“A little, but I want to see Eva’s GiftDrills.”
Theresa glanced at Zoe and started to laugh. “You really do like naming things. I like it. GiftDrills and PentaSense.”
Zoe’s attention was drawn to Eva, who had moved a wooden table by waving her hand. “Wow, that’s going to come in handy.”
Theresa laughed and kissed Zoe on the cheek. “You are just adorable. Yes, that particular gift will come in handy one day,” she said cryptically.
Zoe spared her a glance and then caught sight of Eva laughing while both she and Tessa were breaking tree branches with just a stare. “Why did you drop in, Mama Saint?” Zoe asked whilst watching Eva blow her a kiss. She blew one back and laughed when Eva plucked a flower, kissed it, and it drifted back to Zoe and landed on her lap. “Oh, now she’s just showing off.” Zoe took the flower and held it to her nose.
“Your trip to Aiden will be the most difficult you will both face. She’s going to need your strength. A cord can be broken, but if it has a second cord intertwined with it, it’s very difficult to break.”
“She will do it. I know she will.”
“How do you feel about going to this hell on earth? We know how Eva is feeling, but what are you feeling?”
Zoe turned away from Eva, who was now quietly sitting on the grass facing Tessa. She wasn’t sure what they were doing, but they were sitting with their eyes closed.
“My heart hurts,” Zoe said quietly. “I think about this horrible place and my heart hurts. I want to kill those bastards. I want it atom bombed off the face of the planet. Nothing to be left to remind the world that this place existed. Eva wants it demolished and a memorial garden in its place.”
“But it did exist, and so many people suffered and died. Eva was one of the lucky ones. I think a memorial garden is perfect. It’s going to be a place of reflection.”
“You call what they did to her lucky?”
“Yes, I do. There are those who underwent these barbaric experiments who are alive but are a shell. They exist but their mind is no longer there, Zoe. You know of Eva’s suffering, but God knows all their suffering.”
Zoe took a deep breath. “He may know but he didn’t do anything about it. That is not caring. Where was God when this was happening? Why didn’t He stop these bastards?”
“It’s not for me to say where God was, it’s not my place.”
“No, apparently no one can question God,” Zoe replied and tried not to be too bitter. She turned to Theresa and smiled. “Thank you for being there for her. In Sunday school I never believed Father Haralambos when he said we all have a guardian angel. I didn’t think it possible for everyone to have one. You proved me wrong.”
Theresa gazed out at Tessa and Eva for a long moment before she turned to Zoe. “Angels are all around you, and sometimes it doesn’t feel that way when bad things happen. You also have me as your guardian angel, Zoe, even if you don’t have faith in God. You will always be special to me.” She put her arm around Zoe and kissed her forehead. “You hold a very special place in my heart.”
“This sounds like a goodbye chat.”
“It is, in a way. I will be back when the time is right. I know you will take care of Eva in Aiden. I won’t be there for Eva because I know she will have you. I will be there for you if you need me. This is Eva’s journey and all the gifted will be urging her on.”
“Do you know about the graves they found?”
“They will find more. There are so many who haven’t been found.”
Zoe remained quiet and watched Eva for a long moment. Eva looked her way and met her eyes. Moments later she felt a feather-light kiss on her lips. She smiled and turned to Theresa. “I’m not gifted, but I can tell you that the place is evil. I look at the photographs and there’s something there that is pure evil. I can feel it.” Theresa leaned in and kissed the top of her head.
“Yes. The world looked away and evil triumphed.”
Zoe looked up at Theresa for a long moment. “It wasn’t just the world that looked away.”
“Their day will come, Zoe. God did not spare angels for sinning and he won’t spare men. Justice will be done.”
“I won’t hold my breath.”
Theresa put her arm around Zoe and kissed the top of her head. “It will happen.” Theresa said as she put her arm around Zoe and brought her closer. “I simply adore you.”
Zoe smiled before she turned her attention to Eva. “She’s really good,” Zoe mused as Eva sat on the grass and tried to match Tessa’s abilities to move heavy objects. “Tessa’s really powerful.”
“Tessa doesn’t have a block.”
Zoe’s eyes widened when Eva ‘lifted’ Tessa off the grass. Eva was so surprised that Tessa came back down with a thump, which caused them to fall about laughing.
“I think that’s enough,” Theresa said softly and waved to Tessa and Eva to come over. Eva got up off the grass and helped her aunt up. They walked towards Theresa and Zoe.
“Did you like my flower?” Eva whispered to Zoe and kissed her chastely.
“I liked the kiss a lot more,” Zoe quipped.
“So the two of you were enjoying yourselves.” Theresa leaned against the railing and addressed them. “It’s time, Eva.”
“Er...what? Time for what?” Eva asked and glanced at Zoe.
“It’s time to remove the block. You’ve come a long way and you’ve worked hard. You will need to work to get complete control, but I think it’s safe to remove it.”
“Um…it won’t hurt her to remove it, will it?”
Theresa smiled at Zoe and shook her head. “No, not at all. Now let’s see if I remember how to do this…”
“What do you mean if you remember?” Zoe narrowed her eyes at Theresa.
Theresa frowned. “Hm, I think it goes like this,” she said and waved her arms around. “Abracada—”
“What?” Zoe exclaimed sharply. “You just can’t say Abracadabra!”
“Why not?”
Eva and Tessa looked at each other and laughed. Eva put her arm around Zoe and kissed her on the cheek. “It’s alright, love. It is.”
“Hm.”
“I think Saint Theresa knows what she is doing.”
“Now where was I…oh, yes.” Theresa winked at Zoe and continued. “Abracadabra, poof, all gone!”
“Poof, all gone?” Zoe shook her head.
Theresa rocked back and laughed. “Oh my goodness, Zoe, you are far too much fun.” She turned to Eva and smiled. “The block has been dissipating since the night we told you about the gifts. With your training and your ability to control the gifts, the block had pretty much disintegrated and there was a sliver of it left. How do you feel?”
Eva blinked in surprise and turned to Zoe, who was equally astounded. “Um, nothing hurts. There’s something there, but I don’t know how to describe it.”
“You will find in the coming hours and days that your gifts will be stronger. Over the coming months and years, your gifts will mature and quite possibly new gifts will emerge. How about we test one out now?”
“What do you want me to do?”
Theresa looked around the back yard and smiled. “That tree trunk over there. It looks like it’s got good solid roots underneath. I know you tried to move it earlier…”
“You saw that?”
“Oh, yes, I saw it.” Theresa chuckled. “I was half tempted to help you, but I was being good.”
“For once,” Zoe muttered.
“Says the woman who has eaten two large chocolate bars today.”
Zoe stuck out her tongue and laughed. “Can we get back to Eva, please?”
“Of course. Eva, my darling, take out that tree trunk.”
Eva’s eyes widened and she looked at Tessa and then back at Theresa. “Alright,” she said hesitantly. She turned in the direction of the tree trunk.
The tree trunk moved—not just moved, but it was uprooted. It hovered for a few moments and moved sideways. It was an extraordinary s
how of power that astounded Zoe. She stared at Eva, who looked equally stunned.
“Well, that’s going to save Theo some time,” Theresa said with a chuckle.
CHAPTER 48
October 15, 1951
34 Weeks into Zoe’s Pregnancy
Zoe sat patiently in Stella’s waiting room, which was quite busy. She felt sorry for the receptionist, who had to contend with irritable children and their parents. She smiled at the receptionist while she sat waiting for Tessa to come back from an errand. She almost sighed in relief when she saw her enter the waiting room.
“Sorry to keep you, darling, but I was finalizing the bookkeeping and needed to take the money over to the bank.”
“Do you enjoy that?”
Tessa screwed up her nose and shook her head. “Not in the slightest, but someone has to do it, and I’ve been doing the bookkeeping for Stella for a long time.”
“It sounds like a chore.”
“It is,” Tessa replied as she let Zoe into a room and they sat down on the sofa. “Now, you didn’t come to see me to discuss bookkeeping, did you? Pregnancy is not that boring.”
Zoe couldn’t help but smile at Tessa. “No. It’s a delicate matter.”
“Oh? How delicate?”
“Um.” Zoe pursed her lips for a moment and looked down at her hand. The silver band on her finger glistened when the light hit it.
“Zoe, what’s wrong?”
“Eva.”
“Is there something wrong with her?”
“Um, yes, I think.”
“Is she suffering any ill effects from the removal of the block?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“That’s alarming. We will have to talk to Jana about this. I haven’t noticed anything amiss with her. Her training has come along nicely; she has more control of her gifts…”
“That’s not the problem,” Zoe muttered and looked down at her fingers.
“Darling, I don’t understand.” Tessa folded her hands in her lap and waited. Zoe took her time before she eventually looked up. “I think since the day Mama Saint removed the block, Evy’s been acting differently towards me.”
“She has? This is a serious issue, because you would know more than anyone else. As I said, I haven’t seen any changes other than her gifts being stronger, and I’m sure Jana and Saint Theresa haven’t either.”
“I think it’s directly related to the block.”
“Alright. Tell me what the changes are and then we can work from there.”
“She’s very distracted. She can’t focus on anything for a long time. If I didn’t know better, I would say she injured her head again.”
“Are you sure she hasn’t had an accident?”
“I don’t know. She doesn’t appear to have been hurt. Henry tells me she hasn’t had any falls or trips. I tried to ask her, but she just said she’s had a lot on her mind with Lambros Steel, the move, the gifts and everything else. Aunty Tessa, that is not like Eva. She doesn’t just ignore my questions like that. She never used to do that.”
“You don’t believe her?”
“Evy has never lied to me but I’m not sure anymore. She appears distracted all the time she’s with me.”
“What do you think it is?” Tessa looked at Zoe and waited, which only made Zoe squirm a little under her very intense gaze. Tessa’s light gray eyes never left her. “You don’t want to say it out loud in case you are right?”
“Did Aunty Stella want to...um...you know.”
“I don’t understand the question, darling.”
“Did you and Aunty Stella have sex when you were pregnant with Tommy?” Zoe rushed the words out so fast that she almost felt like she was in a speeding competition.
Tessa’s face creased into a smile. “Well, I wasn’t expecting that.” She took Zoe’s hand. “Now, as for your question...”
“Don’t go into details.”
“You don’t want details of how—” Tessa stopped when Zoe covered her mouth with her hand.
“Now you’re just teasing me.”
“Yes, Stella and I did make love while I was pregnant.”
“Oh.”
“Is that a problem? Did Tommy turn out a little odd?” Tessa teased Zoe.
“No, Tommy isn’t the problem. Evy is. Ever since Mama Saint took off the block, she hasn’t touched me.”
Tessa sat back in her chair and regarded Zoe for a moment. “Well, that is a very strange side effect of not having a mental block in place, but as you said, I don’t know of any other gifted women who had a block placed on them.”
“You see what I mean?”
“Have you asked Saint Theresa?”
“NO!” Zoe exclaimed loudly and almost got out of her chair. “I’m not going to Mama Saint with this!”
“She would be able to tell you if the block is responsible for Eva’s personality change. It’s a little extreme if the block did that.”
Zoe sighed. “That’s what I’m afraid of. She’s different and not the same person.”
“That’s being a little melodramatic. Eva is still Eva…” Tessa replied and put her hand up to avert Zoe’s protests. “You have noticed a change and your concerns are valid but I don’t think the block is responsible for Eva’s personality change.”
“I’m not going crazy. She has changed.”
“Alright. When did…”
“Six weeks ago, when Mama Saint took the block off. She did say ‘poof it’s gone’ and it sure did go ‘poof.’ Eva lost interest in me.”
“I was going to ask you when was the last time you made love.”
Zoe’s cheek flushed and she shyly looked away. It took a few moments before she turned back to Tessa. “Five weeks ago.”
“I thought you said six weeks.”
“That’s when everything changed. We made love but…” Zoe stopped and sighed deeply. “I felt her holding back. She was almost distracted by something else. It felt different. Eva is a passionate woman and there was no passion at all.”
“Sometimes, darling, it happens that distractions cause us to lose focus.”
“Aunt Tessa, we were making love, not doing our taxes,” Zoe replied tersely, which only made Tessa grin. “It’s not funny.”
“No, it’s not funny,” Tessa said and tried to smother the chuckle. After a moment they both laughed. “Oh Zoe, there hasn’t to be more…”
“She doesn’t want to make love to me. After the block was removed, Eva’s world changed; she’s changed. I don’t think she is attracted to me anymore,” Zoe added quietly and looked up at Tessa. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
Tessa moved closer to Zoe and put her arm around her. “Oh, darling, you may have misunderstood. Eva worships you, you know that. She is madly in love with you.”
“The old Evy was madly in love with me. The new Evy is not. Not after the block was taken off. I want to cuddle with her and start to...um...do stuff, and she just curls around me and talks to the babies. In the morning she gets up for a swim in the pool. She’s been getting up early to swim most mornings. I know she needs to strengthen her back, but the sun isn’t even up and Evy’s in the pool! Last night she went to Tommy’s and played poker with him and Earl until three in the morning. Henry had to bring her home and put her to bed! She was so drunk he had to carry her in. This is not my Eva.”
“Did she used to play poker?”
“Eva hates playing poker, and I had never seen her drunk. She can hold her liquor, so I’m not sure how much she was drinking. I’m planning on taking Tommy to task over that.”
“How long has this been going on?”
“I told you, ever since the block was taken off.”
“I see. You think she doesn’t love you anymore and that’s why she is making excuses not to be close to you?”
“I want to believe she does love me, because if she doesn’t…” Zoe almost whispered. “I love her so much.”
“Hm.”
“The other day I went
to touch her and she turned her back on me. She just didn’t want to touch me. Can you please talk to her? Find out what is going on? I would rather know than not know.” Zoe’s voice wavered and she took a shuddering breath.
“Zoe, you usually deal with problems head on. Have you asked her that question?”
“No. I didn’t want to hear the answer if it’s ‘no’. We’re having two babies and I can’t bear the thought of raising these precious souls without her. I almost lost her when the accident happened, but now I am losing her all over again. I want to know, but she’s doing everything to avoid spending time with me.”
“Of course I will talk to her, but I think you are wrong.”
“I want to be wrong, but I know Eva. I know how she reacts to my touch, and she is holding back. We haven’t made love in five weeks.”
“When do you want me to come over?”
“We’re having dinner with Elena and Freddy. Eva is finding excuses for us not to be alone for too long, so it’s regular dinner parties. It’s dinner party central at our home.”
“What do you mean?”
“We are having dinner guests every night. We’re hardly ever alone anymore.”
“Alright, I’ll ask her tomorrow night.” Tessa put her arm around Zoe and kissed her on the cheek. “I don’t think you are right about her.”
CHAPTER 49
Eva stood at the large bay windows of the new very impressive looking kitchen. It was dominated by a bench top that hugged the walls all around the room. In the center was an island with cooking utensils and pots hanging from hooks. Zoe had seen this setup in Berlin at Marlene’s house and fell in love with it. Eva wanted to recreate it and worked with the tradesmen to give Zoe the perfect kitchen. The look on Zoe’s face when she saw the remodeled kitchen was something Eva would remember for a very long time. Zoe’s eyes just lit up, and she squealed and almost bowled her over in her excitement. It was one of Eva’s greatest surprises.
Eva watched Zoe through the window—the way she tossed her long red curly hair as she laughed, her gentle laugh, the color of her eyes as the sun hit them, the way she was sitting, and the two precious babies within her. Eva just couldn’t keep her eyes off her.
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