Free Indigo Awakening (The Hunted (Teen)) by Jordan Dane Page A

reason for not getting involved and saying no.
    “I can’t go to them. It’s a long story.” Rayne flashed back to her sister’s face. Mia had cops on her church’s payroll and an agenda when it came to Lucas. Calling the police would be a waste of time and only draw attention to what she really needed to do—find Lucas and talk to him without Mia.
    “I don’t know what you expect me to do,” Gabe said. “Sleep until I create another masterpiece? I can’t control this stuff. And I’m...not exactly doin’ it on my own.”
    “What are you talking about? I saw you draw Lucas. You were sleep-drawing. ” Before he detoured into another lie, she remembered something else about his nightmare. “Who’s Hellboy?”
    “What?” Gabriel glared at her as if she’d slapped him for no reason. “Where did that come from? Hellboy’s a comic book hero.”
    “Yeah, for normal people, but that’s the name of your ghost dog, too,” she argued. “Where did you find him? Scooby-Doo-gatory?”
    Gabe didn’t answer. He needed convincing.
    “When he torched you, he yanked you into X-Files territory, didn’t he?” She touched his arm. “I saw Hellboy at the tunnels. And while you were dreaming, you called his name and he came running like a good boy. I heard him whine, Gabe. He scared the hell out of me, but I know what I heard and didn’t see.”
    Okay, that sounded weird even to her, but from the look in his eyes, Gabe had grown tired. Dodging questions had turned into an Olympic-caliber event for him. She didn’t have any proof and her accusations were totally absurd. All she had left were her instincts about him. Something about Gabe made her think he came from money. The way he spoke, his quiet confidence, the art stuff he pulled from nowhere, even his weird humor and how he stacked his clothes—something clicked that he wasn’t a typical runaway. Everything in her bones told her he was a good guy with one helluva story.
    Besides, she had no one else.
    “Will you help me, Gabriel?”
    When he looked her in the eye and clenched his jaw, Rayne stared at his lips, willing them to say what she wanted, but that didn’t happen.
    “I...can’t,” he said.
    When Gabe got up and headed for his truck, Rayne felt gut punched.
    * * *
     
    The girl had ripped him up inside. Gabe couldn’t look into Rayne’s smoky eyes, glistening with worry and hope, and let her believe that he’d be the answer to her problems. He was no one’s answer— to anything. He got up and pretended to mess with his truck.
    Jerk! Finding out that the faces in his sketchbook were real had heaped the icing on his stupid pity cake. What a loser!
    All this time he thought his nightmares were a punishment he deserved—a parting gift from a father who only saw him as a freak and his personal failure—something to be fixed. It hadn’t even occurred to Gabe that the kids in his dreams were real, because hiding out had become his life. Now that he knew those faces weren’t conjured from his own demons, he’d have a choice to make—risk everything to get involved or turn into a guy who only cared about his own ass.
    Some choice.
    Rayne’s brother, Lucas, had definitely stepped into something nasty. Gabe had held back what he’d seen, for her sake. Lucas had been terrified, not just a little scared. And the guy with a meaty hand at her brother’s throat might’ve taken out his anger on him. Right before Rayne woke him, Gabe felt pain before his connection zapped out.
    But something even more disturbing hit him—something he hadn’t told Rayne.
    During the dream, some of the faces that he’d already drawn flashed in his mind. He hadn’t remembered that until he flipped through his sketchbook again. Maybe those kids were trying to tell him something. What if Lucas wasn’t the only one in danger? What a screwed-up mess! Given his situation, cops were out. Even if he got involved, without Rayne knowing, he could make things worse.
    Time and