by Tanya Holmes
Now all I had was a picture Angela had given me of Braeden and Xavier celebrating Ian’s 450th birthday. All her photos of Ian and her other belongings were supposedly en route, but we both knew the score. This delay had the Elders’ signature all over it. They were asshats through and through.
Anyway, when I asked for the photo, she looked on in sympathy and gave it to me without hesitation. As intuitive as ever, Angela understood what I was feeling. That I just needed to feel closer to my soul mate. Apart from my baby that picture was the only thing I had of him.
So here I was, three months after leaving the only country I’d known. Three months of mourning and missing Ian…. Three months to think about this new life. Three months of dealing with the subtle changes in my body—from the wonder of pregnancy to my burgeoning Yoreckness. I had supernatural strength. I also had teleportation and mind-reading abilities. All this, and I wasn’t even fully Yoreck yet. Pretty awesome, right?
Wrong.
Because I didn’t have the man I loved.
I HADN’T SMELLED HIM IN THREE DAMN MONTHS! Hadn’t looked into his eyes, tasted him, or heard his voice.
As if that wasn’t depressing enough, back in the states, the late Braeden Frost was under suspicion for my disappearance. Poor Tommy filed a missing person’s report. But since Braeden “died” in a prison hospital after falling into a coma, the case was cold. Thanks to the Scrubbers, I would forever remain an unsolved mystery, as would the whereabouts of “Braeden Frost’s” body. It inexplicably disappeared from the county morgue before the coroner could perform an autopsy.
I hoped Luke was happy in his new life, but never seeing him again and having Tommy believing I was probably dead was a pain I’d carry for the rest of my days, which according to Angela would be many, many centuries long—
“So it’s true. There is a pregnancy glow.”
Caryn. My hand convulsed and my sweet tea crashed to the floor, splashing my feet and legs. I jumped up, sending the chair into the glass slider. “Get back!” I warned, gripping the necklace.
Dressed in a flowing white gown, she looked radiant as she floated just beyond the terrace rail. Copper highlights in her brown hair shimmered beneath the sun’s kiss, but I wasn’t about to be fooled by the pretty illusion.
“You’re afraid of me, Deni?”
“No.”
“Then why are you backing away?”
I stopped and instead stood tall and defiant. “What do you want? As if I don’t already know.”
Caryn gazed out at the intricate shrub maze in the garden below us. “Oh, the eternal question. What does anyone want? Happiness. Fulfillment. Joy—”
“Cut the crap. What do you want?”
She smiled. “Certainly not what you think. I swear these Yoreck are so damn para—”
“What the hell do you want!”
Her gaze briefly dipped to my now pronounced baby bump, then back to my throat. “You don’t need that necklace.”
“I think I’ll keep it on, thank you very much.”
“I’m not here to harm you.”
“Then state your business and move along.”
“Still you doubt me.” She shook her head as if baffled. “Let’s review the facts. Number one, Braeden wouldn’t have Joined with his twin without your involvement, and you would’ve died from that virus had you lost the baby. And the only reason you didn’t lose it is because of the Seal. So I was right. You would’ve died without each other. Given all this, why don’t you trust me?”
I lifted a brow and gestured. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because you’re a damn liar?”
“How many times do I have to tell you, there are rules on the other side? I couldn’t reveal certain things. It was forbidden.”
“Bitch please. That doesn’t excuse your deceitfulness. Telling that whopper to your mother to get me to Braeden’s, scaring poor Mrs. Higgins, your video machinations, giving me that damn book—”
She snapped her arms into a tight fold. “That book was for your eyes only! I warned you!”
“Right. My eyes. My hands. A book that would’ve killed me had it not been for—”
“The baby I knew you were carrying!”
This was going nowhere. “Again. What do you want? Besides my baby.”
“I don’t want your baby, Deni.”
“No, you want it all. My body, Ian, and baby makes three.”
Caryn rolled her eyes. “Okay, look, I admit the thought of possessing you did cross my mind.”
“See!”
“Once! Just once! And that was long after I’d already put everything else into motion.”
I scowled. “Why aren’t you roasting in hell?”
“Are you listening? I said it was a fleeting thought.” She tossed a dismissive hand. “I never would have done it.”
“Says the compulsive liar.”
Caryn gazed heavenward. “I don’t blame you for not trusting me, but just this once give me the benefit of the doubt.”
“Sure, as soon as you explain what you meant when you said you were about to get everything you ever wanted.”
“Peace, Deni. Peace. Something I never had. And to be able to say my life had meaning—that I made a difference. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
I rolled my eyes. “If you weren’t dead, I’d be smelling cow manure right about now.”
“You know all those secrets I’ve been keeping? Well, I can bare them now. If you still hate me when I’m finished, then I’ll go. But at least hear me out.”
“You have two minutes. After that, I’m calling an exorcist.”
“Fine.” She touched down, settling about four feet away from me. “Remember when I said everything’s made plain on the other side? Well, I saw Braeden living out the rest of his life alone. He only had two more years, Deni. Two! I saw him and Xavier die because of their stupid suicide pact. You have to understand, I loved that man. Still do, which is why I had to find a way to save him. As Ian, he’s destined for great things. Medical cures specifically, both Yoreck and human. I wanted him to get to do all that and find love, but I knew no one but a psychic would see his goodness.”
“How big of you,” I deadpanned.
“Stop being a bitch and listen,” she said, “because when I’m done, you’ll be naming that baby after me.”
“I seriously doubt that.”
“Well, yeah, on second thought, I doubt it too. Ian was right. It’s a boy. But anyway…”
“What?”
“I said it’s a boy.”
“And I said you’re a damn liar.”
“Moving on….” She huffed. “Okay, so first off, once the idea to get you involved gelled, Braeden’s bleak future faded and another possible one unfolded. A future with you.”
I sighed.
“That’s why I did everything to get out of purgatory. I had to make amends. You don’t know how horrible regret is on the other side. So I made a plan and stuck to it. Soon as I was able, I appeared to Mom on the pretense of a psychic investigation. I went to her because I wasn’t sure how you’d respond after the way I treated you. Then I got rid of Mrs. Higgins. I did all this because I saw you and Braeden in a vision. You were handing him a plate of blueberry muffins after you’d made him smile. Deni, I never saw Braeden smile.”
My breath caught.
“That’s when I knew your futures were in my hands because I was your only link. And once I got the two of you together, I began to see other things.”
“Like?”
“A couple weeks after you arrived I had a vision he would give you a child. I’m ashamed to admit I didn’t take it very well. And yeah, I had a moment of weakness where I imagined living your life. But again, it was just a moment. One stupid moment! I got over it, okay? I grew to accept that I had a different path, but I couldn’t move on until I finished what I started.”
Our eyes met, and I felt the warmth of sincerity. Oh, my God. Was I actually able to read her now?
“The n
ight of the storm sealed it for me,” Caryn continued. “That’s when I had another vision.”
She’d passed the two-minute mark, but I didn’t care. Damn it, she’d hooked me. “What was it?”
“Remember when your mother ate with us that day? It was the first time you had a premonition. You saw a skull and crossbones on her face.”
“Yes.” I nodded eagerly. “Precognition. It was the only gift I didn’t want.”
Caryn cocked her head. “And neither did I.”
“Huh?”
“You don’t have precognition, Deni. I do. That’s why I gave you the skull and crossbones visions.”
CHAPTER 33
STEMBRIDGE MANOR HOUSE
CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND
Denieve
Hagatha
____________________________
“What do you mean you gave them to me?”
“I’ve had the sight since I was four,” Caryn said. “My visions weren’t always complete. I’d get snippets that I had to piece together. That’s what happened when Braeden’s patients started dying. Those visions weren’t complete either. I saw him as being responsible for their deaths, but I didn’t have enough to connect the dots.”
Caryn had a gift when she was alive? She never said word one to me about it. This was yet another instance of her keeping secrets, and damn if it still didn’t sting. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”
“I’m getting to that,” she said. “The first vision I ever had was a dream about my dad. He died when I was four and a half. In the dream, I saw him surrounded by smoke, and up until I was nine, I believed Mom’s story. That he died from natural causes, but I later found out he committed suicide in the garage. Carbon monoxide poisoning.”
“Rachel lied to you?”
She nodded. “Our priest told her it was a mortal sin, so she was ashamed. And once she knew about my gift, she did everything to squelch it. She said it was evil. Then I made the mistake and confided in my best friend. I told her a premonition I’d had about her dog. It died like I said it would. After that, I was persona non grata. So when I met you after we moved to Maryland, I vowed to never tell anyone else.”
“But we were the same,” I said. “Gifted. Special. We could’ve helped each other.”
“Wrong. You wanted your gift, but mine was a burden. You weren’t afraid to go to sleep. I was because of the dreams. You could read emotions, but I could tell people when they would die. Big difference.”
Put like that, yeah, the differences were huge.
“Deni, this is part of the reason I resented you. Mom did treat us differently. We both had psychic abilities, but I was the one she scorned. I was the one she ignored. I think she was afraid of me.”
“But I wouldn’t have been,” I told her in sincerity. “You never gave me a chance. You just assumed—”
“Imagine how you would’ve felt if I’d been the one to tell you about your mom.”
“Technically, you did.”
“Technically, yes, but as far as you were concerned, it was your vision. That’s what kept our friendship from falling into the same quagmire my others did. So I built my walls and fortified them. The less people knew about me, the more control I had. It’s how I protected myself.”
Well, to her point, I’d gone through the same conveyor belt of friends. Once they learned what I could do, they started acting weird. So yeah, I could relate.
Caryn frowned in thought. “Anyway, where was I? Oh, right. The skull and bones. It was an accident really. I wanted to tell you about your mom because they were lying to you, just like my mom lied to me, but I couldn’t figure out how to do it. Then I got lucky. For some reason your psychic gift made you intuitive enough to zero in on mine. The day we were sitting at that table, I saw the skull and crossbones. It made me so sad and frustrated. That’s what I think you picked up on because you saw it too.”
“And that’s how you could explain its meaning.”
“Yes.” She nodded with enthusiasm. “It’s also why I convinced you to stop using your gift. Because I was afraid you’d find me out. I hadn’t meant for you to see that vision. It made me realize I couldn’t take the chance of our signals crossing again.”
And here I thought only the Yoreck had the power to twist my brain. “What does this have to do with—”
“Everything,” she said. “I projected two more visions to you. The first was the skull and crossbones on Braeden’s face the night of the tornado.”
“What was the second?”
“Something I could never have done before. I picked up a few skills over here.” A radiant smile spread across her lips. “Do you remember the first thing that happened when you walked into Braeden’s recording studio?”
I frowned. “Yeah. You made a fake video.”
“Technically it was.” Her brow arched high. “Notice the computer only switched on after I shot my energy through your body.” When I frowned in confusion, she began a slow retreat. “Don’t worry. It’ll come to you. And soon.”
“Is this another one of your tricks?”
Her smile widened as she drifted further away. “You and Ian are going to have a wonderful life filled with love and babies—lots and lots of babies. I’m so happy for you.” Just before she vanished, she whispered, “Rise and shine, Jenny.”
“Jenny? Who’s Jenny?” I demanded. “No, wait. Caryn! Come back!”
My eyes flew open. I was lying in bed where I’d been all along. I looked through the picture window across the room. Rain sheeted the glass as the wind roared. The digital clock on the wall read six-thirty. If today’s weather mirrored yesterday’s, the sun would rise in a few minutes, and the rain would continue all day. I knew this because I’d been monitoring the weather for the past three months. What else did I have to do? I never left the house.
I was still trying to make sense of Caryn’s dream, when I noticed a manila envelope on the nightstand. One look, and my heart slammed my chest so hard I feared it would explode. I tore it open with trembling hands. Oh, thank God! It was my portfolio with my new name. I sifted through the papers with excitement and dread, but screamed with joy once I found what I was looking for.
Hagatha was history! My Asylum name was now…
Jennifer Helena Mills.
Or Jenny—the name Caryn called me in my dream.
Wait a minute. Jenny. Helena. Where had I heard those names before?
A familiar tugging sensation warmed my belly. That’s when I saw the note. It had fallen in my haste to grab the portfolio. I snatched it off the floor.
Cupping a hand over my mouth, I cried to the child within me, “He’s here! Your daddy’s finally here!”
The handwriting was a lovely combination of Braeden’s fluidity and Xavier’s stark crispness.
I’ve bloomed.
--Ian
It was a reference to his father, Dathan Teale’s poem, The Awakening.
A withering bud awaits the kiss of rain,
a kindness to make it bloom.
Words Xavier had said about the poem’s meaning whispered in my head:
“A wellspring of life quickens a single bloom, a bloom resurrected from a dead bush! …If anything, it signifies rebirth and new beginnings.…”
And this would be ours.
As the sun peeked through the clouds, I showered and dressed. My mind and heart were so full, so alive, so incredibly joyous. On my way out, I gazed at the ceiling with a grateful heart.
“Thank you, Caryn,” I shouted. “Thank you for not giving up on me.”
Wrenching the front door open, I tore down the hallway and followed my baby’s lead to the man I loved.
* * *
GUEST COTTAGE
STEMBRIDGE MANOR HOUSE
CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND
(BRAEDEN-XAVIER)
IAN
____________________________
A little history lesson is in order. Stannous Castle, renamed Stembridge Manor House in 1893, had a rich
history. At present, it’s estimated to be worth over three hundred million—this thanks to some major renovations that turned it into a luxury Yoreck apartment complex. But five hundred years ago, the Crown used it as an artillery storage fortress. It was one of many castles Henry VIII built in response to his lengthy “disagreement” with the Church.
When 1645 rumbled in, the fortress was partially destroyed during the First Civil War. After that, it was abandoned for two hundred years until some obscure Yoreck baron, Lord Sydney Stembridge, acquired and rebuilt it, adding a stunning thirty thousand additional square feet for a total of seventy thousand. Rumor had it Lord Stembridge won the property in a drunken card game with a Court noble.
The castle stayed in the Stembridge family until Halved Yoreck, Oliver Stembridge—stage name Chip Skye, lead singer-guitarist for Evil Baby rock band—was charged with multiple counts of murder. Seems his other half, Oscar Stembridge, a ne'er-do-well con man with a mile-long rap sheet, was tired of living in mediocrity. He wanted what his other half—his Beta half—had, so he “killed” himself and did a hostile takeover of Skye’s body. This unholy, unsupervised, permanent Joining ended in a psychotic break and the chainsaw massacre of half a dozen band roadies. Yeah. “They” went batshit.
Anyway, although Oliver aka Chip Skye was just as innocent as his six victims, the unholy Join with Oscar left him barking mad. As Re-Joinings were permanent, Oscar and Oliver couldn’t be separated, so the Elders had no choice but to shove them him into Detainment, never to be seen or heard from again.
Chip Skye’s sudden “death” occurred during a catastrophic prison fire meticulously staged by Yoreck Scrubbers. The body they’d procured was conveniently burned beyond recognition. To this day, the head has never been found.
Before all the blood and gore, I partied with Chip here in the nineties at one of his weekly orgies. Although he behaved like a wanker most of the time, he was an accomplished singer and a brilliant musician. Decades after his “death,” I bought one of his classical guitars at auction for an obscene amount of money. Unfortunately, I lost it three months ago when those spiteful fuckers burned my house down.
