Asleep

49 We're Not Getting Out

Nora~~

I appear in the basement of the Lion's Den, alone.

I did it. I rifted.

Taking a deep breath, I pull my phone from my pocket, making sure my ID doesn't slip out with it.

My hands tremble, my phone with them.

I'm a Class One.

My phone says it's 11:07. I swear and dart upstairs and scan the crowded bar. Not seeing Raymond, Avery, or Ricky, I do a loop of the club and find the three of them in a booth in the back.

Avery and Ricky agreed that it's best we don't make it seem like we are here often by using the basement or saying that Ricky owns this place unless we're sure we can trust Raymond.

I slip into the booth. "I'm sorry I'm late. My train was delayed."

Avery and Ricky don't question my excuse. I was worried they may have seen me come up from the basement.

Raymond regards me coolly. His beard has been trimmed, and he's dressed in jeans and a clean, wrinkle-free red t-shirt. If I had not talked to him yesterday, I wouldn't know this is the man who carries around a cardboard sign with writing on it that's meant to make me question my own existence and this world.

I match his stare. "Thank you for coming."

He dips his head in acknowledgement. "I'm sure Avery has told you who I used to be. And you must be wondering if you can trust me."

Avery rests her head in her elbow, which she's propped on the table. "Right as always, Raymond."

"When it came time to bring my daughter Liliana to live in Somnia, I couldn't do it." He twists a metallic beer bottle around on its rim. "I made plans for her to go live with family in England. Vroni, my wife, wanted Liliana to live in Somnia, believing she'd be safer here, so she arranged with Pace to bring her here sooner than the date we had set. Pace found out about my plan, and as punishment trapped my wife and me in here, leaving me with my memories and her without them."

"He kidnapped you." I dig my fingers into my legs. "How can he get away with it?"

"Pace works for most governments. He provides them with the means to keep working even when they need rest, to train armies while they're asleep. He's built a tight web of protection around himself."

"Why does he let you display your signs?" Ricky asks.

"So people think I'm weird and ridiculous. Strange. So that I'm reminded I was foolish for going behind his back. The words don't affect regular dreamers, and if it triggers memories in Lucid, it's all the better for him. He likes to play with them—his Lucid."

Like Charlie?

"I gather you aren't willing to tell us how to shut down the dream," Avery says.

Raymond wraps his hands around his bottle of beer. "I may be willing. I'm worried what Pace would do to my family should you fail, but I also want them out of this place. I'd have to be sure you won't fail. What classes are they?" he asks Avery who shifts in her spot beside Ricky.

"Ricardo is a Class Three. Nora is a Class Two."

"You need a Class One to get into their headquarters."

My nails dig into my skin. "I'm a Class One."

Ricky's mouth gapes.

Avery shakes her head. "I thought we decided—"

"I rifted today."

Avery's eyes widen. "You couldn't even conjure a bowl of spaghetti after we showed you how to cook it. How exactly did you figure out how rifting?"