"Oh…" A sort of light was dawning on Lewis's face. Then his expression turned sheepish. "I guess—I was dreaming, you know? I don't really remember the dream, but I thought I saw somebody sitting there. A kind of whitish shape—a person. And I knew I had to get it…" His voice trailed off. He gave another look around and hunched his shoulders apologetically.
"A dream," Gabriel said in disgust. "Next time keep your dreams to yourself."
A dream? Kaitlyn thought. No. It didn't make sense; it couldn't be the whole explanation. Why should Lewis suddenly start having dreams that made him attack things? And what about the cold—it had disappeared as quickly as it had come; the air felt fine now. And the drain smell, and that sound…
We're all tired, Anna's gentle voice said in her head, reminding her that she hadn't been trying to shield her thoughts. Not just tired but exhausted. And we've been under so much stress—it could come out in strange ways.
"We could all have been dreaming a little," Rob said with a laugh.
"I suppose," Kaitlyn said. She tried to put any further doubts out of her mind—for now, at least. Lewis obviously believed his own story, and Anna and Rob believed him because he believed it. There was no point in harping on it.
We'll wait and see what happens, she told herself. She settled back on the seat, and Rob returned to sit by her again. The light was fading in a way that made her want to check if she was wearing sunglasses. To the west and in front of them were huge flaming hot cherry clouds.
"Should we stop?" Rob asked, peering at his watch in the dimness.
Gabriel turned the van's headlights on. "We're still in California. We can stop when we get to Oregon."
The sky went gray and then black. Ghost trucks with dazzling headlights came and went on the other side of the highway. It was nearly eight o'clock when they reached a sign saying welcome to Oregon.
They drove on until they found a rest stop and then ate dinner sitting on the cool dark grass outside the van. Dinner was peanut butter sandwiches and one apple apiece, drawn from the grocery bag Tony had given them. Dessert was some cherry cough drops Lewis had found in the glove compartment and the last of the Cajun olive samples.
"We can stay here tonight," Rob said, looking around the almost-deserted rest stop. There were few cars on the highway nearby. "Nobody will bother us."
Kait found she'd brought toothpaste but no toothbrush. In the women's rest room she rubbed her teeth with a corner of a cotton shirt she'd packed. They all wanted to go to bed early.
"But how?" Kaitlyn said when she got back, confronted at last with the logistics of five of them sleeping in the van. Suddenly there no longer seemed to be acres of room. "Where do we all fit?"
"The rear seat reclines," Rob said. He and Lewis had the back of the van open and were fiddling with the bench seats. "See, it folds back into a flat bed. That's room for two people there. Somebody else can sleep on the other bench seat, and then the two bucket seats in front recline."
"I'll take one of those," Lewis said. "Unless somebody wants to share the back… ?" He looked from Anna to Kait hopefully.
"The girls can have the back," Rob said.
Anna's dark eyes were laughing. "Oh, no… I think you and Kaitlyn should have the back. I'll sleep on the other bench."
"And I'll sleep outside," Gabriel said shortly, leaning in from the front and yanking a sleeping bag out of the pile.
Daggers and broken glass, that was what Kait felt from him through the web. She and Rob hadn't even agreed yet, although she knew they would. She liked to sleep close to Rob, it felt safe. And she knew Rob liked to have her close, because then he didn't worry about her as much.
"It's just convenience," she began, but Gabriel cut her off with a look. He seemed pale and tense under the van's interior lights.
"Look, I don't think it's such a good idea, sleeping outside," Rob said in a mild voice. Gabriel gave him the look, too.
"I can take care of myself," he said and showed his teeth.
He left the van. Kaitlyn helped Rob spread out blankets automatically, trying to screen her thoughts from the others. She still hadn't had a chance to speak to Gabriel privately. She was going to have to make a chance, and soon.
Sleeping in the back of the van was cramped and a little stuffy—like sleeping in a compartment on a train, Kaitlyn guessed. But she didn't really mind being crowded in with Rob. He was warm and nice to hang on to. Comfortingly solid.
It was the first time they had been alone together—and Kaitlyn was so tired her eyelids felt like lead weights. There were no golden sparks at his touch now, just a steady shining light that seemed to pour reassurance into her.
"I love you," she murmured sleepily, and they kissed. A sweet kiss that made her cling to him afterward.
I love you, Rob thought back. His thought carried the essence of him with it—pure Rob. Warm as sunlight, with an underlying hint of strength that made Kait think of lions basking in the savanna. Rob had a fine stubborn temper of his own, but he cared too much about other people to let it rule him.
And he didn't care who heard him say he loved her. A vocal whisper would have been much more private than telepathy. Distantly Kaitlyn could feel tolerant amusement laced with envy from Lewis and peaceful approval from Anna—but from outside the van, from Gabriel, a wave of dark repudiation. Bitterness. An anger that frightened her.
He feels that he's been cheated of something, she thought, even as she clung harder to Rob. But that's not right; I never led him on…
We've got to find a way to break this link, Rob said stiffly. It's all right when you want it, but having people spying on your thoughts when you don't want—
"Rob, don't annoy him," Kait whispered. Rob was broadcasting loud and clear, and Gabriel was getting angrier by the minute. The two of them together were like flint and iron—sparking off each other at every opportunity.
I've said from the beginning that we've got to get rid of it, Gabriel said from outside. And I know of one certain way, at least.
He meant for one of them to die. It had come to that, Gabriel threatening them again, acting as if he hated them all.
"Leave it alone," Kaitlyn hissed before Rob could answer. "Oh, please, Rob, just leave it; I'm so tired." To her surprise she felt on the verge of tears.