“Fuck you.” Aidan crossed his arms. “I have given more than enough. I refuse to feel guilt for wanting something for myself. You hold no hesitation in sucking me dry, yet I’m selfish?”
The quick rise and fall of Sheron’s chest was the only sign that he’d struck a chord.
“You will have to travel past the Gateway,” the Elder rasped. “Beyond the rise you’ll find a lake.”
“Yes, I’ve seen it.” Aidan felt his mentor’s smile.
“Why am I not surprised? You were always overly curious.”
“Go on. I don’t have time to reminisce.”
“When you get to the lake, dive beneath the surface. You’ll see light emanating from a cave. There is a grotto there, tended by two Elders.”
“What are they doing down there?”
Sheron held out both hands, palms parallel. “In the space between waking and dreaming, there is the place where some humans come by force. They hover here, more awake than asleep, but not cognizant enough to comprehend. Once we thought the Key would come to us this way. Now we simply guard them from coming too far into this conduit. Nightmares are predators. They would use that tenuous tie if they could.”
Aidan frowned, and then his eyes widened. “Hypnosis!”
“Yes.” Sheron nodded his approval. “That is what the Dreamers call it.”
“Is that how we entered here to begin with?”
“No.”
Something in the Elder’s tone gave him pause. “There is more than one way to make the journey?”
“There is only one way that will allow a lone Guardian to make the journey,” came the evasive reply.
“How can I trust you to tell me the truth?”
“How can I trust you not to kill me now that you know?”
There had been occasions when he’d had to act based on faulty or suspect intel, but Aidan never liked it. This time he hated it. If he was sent in the wrong direction…
He caught the Elder by the elbow. “You’re coming with me.”
“You can’t—”
“Yes. I can.” He dragged him out of the room and down the hall, making a quick stop at the private Elder library.
“What are you doing?” Sheron snapped, when Aidan went straight to the historical volumes that were omitted from the entirely electronic public Hall of Knowledge.
“Taking answers with me.” His fingertips drifted over the spines until he reached the spot where he should have found the text chronicling the two years preceding and directly following their discovery of this conduit. “Where is it?”
“It was lost.”
“Bullshit.”
“It is lost to me,” Sheron said dryly. “I have no idea where it is.”
Aidan reached up, gripped the hilt of his sword, and withdrew it with quiet deliberation. “I need you alive, but I don’t need you healthy.”
“You throw aside centuries of living with Guardians who admire and respect you for a few hours spent with a Dreamer?”
“You allowed my discontent to fester with your secrets.” Aidan pressed the tip of his blade into Sheron’s chest. “Now tell me, Master, where did the Elders hide the volume I seek?”
“Never. You may have abandoned your people, but I will not.”
“As you wish.” Aidan grabbed Sheron, and dragged him out into the hall and back toward the control room.
“What are you doing?”
“We’re going to bang on the console a bit, get those lights flashing and alarms ringing. Then we’ll head toward the lake.”
“You cannot do that!” Sheron began to struggle, his eyes wide. “You will destroy everything.”
“Hey, you’re the one who said I abandoned my people. What do I care if you all blow up like a supernova or whatever the hell it is that’s going to happen? I’ll be on Earth with my Dreamer.”
“Damn you.”
Aidan’s brows rose. “What’ll it be?”
Sheron inhaled harshly, then he gestured back at the library with an impatient jerk of his hand. Once returned to the vast room, the Elder moved to a case of ancient medical texts and withdrew several, exposing a small door behind them, which, when opened, revealed the volume Aidan sought.
Collecting it from Sheron’s outstretched hand, Aidan slipped it into the pouch strapped to his thigh and sealed it. “Right. Let’s go.”
Together they walked out to the haiden, where he sent out a low whistle that rose and fell in deliberate rhythm. A moment later, the same sound was returned to him. Connor would follow at a discreet distance.
“There are more than one of you,” Sheron said flatly.