The Quickening

by Yvonne Heidt

  She sat up and was surprised when there was little pain with her effort. She closed her eyes and became aware of a low-level frequency of energy in the room. The question was whose was it? She cautiously sent her senses out to see if she recognized the signature it contained, but pulled back when she didn’t.

  Tiffany realized that she had either healed herself somewhat in her sleep, or someone had psychically done it for her. Her first thought was Sunny and Shade must have found her, but she negated that when she couldn’t connect with either of them. She didn’t dare probe any further because she had no idea how powerful Mark was psychically. He had hid it the entire time she’d known him without anyone ever knowing about it.

  Who was here with her?

  The sound of heavy boots descending sounded on the wooden stairs. Tiffany lay back down quickly. She wouldn’t let him see she was feeling better. It was better that he think she was still helpless. She turned her head toward the wall and willed her body to heal more.

  She must be doing a good job of playing possum because she heard his boots pacing the room aimlessly. He mumbled something repeatedly, but Tiffany couldn’t make out the words.

  The buzzing began in her head again, growing in volume until she bit her lip to stay quiet and still. She let out a breath when she finally heard him leave again.

  A plan, she needed a plan.

  *

  Kat did as she was told and closed her eyes while she held hands with Sunny and Shade. Jordan and Parker sat out of the circle.

  “I know you’re here,” Shade said. “I saw you.”

  “Who?” Kat asked.

  “Ssh.” Sunny squeezed Kat’s hand. “Can you tell us your name?”

  Parker cleared his throat. Kat could just imagine how he felt about this whole séance thing. But to his credit, he stayed where he was and didn’t say anything.

  She was willing to try absolutely anything at this point, but she wasn’t going to lie to herself about being a little weirded out that Shade said there was a ghost in her home.

  “I hear crying,” Sunny said.

  “Is it Tiffany?” Kat’s stomach tightened.

  “No, I would know if it were her. Please, help us. Why are you here?”

  “Got her,” Shade said then inhaled sharply.

  “What’s wrong?” Kat asked.

  “She’s covered in so much blood I can’t tell what she looks like.”

  Kat’s palms tingled with energy from their clasped hands.

  “Oh, there you are. Thank you.” Sunny let Kat’s hand go. “Yes, I see you now.”

  Parker whispered a question to Jordan.

  “It’s the way they work. Shade sees them as they looked when they died. Sunny sees them as they want to appear. Tiffany sees them as they actually looked in life.”

  “Can you help us?” Sunny asked. “We’re looking for our sister.”

  There was a pause while Sunny appeared to be listening.

  “Wait, there are additional women here now,” Shade said and then choked up a little. “They all look brutalized. One of the women had died very recently. She’s confused and wants to go home. Hold on while I try and get her name. She’s scared of me.”

  Kat watched Shade’s eyebrows furrow as she concentrated. She must have been talking to the spirit in her head, because she nodded a few times before she opened her eyes. “Sylvia. She says she died a couple of blocks from here.” She paused. “In a fucking Dumpster.”

  The room was already chilled, but Kat rubbed her arms when the temperature dropped even further.

  “She’s a little scary,” Parker said to Jordan.

  “You don’t know the half of it.”

  “The woman to my left is Joy,” Sunny said.

  “Oh come on,” Parker said.

  Kat ignored him. “Could they still be here from the readings we did with Parker?”

  “No, they keep showing me hands linked together. Together in death is what they’re telling me.” Sunny’s eyes widened. “She says he knows where Tiffany is.”

  Kat locked eyes with Shade who nodded, then turned to look at Parker. “Where did you find the bodies?”

  When he didn’t answer right away, Shade shoved her chair back. She advanced on him. “Where did you find the fucking bodies of these women?”

  *

  Tiffany could almost feel her wounds healing. Her ribs still ached, but there wasn’t any pain when she took a breath.

  She sat up and looked at the knots around her ankle again. She didn’t know how long Mark would be gone this time, but she refused to just lie here and wait for him to come back and kill her.

  The past might already be written, but the future was fluid. While she attacked the knots, she became aware of spirit energy and the smell of copper beside her. The signature was familiar. Once you’d connected with it, the pattern remained.

  “Hailey?”

  In her mind’s eye, Tiffany easily brought forward Hailey’s image and then another joined her. “Theresa.” It was a statement and not a question. She knew she was right.

  “What are you doing here?”

  The word came from far away and echoed forward toward her in increments until it reached her ears.

  Trapped.

  “Here?” Tiffany knew she should be shocked, but things always came full circle. She thought of how she met Kat and how everything snowballed from that moment to this. Details revealed themselves to her from hindsight―the buzzing of madness, how the girls resembled her, why she couldn’t follow his energy trail. He’d taken great lengths to make sure she couldn’t.

  “It was Mark who did this to you.”

  Hailey answered with a sigh, and Tiffany felt the chill and her anguish. Hailey showed her three boxes, almost identical to the one Tiffany had found in her house, complete with blood and hair. “He kept you here with these? Who’s the third?”

  Joy.

  The rope on her ankle fell off. Tiffany shoved to her feet and then ran for the stairs.

  No! He’s coming.

  Tiffany tried to think past the adrenaline that flooded through her system. Where did he put her coat? She spied the blue fabric and raced over to it. The pockets were empty. Frantic, she looked around the basement for a weapon. Then she saw it.

  A baseball bat leaned against the cinderblock wall. She grabbed it and gagged when she felt the energy it emanated from Hailey’s and Theresa’s murders. Oh shit, she was here in that house. She forced herself to tighten her grip and ducked behind a stack of boxes.

  It wasn’t much as a hiding space, but it was all she had.

  Mark began whistling on the landing before he descended.

  The sound stopped when he reached the bottom. “Where the fuck are you? I know you’re here. I can smell you.”

  Tiffany tightened the grip on the bat and sent up a silent prayer. She would only get one shot at this.

  “You come out right now.”

  Not a chance, asshole.

  Tiffany took a deep breath and held it. She brought to mind every move she’d learned in her self-defense classes.

  “Face me now, bitch, or it will be worse on the little girl.”

  Tiffany’s blood ran cold and the rage built inside her until her entire body was shaking with the need to kill him.

  Three more steps to the left, that’s all she needed from him.

  Two.

  One.

  Tiffany exploded from her hiding place swinging the bat in front of her. She felt the satisfaction of hearing the thump against his skull and kept at him.

  Mark wrestled the bat from her and backhanded her. But Tiffany was full of righteous fury and came right back at him with fists, nails, and teeth. “You will never touch her.”

  He opened his mouth to laugh, but a cold wind came up between them, spinning so fast the cardboard boxes on the floor flew up into the vortex it was causing.

  The distraction allowed Tiffany to pick the bat up once more and she fought against the wind to get clo
ser.

  Mark smiled at her and raised his arm.

  He had her gun.

  Tiffany laughed. “You have no power over me anymore!” Tiffany felt no fear, no regret, just freedom. “Go ahead!” she shouted to be heard over the gale.

  Then she swung for the fence.

  *

  “Can’t you go any faster?” Kat yelled.

  “I’m trying,” Shade said.

  “Jordan is going to be so pissed at us.”

  “Yeah, so?”

  “Turn left. He just turned left.” Kat heard sirens coming up behind them. Parker had ordered them to stay away, but there was no way that was happening. “Now turn right!”

  Parker’s car screeched to a halt in front of a dilapidated house. He left his door open as he exited the car and hit the ground running.

  Kat and Shade were right behind him, ignoring his shouts to stay back. Kat entered the house behind him and saw him disappear around the corner, presumably down the hall.

  “The basement door is open.” Shade pointed in the opposite direction.

  The primal scream that sounded from the floor below curdled her blood and made Kat’s ears ring. “No!”

  She raced through the door and took a step down the stairs before she fell down the rest of them. When she landed, she looked quickly around the room to find Tiffany. Please don’t let me be too late.

  Tiffany stood straight with her arms stretched up to the sky. She screamed again, and the hair rose on Kat’s neck. She looked magnificent in her triumph. A body lay at her feet.

  Kat felt her blood heat and her heart began pounding. An ethereal hand appeared in front of her and she looked up. Maeve stood in front of her in full battle gear and helped her up. “Go on, little sister, go to her.”

  Shocked, Kat felt her mouth open, but no words came out. She blinked a few times, and then saw Shade wink at her.

  “Kat!” Tiffany ran straight for her, covered in blood.

  “How bad is it, baby?” Kat tried to search for injuries. She held her so tightly, she gasped for breath.

  “It’s not mine. It’s his.”

  Parker took the stairs two at a time, and took in the scene in front of him.

  “Get upstairs,” he said to Shade and Kat. He looked at Tiffany. “Emergency services are on the way.”

  He tried to help her up the stairs, but Tiffany shook him off.

  “Tell them to take their time. He’s not going anywhere.”

  When she reached the hall upstairs, Tiffany went into one of the bedrooms. Kat was on her heels. “What are you looking for?”

  Shade went into the closet and pulled up a floorboard. Underneath it were three wooden boxes. She nodded to Tiffany. “Now it’s over,” she said.

  Parker was right behind them. “What are those?”

  “Inside them, you’ll find the victim’s blood and hair mixed with his own. There are your clues, evidence, and DNA.”

  “Trophies?” Parker’s expression hardened as he took them with gloved hands into evidence.

  “If calling them that makes you feel better,” Shade said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “They’re curses, made with very old, very dark magic. It’s like the one I have in the back of the van from Tiffany’s house. I’ll get it for you.”

  Parker turned to Tiffany and Kat. “You have to leave the basement, go outside, and wait for me. It’s a crime scene.”

  “I know. I have one more thing to do,” Tiffany said. “I’ll be right behind you.”

  Kat followed Tiffany into the derelict living room where she stopped and closed her eyes.

  “What are you doing?” Kat asked.

  “I’m thanking Joy, Hailey, and Theresa. Now I’m going to send them to the light where they belong.”

  Kat gave her own silent thanks, to the women both past and present that brought her to this moment with Tiffany.

  Where she belonged.

  Then, now, and forever.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Tiffany was tired of people fussing over her. If it wasn’t Kat, Sunny, Shade, or Jordan, it was the nurses and doctors.

  She was fine. Better than fine, she was free.

  No charges were to be filed against her as Mark’s death was clearly a case of self-defense. Tiffany doubted that the official report would include any mention of the murdered women’s ghosts, but that was okay too.

  Jordan had read her the riot act about leaving the house with a gun, as she could have been charged with all kinds of things if she’d shot Mark with premeditation. But Tiffany knew she was only talking for form’s sake.

  Tiffany struggled with the fact she’d killed another human being. She figured there would be some work to do around that emotional issue, because it wasn’t in her nature. It went against everything she stood for. Then the coin would flip, and she would be flooded with memories of what he did to her, and the other women. The only reason they’d died was because they resembled Tiffany in Mark’s twisted brain. There would be some part of her that would never get over that.

  When the guilt of killing him reared its ugly head, Tiffany could make it go away entirely when she reminded herself that he’d threatened Angel. And when she remembered that, she wanted to kill him all over again.

  Then she remembered how Kat had stayed with her all night, despite the nurses trying to kick her out.

  As if her thoughts summoned her, Kat walked into her room. “Hey. Ready to go?”

  “Absolutely.” Tiffany stood up from the chair. “Kat?”

  “What, love?”

  “Do you think we could find it?”

  “Find what?”

  “The river with the waterfall at the edge of the forest.”

  Kat’s smile lit her face. “We already have.”

  “No, really. I’m being serious.”

  “We can try.”

  “Wouldn’t it be awesome research for your book?”

  Kat nodded. “It would. Is that the only reason you want to go?”

  Tiffany sighed. “No, that would be secondary. What I really want would be to kiss you under the full moon where we met for the first time.”

  “Sounds like heaven to me. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the idea that Angel was my mother in that life.”

  “Or that Mark’s mother was mine here. It’s enough to drive you crazy thinking about it.”

  “Do we have everything straight now?” Kat shook her head. “Because you could have knocked me over with a feather when I found out Shade was my warrior-teacher, Maeve.”

  “I know, right? What about when we figured that Parker must be the king, trying to undo his past wrongs? Or that―”

  “Come here,” Kat said, then pulled her against her body. “How about when Kat and Tiffany find each other and live happily ever after?”

  “There is that,” Tiffany said. “Let’s go home.”

  “Which one?” Kat asked. “I love your family and all, but can we spend some time alone? We’ve been overrun for a week now. God, Tiffany, I almost lost you. I nearly went off the edge at the thought…”

  “You were going to say, again.”

  “That’s the thing,” Kat said. “You think that I can separate how I felt for Tanna from how I feel about you. Love feels like love. You make me happy, Tiffany. You’re beautiful, sexy, loyal, funny, and sweet. What’s not to love about you?”

  “Well, according to you, nothing.”

  Kat smiled. “Let’s go home, baby.”

  Tiffany’s cell signaled a text message. “Apparently, the odds are in your favor. The aunties took Angel to the Puyallup Fair.”

  Kat put her arm around Tiffany as they headed for the elevators.

  When the doors slid open at the parking level, they gasped in unison.

  Dark green forest filled the large garage, and birdsong filled the air. In the distance, a waterfall could be heard tumbling over the rocks and into the river.

  “It’s beautiful!” Tiffany said.r />
  And with her spoken words, the illusion was broken. They walked to the car.

  “Kat,” Tiffany said.

  “What, love?”

  “I’m so glad you caught me.”

  Epilogue

  Three months later

  Tiffany was curled on the couch with Kat beside her. Shade was telling one of her stories, the kind that gave most people nightmares, but it wasn’t fazing Kat in the least.

  “Wow,” Kat said. “That’s fascinating. Can I use some of this stuff in my next book?”

  “You haven’t finished the first one.” Tiffany laughed.

  “Of course you can, my young friend,” Shade said. “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

  “Did you just quote Shakespeare?” Tiffany was flabbergasted. She’d never heard Shade do that before. “Besides, Kat is older than you.”

  “This time.” Shade grinned and launched into another tale of darkness to entertain her audience of one, Kat.

  Tiffany smiled because loving Kat was so damn easy. They just stepped right on into it and everything seemed to fall into place. Kat had moved her personal items from the condo and taken over the guest room for her new office, where she spent the days writing her book about Sanctuary.

  Her condo in Seattle remained unoccupied, as Kat hadn’t decided whether to sell it or rent it out.

  Angel didn’t bring up the past again, and Tiffany didn’t push her. Kat moving into their home hadn’t fazed her in the least. She welcomed her new mother figure and called her My-Kat. Tiffany was so happy, sometimes she would lie awake at night and worry about when the other shoe would drop. She wondered if it all could be taken away as fast as she received it. Then Kat would turn to her in the dark and make love to her. She kissed away the anxiety and soothed Tiffany with her warm presence.

  Shade must have finished her story, because the room fell silent for a moment. Tiffany was happy to see her so relaxed lately. She had become a regular fixture at their house, and they both enjoyed having her.

  “So did you see the new receptionist at SOS yet?” Kat grunted when Tiffany elbowed her. “What?”

  Shade’s expression immediately shut down and her voice was clipped and short. “I’ve met her. Which reminds me, the Bristol Terrace investigation has been rescheduled for next month.”