Chapter 22

The Gertrudein this dream looks younger. She's sitting on a couch with a handsome blond guy, who's sipping from a bottle of beer as she gazes longingly at his lips.

He offers her the bottle. "Want some?"

She recoils as if it were poison. "I need to be in absolute control of my faculties to suppress my power."

His grin is cocky. "All so I can touch you, right?"

She takes the bottle from his hand, puts it on the table, and kisses him. As they proceed to make out, I realize two things: this is a memory, as most trauma loops are, and the guy isn't rotting despite his contact with her. I guess gangrene-givers can turn off their powers. It makes sense. If they couldn't, how would they reproduce?

Speaking of reproduction, the guy fishes out a condom from his pocket, and they take things all the way.

I yawn, watching them. They're not very creative—definitely nothing like some of the dreams I've seen. If I ever get around to doing this with Dream Valerian, there will be a lot more acrobatics.

"You have to leave now," Gertrude says sleepily when they're done.

He gives her puppy eyes. "Can't we spoon for a few minutes?"

"Two minutes. Put a blanket between us, just in case."

He does as she says, and they cuddle through the blanket until her breathing changes. When he notices she's asleep, he carefully climbs off the couch and starts picking up his clothing. Before he can put on his pants, she sinks into REM sleep. He's none the wiser.

At this point, the dream isn't a memory but Gertrude's extrapolation of what must have happened.

Her arm swings wildly, the way it did when she nearly took out my nose. By pure chance, her hand connects with his ankle and, as if it has a mind of its own, wraps around it.

The rot is instant. In mere moments, his leg looks as if it's been infected for weeks.

He clutches his leg, screaming.

She stirs as if she's waking up, but her grip doesn't release, and the gangrene spreads and spreads until his screaming ceases and he collapses in a rotten heap.

The dream is a memory again.

Gertrude opens her eyes—and jumps off the couch, emitting a scream of such horror and agony that my chest aches with genuine sympathy.

However awful she was to me at the trial, she doesn't deserve this.

But this is my chance to do what I came here for, so I make the guy's corpse disappear, put her back on the couch, and make her fall back asleep. I then change the room to look as Kain described, moving the couch, adjusting the clock's date and time to that of Gemma's murder, and putting Catwoman on pause on the TV.

Then I use my power to "wake" Gertrude here in the dream world.

Remote control in hand, she rubs her eyes in confusion, her anguish gone for now. As I hoped, she thinks she's snoozed before starting her movie. Later, when she really wakes up, she'll process the horrific incident I just witnessed, as much as such a thing can beprocessed.

To my relief, Gertrude falls into the new dream perfectly. She unpauses the movie and watches it, everything else forgotten. It doesn't take long before I see that watching this movie is indeed a memory.

Kain was wrong to suspect her. Her alibi checks out.

A part of me is disappointed. Given how much she seems to hate me for little reason, it would've made life easier if she were the culprit. Still, after seeing that trauma loop, I understand why she's so angry with anyone who can't help her sleep condition.

Oh, well.

Time to wake up.

* * *

I openmy eyes in Kain's sleek kitchen and head over to his bedroom, where he's supposed to be keeping an eye on Gertrude. I find him diligently engaged in that duty, standing over the bed like a sentinel.

"Hey," Felix says in my earpiece. "I just woke up."

Ignoring him, I tell Kain, "Gertrude isn't guilty. She really was watching a movie, like she said."

Kain curses under his breath. He looks ready to kill someone.

"What now?" I ask cautiously.

"I'll take you to deal with the next sleeper, then come back to clean up this mess." He strides out of the room.

I speed after him. "How?"

"I'll use glamour on Gertrude to make her forget what just happened," he throws over his shoulder as we exit his quarters.

"Won't she get suspicious if she's the only person not to have to undergo a dreamwalk?"

"I'll tell her she'll be the last one." He covers the corridor with long strides. "And we'll find the real killer before that."

"Assuming you do," Felix says as I strive to keep up without breaking into a jog. Thankfully, Kain slows a bit as we make the next turn.

"Where are we going?" I ask breathlessly.

"Colton's," he replies and speeds up again. "He's the only one of your suspects available tonight."

Puck it. I launch into a full-out run to catch up with him. "What do you mean?"

"Eduardo left on pack business, and Nina said she's going on some important trip to the Otherlands."

Panting, I pull up next to him. "You don't find that suspicious?"

"A little." He slows down a bit to look at me. "They know they'll have to undergo a dreamwalk tomorrow night."

"But what if they don't come back?"

He stops next to the massive wooden door. "In that case, I'll consider the case closed and the problem solved. Our main priority is stopping the murders. Justice is a distant second."

He pushes open the door and leads me to the giant's bedroom.

"Wow," Felix says. "I think that's two California king beds."

Yep, I can see where one bed ends and the other begins. I guess no one on this world makes beds for people Colton's size.

"He's not in REM sleep," I whisper to Kain. "You go deal with Gertrude, and I'll wait for my moment."

He leaves as I perch on the edge of the bed to watch Colton's closed eyes—a boring enough activity that a yawn tugs at my jaw despite the vampire blood I recently consumed.

"That dream session with Ariel and Pom was so cool," Felix says—a welcome distraction for once. He proceeds to tell me what they did while I was dealing with Gertrude: mostly goofing around.

After a few long minutes, Kain comes back and eyes me impatiently. I point at Colton's eyelids and shrug. If I weren't afraid to wake up the giant, I'd explain that REM sleep typically happens around ninety minutes after someone first falls sleep.

Kain makes his way over to a corner and becomes very still, like an alabaster statue. Must be some weird vampire meditation.

I turn my attention back to Colton. After what feels like an hour, his eyelids finally indicate REM sleep—though if I had my way, I'd be using equipment to know for sure. If I get this wrong, I'll have to deal with the subdream again. Still, I'm pretty sure he's dreaming. His eyes, like the rest of him, are ginormous. The movement is hard to miss.

Carefully, I touch the back of the giant's hand and plummet into the dream world.

* * *

"Ariel and Felix are so fun,"Pom pants excitedly as I appear in my dream palace lobby. "You've got to bring them back some day."

"I will," I tell him as I head to the tower of sleepers. "Tell me what you guys did."

I barely listen as he repeats some of the stuff Felix told me. I'm contemplating a theory that's been brewing in my head since we left Gertrude's room.

There's a way Kain could still be behind the murders despite his alibi. What if he used glamour to get others to do his dirty work and forget it ever happened? After all, he was able to glamour Gertrude, a fellow Council member. Then again, there's no way he's powerful enough to do it to anyone he wants. He was only able to glamour me thanks to my vampire blood consumption.

Hmm. Could Gertrude also be on the blood? If I suffered from her condition, I might go that route to avoid sleep as much as possible.

Either way, I'm proceeding with my current plan of action. If Kain has planted a fake alibi in someone's head, it won't check out in the dream world. In fact, I should see if I can retrieve a memory of being glamoured. I've never tried that, but it could work.

Thus determined, I locate sleeping Colton in the tower.

"Huh," Pom says. "The bed grew to fit him."

I'm not surprised. "The nook, too. That's the beauty of the dream world for you."

The good news is that no trauma loop clouds gather above Colton, so this will be a get-in, get-out situation.

I turn invisible and enter his dream.

Around us is a world lacking any technological advancements, even modest ones like the tech on Earth. Instead, I spot mud huts the size of high-rise buildings, dirt roads the width of a large speedway, enormous windmills, and plainly dressed giants walking to and fro.

Colton is trudging down the street, looking very small next to his kin. I guess it makes sense for him to be tiny. In order to live on Earth, he has to pass for a human. If he were actually human, though, he'd probably have serious pituitary gland issues.

Beginning my work, I draw in a deep fog to obscure the huts and the people. I thin the crowds on the streets and remove the huts completely, replacing them with a hilly landscape dotted with mushrooms. Finally, I set the date and time and add in the goats.

As if it were the goal all along, Colton begins serenely herding the beasts.

Yep, this is memory. Another person with an alibi.

Disappointed, I wake up.

* * *

Waving for Kain to follow,I tiptoe out of Colton's bedroom and head directly for the exit.

Once we're outside the giant's quarters, I sanitize my finger. "He's not guilty. This doesn't look good for Eduardo and Nina."

Kain looks grim. "Just connect with as many Councilors as you can. Albina is nearby, so you can start with her."

I don't object, and he leads me to a regular-sized steel door, which we enter.

Albina isn't in her bed. Instead, there's a note on the pillow:

Kain, I'm very sorry, but something came up. I'll have to participate in the dream investigation tomorrow night.

Regards, Albina

"Sketchy," I say. "Is she strong enough to rip someone apart?"

"No." Kain heads out of Albina's place. "She can break matter into nothing. If she'd used herpower, we would've thought the victim had disappeared without a trace. It would've been dumb of her to leave bodies behind."

We head to another subject's quarters as I ask, "Isn't it alwaysa bad idea to leave bodies behind?"

"Unless you're Albina, it might be hard to get rid of a body in this castle. But you have a point. It's possible that the murderer is making a statement by leaving the bodies like this—in which case, it could be Albina. Somehow."

We stop next to a new wooden door, and he holds it open for me.

"Is Gertrude on vampire blood?" I ask as casually as I can.

"Indeed." He frowns. "Firth is the supplier—and the only reason I allow it is that it gives me power over her."

"Is anyone else on the Council on vampire blood?" I ask, still striving for casualness.

"Not that I know of." His fangs extend. "And Gertrude is the only person on the Council I can glamour the way I did earlier. I couldn't, for example, make Colton rip Gemma apart."

"Of course he'd say that," Felix whispers. "If I were you, I wouldn't dismiss that theory so quickly."

Ignoring Felix, I scowl at Kain. "Don't get touchy. Isn't it my job to think of all possibilities?"

"I'd rather you focus on the part of your job that's in there." He nods at the apartment.

As I step past him to enter, his fangs go away.

The sleeper in this bedroom is Isis, the Councilor who committed to healing Mom when I successfully accomplish my job.

Better be on my best behavior.

Silently, I wait until Isis goes into REM sleep before I enter the dream world. Once there, I check to make sure she shows up in the tower of sleepers and get back out, moving carefully in order not to wake her. I'll only snoop on Isis's dreams if explicitly ordered. Her power is too valuable for me to upset her. In fact, if she turns out to be the killer, I might blackmail her to save Mom instead of telling the Council about her guilt. Not that I think a healer is likely to be behind it.

The sleeper Kain takes me to next isn't familiar to me. Again, we wait for REM sleep, then I make the link and get out of the dream world.

The next Councilor I recognize. It's Hekima, the grandfatherly illusionist. He reaches another phase of REM sleep in minutes, and I pop into his dream and right back out again, as I did with the other Councilors.

The following person I kind of know as well. Though we've never spoken personally, I've seen him in Ariel's dreams. His puckish—or more accurately, satyric—face is distinctive. It's Chester, and he's a probability manipulator—or trickster, as his kind are locally nicknamed. A probability manipulator isn't someone I'd want as an enemy, so I carefully make a connection and tiptoe out of his bedroom.

The next Councilor is a beautiful woman who takes over an hour to get to REM sleep.

The person after her only takes five minutes.

I keep making connections over and over, until we walk into the bedroom of a thin man who opens his eyes and glares at us.

"It's morning," Kain says as we scurry out of the thin guy's abode. "You'll have to continue tonight."

Yay, me. I get a little reprieve.

We head back toward my quarters.

"Was that most of them?" I ask when we get there.

"Ninety percent of the Council." He opens the door for me. "You thought you wouldn't have enough power, but what we actually ran out of is time."

I stop in the doorway. "I'm game to see if anyone is sleeping in."

He shakes his head. "I promised everyone you won't be an inconvenience. Besides, actually making a connection is less important than making them think you did so."

"What do you mean?" I enter the place and plop down on a chair.

He remains by the door. "My hope is that the killer thinks you're a threat. They'll move to eliminate the threat, and that's when they'll reveal themselves to me."

I scowl at him. "So I'm bait? You're hoping they'll try to kill me so you'll know who it is?"

"Me or one of the Enforcers will protect you," he says dismissively. "And you'll get your reward."

"If I live."

He gives me a level look. "I swear your mother will be healed even if you're dead."

"Well, that's morbidly reassuring," Felix whispers.

Some of my anger dissipates. "Thank you. That means a lot."

Not bothering with a "you're welcome," Kain leaves, and I hear the lock turn in the door.

I guess I'm a prisoner. Oh, well.

The first thing I do is grab some bananas and start munching, consuming one after another while ignoring Felix's jibes.

"When you're done with that monkey business, it would be a good time for a nap," he says when I get to banana number six. "I sure could use one."

I finish the banana, clean my hands, and take out my phone to text: You go ahead.

"I will," he says with a yawn. "Wait, why are you texting? Do you think there're listening devices in the room?"

Can't dismiss the possibility, I text. If Kain doesn't trust me, I wouldn't put it past him.

"Good point. Enjoy your nap." He yawns again. "Feel free to visit me in the dream world if you feel like it."

I make a thumbs-up gesture in front of my lapel camera.

"Talk later." I hear rustling as he puts down his headset.

I down some water and try to decide what to do next. Napping is out of the question; the vampire blood I imbibed won't let that happen. Since I haven't run out of power, I decide to finish Valerian's gig—then maybe reward myself with a visit to the dream version of my employer.

Petting Pom's fur, I enter the prerequisite trance. On the way to the tower of sleepers, I update Pom on the investigation and tell him what I'm about to do.

"You're lucky," he says when we reach Bernard's nook. "He's sleeping in today."

"I don't feel very lucky." I eye the clouds around Bernard's head. "His trauma loop consists of more than one dream, it seems."

"This one is less severe than the last," Pom says, sniffing at the clouds. "Still, I'm not going in there with you. Sorry."

I shrug and reach out to touch Bernard.