Nora~~

"I don't have a reason to spy."

"Really?" His lips tilt upward. "Even now knowing you're in a dream?"

I swallow hard. How does he know that? "Is this about me being different again? And must you hold onto me?" I frown, exhaling with a huff through my nose.

"You know this is exactly about you being different. I was there at the club when you figured it out so don't pretend with me. As for holding onto you, I don't know what you know. In the case you're like me, I don't want you slipping away the moment I let go."

"You're spying on me."

"Or are we spying on each other?"

"Charlie," I groundout.

"Nora." His tone is much lighter than mine as if he's enjoying this little interrogation of his.

"I didn't mean to overhear you. I saw the guy with the sign. I—I just wanted someone to talk to. Tye thinks I've lost it."

Charlie leans back, slackening his hold on me. "You could have come to me. You know how to find me."

"We don't like each other." If he did, he could have warned me what his dad was planning. That I'm dreaming. Instead, I only got vague instructions about not asking clever questions, an order I felt I'd need three dozen questions just to understand what he actually meant.

         "You don't like me." His eyes drop to my neck. "You've healed."

         A jolt runs through me. He's looking where Aaron strangled me. Aaron. Just his name leaves my throat tightening with emotion.

"You really were spying on me, weren't you?"

He looks . . . weary. "I wish I had gotten there sooner."

"That was you who pushed him away? Why?" He might have looked like he was trying to stop that interrogation, he might have warned me, but now knowing he's Pace's son, a Class One that sniffs out other Lucid for his father, I'm inclined to believe Charlie was only laying an elaborate trap for me. A web for me to get stuck in so he could present me on a platter to his father.

Richard Pace is sly.

How do I know he didn't make his son in his own image?

Said son lets out an exasperated laugh. "I've been trying to protect you since I met you." He shakes his head. "I haven't always succeeded."

"Your father trapped me here, and you work for him."

"I don't have a choice. And I'm trapped too. My cage just looks different than yours." He drops his gaze, staring down at the floor.

"Where am I?"

"My house. Welcome." He throws out the last word with sarcasm.

Three walls of the dining room are painted a forest green, but the wall my back presses against is made up of a dark brown, almost black, wood paneling. Above the matching wooden table that could fit at least two dozen guests is a crystal chandelier.

"This is your home?"

He shrugs. "My dad wanted it fancy for his dinner parties."

I was never close with my dad, and I know I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about him for letting me be trapped in here. Do I hate him? Do I think he's a monster? My heart wants to say yes, but my mind can't mesh those feelings with my memories of him. But Doctor Pace? What would it be like to call a man like that Dad?

"What is it going to take for you to let me go?"

"Let me help you. My dad has had his eye on you before you were even asleep. Since I was seven, I've spent most of my life in this dream. I can hide you from him." Seven? How could he have been so young?

His words about his dad bring up a memory—the way his dad kept staring at me when I sat in that classroom. How he already knew me.

"Seven?"

"My dad likes his things safe within a cage."

"Did you know . . . were you aware you were dreaming?"

"Not in the beginning."

I weigh all of his words. "If I were to let you hide me from your dad, I'd need you to teach me how you . . . travel like that. Consider it my insurance in the case that you're only planning to stab me in the back."

"I don't know if you're able to do it."

"Just try then. If you think it's so important that I need to hide, then I need to know how to protect myself."

He leans forward, his grip on me is soft at this point, no longer locked around me like vices. I could probably push him away if I attempted it. "Of course, I'd try," he says.

I close my eyes, my shoulders relaxing. "Thank you." With his help, I'd be able to learn if I am a Class One. If I could manipulate the dream more, maybe I could convince Tye that this world isn't real. That Radia didn't abandon him.

I want out of this dream, and I'm taking Tye with me.

"Are you going to let go of me now?"

"Don't you want me to take you back?"

Back. I forgot about Raymond. He has to be long gone. But if there is even the tiniest chance he is in the area around the station, I need to take it. "Please. Why were you talking to the sign man anyway?"

Charlie sighs. He's close enough I can feel the sigh as it passes through his body. "He's in another sort of cage."

Raymond's a prisoner then, but not all prisoners can be trusted.

Charlie closes his eyes, and everything goes dark.

And then a door creaks, and light comes in through an ever-widening slit. On the other side of the door is the subway station.

We're back in the hallway.

"You don't like to warn people, do you?"

Charlie's face is cloaked in shadows, but I can still see his grin. "It's called rifting, and I find the sheer terror on the faces of my dad's employees when I suddenly appear in front of them to be the most satisfying thing in the world. I'll find you tomorrow and show you one of my hiding places."

"Find me?"

"You're an easy girl to find, Nora."

I shake my head. "Great."

He chuckles. "Bye, Nora." He lets go of me, and a few seconds later, he's gone. It may scare people when he appears out of nowhere, but him disappearing into thin air is terrifying as well.

I step through the door and find the station a lot less full than it was earlier. Over by the stairs is Raymond.

His gaze lands on me, and he walks my way.

What am I going to say to him? My missing friend wrote your name down and said to find you right before she was taken?

"Charlie spoke to you?" are the first words he says.

"Yes," I answer, immediately wary.

"You were following me. Why?"

"I was told to find you by a friend before she was taken."

He grunts and glances over his shoulder. "Why do you need me?"

"I want out of . . . here."

"It's not easy."

"But it's possible?"

"Plausible. We can't talk here though. Do you have a secure location?"

"I know of a club."

"How is that secure?"

"It's loud, filled with people who are drunk and too focused on themselves to notice us."

He pulls his hand through his beard. "And the one you have in mind?"

"The Lion's Den." I'm not going to mention Ricky and Avery. I won't implicate them in case this proves to be a trap.

"Tomorrow night at eleven then." He turns and leaves not waiting for me to confirm.

Charlie said he'd find me tomorrow. If I don't see him until later in the day, I could have to make an excuse for why I need to leave, and why would he think I'd need to leave early when I'd finally be learning what I want to know?

But that situation would only be a minor hiccup. I could handle it.

What I truly worry about is that Charlie will find me when I'm already with Raymond.

I'm so excited for some Nora and Charlie time.