Deadly Nightmares (The Last Guardian, Book One)

FIFTEEN

TAMARA HAD BEEN TOUCHED BY THE TENDERNESS OF THE KISS. She wasn't used to it. But, god, she could get used to it.

It was the only thing she could think about while she was sitting in Francesca's office, waiting for Aurelia and the other two women to show up.

"What's with you?" Francesca asked her suddenly, looking at her as she pointed at her with a pen.

Tamara shook herself out of her mind and said, "Nothing. Why?"

"You had this... dopey smile on your face," she pointed out.

"I was just... thinking about something."

She hummed, unconvinced even as she let it go. Tamara wasn't ready to reveal that the Ferons knew who she was.

She also wasn't ready to confess many things to herself. But that was another thought for another day.

The door finally opened, offering her a welcome distraction as she spun her chair around to look at the women.

Aurelia was the same, with her curly, fiery orange hair and her one blue and the other green eyes. She was wearing a blue crop top paired with skinny ripped jeans and sneakers.

The woman who entered next was, without a doubt, the girl from the school dream. With navy blue hair and eyes that looked like melted bronze, she was quite pretty. She was wearing baggy jeans and a loose-fitting shirt, paired with some Converse shoes.

Next was Clementine, or whatever her name was at that moment. She looked a bit different though. In the dream, she'd been pale. She had an exotic chocolate brown complexion, black hair that was tied up in a neat bun, and chestnut brown eyes. She had a jumpsuit on, looking like a total boss lady.

"Hello, ladies," Aurelia said. "I introduce you to Carissa Cromwell and Nainika Bakshi."

"Hi," Carissa said, smiling with a small wave. Nainika only gave a tiny nod in the form of a hello.

Soon, they were all seated, looking at each other, the air in the room quickly starting to turn musty and tense.

"So," Nainika was the first to speak. "What do we gotta do exactly?"

"I think we have to destroy it," Tamara declared. Francesca jolted at that, starting to panic a bit.

"Look, I tried," she explained. "I tried to find something that wouldn't involve destroying it, but if we don't, it'll do more than just murder and injury."

"Well, I researched a bit-" Aurelia said and Carissa piped up, interrupting her.

"What's with the cowgirl accent?" She asked.

Aurelia gave her a side glance. "Excuse me?"

"You're from UK, right?" She asked, making Tamara's eyebrows furrowed.

"No," she said, and the surety in her voice made the hair in the back of her neck stand. It was the same voice she'd used in the dream.

"Huh. Could've sworn you were from England or something," Carissa muttered.

"I'm Scottish!" she snarled and her real accent slipped out. Then, she blinked, realizing her mistake as Carissa leaned back with a smirk.

"Alright. Fine. Clever," she said in an annoyed tone, not bothering to put on the accent this time. "Can we get back to the task on hand?"

Carissa leaned back with a cheeky smile as she gestured for her to go on.

"Well, as I said before, I did some research and found out that these things can only be destroyed on a new moon's day. Which is tomorrow. So we can be done with it tomorrow if everyone's free."