Darkness Falls(27)

“So he’s okay?”
Rook dodged. “He might move into a Rêve if he has access, and a guy like that probably does.”
She was on to him, because she asked again, “You’re sure he’s okay?”
“Yes.” He hoped. He’d have Coll follow up. Backup was probably already in the conference room. Rook had no idea where they’d take the unconscious body or what they’d tell Jordan’s office.
“Think about it, Jordan. I woke you up last night from inside a dream.” Hadn’t worked on Vince just now, though. “I can also put someone to sleep.”
The skill was tricky to master and it usually took a lot of experience. She’d basically pulled the carpet right out from under Millions with no effort.
“We can do things,” Rook said. “All Chimera can. Shared dreaming brings the abilities out.”
Her frown grew truly tragic.
“It’s going to be all right,” he promised. “I’ll make sure you’re all right.”
She shook her head.
If that wasn’t what was bothering her, then— “What? Tell me.”
She went steely. “I saw your brother again.”
Joshua. She’d seen him. “While you were awake?”
“Just before I…drowned Vince, but then Joshua disappeared right after. He was there, beside you, and now he’s gone again.”
Okay. “That’d be darksight. I already knew you had that.” More complicated was that she’d learned that the boy was his brother Joshua. Rook’s nightmare was not going away. It was manifesting for others to see. “I have darksight, too. It’s what allows me to track my Special Cases. It’s a good thing.”
“Seeing that boy is a good thing?”
“Good for you, yes. The fact that he’s there in the first place? No.” He gestured for them to continue down the stairs. “But Joshua is my problem. My bad history catching up with me. You might not be able to see him at the moment, but my guess is he’s still there and will be waiting next time I go Darkside. I’ll deal with him.”
It was an empty promise. He’d already tried, but nothing was working. Joshua was getting worse. Rook was going to have to at least tell Coll, now that Jordan knew. And Coll would understand Rook’s sudden shift to recruitment. He might question his stability. Might take him off handling Jordan.
And damn it, maybe that was a good thing. He didn’t want his past messing with her. He had no business screwing up her transition. It was hard enough.
Jordan descended the steps next to him. A couple of photographs nudged out of her purse. She’d taken what personal effects she could grab in thirty seconds. Another kitty, too. Must be a thing with her. Apparently she’d deduced that she wouldn’t be coming back to her office.
“I saw Blackman’s file on me,” Rook said. Better to have it out in the open.
Took a few steps, but finally, she began, “Did you—?”
When she didn’t finish, he turned to her again. “Did I what?”
“Nothing. Never mind. Let’s go.”
He didn’t know what exactly she’d intended to ask, but he went with the worst question that came to mind. The one that haunted him.
“Yes, Jordan,” he said. “I killed Joshua. He was nine. I was fourteen. I shoved him into the road, and he got hit by a car.”
“You didn’t mean to.”
“In that moment I was angry enough at him not to care, not to look both ways. It didn’t occur to me that anything could hurt him. I had no idea that he could actually die. Thought we were both fucking immortal.”
She’d frozen. Wasn’t breathing. Just looked at him with that expression of dismay, tears threatening to spill.
“Any more questions?”
She shook her head, and it sent one tear skating down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away.
Yeah, they were both having a shitty day. “Then let’s go.”
They descended the last floors in a silence made of her heels clumping and his occasional shuffling, and he pushed out the exit on P1.
When they were on the road, he called Coll to follow up.
Vince had been taken to the hospital, where he would be kept until he awoke. Doctors had been told to call it a stroke. Officially, Vincent Blackman was in a coma. Worst case, someone—a tracker—would have to go Darkside and find him. Bring him back to the waking world.
“I’ve got my own epic problems,” Coll continued. “Crazy Maisie has tried to lose me twice. At least yours does what you say. Jordan could drown your ass just as easily as she did Blackman, but she doesn’t.”
He and Jordan had other issues. “Maybe if you took a less hardline approach.”