to go. What if it was never supposed to work that way?”
“I don’t know how else I’m supposed to work it.”
“You keep talking about what you wanted to find. But what about what’s needed? When you thought your gift was gone, there was no point in trying to manipulate it in any specific direction. With that kind of pressure gone, it’s possible your true abilities are now operating the way they were always meant to.”
He shook his head. “I don’t get how I need all the weird stuff I’m dreaming about. I mean, snow globes and rowboats? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“That part might just be the usual dream weirdness, but the faceless man is another story. From what you just said, you saw a faceless being before you even knew something without a face existed. That can’t be a coincidence.”
“But you just proved my point, Ella. I don’t need that no-face nightmare. What I need is for that shithead to get out of my realm and back into his.”
“Right. And the only person around here who can make that happen is you. Hence the visions.”
He pursed his lips. “I think you’re the first person I’ve ever met who’s successfully used the word ‘hence’ in a sentence.”
“I actually think it’s encouraging this faceless thing doesn’t want you looking for it, almost like it’s afraid of you for some reason,” she said, ignoring him. “What do you think that means?”
“If I knew that, I’d be turning this town upside down looking for him.” With that, he abruptly took an exit ramp north of the Loop district in downtown Chicago. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I should stop trying to guide things and just dream a way out of this.”
“Why not? That’s no crazier than anything else I’ve heard the past couple of days.”
He tried not to wince, but when the woman was right, she was right.
* * *
Ella took one look at the room’s flowery wallpaper and figured The Shore Hotel must have been the best place to stay around the time Ferris Bueller was taking a day off. A dated, waist-high bureau dominated by an oversized mirror faced a king-sized bed. The violet carpet had also seen better days, but she took comfort that the gold and white bedspreads looked relatively new, and the multitude of pillowcases appeared bleached to within an inch of their lives.
“Home sweet home.” She plopped her bag next to the bed while Nate plugged in both his phone and laptop, then opened the latter and made himself comfortable at the laminated round table. “It could be worse. There could be no Wi-Fi.”
“Bite your tongue.” The pale, colorless glow from the screen lit his face as he let his fingers do the walking across the keyboard. “The one thing I need now is to stay in touch. I’ve got some friends who have great research resources, and they’ll want to know about this latest incident. Who knows if it’ll help, but it’s better than flying blind.”
“I wouldn’t begin to know where to look for answers. All I know is that as long as I can keep that thing from showing me Charles Rainier’s face, I can hold my own. But otherwise...” She trailed off, shivering at the memory. Ironic or not, the idea of an actual demon was nothing compared to the dread and hopelessness Charles Rainier inspired. “I can’t emphasize enough how much I hate that face.”
“I know.” He glanced up from the screen. “I’ll get you home before you can begin to miss your little purple house, I promise.”
And then what? She felt the words rise so fast she almost wasn’t able to stop them. Good grief, she had to have a screw loose if she was looking for a promise of a relationship while they were enmeshed in a game of hide-and-seek with a spawn of hell. “If we were at my house, we wouldn’t have to worry about finding the dastardly duo. They’d come to us.”
“On their time, when they’re prepared. Playing the role of sitting duck isn’t my idea of a good time. I do the hunting around here.”
“You wouldn’t have to go looking for them if I hadn’t freaked out so badly this morning.” With nothing else to do, she wandered to the window framed by plum-colored drapes and saw a surprisingly pretty view of Lake Michigan. “I swear I had it all under control until that thing started squirming around in my head and fishing out Charles Rainier’s face. Whenever