by J. E. Taylor
“Can I change before I come down?”
“Do you need help?” Alex asked.
“No,” all three of us answered at the same time.
“Fine,” Alex said and walked out of the room.
CJ followed, and Tom shut my door.
The sudden quiet of my room pressed down on my chest. I didn’t want to go back downstairs, but Tom hadn’t given me much of a choice. I unlaced my boots and tossed them into the closet. I chose another pair of jeans and a blue tank top. I stopped to inspect myself in the mirror to make sure I looked more like a teenager than some leather-clad badass.
I ran a brush through my hair, combing out the knots from the boat ride, and when I was satisfied, I padded downstairs in bare feet. I stopped in the doorway between the kitchen and the atrium. Naomi and Gabriel were just inside the front door.
“Please, I have no idea where she went, and the things she said before she disappeared…” Naomi shook her head.
Even I could tell she was desperate.
Tom stood next to Alex, blocking them from entering farther. Alex’s stance was one I would have recognized anywhere. The tightness in his shoulders and the back of his thighs moved my feet towards them.
“You aren’t here to help us,” Alex said in a deadpan voice.
“Ty,” I said as I approached, knowing the use of that name would call his attention from anything.
He turned, meeting my gaze with one filled with heat and anger.
“They have a right to be included. They have a right to know what we do.” I couldn’t believe those words were tumbling from my lips, and from the look on Alex’s face, he couldn’t believe it either.
Michael stood in the entry to the living room, and he cocked his head at me.
Tom stepped aside, but Alex held his ground.
“Grace did this to me,” Alex growled. “She took my soul, and you stood by her. You are not on our side.”
I took Alex’s hand in mine. “What’s done is done. You can’t take it out on her family. If it had been your sister that did it, wouldn’t you stand by her?”
“No, because it was evil. I don’t stand by evil. Ever,” he said.
I bit my lip and squeezed his hand hard.
Alex stood down.
Naomi looked at Tom and then over at me. “Thank you,” she said, and I could tell it was heartfelt. She turned to Alex. “You are family, too,” she said to him. “Despite what you think, what Grace did hurt me just as much as it hurt your parents.”
Alex remained unfazed. He continued to stare at her, but at least the fury was no longer present in either his features or his eyes.
Tom dragged a few chairs from the office into the living room, and I sat in one. Alex stood behind me with his hands on my shoulders. Tom took the seat next to me, and Michael took the one next to him, leaving space on the couch for Naomi and Gabriel.
Fate had a map spread out on the coffee table and circled a large section of eastern United States and Canada. The farthest western corner encompassed Toronto. The farthest east included St. Johns, and the farthest south was North Carolina.
“This is as far as we have been able to narrow it down,” she said.
“York seems to be the epicenter,” CJ said.
“Yes.” She straightened and dropped the pen on the table. “We are trying to narrow it down further, but that will take time.”
“How much time?” Tom asked and traded a glance with Bridget.
“I don’t know. A week. A month. A year.” Fate shrugged. “But the more time that goes by, the more chance of a catastrophic breach.”
“And the world burns.”
April’s statement drew every eye in the room, and we collectively shivered. Even Alex’s hands tightened on my shoulders.
“How many of us die?” Tom asked, his gaze locked on Fate’s.
Fate looked at the map. “There are so many different scenarios… Besides, no one lives forever.”
“Let me ask in a different way. How many of us are destined to die because of the breach?”
Fate stared at Tom without speaking. Then the swirl of smoke started, and she disappeared a blink later.
“What does that mean?” Bridget asked, looking around the room.
Cold settled on the air and everyone stared at the floor trying to decipher whatever Fate was attempting to convey.
Tom’s chair scraped the floor, and he crossed to the window. Both Valerie and CJ joined him, flanking him on either side. The three psychics stood together in silent solidarity. No one else in the room had the power to read minds, and when CJ and Valerie each put their hand on Tom’s shoulder, I knew what Fate had communicated.
Fear laced my mouth leaving a tin aftertaste that made me want to spit. I moved Alex’s hands away from my shoulders and stood.
I turned to Kylee. “Can you find that knife?”
She blinked at me and shrugged.
Despair wrapped around my midsection, and I stepped out of the room. Nothing anyone could say could wipe out the guilt creeping into my bones.
Instead of heading upstairs, I crossed to the front door and walked out. I needed fresh air. I needed the calmness of the ocean. The walk to the harbor beach that Tom had taken me to wasn’t long, and when I got there, I settled on a rock near the lapping water.
Alex took a seat next to me.
“I wanted to be alone.” I didn’t turn to him.
“I told you I’m your shadow from now on until this shit blows over.”
“Can you please not swear around me?” I glanced at him and then back at the water.
“I’ll try, but it seems my filter and good sense is pretty much broke, so…”
I smiled. I couldn’t help it, and I accepted his offered hand. “I’m sorry,” I said softly.
He squeezed my hand, and we sat in silence. The waves provided the only conversation with their soft whispers and clattering pull of the stones. It settled over us like a warm blanket. But I knew this quiet solace was only temporary.
A storm was coming, and there would be blood and death and despair riding on the wind.
Chapter 16
Alex and I had stayed down at the shore long enough for the tide to noticeably change before we headed back. The conversation had all but died down, and people were dispersing, so our timing couldn’t have been better.
We said our goodbyes and collapsed on the couch for some mindless television. April and the girls curled on the opposite seats, and no one spoke. Tom, CJ, Bridget, and Valerie went across the hall to the office to continue whatever planning they were doing.
It wasn’t until the doorbell rang that the adults came out.
“Dinner,” Tom announced, and the group of us headed into the kitchen.
I took the seat at the dinner table that had my palm prints scalded into the wood. The center of the table carried at least a dozen containers of Chinese food. Alex sat on one side of me and April on the other. The girls were flanked by CJ and Valerie. Tom and Bridget took the heads of the table.
CJ and April put their hands out. I glanced around the table as everyone clasped hands. I joined the circle.
Tom bowed his head. “Thank you, Lord, for the gifts you’ve given us. Please give us the strength to get through the hurdles you see fit to place in our path and guide us with your light. Let us not wander into temptation, and help us keep our minds on doing no harm no matter what may come. Blessed be.”
“Blessed be,” everyone at the table repeated.
It was the strangest saying of grace I had ever been privileged to share in. My mother usually just recited the Lord’s Prayer or something equally of Christian nature. But this was from the heart and not something done out of habit. It made all my mother’s dinner prayers seem superficial.
Alex squeezed my hand, and then everyone’s hands unclasped and grabbed at the containers in the center of the table like a feeding frenzy. Alex helped me, adding a little of everything to both our plates before the clatter of
silverware and chopsticks filled the room.
The dinner conversation remained light even with the heavy weight hanging over us. Bridget and April talked about the field trip. The girls talked about their current favorite books. Laughter mingled with daily quips, and my throat tightened.
This was what it was like to be part of a family.
Tom’s haunted gaze traveled over each member at the table as if he were trying to memorize this particular moment. It gave me goose bumps when his eyes met mine, and the smile he concocted did nothing to settle the jumbled nerves riding my spine.
Nothing of the darker events were discussed, and I was thankful.
“What were you doing out in the boat?” CJ asked.
Tom nodded towards me.
“Saying goodbye to my mother,” I said, and like the snap of bone, the light mood ended. I looked at Bridget. “I never thanked you and Tom for the beautiful urn.”
“I’m glad you liked it.” She glanced around the table at the nearly empty plates. “Anyone in the mood for ice cream?”
All the children raised their hands. So did Valerie and CJ. Alex hadn’t raised his hand, and neither did I.
“You don’t want ice cream?” CJ asked both of us.
I wasn’t in the mood for dessert. All I wanted to do was get some sleep. Today had worn me out. “Not really. You all can go. I think I just need some time alone.”
“I can stay here with her if you want.” Alex said.
“We will drop you off at home.” There was no bend in CJ’s tone, and for once since this afternoon, Alex didn’t talk back.
The table was cleared in no time, and everything was cleaned up. The group loitered by the door, getting their shoes on and getting ready for an ice-cream run.
“You sure you don’t want to go?” Bridget asked.
“Yes. And I’m sure I don’t need you to stay,” I said to Tom when he went to open his mouth.
He gave me a nod and closed the door. All the locks in the house engaged as if by remote, and I waved from the side window. I debated on whether to settle in the living room or go upstairs. I was tired but restless and opted for the couch instead of my room. I wasn’t more than ten minutes into the program I found when a knock at the front door interrupted me.
I scooted to the window and peeked out the glass. Alex stood on the stoop, looking at the driveway. I hesitated, but the lost look on his face clinched my decision. I crossed and opened the door.
He stepped inside. Once the lock was engaged, I turned away from him and headed into the family room again with my nerves on overdrive.
I plopped down in the same spot I had been in with my back to the side arm of the couch and my knees bent in front of me, putting a physical barrier between him and any possible advance. “How much trouble are you going to be in for this?”
“A shit ton,” he said and sat next to me on the couch. He faced me and crawled between my legs, forcing one leg off the couch and the other into the soft backing.
“Alex!” I gasped when his hands clasped my waist and moved me into a fully reclined position.
He knelt over me and ever so slowly lowered himself on top of me. His mouth covered my protests. My arms wrapped around his neck, and the kiss deepened. He broke the kiss first and ran his tongue down the line of my neck. A delicious shiver took hold.
He grinned down at me and shifted, leaning his elbow on the inside of the couch. His lips tickled as he kissed the exposed skin at the curve of the tank top, and his hand caressed my breast through the shirt.
His strokes were gentle, but his gaze held no hint of hesitation.
“You’ve done this before,” I said with certainty.
He chuckled and shook his head. “I’ve had my fair share of kisses before, but that’s where it ended.” His thumb circled slowly, almost painfully. “You need to block them from your thoughts,” he said while still manipulating my breast, clouding my instincts.
“H-how?” I managed to say, but even that came out shaky.
He tugged on the edge of my tank top, until most of my bra cup was visible, and then lowered his mouth to my skin. Nibbling as he moved down the edge of the fabric. “Think of multiple things at once,” he whispered against my skin. Anything non-linear blocks them.”
He sucked on the exposed flesh of my breast. His hand slid down the side of my shirt and over my hip to the inside of my thigh.
I ran my hand into his thick hair as heat wound through me, pooling wherever his hand was. He slid his fingers closer to my core, moving his mouth higher up my flesh to my jaw. The moment his hand found its mark, his lips crushed mine.
The rawness of the kiss coupled with the increasing pressure of his hand between my legs turned on a heat I wasn’t prepared for.
I pushed away from the kiss to gasp air, to try to gain my senses, but the problem was I was in sensory overload. His gentle stroke blasted logic from my brain.
“Ty…”
“Yes?” His bright blue eyes gazed down at me, and I swear that warm look he had before he’d lost his soul was there, alongside the wild need.
“You need to stop.”
His stroke slowed, and his smile faded. Fleeting doubt crossed his features, and in a blink it was gone.
I pulled his hand away. “Please,” I whispered. Desperation gripped me, and I almost put his hand back where it had been. My body cursed me for stopping the bliss he was creating. As ready as I was for him, I was not ready for this.
His fingers traced my lips, and then he balled his hand into a fist and closed his eyes. His jaw tightened like stopping caused him physical pain. But he nodded and pushed himself up.
He waved me aside, took the spot against the back of the couch, and pulled me between his legs so I leaned on his chest. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my shoulder. “Sorry,” he whispered.
I nodded and just let him hold me while we watched the movie.
“Love is a strange emotion,” he said after a while.
I glanced back at him, but his gaze was glued on the television.
“What do you mean?”
He chewed on his lower lip. “It can leave you hollow when it’s not reciprocated.”
“You think my rejection was because I don’t care about you in that way?”
“Well, isn’t it?”
“No.” I laughed. “I stopped you because I’m not ready for a sexual relationship. Not because I didn’t like it,” I said. “On the contrary.” I turned back towards the television. “It’s all I can think about now.”
His hands shifted, one up and one down, and he playfully stroked me.
I squeezed my thighs together and squirmed under his touch. He nibbled the side of my neck and then released me, settling back into the comfortable embrace, but the grin remained on his face.
“I think I can drum up some patience.” He laughed and kissed the back of my head.
“Do you think this dependency we have is unhealthy?” I blurted.
He didn’t say anything.
I waited, and when he didn’t answer, I glanced over my shoulder at him.
“That never occurred to me, but I do see your point. The course of my life changed drastically the moment our palms touched in my front yard.” He sighed and squeezed tighter. “I would walk away from everything for you. My family. My fortune. Everything. This morning that scared the living sh— daylights out of me. But now, it just is, and there is no fear attached to it.”
“I would never ask you to choose between me and your family.” I settled back in his arms just as car lights crossed the front window. I went to move, but his grip tightened.
“Chill. We’re just watching a movie.”
“Alex?” CJ’s voice barreled from the stairwell.
Footsteps came closer to the family room entrance, and we both looked over our shoulder. CJ’s face held the same fury as he had this morning, but instead of being directed at Grace, it was now directed at his son.
My head tickled, then a
raw force blinded me, and I winced.
“Get out of her head, Dad,” Alex snapped.
My vision cleared. I rubbed my temples.
“I underestimated you,” CJ said, his voice calming a fraction.
“Me or Faith?” Alex asked, his gaze never moving from the television. “I told you I wasn’t going to leave her here all alone. There are too many things out there, and if Grace was twisted enough to strip me of my soul, what else is she capable of? No way I’m leaving Faith open to another attack and being alone in the house was an open invitation. I thought I made that crystal clear.”
“And I thought I made it clear you were not to leave the house.”
Another pair of lights crossed over the window.
“It’s time to go home.”
“I’m not leaving. I’ll sleep on the couch and come over with her in the morning.”
“Don’t I get a say in this?” I pulled out of his grip and swung my legs off the edge of the couch.
Alex did the same. “I don’t have a good feeling, Dad. Something right in the center of my chest is telling me to stay put, and it is not because I want to sleep with her.”
CJ scoffed.
“Stop with the judgmental shit. I’m not without rational thought. And I’m aware that this foreboding isn’t quite in line with being soulless. Have a little faith in me.”
“Your judgement is skewed.”
Feet shuffled into the house.
“My filter is fucked. I’ll admit that, but my judgement isn’t. Neither is that sixth sense of mine. I do have one, you know.” Alex glanced back at his father. “As insignificant as it seems compared to what you live with, my intuition has never been wrong. My internal sirens were blaring. They calmed a little when I got here, but something is watching this house.”
Tom walked into the room and stood next to CJ.
“Something is watching, and whatever it is, it can breach Tom’s protection sigils.”
CJ and Tom traded a glance.
“You should go with your father,” Tom said. “I can protect the house.”
“I would rather not have you in harm’s way,” I said. “If anything else happens to you…”
“I’ll be fine.”
Of course he would say that. I stood. “I’m going to bed. You all can hash this out without me.” I headed upstairs, yawning.