Intuition
Page 33
“Rori, you never gave her a chance to explain herself.” Tasha piped up. “You made a smart aleck remark that probably hurt her and you’ve given her the cold shoulder all week.”
“You two have been at odds ever since you told her that you two were together. Is there something going on besides the kitten issue,” Delaney asked seriously. She knew that being at odds with Rori was wearing down on Raelin.
The feline stood up and walked over to sit on the arm of the chair. “No, I’ve been totally honest with you both since we told you about the kittens. I am sorry that I kept my relationship with Tasha quiet, I know that it was wrong and I won’t be keeping anything from either one of you ever again.”
“She’s hurting, Rori. She misses you and wants to support you on this, but she doesn’t know how anymore, because she’s scared of pushing you away more than she feels she already has,” she said softly, reaching up to rub his chin. “You should talk to her.”
“I will, I promise. So where is she?” He nipped at her fingertips.
“She’s at the glen, napping with Ariel. She said she was hoping to get a better handle on Munchkin’s abilities. She’s picking up peoples thoughts mostly by accident and I think Raelin wants to teach her how to block them out so she doesn’t get herself into trouble.” Delaney smiled, rubbing the sweet spot just behind his left ear before letting him settle back down with Tasha.
“Why don’t I trot down there and walk back with them?” He looked at his mate and then his familiar’s mate. “That way I can also talk with Ariel about being gentle with you.” He nudged Tasha’s head with his nose.
“I don’t see how that would be a problem. You would know better than I would,” the blonde smiled.
“Go ahead; I would appreciate if you warned her.” Tasha purred, nudging the gray cat back.
Jumping off the chair, Rori headed towards the glen and to his human.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Ariel sat huddled against a metal wall of some sort, afraid and unsure of her surroundings. She felt the swaying of movement and assumed they were driving. Looking beside her, she saw her Aunt Delly, lying motionless beside her and she got scared. She didn’t know what was happening and when she tried to look at the four men in the back with her, she saw nothing, but black. Except for one. All she could see were the cold steely eyes of a man out for revenge, and she trembled as she cried, wanting Aunt Delly to wake up and save her, or Dudley or even her blankie. She tried to talk to them, but they couldn’t hear her and all she could see where those scary eyes boring into her, rooting her in place.
She could feel the fear, but it wasn’t hers. Raelin opened her eyes and found herself in a van and she saw Delaney unconscious on the floor with Ariel huddled against her. Looking around, the witch saw four men in ski masks, and recognized the eyes of one of them. It was the man from the casino, and her dream.
“Ariel...Can you no talkies to me?” The brunette thought to the little girl.
Hearing her aunt’s voice, she looked around wildly but couldn’t find her. “Aunty Raelin! Where is you, I’m scared. Aunt Delly won’t wakies and there are scary men and I’m scared,” she thought back desperately, hoping her Aunty could hear her.
“I can hear you sweetie...Can you tell me how you got here?” Raelin tried to keep her voice as calm as she could.
“I don’t knows. I just wakies here. Helps us. Aunt Delly won’t wakies, I wasn’t a bad girl today so you can take me homes. ‘Cause I didn’t do bad so I’s not need to be punished. Aunty Raelin helps,” the toddler thought back desperately, her thoughts unorganized confused and scared.
“It’s okay sweetie...I know that you didn’t do anything wrong. Can you tell me what you were doing before you woke up here? What were you and Aunt Delly doing?” The witch pushed a calm feeling towards the little girl.
“I don’t knows. I was wifs Mommy at Aunt Delly’s workies and now I is heres. I’m scared. I want Mommy,” the little one sniffed, her tears trailing down her cheeks. She tried to rouse Delaney, but to no avail.
“Ariel, I’m going to come and get you okay? I want you to lie down beside Aunt Delly and close your eyes. Do you remember where Aunt Delly and I got married? The glen?” Raelin hoped that she did.
“Wifs the really long grass?” She asked, curling up against Delaney’s stomach and pulling a limp arm over her. “Why won’t Aunt Delly wakies?”
“She will soon, and I need you to be a big girl and I want you to picture the really long grass place in your mind...You keep that picture in your mind until you see me again, okay. That is our safe place okay?”
“Okays. Wuvs you Aunty Raelin, I’s going to think about the long grass place nows,” she thought back, still scared, but a little calmer. She closed her eyes, and pictured the glen as best she could, just like she was told.
“Love you too sweetie.” Raelin’s voice surrounded the little girl.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Ariel blinked her eyes open, feeling the warmth of the sun shining down on her and the smell of sweet grass all around her. She moved her head and looked up to see that she was tucked tightly to her Aunty Raelin’s side and started crying her relief and venting her fear.
Raelin wrapped her arms around the little girl and tried to comfort her. “It’s okay Ariel, you’re safe with me. It was all a dream.”
“Aunty Delly wouldn’t wakies, and there were men and I was alone, and they had no faces and one of em was staring at me and he looked really mean and I was alone, and then you cames, but I couldn’t sees yous,” she cried, barely getting the words out around her hitches and sobs. She pressed closer to her Aunt’s warmth, taking in the realness of her and the calming presence she was giving off.
Running her fingers through golden hair, the witch tried to project calmness. “I saw you, and you were a big girl, taking care of Aunt Delly like you did.”
Finally calming somewhat, she wiped her nose into Raelin’s shoulder, as most four year olds tended to do. Her body shook with the lingering hitches in her chest, but the trembling in the rest of her eased somewhat. “I was scared thoughs.” She really didn’t understand why she kept having these dreams.
Wiping the little girl’s nose with the hem of her shirt, Raelin smiled at Ariel. “I bet that you are wondering about these dreams, are you? Your Mommy told me that you had one about the car salesman, and that he was mean. Was he being mean to me or Aunt Delly?”
“Aunt Delly,” the little one huffed, scrunching her nose up in displeasure. “He was rude and Mommy told me it wasn’t polites to be mean. He said bad things about you and Aunt Delly. Mommy told me that families are all different and that you and Aunt Delly are a loving family just like me, Mommy, and daddy even though there is no daddy in yours.”
“That’s right, Aunt Delly and I do have a loving family, and there is a lot of people that don’t like that we do, but they just don’t understand. It’s not okay but it is something that we are used to. Now I want you to tell me if you have any more dreams okay?” Raelin smiled at the little girl.
“But they’s scarries. Why do I havta remember thems? Mommy says that dreams aren’t reals and I should remember that they can’t hurt mes,” Ariel mumbled against Raelin’s chest.
“I want you to tell me so I can help you with them. Just like I’m going to help you with the no talkies. Okay?” The witch pressed a kiss to the blonde’s forehead.
“I tried to no talkies with Daddy before he left. He couldn’t hears me, but I heard him. I asked Mommy, but she didn’t know. How come Mommy and daddy can’t no talkies?” the little blonde asked earnestly.
“Because you are a very special little girl.” Chuckled Rori, trotting over to join them. His whiskers twitched in amusement when Ariel squealed his name and rubbed his ears gently like she had learned last time.
“Hey! We just had a dream and I think that it’s in the near future. It’s going along with some dreams that Delaney and I have been having.” Raelin thought to the familiar alone.
“Well, we haven’t really been talking much lately, and I didn’t want to bother you during Tasha’s time.” Raelin pulled Ariel closer to her, loving the feel of the child in her embrace.
“I’m sorry Raelin. It’s my fault, I think. I didn’t mean to push you away like I have,” he replied softly, hanging his head slightly and giving his witch his full attention, now that Ariel was starting to simmer down and nod off again.
“You are important to me Rori, and I have a very hard time when I don’t have you in my life. You’ve been my friend, my voice of reason and my mentor for a very long time, and I would never do anything consciously to hurt our relationship.” Raelin scratched behind his ear.
“I know that, and I should have known it these last few weeks. I know you would never ask me to give away one of my little ones without a good reason. I’m sorry I didn’t let you explain yourself. To be honest, I think I’m just trying to compensate for the fact that I’m a little terrified. I don’t want to mess this up, and lose any of them or Tasha. I guess I know how you feel about Delaney.” He stepped out of Ariel’s lap so he could press himself against his witch, realizing how much he’d missed her these last few days.
Picking the cat up with her free hand, Raelin settled him on her shoulders. “We need to keep talking. We are still family, we just have a bigger one than we are both used to.” Carefully standing up with Ariel in her arms and Rori on her shoulders, she started towards home.
They walked quietly for a time, just enjoying the cool breeze and closeness they’d both missed before Rori spoke up, nuzzling his witch’s ear lovingly as he rode on her shoulders. “I do love you Raelin and I will always have time for you, even when I’m being a big jerk.”
Leaning her head to the side to nudge the cat, Raelin thought. “Well, we both have to learn to give and take. However, I’m going to need your help with Ariel. She has Delaney’s Empathy, limited telepathy and now seems to have precognitive dreams. I’m going to read more in the family journal and some books at the store to try and get a handle on all of this.”
“Empathy and Telepathy together. Goddess help us all. You’ll need to warn Delaney to be extra vigilant about her mental shields until you’ve taught Ariel to block as well. It’s very important that she understands that it’s very bad to listen to someone else’s thoughts without permission.” Rori sighed. “And just when I thought I could retire, you bring me two rookies to deal with,” he joked.
Nodding her head, the witch agreed. “We’ve already told her that she shouldn’t listen without permission, and she can transmit to Jessie, but I don’t know if she can read anyone else. It may just be family in regards to the telepathy. I just don’t know.”
“Well she is young. There is a possibility that her abilities will get stronger as she grows. Much like yours did, and Del’s would have if she’d been taught properly,” he replied, purring. “I’m assuming you didn’t get much from your nap together? Del said you were hoping it would help you get a handle on things.”
“Well, I found out more about the dreams anyway, and that I can enter her dreams, but she can’t see me. Just hear me.”
“That’s interesting. Especially since when you and Del share dreams, not only can you see each other you can interact with each other as well,” he answered. He was about to continue when he felt Raelin pause and then stop. Looking up, he saw the reason why. At some point after he’d left, Tasha had crawled onto Delaney where she’d been laying back in a lounge chair and they’d fallen asleep.
Tasha with her limbs sprawled out ungracefully having obviously been enjoying the rubbing Delaney had been giving her as evidenced by the hand still resting protectively around the feline. Delaney was not much better. Her head was cocked at what seemed an awkward angle, no doubt going to be the cause of a crick in her neck later on and she was fast enough asleep that she’d started drooling from where her mouth was hanging open slightly. “This makes me wish I had opposable thumbs and a camera.” He laughed to his witch.
Reaching into her pocket, Raelin pulled out her phone and brought up the camera application quickly centered the setting and took a couple of shots. “I’ve learned to always be prepared,” she chuckled.
“She’s going to kill you for that,” he joked. “Looks like Ariel didn’t tucker just herself out though.”
“She’ll only kill me if I post it on Facebook.” Walking over to the pair, Raelin reached out and gently shook her wife. “Babe, you might want to wake up.”
Del’s eyebrows came together and she scrunched her nose up in displeasure as she was pulled from the restful nap she was having. “Why should I?” she grumbled and then groaned when she tried to lift her head. “Ow, falling asleep out here probably wasn’t the best idea. Now I feel old,” she joked, rolling her eyes.
Shifting Ariel in her arms, Raelin smiled down at her Chief. “You’re not old Darlin’. You’re just not used to trying to keep up with a four year old. Come on, let’s go inside. I didn’t have any lunch and I’m starving.”
“Food would be so good right now,” Delaney moaned, gently setting the now awake Tasha gently to the ground. “Anything you want me to make?” she asked following her wife into the house. “Does he always walk around with you like that?” The blonde asked in reference to Rori, who was still perched proudly on his familiar’s shoulders.
“Sometimes he does, though he hasn’t in a long time. How about waffles or pancakes?” the witch suggested.
“Kind of a weird time of day for something like that, but I can whip up some pancakes. I’m sorry, but the only waffles I’ve ever had were the frozen kind.” Del smiled, pulling out some pancake mix she had picked up for Ariel’s stay.
“Let me go put her down on the sofa, and I’ll be right back. We need to talk.” Raelin walked to the living room to gently deposit her drooling niece. At least that is the way that she thought of Ariel, as her niece. Making sure that she was covered with a light blanket she pulled off the little girls shoes and walked back into the kitchen to sit wearily down at the table.
“So um, what do you need to talk about?” Del asked hesitantly, staring down at the batter she was mixing. She had heard that line before and it didn’t usually end well.
“Babe, come here.” Raelin scooted back from the table, making room for the blonde to stand between her legs.
Setting down the wooden spoon she was wielding Del approached her wife, standing between Raelin’s thighs and looking worriedly down at her, waiting for whatever hammer was about to fall.
The witch started untucking the blonde’s shirt so she could slide her fingers underneath the vest to touch her tummy. “You’ve done nothing wrong, we are fine. I just wanted to let you know that Ariel had a dream while we were in the glen and it was a pretty bad one.”
“What? Is she okay? What was it about?” Del asked quickly, reaching down and stilling Raelin’s fingers but holding them in place.
“You both were in the back of a van and you were unconscious. I was able to talk with her mentally, but she couldn’t see me,” Raelin spoke as calmly as she could, knowing that this would upset her wife to no end.
“I was what? No Raelin, it’s wrong. I’m not going to let anything happen to Ariel. Or you for that matter. It’s just a nightmare, maybe it has nothing to do with anything,” she said firmly. There was no way she would ever let something happen to either of them.
Raelin pulled the blonde so that she could rest her head against Del’s firm stomach. “Delaney, I know that you will do everything in your power to keep us safe, but it seems to me that Ariel has these dreams before th
ey happen, so we have a warning and can take precautions. She said that she doesn’t remember what you two were doing before you were taken, but from what I could see you had a knot on your head.”
“You think they ambushed me? Who would be stupid enough to ambush an armed officer?” Delaney muttered, “Well, it’s just a warning then maybe, I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen,” she finished resolutely.
“That’s right. Let’s use it as a warning, but you were not in uniform. I really need to finish reading the journal and there are some books at the store that I can use for research to find out more about Ariel’s abilities. Right now, we just need to reassure her that she needs to tell us when she has the dreams, and that it’s just a dream.” Raelin tried to fill the room with calming thoughts.
The blonde took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. “Okay, you’re probably right. You know more about this stuff than I do anyway. She’ll probably end up sleeping with us most of the time anyways, so I’m sure we’ll know if she does.”
Looking up at the blonde, Raelin tilted her head. “We’re forewarned Darlin’. Neither one of us will let anything happen to that precious little girl in there or to each other. So, let’s enjoy the time with her.”
“You’re right. I’d better get those pancakes made. Can you get her up? She won’t get to bed at a reasonable hour unless we get her up now?” Del asked with a smile.
“Not until I get a kiss.” Raelin smiled at the love of her life. “We need to take advantage of the quiet time when it presents itself.”
“Oh, how true that is,” Del murmured leaning down and pressing her lips against Raelin’s in a passionate kiss, her fingers sinking into silky hair and holding the witch in place.
Reaching behind the blonde, Raelin slid her hands into the back of Del’s pants teasing the soft skin with her fingers.
Only breaking away long enough to gasp in a breath, Del settled on Raelin’s lap her knees planted on the chair to either side of her hips. She ran her fingers over the smooth skin of Raelin’s neck, then down over her shoulders and began toying with the hem of her wife’s V-neck. She was about to slip her fingers under the fabric when she felt a tug on her shirt tails and Ariel’s sleep roughened voice pipe up from behind her. “Aunt Delly, what is you doing to Aunty Rae?”