I winced. I had been waiting for that.
“But then we met Cathryn and Harley and the Landowers...and frankly, we were very pleasantly surprised. We asked some very pointed questions, and they answered without hesitating.”
“Tas, it’s basically your dream come true,” my mother put in. “Isn’t this what you’ve said since we moved to King? That you wanted to use your gifts for good? And here it is, this chance dropped in your lap. It’s pretty amazing, I think.”
“I don’t know that I trust them.” I said, my voice slightly muffled behind my hands. “I can tell you for sure that I don’t trust Cathryn. Not one bit.”
My mom shook her head. “Tas, I think she’s a nice girl. She could be a role model for you, how well she’s adapted to her ability. I’m surprised you don’t like her.”
“I said I don’t trust her,” I corrected. “She wants Michael. That’s what her little comment at breakfast was about. She was baiting me, trying to get me to react--”
“And so you did,” my dad said wryly. “It’s just that kind of reaction that the people at Carruthers can help you control. It’s a win-win situation, Tasmyn. They’re going to help you, you’ll get to use your mind-hearing, you’ll be able to help people—and you’re going to make money doing it, all while still going to college. Pretty sweet, I think.”
I realized then that I wasn’t going to change their minds. Fleetingly I thought of Rafe and his ability to change minds and memories. It would have come in handy right about then, I mused. But then the breeze that had been intermittent suddenly turned into gusting wind, and I was reminded that favors from Rafe were no longer an option for me.
“Just try it, Tasmyn,” my father urged me. “If you don’t like it, if it doesn’t work out, you can always quit. But give it a chance. What harm can that be?”
I could think of lots and lots of potential for harm and unhappiness. But then I remembered everything I had put my parents through over the last few years, and I realized I had the chance here to do something that would make them happy, that would let me ease up on the worry. So I took a deep breath and nodded.
“Okay. I’ll do it.”
And so it began.
Michael and Marly didn’t try to talk me out of working for Carruthers when I showed up at Michael’s room after leaving my parents. They listened to me without comment, and I could hear only their normal loving, supportive thoughts. When I finished explaining my justification, Marly stood up and gave me a hug.
“Honey, you know what I think. Literally.” She winked. “You have to do what you feel is right for you. I can’t make the decision, and neither can Michael. But please, keep your eyes open. Don’t let them make you into what you’re not, okay?” She held my chin and looked into my eyes searchingly. I nodded, and she hugged me again, harder.
Michael grabbed my hand and held it tight. “You know I’m cool with whatever you decide, as long as I get to be there with you. But I’m with Mom—be careful. That place. I know it was beautiful and historic and all, but it kind of creeped me out.”
I shuddered in agreement. “I know. Cathryn fits right in there, doesn’t she?”
“And those servers. They reminded me of robots or something.” Marly made a face.
I frowned. “The one who told Michael how to get the veranda—she was okay. I think she was trying to tell me something when we left.” I shook my head. “But maybe I was imagining it.”
I called Cathryn on Monday after class. To my vast relief, I got her voicemail and left a message, just letting her know that after talking with my parents and Michael (I might have given his name just a little extra emphasis), I had decided to accept the offer from Carruthers.
I didn’t have to wait long to hear back from her. My phone rang as I walked to dinner late that afternoon.
“Hello, Tasmyn. I was happy to hear you’ve made the right decision.”
“Thanks.” I lost the attempt to the keep the bleakness out of my voice.
Cathryn laughed, the tinkling brightness of it irritating me even across the phone. “You know, Tasmyn, this is actually a good thing. You’re going to thank me eventually, I promise.”
“Hmm,” I responded. “I guess.”
“Well, your lack of enthusiasm aside, are you ready to begin right away? I’ve been looking at your class schedule, and I see that Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are short days for you.”
“Wait—you’ve been what? How do you have my class schedule?”
“I work in the alumni office, remember. I have access to just about everything I need. I was trying to work out a schedule that wouldn’t be too arduous for you, since this is your first semester of college. We don’t want to over-tax you.”
“Oh, thanks so much. I appreciate that.”
Cathryn ignored me. “So should we say Wednesday and Friday this week? I’ll work on that schedule and give you a copy when I see you. Some days we’ll work on campus, and others we’ll need to drive up to Harper Creek. And eventually we’ll be going on calls, but that will wait a few weeks.”
“Fine. Only this week, I can’t do Friday. I have an appointment already.”
“Oh, right, with your witch shrink?”
My mouth dropped open, and I felt like I’d been sucker punched yet again. How on earth could Cathryn know about Aline?
“Who told you about her?” I hissed into the phone. “And don’t call her that. She’s not. A witch, I mean.”
“I told you, we do extensive research before we ever reach out to a potential asset. And then I picked it up in Michael’s mind. He thinks about you, and everything to do with you, so much that it’s really annoying. Oh, and your mother mentioned the shrink on Saturday when she was talking with Harley and the Landowers. So don’t blame me.”
I gritted my teeth. When had my parents become so loose-lipped? “Whatever. Anyway, I can only work Wednesday this week. Where do I go?”
“I’ll pick you up at your dorm. We have papers for you to sign and some forms to complete. We can do that at the same café where we ate lunch last week. I’ll give you the schedule, we’ll go over some rules. Nothing too stressful for you.”
I rolled my eyes and stuck out my tongue. I had reached the dining hall and stood outside, waiting in the spot where Michael and I always met. He rounded the corner just in time to see the face I was making at the phone and gave me a quizzical glance.
“Cathryn,” I mouthed, pointing at the phone. Aloud, I answered her. “That’s fine. I’ve got to go now, Cathryn. Michael is waiting to go to dinner. See you Wednesday.” I hung up without waiting for her response.
Michael shook his head. “How are you going to do this if you can’t even stand to talk on the phone with her?”
I sighed. “Not sure. I try, I really do, but she always says something that just makes me want to scream.” I told him about our conversation and Cathryn’s comments about Aline.
“I just want to keep some things to myself, you know?” I complained as we came through the line, choosing food for our trays. Michael glanced at the salad I’d put together, but he kept his comments to himself. I could ignore his rather loud thoughts about my rabbit food dinner.
“Yeah, I understand.” We threaded our way through to our usual small table in the corner. “I’m sorry I gave anything away about Aline. It’s hard for me to remember that she can hear me think, too.”
I shrugged. “You didn’t know yet when she heard you, so don’t worry. Plus, apparently she found out about my ‘witch shrink’ in her research on me.”
Michael finished his taco and started in on the chips and guacamole. “Tas, are you sure about this? I know your parents are excited, but is all the stress worth it?”
I shook my head. “I really don’t know. But I did promise them I would at least give it a try. So that’s the best I can do. Try.”
I worked hard to hold onto that thought when Cathryn picked me up on Wednesday. Her little blue convertible purred to a stop at the curb in fro
nt of Rollins Hall. I climbed in without saying a word.
“One of the first things I’m going to teach you is how to block your thoughts.” Cathryn plunged in without any preliminaries. “Believe me, it’s for my benefit as much as yours.”
I smothered a smirk at that. So she didn’t like being privy to my mind? Oh, I could make it even more uncomfortable.
If she heard me—and I was sure she had—Cathryn didn’t respond. Instead she went right on talking.
“I can’t believe that Romanian witch didn’t teach you how to do it. It’s pretty basic.”
There I had to agree with her. I had even asked Marica, but she had exercised her typical evasive ways.
“I think Marica didn’t want me to have the ability to block her,” I said slowly. “Everything always came down to her wants and needs, so that would make sense.”
Cathryn nodded thoughtfully. “Well, Tasmyn, as reluctant as you are to trust all of us at Carruthers, I can tell you that we do take your needs into consideration at every turn. I won’t pretend we are completely altruistic, but I promise, you’ll be consulted all along the way. You will always have input.”
At the café, we sat at the same table and I ordered the soup and sandwich again, as Cathryn pulled out a sheaf of papers and a pile of folders. We spent the next hour reviewing documents that I had to sign—things like non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements—and filling out forms for mundane needs, like tax withholding and insurance.
“Now,” Cathryn said when we’d finished eating and the last of the papers was returned to her briefcase, “let’s get to work on our other priority. Close your eyes, Tasmyn. I want you to picture the energy that allows you to hear thoughts. Visualize it. Got it?”
I had had some experience with this and so it was easy. I saw the power, my most familiar ability, a swirling purple mist. “I’ve got it.”
“All right. Now take that same energy that flows out so easily, and make it solid. It might take a few tries. Take your time.”
As soon as I heard her words, the mist began to take a more opaque form, spreading out into a sort of wall. “I can see it. It’s like a solid plank...a wall maybe.”
“Excellent. Spread it all around your mind. Picture it protecting your thoughts.”
“I’ve done it. Now what?”
“Now I’m going to try to get through your wall. And you try to keep me out.”
I felt Cathryn’s assault right away. I envisioned the purple veil repelling each attack. After a few moments, Cathryn said, “Good. Very good for a first try, actually. I want you to keep working on it. Remember that you never know who around you might have the same talent, and you could put yourself—and Carruthers—at risk if you don’t guard your mind very carefully. Understand?”
I nodded. I hadn’t thought it before, but this whole operation was beginning to feel like a covert mission.
“I heard that,” Cathryn said dryly. “You’re not entirely wrong, but have you ever realized how often you jump to dramatic conclusions, Tasmyn? I’m a vampire, Carruthers is a black ops organization...really, maybe you should write fiction.”
I concentrated on pulling the veil back over my mind before I replied. “If you had been attacked by not one but two deranged witches and almost drowned by an overzealous minister, all over the course of less than two years, none of those would sound so crazy.”
Cathryn laughed, and for once it didn’t make me want to scratch her eyes out. “I guess you have a point. And nice work. I can’t hear even one of your thoughts. Keep it up, Tasmyn. You’re off to a good start.”
I always enjoyed my appointments with Aline. She was so restful and so good at blocking her mind that I could let down my guard. And the idea of being able to talk about everything, every aspect of my life, was especially appealing to someone like me, who had been forced to keep things to myself for so many years.
I was anxious to speak with her as I pulled into the parking lot of her office on that Friday. So much had happened since our last appointment, and I really wanted her take on everything to do with Carruthers and Cathryn.
Her office was in an older home on a quiet street a few towns over from Perriman. She had turned the side lot into a small parking area, and the huge foyer was now the reception room. I met with her down the hall in what used to be a sitting room. The rest of the house was decorated in keeping with the historical period to which it belonged, but Aline’s office was all blonde wood and soft colors. She didn’t have a desk, just a simple table that held her laptop, a few piles of brochures and some books. The lavender couch across the room was huge and soft, with so many pillows that I often felt I might be lost among them.
Aline met me as usual in the reception area. I thought that she had a part-time secretary, since I’d spoken to another woman on the phone when I had to change an appointment, but apparently she didn’t work on Friday afternoons, which was when I always met with Aline.
“Hello, Tasmyn,” she greeted me, smiling. “How lovely you look today. Would you like to come back to my sitting room?” Aline always invited and left me options. I wondered fleetingly what would happen if I had replied no.
But I followed her down the hall and into the pretty room. I sank into the couch, slipping off my shoes and curling my legs under me as I always did. Aline sat in the overstuffed chair across from me, smiling benevolently.
“Tell me how your last few weeks have gone,” she suggested, and I launched into a description of everything that had happened: the party at Dr. Sorrel’s house, my outburst, hearing Michael’s dream...my encounter with Cathryn and our subsequent meeting at the Carruthers headquarters.
Aline listened with her typical reserved “ahs” and “hmms”. When I finished, she cast her eyes up toward the ceiling, and I sat expectantly, counting the ticks of the clock above the door.
“Tell me, Tasmyn, how did Michael’s dream about Rafe make you feel?” Her question surprised me; I had assumed she would tackle the Carruthers issue first.
“I don’t really know,” I admitted. “At first I was panicked. I mean, when I thought it was my dream. Because I don’t dream about Rafe.”
“Don’t you?” Aline’s raised eyebrows added an element of skepticism to her otherwise innocent question. “It would be very odd if you didn’t. He was a huge part of your life for months.”
“But that’s over,” I insisted. “I don’t have anything to do with him anymore.”
“Of course you don’t,” Aline agreed. “Not consciously. But the mind works in different ways. I still dream about my mother, even though she’s been dead for nearly ten years. I know that, but my mind is stubborn. Don’t you dream of Marica?”
I shuddered. “Not for a while. At first, yes. Lots of bad dreams. And I worried that she was doing what Nell had done. You know, coming back to me that way. But it wasn’t. They were just nightmares.”
“All right. Well, once you realized that Michael was dreaming about you and Rafe, how did you feel?”
I considered for a moment. “I felt horribly guilty again. And I realized that Michael was assuming some things about my relationship with Rafe. So I guess in a way it was good, because I could tell him that he was wrong about that.”
“Mm-hmm.” Aline nodded, her fingertips just grazing her lips. “So that opened the door for some honest discussion?”
“Yes...” I thought about it. “Well, I tried to talk to Michael about it. But I think he doesn’t want to re-hash it. He knows it’s over, and he doesn’t think we need to dissect the whole thing.”
“That’s what he says, perhaps, but his subconscious might be indicating something different,” Aline pointed out. “Don’t worry about that right now. It’s something we can re-visit later. But keep it in mind when you’re talking with Michael. Let’s chat about what happened at Dr. Sorrel’s home and at the Carruthers meeting.”
I shifted on the sofa, trying to tamp down the turmoil. “Okay.”
“As I understand it, it was
this same girl—this Cathryn—who set you off both times. Is that right?”
“I guess so,” I answered. “At least she was the tipping point. I was already tense both times, about being at the party and then about everything I was hearing at Carruthers. And I felt like my parents were paying more attention to what Cathryn was saying than to my opinion. When Cathryn brought up Rafe—yeah, the tipping point. More, because I knew she did it to make me mad. She wanted me to show what I could do. I’m sure of it.”
“So she forced you into an impromptu demo of your abilities?”
I nodded. “I think so. Plus, she always tries to get a rise out of me about Michael. And I fall for it every time.”
Aline smiled. “Forewarned is forearmed, so maybe if you stop and consider that now, it can make a difference the next time she tries it. What do you think?”
“I guess. But you know how there are those people who can annoy you just by breathing? That’s Cathryn. There’s nothing really wrong with her, I don’t think. She just irritates me.”
Aline laughed. “Yes, I get that. But try to remember that you have something she doesn’t.”
“Michael?” I cocked my head.
“Exactly. So let’s try to hold onto that. When you have to deal with Cathryn, try to focus instead on how much Michael loves you. Don’t let in any of the insecurity. If you do that, I think it might be easier to control your anger...and the power that comes with it.”
“Okay, I’ll try it,” I agreed. “On a different but related topic, do you know anything about Carruthers? I thought you might, since Mrs. Brooks said that they had approached some King families.”
“They never talked to me, but yes, I’ve heard of them. You know what the grapevine in King is like. I don’t remember who it was they tried to recruit, but I remember it happening.” Aline knitted her brows together. “I think I agree with Caroline. I would tread cautiously. I understand why your parents find the organization attractive. They think Carruthers can help you control your abilities, and right now, that’s very important to your mom and dad.”
King Series Box Set Page 82
