The Dream Thief by Kari Kilgore (books for 10th graders txt) 📕

of months out of his first promotion from orderly to nurse years ago, the doctor he'd spoken to had made it clear the whole idea was nonsense.

Not only nonsense but a horrible way to create false hope for Builders and their families. Karl knew without being told that bringing it up again would reverse his upward path, probably permanently.

He stopped across the street from the house, looking at all of the windows, trying to see if anyone was up yet. He seemed to be safe. By the time he dragged his weary body upstairs, Karl was surprised to feel more than tired or sleepy. He was utterly exhausted. It was all he could do to get out of his shoes and street clothes and collapse onto the worn out mattress.

Tired as he was, his brain kept going. That had to be the lack of Crumble. Trying to make up doses in the middle of the night when he had to talk to Loretta again might not be the best idea. He fell back on one of his oldest mind tricks.

"I'll talk to her and learn as much as I can. If she seems trustworthy at all, I might even take her out to the Columns to try it out. If she doesn't, I'll figure out who to report her to. But I can't do any of that tonight. I have to get some sleep."

As soon as the words were out, Karl felt the familiar dark cloud overtaking his brain. He had no idea what was coming or what to do about it. All he could do now was try his best to get ready.

Chapter 16

Karl walked toward Loretta's house, noticing the exteriors of the houses with a bit of daylight left. He had a faint memory of his mother being annoyed about the new neighborhood a long time ago, but he didn't understand why. The yards were neat, the houses perfectly charming if not as big as the one where he'd grown up.

He slowed as he approached the end of the row, wanting to be sure the guard had plenty of time to see him. None of this business made any more sense to him than it had the night before. A restless night and jittery day pretending to have a normal visit with his family hadn't helped much.

That morning he'd taken even less than his usual small dose of Crumble. He didn't want to suffer through another sleepless night, but he had the strong feeling he needed his most paranoid imagination here even more than out at the Columns.

He stepped onto Loretta's porch, trying to look everywhere at once. He wanted to see where that guard was hiding.

"Mr. Gilmore."

The shadows weren't nearly as thick as during the night, but he couldn't see where the voice was coming from. A curious echoing effect made it sound like the guard was speaking all around him.

"Yes. I'm here to see Ms. Schofield."

"You're expected. Go on in."

He had no idea what to do, so he nodded and opened the door.

The room was as brightly lit as the night before, and this time he'd been invited by both the owner of the house and her enigmatic guard. But Karl couldn't keep his eyes from darting around, wondering which direction the threat would be coming from.

The furnishings and decorations were as well made as the outside but not showy. The twisting metal sculptures on every wall had seemed odd to him but not particularly ominous. Now they looked like hibernating snakes.

"Mr. Gilmore. What a pleasure to see you again."

Loretta stood in the doorway opposite Karl, dressed in a stylish full-skirted purple gown his mother would have approved of, for the most part. The neckline might have been a little bit low and the corset a bit aggressive in displaying Loretta's cleavage, but this was far more socially acceptable than her skintight black leather. It was equally enticing, if in a different way.

"Ms. Schofield. I think we can skip the formalities and pretending like either of us is glad I'm here. I did bring whiskey if you'd like a drink. I'll warn you this is real stuff made out at the Columns, not Thunderclap."

Karl put the full bottle on a low table in the middle of the sitting area, full of heavy clear liquid rather than the bright green of Thunderclap. He sat in the same chair from the night before.

"I for one appreciate the lack of formalities, Karl," she said. "I'll try to return the favor. Let me just fetch something for this." She walked through in a cloud of rustling fabric and perfume Karl tried to ignore. She returned from what he assumed was her kitchen with two small glasses. "Shall I pour for both of us?"

Karl nodded. "I'll even drink first."

Loretta filled both glasses to the brim and picked one up when Karl did.

"To our future joint adventures," she said with a smile he didn't quite trust.

She drained her glass at the same time as him, then sat on the couch, her dress arranged to frame her perfectly. Karl did wish her hair were still pulled back against her skull. The last thing he needed right now was to imagine how the long black curls would look spread across a pillow, or feel trailing across his chest and stomach.

No matter how she looked, or how long it had been, he couldn't forget for one second he wasn't on a date. This woman had been perfectly willing to kill him the night before. And no doubt perfectly capable of following through.

"Never mind joint ventures just yet," he said. "You gave me an idea last night, but I'm asking again anyway. How can you prove what you're saying about using Builders?"

"I doubt that's going to be possible," she said. "When I was first learning how to do this, several Builds were lost, either to the Fog or just never found. That was with my gyro-compass. Without it, I'd have no way to know