The Lost Connection

by Jen Talty

  Whatever this New Order bullcrap was, well, it would have to wait.

  She made one last attempt to reach her sisters.

  Nothing.

  She should have known, and she should have been more prepared. Instead, she walked right into the trap that Gabe had set up.

  Chapter 2

  Gabe stopped at the bottom of the steps and glanced over his shoulder. He honestly thought he would have to take her kicking and screaming, which right now he wondered if that wouldn’t have been better than her seemingly tossed in the white flag, which is what she’d done.

  Willow Raven didn’t give in. She was a fighter, and it took complete and utter betrayal in order to get her to turn her back.

  A fact he had to learn firsthand and one his heart might never recover from. Mallard, his father, had told him on many occasions that Gabe and Willow’s future might never happen and that of all the unions, theirs might not be needed to ensure the Collective Order would sit at the table.

  That was as long as they could come together to take down Roger and his faction.

  Gabe had no doubt in his mind that Willow would be willing to team up and do that as long as she held all the cards. Control was a huge issue for Willow, especially when she distrusted everyone and everything, and Gabe wasn’t sure he’d be able to win her over again, much less show her how everything he’d done had been for their future.

  Their family.

  That he’d always loved her and that he’d never stopped.

  “Gabe?” she called.

  “What’s up?” He raced back to the kitchen with his heart in his gut. The last few years he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep over worrying about Willow, her sisters, his brothers, and what lay in store. He resented the fuck out of Mallard and why he felt the need to fill Gabe in on all the sordid facts of Gabe’s past, present, and future and then require him to keep it a secret.

  Worse, Mallard expected Gabe to hurt Willow in the most horrible of ways, knowing that Willow would be as unforgiving as a piece of cement, and Gabe was going to have to walk away as if Willow meant nothing to him when she was the air that filled his lungs. He’d fought the connection to her for years because it seemed wrong. He was seven years older, and when they were younger their friendship didn’t make sense to many, including himself, but his adopted mother always told him that Willow was wise beyond her years and that having her as a friend, simply because she possessed the same talents as Gabe, wasn’t out of the ordinary.

  When Willow joined the Navy, that’s when everything changed and their relationship became explosive. He’d watched her grow into a beautiful lady, but he had been ill-prepared for the woman he came to see graduate from boot camp. Mallard had warned him that becoming romantically involved wouldn’t be a good idea, but Gabe thought that somehow he’d be able to change fate.

  But instead he might have forced fate’s hand.

  “I think we have company,” she said, pointing to two tall dark shadows mulling about the alley.

  The nice thing about his protective wrap that differed from others was that he could program it, for lack of a better description, to only keep in what he wanted and keep out what he needed, making room for other energy to flow freely. It made it difficult for other psychics to read the energy or see the aura.

  “Those are Caleb’s men.”

  “Fucking wonderful,” she muttered.

  And he had to agree with her sentiment. He told Caleb that he needed to be left alone with Willow. That it would be a couple of days for him to get her to trust him again and that if he couldn’t, then he’d let Caleb do it his way.

  Which would never happen.

  Caleb had promised his men wouldn’t be anywhere near the premises. Of course, what made Gabe think he could trust a career criminal?

  But he needed more time. Roger had gone into hiding the second Riley and Mallard found and rescued their daughter, Kim. Once Willow had gotten Hunter and Alexis to safety, she’d been chewing his ear off, bombarding him with questions, not to mention yelling at him for what she believed to be a million and one transgressions.

  And all he could do was sit back and listen to her sweet voice. He didn’t care that she sounded like a drunk sailor on crack with the colorful language that came out of her mouth; it was music to his ears.

  But there was no way Roger would buy that he could turn Willow on her sisters in a matter of a day. And ultimately, that’s what Roger wanted. He wanted one of the couples at his table, because if that happened, he would control the paranormals as well, something that Gabe didn’t have a good handle on and was still researching.

  “Mallard,” Gabe projected using what little energy he could spare. He’d developed and honed his skills to the point he could use more than one at any given time, but it came at a price. He couldn’t afford to allow Caleb or his cronies inside the house this soon in the game.

  “Come on, Mallard. I know you’re out there. Somewhere.”

  He pinched the bridge of his nose. He didn’t hate his biological father, but he couldn’t get past the lies and manipulation and while with each tragic turn he or his brothers had to take, it brought them all one step closer to securing their future, but not necessarily his and Willow’s.

  The strongest vision he’d seen about them had been a half hour ago. When he pressed into the cosmetic energy, tapping into Willow’s aura, he never expected to see their children. Mallard and Riley had told him that early on, they had a couple of weak visions that included him and Willow having a family, but those faded when Willow chose not to re-enlist. Something he couldn’t do anything about and something Mallard couldn’t control.

  But what pissed Gabe off the most was that his love was always collateral damage. He and Willow didn’t have to be together in order for the Collective Order to be reinstated as long as they both agreed to do what was right and stay away from Roger and the Elite Brotherhood’s table. It was obvious Willow would do whatever was necessary, short of making him her one and only, to ensure her siblings’ futures. He just wasn’t sure how much to tell her tonight, and there were still too many unknowns.

  “Whenever you do that with your hand and scrunch your face up like that, you’re concerned. What’s wrong?”

  “Give me a second. I’m trying to reach Mallard, and it’s hard to punch through my own energy and not create a hole that someone can crack. Since they know we’re in here and that I’m keeping you from communicating, I don’t want to give them the wrong idea or open an opportunity for them to exert their own psychic energy and create—”

  “Stop talking to me like I don’t know anything,” she said with huff. “Why don’t you block, and I will reach Mallard.”

  He arched a brow and lowered his chin. “Babe, I wish we were a team, because we’d make a damn good one. But based on the way your dark eyes are glowering, I doubt it’s Mallard you’re going to reach out to, and it’s highly unlikely you’re going to do anything I ask until you believe that I’m working for the right side and that I only did what my commanding officer told me to do.”

  “You’ve lied to me about so many different things it’s hard for me trust you’re being genuine, but I’m not going to put my siblings in danger. We’ve been through enough, and I know Mallard and Riley, while a pain in the ass and not always truthful either, seem to have my best interests, so you’ll have to trust me.”

  “Even if I did, you reaching Mallard safely isn’t an easy task.”

  “Do you remember the passage in Riley’s book about how the soulmates at the Collective Order table, once they’ve connected to one another, can project as the other in certain situations?”

  He nodded. His heartbeat picked up a notch. Willow had always been the smartest woman in any given room. Her ability to think quick on her feet saved her ass more than once during special missions in the Navy. “Are we still connected? Because crossing cosmic energy can be dangerous no matter the situation.”

  She grabbed his hand with a little to
o much force, tugging him against her chest and slamming them into the wall between the window and the back door.

  “You’ve never been aware of your own strength,” he said.

  “Oh. I know. I just wanted to make sure you remembered.” She held his gaze about as tight as she held his hand.

  “How could I forget.” Not wanting to let her go, he leaned into her, pushing his knee further between her legs and resting his free hand on her hip. He stood about four inches taller, which made for perfect hugging, but he resisted the urge to bring her all the way in. “Have you even tried to project as someone else?”

  “Nope. But I’ve been successful in projecting and getting into minds of those who have very little psychic powers.”

  “True mind reading?”

  “Not sure if I’d go that far, but getting close,” she said, biting on her lower lip. She always did that when she was proud of something but was trying to be humble, and it drove him mad.

  “That’s a skill that will come in handy when dealing with Caleb. He’s able to completely block me, which totally pisses me off,” Gabe said.

  “What do you mean? I can block my projections.”

  “I don’t mean having private conversations. I mean he can make his energy invisible to the world, and I’m not talking in a remote view where we’re dealing with organic material. I mean he can literally make it impossible for me to find him anywhere. And no one ever has a premonition about Caleb. Or Roger. Which is why it’s impossible to find either of them and why we need to keep me away from my brothers for as long as possible. Once our psychic energy mixes and we bond, that becomes the point of no return, and we’re not ready. But if we wait too long, the Collective Order will never exist, nor will the New Order, and darkness will always linger in the psychic realm, creating a great toxicity that no one will be able to destroy.”

  “And what’s the time limit on this?”

  “Before Alexis has her baby. And if we’re not at the table and her baby is born, there will be a shift in power and in the baby’s energy.”

  “In the vision you showed me, Savanah was pregnant too.”

  “Same fate. And the problem with Caleb and Roger getting their hands on these children is our kids’ powers are far greater than anything we’ve seen. They go beyond becoming Oracles, like us. Riley believes they link the psychic realm with the paranormal elements. The information on my laptop explains it all.”

  Willow pursed her lips and tapped a finger against them. Whenever she did that, the wheels were turning mighty fast inside that mind of hers, and that both terrified and excited him to the point the blood in his veins ran both hot and cold.

  “Roger is your biological mother’s half brother. They share the same father, correct?”

  He nodded.

  “Who is Caleb’s father?”

  “No idea.”

  “Has anyone checked to see if it’s Roger? Because the kind of power you’re talking about can only either be created synthetically, through sucking it out of our auras and harvesting it, unless Caleb was born into it.”

  “According to my research, and Riley’s, Roger has no children, and Caleb has been using all the psychic power he’s been gathering for years. I’ve seen it firsthand.”

  “But that shouldn’t be enough to completely block someone, unless you were one of the eight at the table, or a direct descendant—”

  “You have a point and it’s something we can look more closely at,” Gabe said, squeezing her hand. Thick gray smoke billowed from her skin, matching his layer of protection, only hers took his breath away for a second. “What the fuck?” he mumbled, taking his free hand and wiggling his fingers through the particles. It had the same electrical composition. The exact same coloring. It even seemed to have the same heat intensity.

  “Is that coming from me?”

  “Well, it ain’t coming from me,” he said, glancing around the kitchen. “The question is, does your barrier mimic mine and is it strong enough to keep Caleb out and allow us to communicate with our families?”

  “That’s an interesting thought, but since this is the first time I’ve done this, let’s go with no.” She weaved her hand in and out of the increasing smoke, staring at it as the corners of her mouth tipped up in a sweet smile.

  He watched with a sense of pride. He’d dreamed of the day he could share in all the new magical things that would happen to them, only to have those dreams turn into a faded idea he could barely pull from his mind’s eye. The longer he had remained unconnected to Willow, the less he could see their future and that meant they more than likely didn’t have one.

  But all premonitions were merely possibilities to be blended and shaped between fate and human will.

  “But keep going with it, because the added layer can only help, and all new skills need honing,” he said. “Mallard. Come on, man. Answer me.”

  “I’m here,” Mallard replied. “I was waiting for Willow to emit her protective shield.”

  “How does he know?” Willow asked.

  Gabe shrugged.

  “Hello, Willow. Glad you could join us,” Mallard said.

  Can he hear everything? she mouthed without projecting.

  He was pretty sure that Mallard had the ability to intercept all thoughts, but he couldn’t be sure and he didn’t want to risk finding out, so he didn’t answer and Willow gave him a gentle nod, letting him know she understood.

  “I’ve got a situation over here.” Gabe turned his gaze back to the two men standing guard by the back gate. “Caleb told me he’d give me a few days without any interference on his part, and it appears he’s going back on his word.”

  “And you’re surprised?” Mallard asked with a heavy dose of sarcasm.

  “Well, no. But I didn’t expect him to be so in my face about it.”

  “Brett and Hazel can see the two men,” Mallard said.

  “Where are they?” Willow asked.

  “Your house,” Mallard replied. “I thought it made sense to have them act as if we didn’t know anything and that’s where they would bunker down anyway.”

  “Gee, don’t you think of everything,” Willow mumbled in her projection. “I’d like to speak to them.”

  “Out of the question,” Mallard said. “Your connection to your sisters is harder to suppress, and they would also have to be able to create the same kind of dead aura that you and Gabe are emitting, but it doesn’t seem to be one of the skill sets they’ve developed, yet. We’ve learned the hard way that they can track us through our energy without some kind of barrier. Besides, we just can’t risk it right now. You’re supposed to be being held without your consent.”

  “That’s not far from the truth,” she said.

  “By tomorrow, I’ll have secured burner phones, and once we can figure out how to move the two of you without Caleb and his men knowing, we’ll get those phones to you. Until then, Gabe will fill you in on what we know while I fill in your sisters on what we’ve left out,” Mallard said.

  “Which has been a shit ton of crap that could have gotten us all killed,” Willow said.

  Gabe wished he could communicate with Willow right now without Mallard listening in, but with this type of wrap, it allowed Mallard to peek in on them at any time. That had been the design. Gabe closed his eyes and focused on Willow and Willow alone. He blinked and the gray smoke coming from his fingers now had a slight blue tinge. Probably due to the mixture coming from Willow. “I’ve been telling him that for years, and he keeps telling me it’s for my own good.” Gabe waited for Mallard’s standard response, but instead he got silence. “Didn’t feel like defending yourself this time?”

  “Defend myself from what?” Mallard asked.

  Gabe concentrated on the colors of the fog, making sure his thoughts were with Willow, and only Willow. It wasn’t really that hard to do. The blue streaks became more pronounced as did the heat exchange between their bodies.

  Her smoldering dark eyes held his intense gaze.
r />   “I don’t think he can hear me, which would be a big deal. You try,” Gabe projected to hopefully to only Willow.

  “I’ve never had a problem controlling who I project to as long as I know who has the ability and who doesn’t,” she said.

  “That’s just it. Mallard can snatch up just about anyone’s thoughts when two psychics are in close proximity, and we don’t know who can intercept your signals in the Elite Brotherhood camp. Roger and the Elite Brotherhood has been bottling psychic energy for a long time. He’s been running experiments, mixing different skills, and he’s come up with some pretty bizarre things,” Gabe said. “It’s how they kept finding you and figuring out what your next move was. If we can create this kind of barrier, we’ll have an advantage.”

  “Why did it all of a sudden go static?” Mallard broke through the barrier.

  Gabe smiled. Not that keeping Mallard out of the loop was a good thing, but knowing he could protect his thoughts from Mallard and potentially Caleb and Roger was a game changer. “Sorry. We were just getting our weapons. Willow doesn’t go anywhere without an arsenal of sorts.”

  “I’ve heard that she has an unhealthy attachment to anything that contains bullets,” Mallard said.

  “I wouldn’t say it’s unhealthy at all.” One of the things that turned Gabe on about Willow was her fascination for weaponry. And not just guns. If there was a female version of him, it would be Willow, in every aspect.

  “So, you expect me to sit here for the night with Gabe? Are you crazy?” Willow asked. “I need to be with my sisters.”

  “You can’t. As a matter of fact, we had to split you all up,” Mallard said.

  “And why is that?” Willow drew her lips into a tight line.

  Gabe pulled her tight to his chest, holding her close and staring into those mesmerizing dark orbs. He ran one hand up and down her arm, gently squeezing her biceps in hopes to calm her frazzled nerves and defuse her angry energy. Only, it only seemed to make matters worse as little sparks flicked off her skin.