He was about to step over the unconscious Sykes when he remembered another priority.
“Phone,” he said. “Sykes’s phone.”
“What?”
“Get it. I’m lightheaded. If I bend down to search him, I might faint.”
“Okay, but whatever you do, don’t let go of my hand. I need physical contact to maintain the connection at this level.”
“I have no idea what you’re doing to me, but I won’t let go of your hand.”
He watched her crouch and fumble with Sykes’s jacket. Everything around her began to waver.
“I can’t find it,” she said.
He tried to focus and managed to see her clearly for a few seconds.
“Belt,” he said.
She reached inside Sykes’s leather jacket, found the belt and the phone that was clipped to it. “Got it.”
“Don’t lose it. We’ll need it.”
“Right.” She dropped the phone into one of the pockets of her windbreaker, straightened, and drew him into the dark interior of the club. “But stop giving orders. I’m the one in charge now.”
“Fine by me.” He followed her into the shadows. “I can’t see very well.”
“That’s because you’re in a waking dreamstate. I’m trying to keep you in the borderlands so that you’ll be able to stay on your feet, but you will probably start hallucinating.”
“Great. Something to look forward to.”
“I told you, I haven’t done this before.”
She was starting to sound irritated.
“Sorry,” he muttered.
The grimy mirror behind the backbar reflected the beam of Alice’s flashlight, illuminating a scattering of dusty liquor bottles, a long row of stools, and the dilapidated stage. A playbill featuring an aging crooner dangled from a display stand.
On his shoulder, Sebastian crouched and chortled in a reassuring way.
The first vision struck when they were halfway down the basement stairs. Alice was on the steps ahead of him, one hand wrapped around his, the other on the railing.
She blurred a little and then came back into focus. But there was a marked change in her appearance. She was wearing her pajamas and her hair was loose around her shoulders. Somehow he knew she was leading him to the big bed in the middle of the suite.
Another jolt of energy zapped through him. He recognized it immediately. He was getting hard, fast.
“Good plan,” he said.
“What?” Alice glanced back at him, frowning in concern. “Damn, you’re seeing things, aren’t you?”
“It’s okay. I like what I’m seeing.”
“I’m going to pull back a little. Try not to fall.”
She wavered and rematerialized in the jacket and pants she’d had on a moment ago. Her hair was once again anchored in a tight knot at the back of her head.
“Better?” she asked, clearly worried.
