Ronnie looked atBrisk.
He shrugged. “I’m not tired. I’ve trained my body to only need four hours every two nights and you’ll need me toassist.”
Brisk glanced back to Nox and Maxine. I craned my head to look over at them, but they appeared fuzzy like they were on a broken TV. I was definitely losing consciousness pretty soon. There was no way Maxine could take me in; she’d lead us right into groundzero.
Nox gave Ronnie a frown. “I’m jacked on adrenaline so I’m not sure I could sleep right now. Maybe in an hour, if I took asedative?”
Ronnie shook her head. “No, I need to operatenow!”
“You think I can’t protect her?” Damien asked, with a bit of agrowl.
Ronnie glared at him. “I think you attract every ghoul and their freakingmother!”
“Only after four or so hours. How long does the surgerytake?”
“Three to fourhours.”
Nausea crashed into me then, and I rolled over to my side and vomited. The pain was so bad I couldn’t take it one secondlonger.
“Then make it three,” Damien said, then pulled off his cuff and tossed it to Josephine who stood next to his brother, near the doorway. “It worked. It saved our lives, but the battery didn’t last and something overheated. It also created an EMP that knocked out our weapons. Fix that and it’sperfect.”
He turned and looked down at me. I must’ve been pretty sexy with vomit on my face and blood all over mybody.
“You owe me a date.” Hesmirked.
Ronnie waited off to the side, a gas mask in her hand. Damien would need to go in first and control the band or I would drop in on my own. Injured like this, that was a deathsentence.
Brisk handed him two extra guns and then Damien laid down next to me. Blood and vomit on his bed didn’t seem to botherhim.
My mind was warbled, but I felt the need to give Damien advice. “Calm your mind. You can’t take us in if you’re in a bad place. We’ll drop right into the warzone.”
He turned over to glare at me. “Well, the date started off well, and then she turned into a controlfreak.”
I scoffed, the dizziness increasing. “This isnotadate.”
“Shh, freckles, I got this.” He closed hiseyes.
Ronnie was shouting for Maxine to get clean sheets and that the room wasn’t sterile enough but I couldn’t be moved. All I knew was that my arm felt like someone had poured battery acid on it, and my leg felt like a shark took a bite out of it and swam off. I’d never been in such bad shape before, but I knew I needed to stay conscious until Damien could fallasleep.
Tatum peeked over Ronnie’s face. Tears were leaking from her eyes. “I’m here if you need a waker. Just contact me,” she whispered, tapping herhead.
Ronnie gave her a sad smile but didn’t say anything. The truth was that while under anesthesia, my gift might not work. It fuddled my mind, leaving me foggy and loopy even in the DreamWars.
“You got it, kiddo.” Iwinked.
Just then my arm band vibrated, telling me Damien was asleep.Wow, he really is narcoleptic.As Ronnie put the mask over my face, I found myself wondering if I was about to have the most messed-up date in the history of dating. Getting surgery and being under anesthesia, was about the worst thing you could ever do. You were completely vulnerable, and loopy toboot.
The mask went over my face and I tried to stay calm, not wanting to panic and go under, even though it wouldn’t matter since I would be pulled into whatever place Damien was. As my eyes drifted closed, my body began to float and then I was falling. The nausea was worse thistime.
I popped into the dream world and Damien was there, scooping me into his arms before I could rest any weight on my bad foot. The abrupt motion made my breath hitch. My whole body felt like it was two hundred pounds, and I didn’t even want to see what my leg lookedlike.
“Hey,” Damien said, looking down atme.
I craned my neck to see we were near one of the big green lakes where the Galadrias came to feed. It was a very safe place, assuming you didn’t fall into the water and were eaten by a waterghoul.
“Hey,” I replied, my voicewarbled.
He started jogging with me in his arms and I just lay there, exhausted and heavy. How could you be sleepy while asleep? It was thedrugs.
