by Jen Talty
“Look.” Hazel pointed across the small airport. “He’s here.”
“It’s only his broken body. Without his mind, he’s nothing.” Alexis tried to stand, but her muscles twisted in knots, and even though she knew her bones weren’t broken, his were, and she felt everything he did. “I need to touch him.” She slumped. Tears stung her eyes. “You know I met him once a long time ago.”
“Willow told me,” Hazel said. “When you tried to heal my broken heart when Brett left for the Marines. You did help me, you know that, right?”
Alexis allowed a slight smile to spread across her aching cheeks. The closer he got, the warmer her body grew.
“I need to lie next to him. They have to make room on that gurney, or he won’t last the flight to Germany.”
“We’ve got a second one loaded in the plane. We will push them together.” Hazel rested her hands on Alexis’ knees. Hazel lowered her chin to her chest, raising her gaze. “I don’t think we’re going to Germany.”
“Why not?”
“Some general thinks it’s best if we transport you to the states. There is concern about you and Hunter getting lost in the past. Promise me you won’t go there.”
“I can’t make that promise. He dies, and all of this will be for nothing.” Alexis rested her hands on her sister’s shoulders. “Help me up. I need to be with him, now.”
Hazel nodded as she stood and turned toward the men racing across the pavement. “Brett,” she yelled.
Alexis smiled as she watched the man who’d stolen her sister’s heart run toward her with his arms outstretched.
“What’s going on?” Brett asked.
“Alexis wants to be next to Hunter,” Hazel said.
“All right.” Brett bent over the wheelchair. “I’m sorry if this hurts you.” Before she could respond, he hoisted her into his arms. “I’ll run alongside the bed, so you can touch him.”
“I need to lie next to him.”
“No time until we get on the plane.” Brett carried her with ease toward Hunter.
Her heart hammered like a woodpecker striking a tree. The closer she got to Hunter, the more her pulse united with his, slowing dangerously below normal. Nausea seized her stomach. She struggled to breathe.
“Please. You don’t understand, I need to hold him. He’ll die if I don’t give him as much of my energy as I can.”
“I understand,” Brett said. “I remember when you healed me remotely, and I wasn’t half as bad as him. But we need to get him on that plane and stabilized.”
She reached for Hunter, grabbing ahold of his hand. A seething current raced through her body, hitting every muscle. Static filled her ears as her vision blurred. Her essence lifted from her body like steam rolling off a hot spring. She watched as Brett laid her next to Hunter. Her arms draped over his broken body.
She gasped as her spirit went cold, and the world around her went black.
“Alexis.” The sound of Hunter’s voice filled her ears.
“Where are you?” Even though she knew she was no longer with her body, she blinked her eyes. The darkness surrounded her soul.
“I’m here.” Something tickled her shoulder.
“I can feel you.”
“I know. Your psychic energy is strong. But the longer we stay here, the weaker it becomes.”
“Like healing you.” Her skin prickled with heat. “But I don’t think I’m healed enough for us to go back to the reality plane yet.”
“I agree. Do you remember when we first met?”
“Like it was yesterday,” she said. The sensation of fingers lacing between hers sent a warm shiver up her spine.
“I want you to focus on the couple we saw in the sky. I think I can pull our energy into the past. If we stay here much longer, we’re both going to go insane.”
She pulled up the image that had come to her in dreams over the years in her mind’s eye. The couple sat on the dock, their feet dangling in the water. The woman rested her head on the man’s shoulder.
“Do you see them?” Hunter asked.
“I do. Exactly like in the sky that day long ago.”
“Good. Now. We need to project our minds into the image. But we have to do it precisely at the same time.”
“How do you know that?” she asked.
“I don’t. I’m making an educated guess based on everything I’ve read about the few people who’ve come back from the abyss. Are you ready? We have to hurry before it disappears.”
“Just say the word.” She channeled all her energy, keeping it close to her chest.
“On three. One. Two. Three.”
She projected her spirit, keeping ahold of Hunter’s hand, into the image. A funnel, much like a twister, filled the space. Nausea gripped her gut as her mind and soul spun inside the tornado, bouncing around like a toy doll. She did her best to keep her sights on the image as it grew closer. Everything around the couple swirled like paint on a canvas.
A bright light flashed, breaking the connection with the image.
Thud!
Her butt hit a hard surface. “Shit.”
“That hurt,” Hunter said with a moan.
She glanced down at her hands and rubbed her thighs. “How is this possible?”
“I have no idea. I’ve never been catapulted into one of my retrocognition views. I’m hoping it’s more like a remote view than actually being present in the past.” He jumped to his feet. Loose jeans hung low on his narrow hips. He sported a black T-shirt tucked neatly in his pants. The cuts on his face were gone.
“Wow,” he said, taking a step back. “Interesting choice of clothing.”
She glanced down. “I’m wearing Bermuda shorts and a tank.”
“I see a light-blue string bikini, and wow, you have some great legs.”
Covering her stomach, she scowled. “What are you wearing?”
“A bathing suit,” he said with a smile. “Why, what do you see?”
“Not your bare chest, that’s for sure,” she muttered. “Would you mind putting some clothes on me, please.”
He laughed. “I don’t want to. You’re not thirteen anymore, and I’m liking what I see.”
“Men,” she said under her breath, doing her best to keep from smiling. His face had been ingrained into her psyche for over thirteen years. He’d often enter her dreams, and she’d find herself thinking about him at random times. She could bring up his pine scent anytime she needed comforting. He’d been her silly schoolgirl crush that she allowed to carry over into adulthood because she never expected to see him again.
He took her hand in his. “I’ve got you in a strapless sundress. Is that better?”
“Much. Thank you.”
“I don’t think anyone can see us. I’m guessing we’re in some weird remote view of the past. I’ve read about that in A Psychic’s Guide to Crossing Abilities by Riley Jacobs.”
“Do you believe in the book?” she asked, holding her breath.
“Most of it, yes. Have you read it?” He led her down a path in what appeared to be a park near a large body of water. If she wasn’t mistaken, it was the Chesapeake.
“A few times.” She pointed toward the couple they’d seen in his vision. “Don’t freak out on me, but you’re one of the quadruplets.”
“Ha. Ha. That’s funny. I’m an only child.”
“Who was adopted,” she said as they stepped onto the dock where the couple sat. “I know two of your brothers. Brett and Chad.”
“As in Chad Pendleton?”
“That’s the one,” she said. “And I’m one of the four sisters.”
“Now that I might be able to get on board with if you can wear that bikini I pictured you in.”
“I’m being serious.”
“I know.” He stopped about ten feet away from the couple. “Let’s sit here. I’ve always wanted to know who this couple is.”
“She’s pregnant.” Alexis sat on the edge of the dock, taking her shoes off and dangling her feet in the
cool water.
“Oh, shit. That’s General Mallard. But I don’t think he’s ever been married or had kids.”
“I don’t know who—”
Hunter pressed his finger over her lips. “Let’s just listen, okay?”
She nodded. It would take some time for him to accept his role and pushing him now, while his body needed more time to heal, wouldn’t be the smartest thing she’d ever done. It could wait until they made their way back to the reality plane.
“I don’t want to give up our babies,” the woman said.
“We have to.” Mallard rested his arm around the woman. “If we don’t, they will die and so will we. By separating the four boys, they have a fighting chance to fulfill the prophecy and reinstate the Collective Order.”
“We should run away. Hide,” the woman said.
“You’ve seen the future if we don’t give them up and go our separate ways. We have to do what is right not just for the boys, but for all psychics. In the future, we will come together again, and our boys will find their true calling. Balance will be restored.” Mallard stood, helping up the pregnant woman.
“What about the vision where you’re murdered in the future? How are our boys to find each other if that happens?”
The man let out a long sigh. “We’ve seen many visions that contradict each other. Only one thing has remained constant. We must give them up. I will continue my work with psychic warriors in the military, and you will finish your book about crossing abilities. It will help our children in the future.” Mallard kissed the woman’s cheek. “Riley, our boys have the power to change the world. We need to give them that chance.”
“Holy shit,” Alexis whispered, resting her hand on Hunter’s back. “Riley Jacobs is your mother.” Even though Alexis had never met Riley, she had admired the author from a distance, but never in a million years did she think Riley would be the birth mother of the quadruplet brothers. Especially considering she wrote a book about their existence and what they meant to the future of the Collective Order.
“I’m sort of stuck on the idea that General Mallard might be my father,” Hunter said.
“Perhaps our boys and the Raven sisters will have figured it out long before Hunter is captured. I can’t stand the idea that one of our boys will be tortured right before I’m murdered.”
“Oh no,” Alexis said softly. “They knew this would happen?”
“Looks like they might have known a lot of things,” Hunter said as he bolted to his feet. “Let’s go.”
“Where?” Alexis asked
“To our reality plane,” Hunter barked.
“Isn’t it too soon?” Alexis asked.
“That’s a chance we are going to have to take.” He lifted her into his arms and raced toward the darkness that taunted them in the distance. “I need to find General Mallard. He’s got a lot of explaining to do.”
Her stomach pitched to her throat as he leapt into the swirling tunnel.
Her skin prickled with fire, and her mind went utterly dark…
1
A sharp pain tore into Hunter’s temple like an ice pick. He clutched at the sides of his head. Gasping, he tried to fill his lungs with fresh air.
“Relax,” a familiar male voice said.
“Make it stop,” Hunter managed between ragged breaths. His skin burned as if he’d been dropped into a pot of boiling water. He blinked, wondering if he were still on the bed of his captors, being electrocuted.
“Doctor said it could be a rough reentry.”
Hunter knew the voice to be Chad Pendleton, a fellow Navy SEAL. He’d been Hunter’s lifeline during Operation Firewalker until Karl Homer turned traitor and helped Theo Knox kill his own teammates.
Hunter controlled his breathing. A bright fluorescent light shined down, blinding him as if he were inches from the sun. He rolled his head. Alexis lay on her side, her hands tucked up under her cheek. The throbbing in his head continued to pound in unison with his pulse. A band of sweat beaded across his forehead. “Where are we?” Hunter reached out, threading his fingers through Alexis’ long, silky hair. In the past vision, her beauty had taken his breath away. Seeing her in person, stole his heart.
“We’re in a private facility owned by the Global Alliance Coalition and run by Perception Project, a division our brother Brett works for in Baltimore,” Chad said.
A million questions raced through Hunter’s mind, but only one mattered at this very second. “Why didn’t she wake up with me?” The first time she’d healed him hadn’t been intentional on his part. However, when he’d been shot a few years ago, he felt her warmth wrap around him like a fleece blanket on a cold winter’s night. He knew his speedy recovery had been because of her, even if he hadn’t wanted to admit it to himself.
“I can only give you a theory based on past experiences.” Chad rested his strong hand on Hunter’s shoulder. “She healed you, now she needs to regain her strength, which will take a bit longer. The good news is she might not have as rough a time.”
“How can you be sure?”
“I can’t,” Chad said. “But two weeks ago, I didn’t believe in any of this shit, and now I find myself running through one realm to get to another. My girlfriend talks to me in my mind all the time, and that’s just the beginning.”
“You have a girlfriend? That’s a shocker with your winning personality.” Hunter adjusted himself on the small bed and glanced around. IVs hung from the side of the bed on a tall metal pole. Two monitor screens blipped with vitals.
“Trust me. I’ve been wondering how I got so lucky that Savanah was even willing to take me back.”
“Who’s Savanah?” Hunter asked, rubbing his aching forehead. A dozen images collided in his brain, but he couldn’t separate them, much less make sense of them. It was as if he’d blacked out, but an important memory tickled his mind, begging to be seen.
“I’m Savanah.” A tall blonde slinked through the door. She kissed Chad. “I’m Alexis’ older sister. How’s she doing?”
He took Alexis’ wrist between his fingers. Her pulse bumped against his fingertips. He counted the strong and steady beats. “I think she’s okay.”
“Where’s Brett and Hazel? I projected to everyone that our boy here was awake,” Chad said.
“Who are they?” Hunter thought he should know these people, but he had no idea why other than their names felt familiar rattling around inside his head.
“You haven’t told him much, have you?” Savanah had a sassy edge to her tone. “Hazel is our other sister.”
“Only sister I remember is Willow,” Hunter said, hoping something would yank his mind from the foggy mirage of disjointed visions. “Jesus.” Hunter glanced at his hands. Not a single burn mark dotted his skin. “How long have we been unconscious?”
“A week.”
“That’s it? I shouldn’t be able to move, much less not have a single scratch anywhere on my body. I was burned and electrocuted, among other things.”
“We knew Alexis possessed the kind of healing powers that even the experts didn’t believe were possible, but to see it on this end, it was nothing short of spectacular. The doctor took X-rays when you first got here, and the next day, not a single sign of a cracked rib.”
Hunter pinched the bridge of his nose.
“What’s the matter?” Chad asked.
“I don’t know. Something happened while I was sleeping, but I can’t remember what.”
“Well, you can rely on your brothers to help you through,” Chad said.
Alexis sighed.
Carefully, Hunter lifted her head and rested it on his chest, holding her body close. “What do you mean, brothers? I’m an only child.” He scratched his head, scanning the room. With the drop ceiling, off-white scuffed floors, and all the medical gear hanging off the wall, the space looked like your typical hospital room, but something told Hunter there was nothing typical about this place.
“So was I. But it turns out there are four of us and—”
“How’s he doing?” A tall man with dark hair and hauntingly familiar eyes marched into the room with a blonde who looked almost identical to Savanah with her round curves and bouncy locks.
“Confused,” Chad said.
“That’s being kind.” Hunter rubbed a hand over a week’s worth of stubble.
Positive energy filled the room in a way that made him want to trust each person as if they’d been lifelong friends.
No. Family.
“Well, let’s bring him up to speed. I’m Brett. Your brother.”
“I’m an only…” Hunter stared at the ceiling. Colors swirled together until they formed a motion picture of him and Alexis strolling down a dock toward the couple he’d seen so many times in a retrocognition vision. “Shit. Where’s General Mallard?” The magnitude of what he’d found out in the past crushed his chest like an elephant took a load off.
“He was called back to Little Creek,” Chad said. “Why?”
Hunter ripped the IV from his vein. He groaned as blood trickled down his arm.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Brett stood at the end of the bed with his hands on his hips, Hazel by his side in the same stance. Chad and Savanah were on the side, arms folded across their chests.
The sight made Hunter chuckle. “I’m getting out of this bed, and I’m going to find our father before he’s murdered.”
“Our what?” Brett pressed his hands on the mattress. “You not only accepted us being blood, but you think you know who our biological father is?”
“When I woke up, I couldn’t remember much, but it’s all coming back to me now. Alexis and I traveled from the abyss into the past.” Hunter slipped from the bed and hiked up the jeans Chad had tossed him.
“What did you see?” Brett asked.
“For most of my life, I’ve had one recurring vision and that was of this couple sitting on a dock. Alexis and I found them. Turns out they are our birth parents.”
“How do you know they were our parents?” Brett asked.
