Death Sleep ~ Book Three

nine.

Liza sat with her mother and father on either side of her in a room deep in the military base. The General sat across the table from them. Things were not good. Liza's mind spun with thoughts, all of them disjointed and confused. Quinn had betrayed her. Long before this day, she had been betrayed. He didn't tell her he was the son of the criminal. He had planned this from the moment he laid eyes on her. He had used her. And she had fallen for it.

Twenty hours had passed since the criminal had died. Her father had seen him leave his body. In the confusion of Liza's spirit disappearing, her father had failed to keep hold of the man's spirit. Liza couldn't feel worse. People were going to die because of her. Over all the other emotions, numbness set in. Quietly and detachedly she answered the General's questions.

The door opened and allowed a rotund man to enter. Andrew followed behind him.

"What's he doing here?" Liza asked, gesturing toward Andrew. The rotund man answered with a gravelly voice.

"This is Agent Y-17."

Andrew looked wryly at the man.

"Otherwise known as Andrew."

"Agent?" she asked.

Andrew stepped past the larger man.

"Liza, I'm sorry. Things didn't go quite as planned."

The big guy snorted. Andrew chose to ignore it.

"This isn't what we had in mind."

"What did you have in mind? Why was there an agent at my school?"

The gruff man decided to answer.

"Excuse me, Miss Aberdeen, I'm Agent Danat. We were put on the case because we knew the criminal, Mr. Baxtor, was eliciting outside help somehow. It was his job to find out who it was and how."

"Which I did."

"A little late," Agent Danat retorted. "Obviously, this was not our intended result."

"Why do you have a kid as an agent?"

Andrew shifted uncomfortably.

"I'm a little older than I look."

Liza furrowed her brow.

"How much older?"

"I'm twenty-two."

Surprised, Liza's eyebrows shot up.

"Twenty-two?"

"Yes, well, he was the youngest looking necromancer we could find," Agent Danat said.

"I'm the only necromancer you could find," Andrew returned.

"Wait, you're a necromancer?" asked Lance.

"Yes, sir."

Liza wasn't particularly interested in Andrew's abilities. She had a question she wanted answered.

"Where's Quinn?"

Andrew sat down in the chair beside the General.

"He's being held for questioning, but we can't hold him. Other than assaulting you with a syringe, we have nothing to hold him with."

"How did he have a syringe?" Leslie asked.

"His aunt's a nurse," answered Agent Danat.

"Oh, I didn't know," Liza said. It seemed like there were a lot of things Liza didn't know about her boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend now. Lance sighed deeply.

"General Advan, it's been a very long couple of days where none of us has slept. If you don't mind, I think we need what rest we can get. There's no telling what will happen in the coming days, we can just hope that he'll let us get some rest. The three of us are able to fight him if he visits us. I hope that the rest of you are also prepared similarly."

The three men nodded and General Advan walked them out to their car.

"Your service to this country hasn't gone unnoticed, Lance. I just wanted to personally thank you for everything you've done."

"I failed. I let him die."

"It was going to happen eventually. Both of you can only live so long. Neither of you are immortal. We'll find a solution. I think we still have some ideas in our pockets and some new ideas from your daughter. We hadn't realized that the dead were a cause of weakness for dreamwalkers. Baxter never told us that. I'm pretty sure it was a purposeful omission."

Lance nodded.

"Anyway, go home, you have a lot of catching up to do. And Liza, I don't blame you either. If anything, this is my fault. I had the last twelve years to find a solution and I haven't. Don't take blame that isn't yours."

Liza nodded her head, tears streaming down her face. The General shook hands with Lance and sent them on their way. The car ride home was remarkably quiet. Lance spent the time soaking in his new surroundings and fact that he didn't create them. His body was weak, but not as much as it should be for someone who'd been in a bed for twelve years. The military had done a good job keeping his body from deteriorating.

When they got home, they all quietly sat on the couch until finally they all, one by one, burst into pent up tears. Holding each other closely, they allowed the tears to flow freely until finally, each one was cried out.

"Well, now that that is over with," Leslie said chuckling, "shall we eat some dinner? Honey, are you able to after all these years of a liquid diet?"

"We'll find out here in a few," he answered, smiling.

It was all so surreal for Liza. She'd never had her father around, that she could remember, and it felt good to see them together, if a little strange. By the time dinner was prepared, her father had showered and was wearing cologne and fresh shaven and smelled and looked amazing. Leslie had gone out and replaced all his old bottles of things that she had held onto over the years.

When he walked into the kitchen, Leslie's knees buckled and fresh tears filled her eyes. Lance caught her and held her close as fresh tears sprang up. He stroked her hair and rocked her, holding her close. Upon smelling the cologne, Liza's head became dizzy and memories flooded back to her. This was her daddy. She had missed him so much. But as much as she had missed him, she held back from joining her parents as they clutched each other so tightly. This was their moment.

Finally, everyone regained composure again and Leslie laughed, saying she didn't want to burn dinner. They sat down and ate, laughing and joking around as if they were a normal family that hadn't been interrupted. Liza told him stories about her childhood and teen years that he had missed out on, and he sat, rapt, listening to every word. She didn't talk about Quinn or her experiences with him, but she did tell him about Shara and D.J. He loved how Shara sounded and looked forward to meeting her.

After dinner they held a family counsel and decided it would be best if they all met in Leslie's dreams and stayed the night together so they could rest and be safe. They prepared for bed and her father came and spoke with her a bit before tucking her in like she was still a little girl, and she didn't mind, she missed out on it before.

They met in Leslie's mind and together they created an amazing place of peace to rest in. Almost to their surprise, Baxter didn't visit them that night. But, had they known where he was, they would have understood that they were not a priority to him, not this night.