Between one step and the next, he entered that desolate landscape. Still on a staircase, still moving down. He flashed between realities with each step. The EMF detector on his hip roared to life, squealing with activity. He snapped it off, but the sound played in his ears when he stepped into the other place. Grinding his teeth, he kept going. If he concentrated on Bryce, he might stay in the real world.
When he reached the bottom of the steps, the flash of other reality took over. Instead of standing in a basement, he was on a flat level in the middle of the broken city. The buildings had crumbled more, disappearing into ash even as he watched. Cold seeped into him, and Jesse clutched his gun tighter.
His gun. He had it. Or did he? Alex had said… Jesse struggled to remember. Astral projection. He wasn’t really in this place. He couldn’t be. Alex and Bryce weren’t with him. He was standing alone. His mind had taken an unauthorized trip. Were his hands empty or not? The gun was there and it wasn’t.
There was a slithering, not too far away, coming from the grayness of a building. A devourer appeared, and out of instinct, Jesse raised his gun. It was back, a solid weight in his hands.
Only, this wasn’t real. It was, but not in that sense. What was his body doing? Had he collapsed?
He hated the helpless feeling, hated not knowing what was up and down, whether he needed to shoot or if that would cause catastrophe. He turned on his heel to run up the stairs, but stopped as another devourer flowed down the steps toward him.
A hand grabbed him by his shirt. There wasn’t much more to the vision than that. Just a hand grabbing him. Jesse took hold of the wrist andfeltAlex. Felt pain and fear and fury. When the hand yanked, Jesse followed, closing his eyes as he was about to go through a wall. The wall wasn’t real. Couldn’t be. His body was elsewhere.
Jesse gasped, and the cold musty air did nothing to help him, but he was back in the basement. He was standing, and he leaned his back against the wall. Alex broke away from him and leaned against the opposite wall, while Bryce kept watch on the archway in front of them.
They could have been discovered. Jesse searched the area, but they were in a small room. His eyes were wide. He could feel the dryness creeping in from trying too hard to keep them open, and he couldn’t keep focus at first.
“Breathe,” Bryce murmured, his voice a low, perfect note. “In the nose, out the mouth. Count to three on the out.”
Jesse nodded. Sweat was pouring off him, but Bryce’s advice helped.
“You’re a goddamn empath, you fucking nitwit,” Alex hissed under his breath. His voice sounded a little too much like one of the devourers’ slithering tones. “This is why we fucking train people before they do this shit. You could’ve gotten us killed walking into a room. How are you supposed to do the next part?”
“We’re here now,” Bryce said sharply.
“He’s at least a four without training.” Alex grabbed onto Jesse’s shirt and got in his face. “What the fuck were you thinking, jumping into this? Do you want to lose your sanity? You could have gotten lost in there. You still could.”
Jesse was too tired to get pissed at the kid, and too worried that indulging the anger radiating off of him would make it worse. He put his hand over Alex’s, hoping he’d pick up on the genuine relief he felt. “Thanks for the save.”
Alex blinked, and his blue eyes widened. “Shit. Maybe I’m the one that shouldn’t be down here. I’m just so freakinghungry.”
Jesse shot Bryce a worried glance. “I’ve never felt that.”
“Because you’re a four, maybe a five. I’m a freaking nine when I bust the locks, which I had to do to save your ass.”
“Then get your ass upstairs,” Jesse said. “Bryce and I will handle things down here.”
“But—”
Jesse clutched onto Alex’s wrists. Tossing together all the worry and concern he felt for Alex’s stability and safety, knowing that Bryce felt the same, he focused on those emotions. “Alex, go. Tell Celia and David what we’ve found so far. If we can’t stop whatever the hell’s going on down here, it’ll be up to you to lead the next charge and get your mom here. It’s just as fucking important.Go.”
Alex nodded, then he turned and ran up the stairs, stumbling a few times.
Bryce waited, but he had a drawn look. He was firmly hiding his fears. Jesse wasn’t sure if he was feeling Bryce’s emotions, or if he could just guess them.
“If you take another mind trip, I won’t be able to do anything,” Bryce said.
Jesse checked over his gun, ensuring the safety was off. “Sure you will. You’ll stop the menace and then worry about me. Trust me to handle this.”
Bryce hesitated, then pursed his lips. “Psychic defense 101, come up with a mental image or feeling that’s the opposite of what you’re feeling. Block everything out with that feeling. It won’t be easy. Takes practice, but it’s all I can give you.”
“I know what I could think about, but I need a refresher after that last trip,” Jesse said.
Bryce frowned, but when Jesse grabbed him by the belt, his expression clouded more. “Jesse…”
“Just a moment,” Jesse whispered. “The bad guys won’t come.”
Jesse kissed Bryce, a slow tease of lips, even though he’d promised to be quick. Bryce was stiff at first, but he melted toward Jesse, holding his shotgun off to the side to keep it out of their way. Jesse put his hand on Bryce’s neck, because he needed more contact with him. More than just their mouths, more than they had time for at the bottom of a stairway leading to hell. He could feel Bryce’s pulse race as they kissed. Eager, but they were getting too greedy. Jesse focused on the welling of hope and love in his heart, that Bryce might feel the same way about him, and the cold went away.
But he couldn’t keep kissing Bryce. Jesse ended the kiss and they panted in tandem.
“Something to think about while we deal with monsters,” Jesse whispered.
“Yeah,” Bryce said breathily. “You better not get killed, Jesse Dawes. I’ll never forgive you.”
He’d never forgive himself, and Jesse knew it. He grinned, though, and picked his flashlight up off the floor. “Better watch my ass, then.”
They stepped through the archway.
