Dreamwalker (Stormwalker #5) - Allyson James Page 0,69

by a dragon.”

Mick said nothing, but he didn’t have to. He regarded Emmett calmly, as though unworried about anything that might happen in this place.

“You did a spell on Mick that tore him apart,” I said to Emmett, my anger rising. “It was horrible.”

“But saved his life.” Emmett came around to the front of his desk and leaned his hip on it, for all the world looking like an executive trying to speak casually to an important client. “He was about to become dragon offal.”

“Are you saying that if Mick had died in the dream, that would have been real?” Cold horror spiked through me.

Emmett shrugged. “Who knows? I haven’t studied dreams extensively—I’ve never needed to. Or dreamwalking, which is what you seem to have been doing.”

“Because you spelled me to!” I said in fury. “You sent me into comas so you could try to steal the mirror!”

Emmett’s eyes opened and closed once, slowly. “I admit I have tried to kill you. First with John and Monica, second with the self-destruct spells in my lackeys. Both were backup attempts—I couldn’t be sure you’d go near either of them. John and Monica—they’re perfectly ordinary humans, if you want to know, but they love being with demons and will do anything for me, because I pay well. They were only supposed to wait in bar in case you came in and then lure you to their hotel room. I had no idea you’d let loose a horde of demons, Janet. But you did. You can’t keep out of other people’s business, can you?”

“And in case I didn’t die all the way, you sent me dreams to drive me insane.”

Emmett was already shaking his head. “No, Janet, you have that wrong. I can’t coerce you in dreams to give me the mirror. You need to die, or we need to come to some other kind of agreement. I’m not the one sending you dreamwalking.”

“You keep saying dreamwalking. What does that mean, exactly?”

Emmett made an expansive gesture with one hand. “Just what you’ve been doing. Reliving your past, either trying to change it or reacting to what might have been.”

Not helpful. “The dreamwalking doesn’t change anything … does it? Mick obviously never got de-dragoned.”

Emmett shifted his stance, crossing his feet at the ankles and resting his hands behind him on his desk. He was the very picture of an important man condescending to be friendly to the less important.

“Are you claiming that you had nothing to do with my dreams?” I asked, skeptical. “I don’t believe you.”

“It doesn’t matter whether you believe me or not. I have nothing to do with your dreams, I assure you. I could spell you to dream and reveal secrets to me, but that method is unreliable. I prefer a more direct approach.”

He meant torture and dire threats. “Then why did you wish me sweet dreams after you took me home in your limo?”

“Being polite. Showing you I could still be nice after your boyfriend blew up my favorite car.” Emmett’s eyes flickered with brief annoyance. “It’s what people say to each other, isn’t it? If your subconscious took it as a suggestion, I can’t help that.”

I took a step forward. “Dreams in which I forget all about my current life, Mick almost gets killed, other people from my present wander in to interact with me …”

“Your hang-ups are your own, my dear Janet. Dreams often show you what you wish for and what you fear. They reveal your frustrations and desires—often both at the same time.”

“Regardless,” I said firmly. Mick, beside me, had not said a word, but I couldn’t ask him why at the moment. “Whether you have anything to do with this dreamwalking or not, I’ve come to tell you to give up on taking our magic mirror. If we have to kill you to stop you, we will. Less work for everyone if you simply give up.”

Emmett gave me a pitying look. “I haven’t even begun to try to wrest the mirror from you. If you had died in one of my little traps, well and good, but those were incidental—just in case. When I come for the mirror, you’ll know.”

“And we’ll fight you,” I answered. “Trust me.”

“Oh, I do trust you, Janet,” Emmett said softly. “I also like you a little bit, which is why I’m giving you fair warning. Now …” He straightened up, the businessman finished with the interview. “I have another appointment in about five minutes. If I keep the client