by C. L. Parker
Lucy gave Dominic a warm, motherly smile and took his offering. Upon contact of his calloused fingers and broad palms, her smile faltered, but she forced it back into place before anyone else could notice. Dominic noticed, though, and he knew what she had seen.
“Kerrigan, do you mind taking that box into the back room for me?” she asked, nodding toward the counter.
“I’ll get that.” Drew stepped forward to lift the box before Kerrigan could.
“Oh, thanks. I’ll just show you where to put it.” She turned and led the way toward the back of the store.
Once they were out of earshot, Dominic cleared his throat and said, “I know that look, Lucy. What’s up?”
She released his hands. “It’s started. I didn’t think it would be this soon.”
“What’s started?”
“You’re fading, aren’t you?”
He nodded. “I thought maybe it was just a fluke, but it’s happened twice now.”
“It’s not a fluke, and it will get worse. Does she know?”
“No. I didn’t want her to make a big deal out of nothing, so I thought I’d better be sure before I said anything to her.”
Lucy patted his forearm in a comforting gesture. “It’s definitely something, Dominic. This is serious.”
“I was afraid of that.” Dominic sighed, resigned to accept the bad news. “Okay, let’s hear it. What’s happening to me?”
“I can’t be sure, but I have a theory.”
“Go on,” he urged, propping his elbow on the counter behind him and leaning on it.
“The night that Availia saved you, she did it by using her gift. Basically, she used the Light to capture your soul and then forced it back into you. Kerrigan did the same. I’m thinking that what’s kept you going for this long is the energy from both of those incidences. Sort of like recharging your battery. In this case, your soul is your battery. The problem is—”
“I’ve got a dead battery,” Dominic finished for her.
“Not quite, but you’re almost there. Once the energy from the Light is all used up, there will be nothing more, but it should have lasted longer than this.” She drummed her fingers on the counter in thought. “Something had to have happened that’s caused you to expel an excess amount of energy.”
The memory of his dream sprang to mind. “Drake’s been making himself at home in my dreams,” he explained. “He gets me all riled up and then something weird happens.”
Lucy studied him. “What?”
Dominic rubbed the back of his neck. “He threatens Kerrigan and my brother, and I get so pi—” He stopped himself before he swore in front of Lucy. “I get so mad, that I attack him. Only the attack comes out as this white light that shoots out of my chest and knocks him out of my dream.”
“Well, that’ll certainly do it,” she said with a worried frown on her face.
“But Kerrigan can work her mojo, and I’ll be as good as new again, right?”
Lucy nodded, but her expression was anything but comforting. “Perhaps, but there’s no way of telling what the end result might be.”
“Meaning?”
“It could work and everything will be fine, or she could lose her gift. Worse yet, it might not work, and the amount of energy she expels could kill you both.”
Dominic shook his head emphatically. “Nope. No way am I ever going to let that happen. So just tell me... How long do I have?”
“I can’t tell. The details are sketchy at best, but not long if we don’t do something to stop it.”
Dominic threw his hands in the air in exasperation and let them fall back down to his sides with a slap. “So, I’m fucked?”
Lucy gave him a disapproving look. “First of all, watch your mouth.”
Dominic looked like a child who had been properly scorned. “Yes, ma’am. I’m sorry.”
“Secondly, we’re not going to give up just yet. We’ll find a way to fix this. In the meantime, you have to tell Kerrigan.”
“I will, just not until we get home. I don’t want this Drew guy to know anything about what I am. I don’t trust him.”
“That’s what you have me for, silly,” she said, patting his cheek. “You just let me have a go at him, and we’ll see if he can be trusted or not.”
As if on cue, Kerrigan and Drew emerged through the beaded curtains that led to the back room.
“Okay, I had him put the box on the storage shelf in your office.” Kerrigan clasped her hands together and bounced on her toes over to where Dominic and Lucy stood. “I’m so anxious for you to meet our newest friend, Luce. Drew, come on over here!”
Drew smiled at her excitement and crossed the shop to the counter. “I’m very pleased to meet you, Lucinda.” He took her hand and bowed, placing a soft kiss to her knuckles.
“My, my, my... you’re quite the debonair one, aren’t you?” The smile lines around her eyes crinkled with her smile. Her dark hair was graying, but her skin rivaled that of a thirty-year-old. She had always attributed her youthful appearance to her Native American heritage. “If you’re going to be getting that fresh with an old woman, I think maybe you better throw out all that formality and just call me Lucy like everyone else.” She gave him a teasing grin.
“I apologize if I was too forward.” He gave her a drop-dead gorgeous smile. “But I simply cannot resist the opportunity to kiss a beautiful woman.”
Dominic chuckled behind him and tried to cover it with a cough. Kerrigan shot him a death glare and mouthed the words, “Cut it out!”
Drew pulled his hand away, but Kerrigan knew Lucy’s seer gift worked through touch, so she put her hand on top of his to stop him. That low hum of electricity she felt at the beach when he had touched her shoulder sent a gentle vibration along the length of her arm, and she withdrew her hand back in shock.
Lucy released Drew’s hand and laughed. “Wow. Talk about chemistry.”
Kerrigan’s eyes widened in disbelief. “You felt that?”
“Well, of course.”
“Felt what?” Dominic went to Kerrigan’s side.
“There’s an obvious surge of energy that passes between these two when they touch,” Lucy told him. “I haven’t been able to get a good read on him yet, but I think it’s safe to say he most definitely is a Guardian of the Light.”
“And can you tell what my intentions are?” Drew asked.
Kerrigan leaned in toward him. “She reads you through touch.”
“Ah, well then by all means...” He offered his hand again.
“Kerrigan, will you and Dominic please excuse us?” Lucy asked.
When they turned to walk away, Drew stopped them. “I have nothing to hide. I would prefer for them to stay so that they might feel better about my intentions.”
“Very well, then.” Lucy took his hand between hers and looked into his eyes.
A montage of pictures—past, present, and future—flooded her mind’s eye, but years of experience aided her in slowing them down to get a better view. Sifting through the scenes, she focused on those that glowed, the most valuable moments in the life and times of Andrew Dickens. Accomplishments as a child, the day he realized the gift bestowed upon him, his first successful training session, the passing on of a treasured family heirloom, and distinguished achievements in academics. She took what she needed from each emotion and moved on to the next, not wanting to delve too deep into personal affairs. His heart was unsullied, his intentions pure. Drew was a great ally to have, a prevailing force with power almost as potent as his kindness.
A slow smile crept across Lucy’s lips and stretched all the way up and into her eyes, twinkling there. “You should consider it an honor to have this Guardian for a trainer,” she told Kerrigan without even looking at her. “Availia would have been impressed by this one.”
“So, I passed the test?”
She nodded and veered her sight to his chest where the Ring of Truth lay under his shirt. “Interesting piece you have there. Do you think you might find
the time to come by the shop one day so that I can examine it?”
Drew gave her a look that Kerrigan couldn’t help but find sexy. The flirt. “I’m sure that can be arranged.”
He started to pull his hand away, but Lucy involuntarily gripped it tight, her body rigid and her eyes wide with yet another vision. A futuristic land—familiar, yet not. Tall and lean, a warrior stood in the midst of a battle ground forged of fire and brimstone. His muscles strained, his legs faltered, and still he continued to fight with all of his might. Vast energy seeped through his pores, draining him of strength as the epic battle continued to explode around him. He was outnumbered, but he was not alone. There were many, a convergence of Guardians such as the world had never known, all with a common goal: save mankind.
Streams of blood flowed thick from mounds of rotting flesh. Grunts of straining force, screams of agonizing pain—the sounds were a form of torture that mimicked the desperation of the cruelty inflicted. It was difficult to tell which side would emerge victorious, but one thing Lucy knew well: this was a war between good and evil, the battle to end all battles.
From the throngs of the dead, the dying, and the barely surviving, a petite figure appeared. Her clothes were torn and stained with blood, her body ravaged by wounds that healed even as she took cautious steps forward. Her chin was set in determination, her hair tangled and blowing about her smudged face—she had all the makings of an avenging angel, and she was completely focused on what lay ahead. The ground shook and a deafening roar erupted, drawing the attention of all, the slayings momentarily forgotten.
A male’s voice broke through the eerie silence. “Tori! No!”
The would-be avenging angel turned her head toward the voice, and Lucy could make out the features of her face more clearly. Aquamarine eyes pulsed with power, and the air around her became distorted with energy that begged for release. The girl’s image flickered and morphed into something unearthly, something not quite human, but for only a split second. Then Lucy’s vision began to fade, the scene smearing like a chalk drawing in the rain, but those eyes remained barely long enough for her to see the familiarity in their depths. She was sucked into the calming blackness of her pupils, physically pulled as if a tractor beam had been aimed directly at her. She knew this angel, but was she really an angel at all?
Lucy gasped and dropped Drew’s hand, taking a step back as if putting distance between them would make the vision go away.
“Lucy! What’s wrong?” Kerrigan ran to Lucy’s side, putting her arms around her sagging body before she could hit the floor.
“What did you do to her?” Dominic growled between clenched teeth, and then shoved Drew’s chest hard, knocking him off balance. Drew crashed into the display case behind him, but managed to regain his footing before any real damage could be done.
“Nothing! I did nothing!” His eyes were edged with concern for Lucy as he looked her over and then regarded her with fascination, still struggling against Dominic’s ironclad hold. “What did you see?”
Lucy shook her head and regained her composure as she silently thanked Kerrigan for the assistance. “I’m not exactly sure what it all means, but I can tell you that a storm is brewing.” She turned her attention to Dominic. “Let him go. You’re going to need all the help you can get on this one, and whether you like it or not, he’s on your side.”
Dominic released Drew with reluctance, giving him a hard stare while Drew straightened his meticulous clothes. Even with Lucy’s assurances, he still didn’t trust him.
“Kerrigan,” Lucy said, drawing her attention. “I’d like to have a word with you in private.”
Still stunned, she nodded and turned to follow Lucy into the back room, but not before she gave Drew an apologetic glance and Dominic one that warned him to be on his best behavior. She loved Dominic, but he had quite a temper, and he trusted no one. His eyebrows lifted as if to say, “What? I’m innocent,” but she wasn’t buying it.
Relatively certain that he wouldn’t try to kill Drew while she was otherwise occupied, Kerrigan stepped into Lucy’s office/storage room. The seer was already sitting at her desk, her face flushed and her eyes staring off into space.
“Are you okay, Lucy?”
Lucy waved off her concern. “I’m fine. It’s you I’m worried about.”
“Why would you be worried about me? I’m fine.”
“Yes, you are fine. I saw as much when you hugged me when you first came in,” she said with a smile, and then her lips turned up into a smug grin. “You’re also pregnant.”
Pregnant.
Kerrigan sat stoically in the car on the ride home. She gave the courtesy nods and smiles where necessary in conversation, but that was about all she contributed. Her mind was reeling from the knowledge that a tiny life form was growing inside of her. A life form she and Dominic had created. She stared at his profile, wondering which of his features the baby would have. She hoped he—or she—would have them all. He was a stunning specimen of a man.
But how would he react to the news of his impending fatherhood?
They dropped Drew off at his hotel. Before he went inside, he suggested they get together the next day to start on her training. She nodded and gave him a friendly hug, that vibration from their connection spreading all through her. It was a curious thing, but she wasn’t sure there was much more of an explanation other than it came from their energies converging into something that was just, well, bigger than the both of them.
Finally alone, Dominic looked distracted. No small wonder considering Lucy’s reaction to Drew’s touch. Before they had left, Lucy had offered a possible explanation as to why she hadn’t previously seen the distressing vision. She said she thought it probably had something to do with the fact Kerrigan and Dominic hadn’t yet determined whether or not they would allow Drew to help in her training. Once Lucy had convinced them, the decision was made, and the future was altered on the spot.
It was kind of cool how a simple decision could alter a person’s, or in this case, many people’s, destinies. But Kerrigan and Dominic still didn’t know how epic that alteration would be, nor would they for quite some time.
Dominic pulled the Barracuda into the garage and cut the engine. Kerrigan turned in her seat to face him. She couldn’t hold her news in any longer, and the sanctity of the garage was as good a place as any to hit him with it. At least they were alone. Just when she opened her mouth, Dominic turned to her and said, “I have to tell you something.”
The sound of his voice was solemnly subdued. Coupled with the grave expression on his face, she felt an overwhelming sense of foreboding. Whatever he had to say, it wasn’t good.
“She told you about your dreams, didn’t she?”
He looked toward his lap and nodded, the movement slow and methodical. “Gotta hand it to Lucy, she really knows how to stir shit up. Not that it’s her fault.” He turned to look at her, sweeping his tongue over his bottom lip as he mentally prepared himself. “Something else has been happening since the dreams started. I’ve been... fading in and out... even during the day.”
“What do you mean?”
He ran his hands over his face and inhaled a sizable breath before releasing it slowly. His head fell back onto the headrest, and he turned to look at her with tired eyes. “I mean, I’m sitting there completely solid, in the middle of the goddamn day and then, poof... I’m flickering like a faulty neon light.”
Her heart clenched like a python had slithered its way around her ribs and decided to make a nice snack out of the vital organ. “Oh... God.” Her words were a mere whisper, too silent in contrast with the terror she really felt. Her mouth opened and closed, but the words she wanted to ask wouldn’t form, her vocal chords seemingly refusing to cooperate.
“What did Lucy say?”
“She said the Light you and Availia used to save me is what’s basically keeping my ass from fading out completely. So, basically, I need one hell of a jolt to jump-start my soul, or I’m a dead man.
” He shrugged like it was no big deal.
It was a very big deal.
Feeling a surge of terror, her mind worked a million miles an hour to find a possible solution. Then it came to her. “William!”
“What?”
“William... from the lighthouse,” she said a little louder. The expression on her face brightened with her epiphany. “Don’t you remember? That night we went to the lighthouse and that ghost attacked me?”
“Don’t remind me. What does that have to do with anything?”
“He was an apparition and when he took some of my energy, it made him stronger. Strong enough that he became more solid.”
“No way, Querida. We’re not doing that. It nearly killed you.”
“Only because he took too much. If you just take a little—”
“I said, no.”
But she wasn’t about to take no for an answer. Not when it meant the difference between life and death for Dominic. He was wrong. She knew she could help him if he would just let her try. She reached her hand toward him, prepared to use her gift, but he stopped her.
He shook his head and caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers. “I know you don’t understand, but I can’t let you do that. It’ll take too much.”
“But... but you don’t know that,” she said with a furious shake of her head, still trying to reach for him. She was desperate to fix him, anyway she could.
“Yeah, I do, Querida. Lucy said with the amount of your energy it would take to fix me, it could have a really adverse effect on you. It might work, and we’ll both be fine. It might work and you’ll lose your gift. Or, it might not work, and we’ll both just stop existing. And that’s not a risk I’m willing to take.”
