“Assuming clothes are important, of course,” he chuckled.
He tried to show her how to trigger the O’Donnell Gift, and although she could find the place in her mind, she couldn’t figure out how to actually hurl the thought missile she created. Finally they gave up and left it for another time.
~~~
Rebecca took Brenna for a hike and showed her some of the valley. It was a beautiful day, not too hot, and she was impressed by the peaceful feeling.
Lying on top of a ridge, gazing across the valley, they talked and then dropped their shields and opened themselves to each other.
Walking back to the house, Rebecca said, “So you think you were glowing when Collin came to pick you up?”
“I’m pretty sure. I can’t see it, but his reaction, well, is it really that noticeable?”
“Yes, I’ve seen both Cindy and Siobhan after they got laid, and it’s definitely noticeable. Did you enjoy it? I mean, that’s the first time since you found out.”
“It’s frustrating. Yes, I loved it. But when it’s over, it’s over. I wanted to do it again.”
When they reached the house, they went immediately to see Seamus.
“Come in,” Seamus said.
“Grandfather, we need you to do something for us.”
“Because we both trust you and we think you’ll give us an honest answer.”
Brenna turned to Rebecca, “Personally, I think you’re some kind of weird mutant. It’s the only answer.”
“Weird? Mutant? I’m not the one with more Gifts than God.”
“Whoa, hold on, ladies. What the hell are you talking about?”
“We were taking a hike, and talking, and after a while it just seemed words were so inadequate. Sometimes we seemed to miss on what we really wanted to say, so a couple of hours ago we just gave up talking and merged our minds,” Brenna started.
“It’s really so much easier, and, after all, what good is being a telepath if you don’t use it?” Rebecca continued.
“But when I looked at Rebecca’s soul, well, I’ve seen Cindy’s soul, and they don’t look at all the same. Cindy’s is white with gold streaks and green glitters. Rebecca’s is electric blue with white and gold lightnings. That’s not what it’s supposed to look like, is it?”
Seamus’ eyes bulged.
“I don’t understand that,” Rebecca said. “Other people have seen my soul, and they tell me it’s white with gold and blue streaks. I don’t know why she sees it that way.”
“And what does her soul look like to you?” he asked.
“It’s gold, with silver and red lightnings,” Rebecca said. Her face relaxed and her eyes lost focus as she remembered. “It’s really beautiful. Do you think it’s gold instead of white because of all her Gifts?”
“That’s not what Cindy told me. She said mine is white like everyone else’s.”
“So we came to see you …”
“ … because we thought you could look at both of us …”
“… and tell us what you see.”
Good God, they’re even finishing each other’s sentences. They sound like sisters, or twins.
At that point, both women dropped their shields and looked at him expectantly. Shaken, he stared at them.
“How do you two know so much about souls and what they look like? It sounds like you make a habit of dropping your shields and looking inside people’s minds.”
His comment was met with two identical quizzical expressions.
“Only with people I trust …”
“... people who are training me …”
“… Clan members that I know won’t hurt me.”
“I mean, it’s so much easier to bond with someone …”
“… to understand them, and get them to understand you.”
“Don’t you do that with people you love?”
He hedged, “Even with people in the Clan, you have to be careful about letting people inside your shields.”
“Yeah, of course,” Rebecca answered. “But you have to for training, and I just have to trust …”
“… that you wouldn’t assign me a trainer that would hurt me.”
“But would you please look …”
“… and tell us what you see? Please?”
Gently, he first entered Rebecca’s mind. As he expected, her soul was gleaming white, with gold and blue streaks. He always felt a sense of awe when looking at the unblemished soul of a young person, and hers was beautiful, the soul of an innocent.
He smiled at her, then withdrew and entered Brenna’s mind. Her soul was a shining white, bright and flawless, with streaks of gold and red.
He leaned back, and regarded them. “I don’t know what you see, but what I see is two bright, white, unblemished souls, one streaked with gold and red, the other with gold and blue.” He shrugged.
They turned and stared at each other.
“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t think Rebecca is a weird mutant, nor do I think Brenna is some kind of goddess. I think you’re both very pretty young women, with pure, flawless, unsullied souls. I feel very privileged to know you both, and very humbled that you feel comfortable enough to honor me by allowing me in like that. Now, I have work to do, so scoot.”
He watched them leave then sent a spear thread to Callie. What does Kallen see when he looks at your soul?
He says it’s gold, with silver and green lightnings. I don’t know why he sees it that way, no one else does.
And when you look at his?
It’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen. Electric blue with silver, gold and red lightnings. He says no one else sees it that way, that it’s white like everyone else’s. I think he knows something he’s not telling me, though. Why?
Oh, just something I was reading reminded me of you telling me that once.
You’re supposed to be reading those contracts I gave you.
He broke the connection. “Sweet Mother of God,” he whispered.
~~~
Her last morning, Brenna asked Seamus about a book he had mentioned to her. He took her to the library, and she was stunned by the size of it. There were thousands of books in a room the size of a high school gymnasium. He pulled the book off a shelf and handed it to her, A History of the Clan O’Donnell, by Maureen O’Byrne O’Donnell. It was typed and bound between cedar covers by thick, braided silk thread that could be untied so the book could receive additions.
“Your mother spent years in this library, and others, researching through journals, histories and accounts from other sources to write this. Many of her sources were written in Celtic, Old and Middle English, Latin, French, and while she was at it, she catalogued the entire library.”
He left her alone. She opened it and started to read. It began with myths and legends, the recording of verbal histories written long after the events, but starting almost 2,500 years ago. According to the forward, the earliest written works were about 1,500 years old.
An hour later, she received a spear thread from Rebecca, and a bit later the other woman walked in.
“Jesus Christ on crutches. Will you look at this place? Wow. I didn’t know this was a real library. Absopositively fantastic.” Rebecca wandered around the room, oohing and ahhing and obviously enjoying herself. Then she found the card catalogue and fell silent, occasionally walking to a shelf, pulling off a book, putting it back, and going back to the catalogue.
“Brenna, this place is a treasure trove. Do you realize what’s in here?” Rebecca’s enthusiasm was palpable. “There’s an original Gutenberg Bible. Three signed first editions of Mark Twain, signed first editions of the Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, Voltaire in the original French first edition. This is a collection that’s been building for centuries. There are journals and accounts from all over Europe, some in Persian and Arabic, it’s amazing. And the classification system, it’s not Dewy Decimal, but it’s really elegant. I think I’m starting to figure out the logic to it. I wonder who the librar
ian is?”
“Seamus said my mom was, but no one is maintaining it now.”
Rebecca looked thoughtful, then abruptly turned and left. She came back twenty minutes later. “I talked to Seamus. Guess who the new librarian is?” The proud smile on her face left little to guess. “I’m going to have a great time in here.”
She walked around, picking up books sitting on tables in stacks and sorting them, placing some on shelves after searching for their homes, setting others aside to be catalogued. Brenna watched her in amusement then went back to reading.
That afternoon, she piled into a van with Rebecca and four Protectors and rode back to Baltimore. Collin stayed in West Virginia, as did Callie and Seamus. She had come to realize the reason they were spending so much time in Baltimore was because of her. Seamus in particular rarely came to the city.
On the long drive back, Rebecca couldn’t talk about anything but the library. “I can’t believe I didn’t know it was there. I mean, I knew there was a library in the house, but I never imagined it was a real library, let alone a repository of rare books, a researcher’s treasure house.
“I talked to Seamus, and he’s willing to tutor me in some of the old languages. He gave me names of other scholars in the Clan that might be willing to help me.” She sighed. “I took Latin in high school, I just need to pick up some books and polish it. And I’ve read Middle English before, so I can probably read those texts, but the Old English is really different. And Gaelic, some of the Celtic dialects, but it seems they’re not lost, and there are Clan members in Ireland I can talk to.” She sighed again. “You don’t even understand what this means to me, do you?”
“I know you’re excited as a girl on her first date, and happy as a clam, but no, it doesn’t exactly make me giddy. But I’m very happy for you.”
Rebecca regarded her thoughtfully for a long moment then said, “Suppose I told you that there is a book there, written, your mother thought, in the sixteenth century, called The Succubus Gift? It’s in Gaelic, and your mom thought it was written by a woman, possibly a nun. It supposedly details the Talents and nuances of your Gift.” She smiled.
“Or, suppose I told you there are over fifty books that specifically address Gifts, detailing them with explanations. They’re written in different languages, at different times. Might you be interested in that? There’s an original of Darwin’s Origin of Species.
“I’m telling you, it’s a treasure trove. The contents of that one room are worth more than the damn house.”
Brenna gaped at her. “You picked all that up just from a morning looking around and going through the card catalogue?”
“It’s a very elegant and informative cataloguing system.”
Brenna shook her head. “I thought you were a jock.”
Sitting back in her seat, Rebecca smiled. “I have hidden depths.”
~~~
Chapter 1-11
A friend knows the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails. - Donna Roberts
Collin knocked on Seamus’ door then walked into his office.
“Siobhan called. A Russian succubus, a friend of hers, was fished out of the East River this morning. She’d been tortured and most of her bones were broken. She was nude.”
Seamus pursed his mouth, leaning back in his chair. “That sounds like the woman they found outside of DC a couple of weeks ago.”
“Yes, and they were both succubi.”
“I wonder if we should have taken that incident with Rebecca more seriously,” Seamus said. “Double the security on Cindy and Siobhan.”
“Will do. And what about Rebecca? Remember, that guy thought she was Siobhan. I wonder if that triggered the attack on her and Carly.”
Seamus brow furrowed in thought. “Put her on Brenna’s team, and let the other Protectors on that team know she’s under protection also. Detail a couple of people to shadow her if she goes off alone.”
“Okay. I’ll talk to Cindy and find out about that German Rebecca seduced. I think I’ll put someone on him and see if we can figure out what’s going on there.”
Seamus took a deep breath. “I don’t like the pattern that’s starting to develop. Keep me informed.”
~~~
When Brenna walked into the lab on Tuesday morning, a smiling Dr. Parris handed her a copy of the latest Journal of American Neurology containing her paper. Everyone gave her a smiling ovation, clapping and congratulating her. Brenna soon fell into her new routine, teaching and meeting with students two days a week, working in the lab the other days. It felt comfortable after a summer of upheaval in meeting the O’Donnell Clan. She was able to channel her thoughts toward neuropsychology and her research rather than dwell on exotic Gifts and Talents.
David called that evening, asking her to dinner and the symphony Saturday night, and she accepted. A handsome new PhD student a little older than she showed exceptional interest in her and flirted outrageously. A young professor in the Philosophy department she met at lunch one day asked her out to dinner on Friday, and with a why-the-hell-not impulse she said yes.
It took her a couple of days to understand why these men were showing interest in her. She had never had so many suitors before. Then she realized it was a change in her. By not locking her shields as tight, by filtering input instead of blocking it, she was reading people’s interest, whereas before she was avoiding it. Thinking back, she realized she had been pushing people away for years, not just men, avoiding personal contact.
Once she began paying attention, the interest from men was eye-opening. Just by scanning her surroundings, by being aware of who was around her and their interests and perceptions and attentions, she was shocked at how much attention was centered on her. Walking across campus, the majority of the people she passed, both men and women, noticed her. The self-image she had of herself as fat and undesirable began to crumble.
She also occasionally picked up mental signatures of other telepaths. She didn’t actually meet another telepath. It seemed they were always fairly distant, but she wondered how much she had missed in her life by having her shields locked so tight.
She called Cindy Thursday night to talk about her impending dates. Relying on Cindy’s advice, she set a low Glam just before Jerome came to pick her up. They went to dinner and then to a poetry reading and folk music at a coffee shop. He was the most attentive date she had ever had, and the other men in the coffee shop seemed to have eyes only for her.
When they left the coffee shop, she tried a little Influence, and not only had him practically stepping on his tongue, but discovered she had turned herself on as well. Not wanting to deal with a sleeping man in her bed for the weekend, she suggested that he take her home to get her car, then she followed him to his place.
Once inside, she gave him a puff of pheromones and turned up her Glam to medium. His eyes glazed over, and he took her in his arms, kissing her and running his hands over her body. Brenna leaned into him, her breasts pressed against his chest, her nipples tightening. She slid her hand around the back of his neck, holding him as she kissed him, feeling heat pooling between her legs. She wanted this, oh so badly.
His eyes burned with overwhelming desire as he cupped her breast through her blouse, and she longed to feel him take it in his mouth. Running her hands under his shirt, she felt the tight muscles of his abdomen and his smooth hard chest sent tingling heat from her fingers throughout her body. She shuddered as his other hand found her bottom and pulled her into him.
He began to unbutton her, slowly with one hand, and when her blouse was open enough he unhooked her bra and let the cups fall apart, baring her breasts. Pushing the blouse and the straps down over her shoulders, binding her arms to her sides, he moved her backward a couple of steps until she ran into his couch. Taking both her breasts in his hands, he lowered his head and began sucking on one nipple then the other, slow, oh so slow. She moaned, holding his head in her hands and surrendered herself to sensation, feeling him relieve an aching i
n her breasts she hadn’t known was there.
Their clothes came off in short order, and before she knew it she was kneeling on his couch with him behind her. When he spilled in her, triggering her orgasm, the rush of his energy took her to heights she had never known before. The Glow grew while a mind-numbing orgasm built, increasing her devastating pleasure until her thoughts completely disappeared. She crested, then felt him begin to soften, slipping from her, and by the time she was able to turn he was gone, slumped on the floor.
Driving home, she felt exhilarated, alive with more energy than she had ever known. Slipping between the sheets, she had a pang of guilt, knowing her pleasure and feeling of well-being had come at his expense, but she fell into a dreamless sleep of contentment.
~~~
“I don’t know what’s going on with me. I’ve never gone to bed with a man on our first date. I mean, I haven’t had sex in over a year and a half, and now I’ve slept with two men in less than a month,” she told Cindy the next day.
“Did you enjoy it?”
“Yeah, it was fantastic, over kind of quick though. Maybe I gave him too many pheromones.”
“So cut back next time.”
“But, Cindy …”
“Do you feel guilty about it? Is that the problem? Guilty about having sex, guilty about draining him? Or are you worried about someone calling you a slut? Exactly why does it worry you?”
Brenna thought about it. “I think I feel guilty that I don’t feel guilty about draining him, guilty that I don’t feel guilty about having sex, guilty that I don’t care if I’m turning into a slut. That doesn’t make any sense, does it?”
Cindy’s laughter echoed through the phone. “Better have some chocolate cheesecake so you can complete the guilt spectrum. Have fun tonight, Brenna.”
David picked her up and they had dinner at a favorite place of hers in Little Italy then drove to the symphony hall for an evening of Mozart. She wore a low Glam when he picked her up, turned it up to medium-low at dinner, then back to low at the symphony. After, she had him take her home to get her car, saying she had errands to run early the next morning. She had learned her lesson and had no desire to repeat the walk home from his place.
The Telepathic Clans Omnibus Page 13
