by Ciana Stone
“Thanks,” Morgan responded.
The man moved aside and Morgan stepped up into the truck. By then Lola had made her way along the opposite side of the truck, coming up behind the man. She had the perfect vantage point to see the man’s hand as it moved behind him and gripped the gun shoved into the waistband of his pants.
She had to stop him. But how? All she had was her purse and her laptop.
Desperation had her gripping the aluminum laptop case in both hands and raising it over her head. Just as the man brought the gun around to aim at Morgan, she slammed the case on top of his head.
Time seemed completely out of phase in the next moments. The man staggered and the gun went off. She screamed Morgan’s name at the same instant she heard him shouting for her.
The assailant went down to one knee. Morgan jumped out of the back of the truck. Lola saw the man raising the gun again. She screamed and dove in front of Morgan.
And pain exploded inside her. She felt her breath whoosh out, heard Morgan scream her name and then blackness closed in around her.
Chapter Nine
“Morgan!” Lola was screaming his name before her eyes opened. Once opened, they grew wider. She was lying on a divan in Eulalia’s castle.
“Oh no!”
She bolted up, her hands moving to her chest as she looked down. There was no blood, no pain. Her head jerked up to see Eulalia standing across the room, watching.
“I failed,” she said tearfully. “He’s dead, isn’t he?”
The thought of it crippled her. Her legs gave way and she sank back onto the divan, sobs racking her body. Suddenly it didn’t matter that she was about to die. She’d failed. Not just the mission she’d sworn to perform, but she’d failed the man she loved.
“I’m…sorry.” She choked out the words between sobs. “I’m so sorry.”
Eulalia came to sit beside her. She put one graceful hand on Lola’s shoulder. Lola fought to control the sobs and turned to her with tear-blurred eyes. “Go ahead. Kill me. It doesn’t matter. I don’t care.”
“But I do,” Eulalia replied. “My dear, I did not bring you here to destroy you, but to save you.”
“But why?” Lola cried. “He’s dead! I failed and now he’s dead and…oh god, Eulalia, I love him and…and now…”
She covered her face with her hands, crying. When at last the sobs turned to sniffles she moved her hands. Eulalia handed her a pristine white handkerchief. “Dry your face, child.”
Lola swiped at her face, blew her nose and let her hands drop to her lap. She sat there, staring miserably at her hands. “Can I stay here?” she asked in a weak whisper. “Please? I can’t…” Another fit of weeping claimed her. “I can’t go back. Please, can I stay?”
“I’m afraid not, my dear.”
Lola looked up at Eulalia with shock and disappointment. “Why?”
“Because Morgan Sands needs you,” Eulalia said with a slight smile. “Darling girl, you did not fail. You threw yourself in the path of the bullet that would have ended his life. You succeeded, risking your own life for his.”
“Then he’s alive?” Joy flooded her. “He’s not dead?”
“He is indeed alive. Although at the moment rather…frozen.”
“Huh?”
Eulalia’s musical laugh emerged. “Well actually, the entire planet is on momentary hold.”
“You can do that?” Lola breathed in awe.
“Occasionally,” Eulalia replied and waved her hand in dismissal. “As can you, my dear.”
“Me? That was me that—” She shook her head in disbelief.
“I told you once before, Lola. Your abilities far exceed what you understand them to be.”
Lola shook her head again. “Okay, that’s a bit much for me right now. I don’t understand why you brought me here if Morgan is alive.”
“I brought you here to heal you. And to answer.”
“Answer what?”
“Why, all of the questions that have plagued you, of course.”
“You mean you know…you know who my parents are?”
“Yes.”
“Please, please tell me. Was my mother the woman who died in Morgan’s arms? Was her name Hope?”
“Yes.”
“But Morgan said that no one survived the explosion. I painted it and all I saw—”
“Perhaps this would be easier if you merely listen,” Eulalia interrupted softly.
Lola nodded without comment. Eulalia stood and glided across the room to the window, taking a seat on its wide ledge.
“When I told you I had awakened to rebuild my army, I did not lie. But you are not the first of my Sisters in this time. Nor are you the first I have sent to safeguard Morgan Sands. There was another before you.”
“My mother?” Lola asked.
“No, unfortunately it was your mother’s fate to die that day. Morgan’s father pulled her from the wreckage and went back to save her child. You. He managed to get you out of the wreckage moments before the explosion. He heard the whoosh of the fuel igniting, and did the only thing he could think to save you. He tossed you.”
“Tossed me?”
“Yes. As hard as he could. You landed on the side of the road. There was a steep embankment. You rolled down it. Before you’d stopped your tumble, the wreckage exploded and he was killed.”
“But you said you sent someone to save Morgan.”
“Yes. She was the one who called for help. She was also the one who saved you.”
“Nanette?” Lola exclaimed.
Eulalia smiled. “Nanette was en route to the town where Morgan lived. She approached the wreckage from the opposite side, got out and worked her way along the side of the road to where Morgan and Hope lay. When the wreckage exploded, she threw herself over them. She was wounded, but not so much that she couldn’t make her way back to you. She waited with you in her arms until help arrived. No one questioned that you were her child. It was assumed. She thought it best not to offer the information. Once Morgan was transported to the hospital, Nanette put you in her car and changed destinations. She took you to Delphine Boudreaux, a Sister. Delphine settled into the house where you grew up, and when asked simply said that she adopted you after your mother died.”
“But…but…there are no parents listed on my birth certificate. No records. How did she…” Her eyes brightened. “You did it. You…fixed things.”
“In a manner of speaking,” Eulalia said with a chuckle. “Had it remained unaltered, Delphine would not have been able to adopt you. The man who fathered you was killed in an automobile accident before you were born, but was survived by a brother. Unfortunately, he was fated to die from alcoholism five years ago. You would have been raised in an environment of abuse. I could not allow that.”
Lola stared at her in amazement for a few moments, then frowned. “That doesn’t explain my…ability.”
“Your lineage does,” Eulalia replied. “Hope was of an ancient line that stretches back almost as far as my own. Her people possessed unique skills. Not every generation inherited the gift. You did.”
Lola nodded. She opened her mouth, then closed it, unsure whether to ask what was next on her mind.
“The voices,” Eulalia said.
“Yes. His life has been so hard, Eulalia. Filled with…with demons. How do we stop them?”
“My dear, the voices were not something from outside of Morgan but a manifestation of his own mind. The day his father died, Morgan suffered a…fracture in his spirit. He blamed himself. His father had promised that to be the day that would change his life forever. Morgan internalized that statement and created a host of demons around it, tormenting himself for his father’s death. He lived. His father died. He blamed himself.”
“But how can it be stopped?”
“Love.” Eulalia returned to sit beside her, taking Lola’s hands. “And answers. He needs to know what his father meant when he said life would be forever changed. Once he knows the answer, the demons
will vanish.”
“And what is the answer?” Lola asked.
Eulalia got up and went to fetch a small wooden box. She placed it in Lola’s lap. “Tom Sands saved for more than a year to purchase this. A rather famed photographer of the time died and his estate was auctioned off. Tom heard about it and went to the family, asking to purchase one of the cameras. They wanted more than Tom had, but agreed to hold it for one year so that he might raise the funds.”
Lola opened the box and looked inside. The camera lay in a cradle of old worn foam. “This? This is what his father thought would change his life?”
Eulalia laughed. “Tom saw more than most. He’d watched Morgan for years, seeing how the child would stare at things, framing a shot up with his little hands, completely unaware of his actions. Tom knew that Morgan was destined to be a great photographer. To give him a start on that road, he saved and in the end withdrew all of the savings he had to purchase that camera.”
Lola felt tears stream down her face. To think of the love Morgan’s father felt for his son, and how willing he was to spend his life savings to give Morgan something that would fulfill him, was almost heartbreaking.
“If only Morgan could know,” she said and closed the box.
“He will. Once you tell him,” Eulalia replied, and held out her hand for the box.
Lola wished she could keep it. Give it to Morgan. But she didn’t question Eulalia and returned the box to her.
“Thank you for giving me the answers.”
“Thank you for becoming one of my Sisters, Lola.”
Lola snorted, feeling a measure of her humor return. “Some protector I turned out to be, eh? I think maybe I’m still in the discovery phase, just blundering through.”
Eulalia laughed lightly. “Dear Lola, we are all in the discovery phase.”
Lola’s smile faded. “I…Eulalia, it just dawned on me. How could saving Morgan after he took those pictures change destiny? He saved the candidate’s life. I guess that’s the destiny-altering part. But he wasn’t in danger before that, so…”
Eulalia smiled gently. “I wondered how long it would take you. Saving that woman’s life was not how he will affect destiny.”
“Then how?”
“Close your eyes,” Eulalia instructed, and when Lola did, touched her lightly with one index finger, between Lola’s brows.
For a moment Lola felt nothing. Then the Sight took her. Only this time it was different. She was aware of where she was and what was going on around her while watching the images play in her mind.
She saw Morgan, holding a baby in his arms, leaning down to kiss the child’s cheek. Then she saw him guiding a small boy on a bicycle, running along beside the child. She viewed him taking photos as a handsome young man accepted a diploma, and that same young man kissing his bride. Images came one after the other, telling of Morgan’s life to come and the life of his son, who, according to the vision, would be a person of some importance in government at some point.
Lola’s eyes flew open in surprise. “So, if he didn’t live, his son wouldn’t be born and wouldn’t one day be in the government?”
“Which means that your job is far from over, my dear,” Eulalia replied. “Your mission is not one that ended when you stepped in the path of that bullet. You’ll safeguard Morgan throughout his life.”
Lola thought about it. She’d safeguard Morgan while some other woman lived with him, bore his child and grew old with him? A scream welled up in her throat, pressing for release as her chest seemed to constrict, preventing her from getting air. No, this couldn’t be. She’d die for Morgan, but there was no way she could live her life watching him love another from afar. That was too much to ask.
“Oh god, I can’t, Eulalia. I can’t watch him live his life with someone else. Just kill me and be done with it. Don’t ask this of me.”
Eulalia shook her head. “Close your eyes again, Lola.”
She did and this time what she saw had her gasping and her eyes popping open in surprise. “Me? I’m…”
“So it seems,” Eulalia answered.
Lola was bursting with excitement. She knew she loved Morgan, and believed him when he said he loved her, but she’d never thought that far ahead. Never imagined that such a future lay in store for her.
It filled her with a joy that was indescribable, and a new strength that made her feel confident.
“Do I detect a bit of the strength emerging?” Eulalia asked.
Lola grinned at her. “Well, Sisters of the Order are strong, independent women who aren’t afraid of who they are and what they need to do, right? Women who embrace their destiny and live it to its fullest.”
“Absolutely. And have you reached that stage, my young Sister?”
“You know, I think I have,” Lola replied.
“Then there is cause for great joy. Now, my dear, it’s time.”
“For what?” Lola asked.
“For you to go back,” Eulalia replied. “Are you ready?”
“Oh yes,” Lola said immediately, then felt a rush of sadness. “Wait! Will I get to come back? Here, I mean?”
“Well of course, silly duck,” Eulalia replied, using the same phrase Delphine had used when Lola was a child. “Any time you like.”
“How?”
Eulalia winked. “That, my dear, is the next lesson you’ll have to figure out.”
“But—”
“All in time, Lola. All in time.”
Eulalia’s words rang in her mind as she found herself back in her own world. She was slumped back against Morgan, who was sitting on the pavement of the basement. Her laptop case was clutched tightly in her arms. The assailant was lying a few feet away, blood staining the pavement beneath his head.
“Lola, Lola!” Morgan was calling her name over and over.
“I’m okay,” she said. “Is he dead?”
“I don’t think so. You whacked him pretty good, but after he fired he just collapsed. I think he’s still breathing.”
She nodded and turned to face him. “We need to call the police.”
Morgan held up his cell phone, started to dial, then stopped. “Lola, you saved me. You damn sure didn’t do what I asked you to do. And I’m glad you didn’t.”
“Me too,” she agreed with a smile and tapped the front of her case. “But I think something besides me saved you.”
Morgan opened the case and looked inside. “I can’t believe the bullet didn’t pass through the computer.”
“I’d like to see a PC do that,” she quipped, suddenly feeling free and happy. “Now make that call.”
Morgan shook his head and pulled her to him for a quick hard kiss, then dialed 911.
Chapter Ten
It seemed like a lifetime had passed since she’d seen the familiar sights of home. After the incident in the underground parking garage, she and Morgan had spent more than a week answering questions, filling out statements, and then being honored by the presidential candidate for single-handedly capturing the would-be assassin.
Lola didn’t much care for the attention and was relieved when they finally were delivered via private jet back to home soil. Due to all that had happened, they’d been given time off to rest before they returned to Washington to finish out the assignment.
Lola sat beside Morgan as he drove, noting the changes. In the months they’d been gone, the riot of autumn color had faded to the dark muted tones of winter, the bare branches of trees standing stark against a faded sky.
“You want to go to your place or mine?” Morgan asked.
“Actually, I’d like to go to Nanette’s, if that’s okay with you.”
“Whatever you want,” he said with a smile and reached over to take her hand.
She smiled and leaned back, enjoying the drive. When they pulled up in front of Nanette’s house, she was suddenly full of excitement. She’d never brought anyone home to meet Nanette. There had never been anyone that special.
“Come on!” She jumped o
ut of the car as soon as it came to a stop and ran around to open Morgan’s door and take his hand.
“Nanette!” she called out as she pulled Morgan up the front steps. “Nanette?”
The door opened and Nanette flung her arms around Lola. “Oh, honey!”
They hugged and cried for a few moments, then Lola drew back. “Nanette, you know Morgan.”
“Why yes, I do,” Nanette smiled and reached to take Morgan’s hand. “I would imagine the whole country knows the two of you by now. My goodness, my pumpkin a hero. Oh forgive me for going on, so. Nice to see you again, Morgan.”
“Thanks,” Morgan said with an answering smile. “I guess this is probably the time I should declare my intentions toward Lola?”
Nanette chuckled. “Well, if you’re going to be declaring, I think we should go inside. I have a nice pot of tea all ready.”
Lola winked at Morgan’s surprised expression and they followed Nanette inside. After they were all seated at the kitchen table, with steaming cups of tea in front of them, Nanette turned to Morgan.
“Now about these intentions…”
Morgan smiled and reached over to take Lola’s hand. “I intend to marry Lola.” He paused and looked at her. “If you’ll have me.”
“Oh, I’ll definitely have you,” Lola replied with a laugh.
“So?” Morgan looked at Nanette.
Nanette’s smile faded. “Before I can say yes, there is something we need to do.”
“What?” Morgan looked crestfallen at her reply.
“We need to make sure those voices are silenced. Permanently.” She didn’t wait for a reply but got up and left the room.
Morgan looked at Lola. She smiled and squeezed his hand. “Just trust a little, okay?”
“I trust you with my life,” he replied solemnly
She gave his hand another squeeze and then looked up as Nanette entered the room. In her hand was something Lola never expected—the box containing the camera Morgan’s father had bought him. Nanette set the box down in the center of the table and looked at Morgan.
“In this box is the cure.”
