Prologue

 

Looking at his broken nose in the mirror, Callum Galloway pushed gingerly at the bruised skin and glowered at his partner Jace’s reflection.

Cal was a soldier for The Regiment of Enlightened Militia, REM for short, a special ops-unit that that specialized in sleep studies.

Dreams, to be more precise.

But, it had only been twenty-four hours since his last dream-walk for REM. What the hell were they thinking sending him on another mission so soon?  

“What did you run into a, a wall?” Jace asked, grimacing at the sound of cartilage moving in Cal’s nose.

“More like Sandio’s fist… right before I shot him. I got what REM needed from the dream-walk. With Sandio gone, REM can use my information to bring down the rest of his Cartel. That was REM’s objective. Sandio was just a disposable scumbag.”

“You better get dressed and get on with it. You have to report to REM by seven-hundred hours.”

“Did REM say anything when they dropped off the file? Have we received any transmissions from them?” Cal asked brushing his blond hair off his face with his fingers. Jace handed him the tuxedo shirt from the hanger and he yanked it over his broad chest.

Cal knew if transmissions came, it would be directly to him, not Jace. Each case was top-secret and confidential, and the files would only be seen by the dream-walker for that mission. But, he had to ask, something wasn’t right. Cal felt it.

“You think REM would say something to us before we enter a dream-walk? Are you daft?” Jace said in his thick New Zealand accent.

Cal glanced at the dreamers file lying open next to the sink. Isabelle Debouis. He’d read the file three times on the flight back from Argentina. He still didn’t get it. What kind of threat did this woman pose?

He’d received his orders from REM, and of course he would do the dream-walk for them, but the past there had always been a reason for the mission. What ties did this woman have to the bad guys? Castillo was an ER nurse from Seattle. She had no Husband linked to gun smuggling, or a boyfriend dabbling in biological weapons. Cal looked at the photo of her spiky blond hair and green eyes. He scanned the data once more checking to see if he’d missed anything.

So what was this woman’s threat to humankind?

REM’s instructions in the file were strange, vague. He’d never seen a mission file like this. What was REM’s objective?

Cal knew his place was never to question his missions. His job was to move into action, get the information and get the hell out… hopefully this time, without being punched, his nose was buggered.

“I haven’t been back in the states for more then two hours. Why the bloody hell didn’t REM send you?” Cal’s Welsh brogue became thick in anger as he yanked the jacket from Jace’s grasp and pulled it on.

Jace shrugged, but didn’t answer. REM recruited Cal and Jace out of high school for their telepathic abilities, wanting the men’s powers of being able to move in and out of people’s thoughts and dreams.

REM listed he and Jace as level-four telepaths. Their top level. Their best. Jace had been Cal’s best friend, one his only friends since they had joined REM nine years earlier. Cal could sense his friend was holding something back. Jace was a freaking bad liar. He’d telepathically spent years inside Jace’s head, Cal knew.

“Let’s get this done. I need sleep.” Cal pushed past Jace in the narrow hallway and into the apartment’s living room.

Hitching up his tux pants Cal kneeled on the thin carpet, pulling in a deep, centering breath of air. He shook his head, trying to clear away the doubt, and focus on the dreamer on the other side. He pressed his palm tightly to the cool wall.

There. She was asleep. Cal let himself relax and drift, matching her breathing. When he was in touch with her sleep pattern, he let himself be pulled across the distance. Floating… falling… and then, he opened his eyes.