He sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Look, I can’t see everything. I’m given glimpses and what I’ve glimpsed is… you just need to learn this, okay? I need you to not sleep until you’ve learnedthis.”
My eyes bugged out wider, if that was even possible. “Okay, geez. No pressure.” I sat back down and pulled out my phone. “I’ll keep training but I’m ordering food. What do youwant?”
He paused for a second. “Mexican. You know what Ilike.”
I did. I nodded and texted Damien to order us a smorgasbord of Mex food, then set my phone down. “Okay, Master Aki, what would you like me todo?”
If there was one thing that was true to my soul, it was that I wasn’t aquitter.
* * *
Over the next two days,I sat in the training room nearly nonstop with Master Aki, only taking breaks to catch up with Damien. The news was going crazy about the giants, and only one had been confirmedkilled.
Damien had determined the green goo lake in Nevada had too many military at it for us to get anywhere near there, but he’d found the Boston docks. Brisk and I helped him plan our upcoming trip to Boston, to take out their storage supply of the green stuff before it could be shipped to Nevada. Damien had been spying on the docks through its CCTV, and now knew the schedules of the guards and everything. We didn’t want anyone hurt, just wanted that green goo to blow sky-high and send a clear message—humanity couldn’t be sold. The second I’d told Santiago of our plan, he begged to come along with some of his guys, and stick it to thegovernment.
It was all set. We lefttonight.
Now I was sitting with Master Aki for our final lesson before we took Damien’s private jet to Boston, for Operation Fuck the Traitorous Government—we’d let Maxine name it. I hadn’t slept in a few days, though the others had gone in. We felt that me sleeping as little as possible now that the breeders were gunning for me wasbest.
“There, do you feel it?” Master Aki askedme.
I could, actually. After two mind-numbing days of waving my hands in the air and opening my senses, I could feel something, a thickness, a snag from the otherside.
I nodded. “Yep. I’m a master of sensing the other dimension,” I declaredproudly.
My mentor gave me a little smirk. “Good. Now openit.”
I froze and gave him a bug-eyed look. “Saywhat?”
He gave me a bit of a lopsided grin. “Open it. I know you can. I’veseenit.”
There was a lot of trust happening in this relationship right now. These past few days, I’d been feeling it, but never in my wildest dreams did I think he’d say, “Openit.”
“You need to get this before we get on our plane,” he rushedme.
Open it. Just like a door.Okay.
I felt for that snag, that heaviness, and when I caressed it with my fingers, I pulled themwide.
Nothinghappened.
I let out agroan.
“Not with your hands. With your mind.” He tapped the side of myhead.
Open a portal to the dream world with my mind.Sure thing,bud.
“I love you, you know that, but this is… it’s crazy. Impossible,” I told him. Sure, some of us humans had some weird powers creep up, but it didn’t mean I was going to start laying eggs and doing weird breedershit.
He placed both of his soft hands on my face. “I love you too, and Iknowyou can do this. Please, tryharder.”
His words, his touch, were so sincere that I almost started tocry.
“Okay…” My voice was small as his hands slipped away from myface.
Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and put my hands out again, feeling for the heavy edges in the air before me. When I felt them that time, I used my mental magic—as I’d now come to call it—and thought about a piece of paper tearing.‘Open,’I thought and pushed. I imagined the Dream Wars, the smell, the green hue, Dawn, anything I could think of, and that’s when Master Akigasped.
My eyes flew open and standing before me, surrounding my outstretched hands, was a twelve-inch circular opening. Through it I saw a pod plant and the shoulder of a sentry. I dropped my hands and shook them, which closed theportal.
