. Scooting over, I sidled up next to her. “How you doing? Ready to get some shut-eye?” Maxine had PTSD and anxiety, so sleep was a hard thing for her to do on a normal day, more or less in a new place. She’d slept here once before, but things were different then. The breeders weren’t hijacking Galadria minds.
“I’m not sure about letting my guard down here.” She tapped her fingers on her leg and started to squirm on her sleeping bag.
“I’ll take first watch. I got your back,” Nox told her, machine gun in hand at the entrance to the cave.
