The Dawn of Dae (Dae Portals Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

painful reminder I had fainted upon my first introduction to my dinner’s animation. Food didn’t talk, yet mine was singing in a squeaky, high-pitched voice.
    “Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!”
    Lurching upright, I stared at the disaster my new apartment had become. The macaroni and cheese had limited its destruction to the kitchen. Since when had hallucinations been so considerate to keep their messes easy to clean? The thought amused me for several minutes while I watched my dinner continue to flop around.
    For a conglomeration of noodles and powder, it was pretty versatile. It bounced off the floor, splatted into the cabinets, and launched itself up onto the wall to ping-pong between the fridge and the cupboards. It even splattered against the ceiling a couple of times.
    I stared at the casserole-shaped splotches on the white paint, grateful it was all some sort of hallucination.
    Macaroni and cheese didn’t dance, it didn’t bounce, and it certainly didn’t talk. Since my dinner was absolutely incapable of doing those things, I wouldn’t have to clean up after it. I hurt too much for it to be a dream, which left the side effect of some drug.
    When the hallucinations eased, I was going to find Kenneth and kill him. How had he dosed me? Had it been his stupid cigar? Probably—he hadn’t touched me at the college. Drug-induced hallucinations sucked, and this episode would cause me nothing but problems. Macaroni and cheese simply couldn’t talk nor jump, let alone pretend it was a parkour expert high on a speed trip.
    There was also no way in hell I was its mommy, no matter how fond it seemed of the word.
    The macaroni and cheese plopped to the floor beside me. “Mommy?”
    “You’re not real,” I informed my dinner, wondering how long the hallucinations would last. If Kenneth’s goal was to get me expelled from Bach studies, he was going about it the right way. I groaned and hid my face in my hands. How was I going to make it through a day of classes when I couldn’t trust anything I saw or heard?
    My grave didn’t go to China or heaven. It led straight to the depths of hell.
    “Mommy?” My macaroni and cheese was whining.
    “No,” I replied.
    “Mommy!”
    “I said no. You’re not real.”
    The front door of my apartment opened, and my other hallucination walked in. Rob was wearing the same suit, and I marveled at my brain’s ability to remain consistent while under the influence. He was smiling, his expression as smug as I remembered.
    “That’s going to be interesting to clean up,” he said, closing the door behind him. “Why are you on the floor, Miss Daegberht?”
    Rob watched the antics of my animated dinner and shook his head. I scowled. Why did a figment of my imagination have to reinforce the existence of animated macaroni and cheese and be so damned good looking in the process? I was torturing myself and, I knew it. In all honesty, it made sense; if a random stranger created by a mixture of hallucinogens and my brain was going to wander in and out of my apartment, of course I’d make him good looking—and old enough to be reliable, but young enough to still be interesting.
    I wondered if I could get away with kissing him just to find out what it was like. Could a hallucination trigger my skin sensitivity?
    I stared at the back of my hand. Was his kissing me another hallucination? I was free of redness, itching, rashes, hives, blisters, welts, or any one of the other common manifestations of my allergy.
    Rob turned his attention to me, waiting for an answer.
    I flushed. No matter what I said, I’d sound like an idiot, so I replied, “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
    It still seemed like a good idea. Until the drugs wore off, someone could lead me to the top of a skyscraper and tell me to walk off and I’d think it was a good idea. I probably wouldn’t even realize I was about to plunge to my death.
    “You’re covered in cheese. I thought you should know.”
    “Hallucinations