This Magic Moment

by Susan Squires

  “I don’t know about that part,” he said, wary. “What if I set you on fire?”

  “You did fine with the bonfire. And we’ll go a step at a time.”

  He still looked dubious.

  “Well, we’ll start with me then.” Which is what she wanted anyway. She was about three feet away from him, on her beach mat. She pulled on her sweatshirt against the damp night air. “I’ll see if I can see through my cat’s eyes. I’ve done him before. Don’t know if I can from this distance.” Bagheera would be with the family she was pretty sure. Thomas would see her family for what they were. Maybe…. “His name is Bagheera.”

  “That sounds like an Indian name, perhaps Sanskrit. Is he from India?”

  Wow. This guy really was well read. Within limits. “No. But he’s black like the panther in The Jungle Book. You wouldn’t have read it. Rudyard Kipling wrote in in the 1890’s, I think. If I anchor in on him, then you reach out and touch me. Just one finger maybe. See if you can see what I’m seeing. If I get stuck, you could help me like you did with the shark.”

  He nodded seriously. “I will help you, Tammy.”

  She chuckled. “Okay.” She matched his serious tone. “But be warned. Cats see better at night than we do but their focus isn’t as sharp as ours in the light.”

  Then she closed her eyes, listened to her breathing and the crackle of the fire, the crashing of the waves. She thought of Bagheera. As always, she gasped when she was jerked away from the world around her. Thomas gave a little yelp.

  What appeared instead of the beach was blurry, as she knew it would be. Bagheera was stalking around…the kitchen at The Breakers. Yep. There was Jane, looking like she was going to pop at any moment. And Kee. She knew Kee’s dress. It was red. But Bagheera only saw a kind of gray-green. He was more interested in the chickens laid out on the cutting board ready to be dismembered, probably to make Jane’s chicken and dumplings. Tammy loved that dish. She felt a touch on her arm. Thomas. He must have been alerted to her success by her by her white eyes. She felt herself relax into a smile. She wanted to say something to him but again she couldn’t. He didn’t seem to have that problem.

  “I see,” he breathed. “They are…cooking?”

  She couldn’t answer him. Now Jane was shushing Bagheera away from the chickens. He leaped nimbly over to the breakfast table, where her mother was looking fondly at her father. They were talking. If only she could hear what they were saying. How would she let Thomas know her family as she did if he couldn’t hear them? Bagheera could hear them of course. It just wasn’t coming through her link to the cat. Why was that?

  She imagined opening her ears and relaxed into the center of her body. She must go deeper into her power….

  “You t-take such good care of me,” her father said. “I know I have been grumpy ever s-since the hospital.”

  Oh. My. God. She could hear them.

  Her mother kissed his forehead. “I think you’ve been very patient with your recovery.”

  Her father chuckled. “P-patient isn’t a word I would use. But I can finally see p-progress. Of course…I’m n-not what I was….” His expression grew wistful.

  Her mother sat back. “But you are! You’re the same man I fell in love with all those years ago. Morgan can’t take that away from us.” She kissed him softly on the mouth. Sweet.

  “Hey, lovebirds, get a room.” Bagheera turned to stare at Lanyon, coming in with Greta.

  “You should talk. You never come out of yours!” That was Drew, looking less than her usual cool self. She seemed exhausted.

  “Well, we’re newlyweds,” Lan protested, looking at Greta with so much love in his eyes no one could mistake it. “We’re supposed to spend all our time….”

  “Shush!” Greta interrupted. Bagheera couldn’t see her flush as red, but it darkened somewhat and her embarrassed expression said it all. “Could we have some tact, here?” Her forgiveness was also apparent as she nuzzled Lan’s shoulder.

  Kemble came in, looking disheveled. Jane hustled over and took his hand. “What’s wrong?”

  “No dice on the Crowley site. Luc says there’s nothing there. How will we find Morgan before the Pentacle forms? When she uses it to increase her power, what then?”

  “She’ll b-bring destruction down on civilization. Right after s-she kills us.” The couples around the room reacted to Daddy’s harsh words with shock and pulled closer to each other. “Which is why we c-can’t give up t-trying to locate her.”

  “We’ll think of something.” Kemble ran his hands through his hair. His eyes were desperate. He thought the fate of the family was all on him.

  There were nods around the table as her family tried to find courage. The couples hugged each other tightly.

  “Where’s Tammy?” Drew asked. “Is she still down at the stables?”

  “We’d better get a vet in here if that damned horse is still colicky.” That was Kemble. “Dr. Reardon is reliable, but I hate to let down our guard, even for him.”

  Uh, oh. She didn’t want to hear the blow-up that was going to come next. She didn’t see Michael anywhere to diffuse the situation….

  “Relax,” Thomas said, rubbing the finger on her forearm in soothing circles. “You’re getting tense.”

  She had to get out of Bagheera’s head before Thomas saw and heard too much.

  Michael came in through the French doors. “Michael, where is my sister?” Drew asked.

  Let it go. Let it all go, now.

  The scene at The Breakers faded and was replaced with the fire crackling before them.

  Thomas stared at her thoughtfully. “You did well. I could even hear them talking. And you controlled your exit….” He trailed off.

  “You helped.”

  “Who—who were those people?”

  “My family. The older couple was my parents. They’ve had a hard time since the Clan attack left Daddy in a coma. My mother lost her healing powers and he lost his as an Adapter.”

  “What is an Adapter?”

  “He can pretty much do anything just by reading or hearing about it. It’s a very annoying power, especially for his sons.”

  “Oh. And…and the younger couple who came in?”

  “My brother Lanyon and his new wife, Greta.”

  “I remember. Morgan said they escaped from the underground place with all the lights. He is the one who controls sound.” Thomas looked shaky. But maybe that wasn’t bad. He’d just had one leg of the stool of his beliefs removed, if he truly saw what her family was.

  There was a little silence. “Your family seems to love each other.”

  “Yes,” she said, not pushing. “They do. We all do.”

  “I think I remember my mother looking at me that way. And my father.”

  Now to try and break another leg of the stool. “I should practice some more. Maybe we could find an animal to let us see Morgan.” She hoped the Clan would cooperate in her scheme.

  “She has a bird. His name is Edgar. He is always with her.”

  “Excellent. I don’t know him, so this will be real test of how far I can use my powers. They’re in the desert, right?”

  “Yes. East of here many miles. In a canyon.” He sounded doubtful.

  She inhaled. “Well, all I can do is try. This time, I’ll touch you, and you think about Edgar. What does he look like?”

  He reached for her hand. His clasp was strong, his hands callused and warm. The effect on her body was immediate. She tried not to think about that. “He is large and has black feathers, and bright, beady black eyes. His claws are long and curved. He sits often on Morgan’s shoulder.”

  “A raven I bet, if his name is Edgar. Imagine him and the place where Morgan might be.” Tammy closed her eyes and felt the connection to Thomas. She let her mind drift with his, relaxed, calm. Of course she knew what a raven looked like. But Thomas thinking about Edgar seemed to make the bird more real to Tammy.

  The room that popped up around them was sterile and looked l
ike it was bathed in a black light. Oh, my God! Ravens can see ultraviolet light! The rock paperweight on the desk glowed purple. The white of some guy’s tee shirt gleamed. Everything was incredibly sharp. Birds obviously must see well to fly or they’d bump into things. And they had to locate prey from far away. But to experience each object in such detail was breathtaking. HD3 was nothing compared to this. How different this vision was from Lance’s or Gwen’s or Bagheera’s. She could feel the raven cocking his head to peer around because the angles of the room changed. And right next to them (for she and Thomas were one with the raven) was the neck of a beautiful woman, dark hair pulled back. Morgan? The raven was perched on her shoulder.

  Tammy could see that Morgan was talking. She and Thomas had to hear. Most importantly, Thomas. She dove deeper into the raven, opened herself further, frightening as that was when she knew she was seeing deep into the lair of the Clan. She was rewarded by sound to the movie.

  “God damn it, Jason!” The vision rocked as Morgan began pacing. “We’ve got to find him. I’ll never locate another like him in time for the ceremony.”

  “There have to be innocents out there,” the man rumbled. Because eyes were light they reflected purple in the ultraviolet vision of the raven.

  Morgan threw up her hands, causing the raven to caw and rustle its wings for balance. “He must have the genes, idiot. It took me years to find Brian and Brina Tremaine, and look how that turned out. They were too headstrong by the time I found them. Flat out refused to serve me. It still makes my blood boil. They cared more about each other than me. I never made that mistake again. No one will care more about a mate than about me. And the Tremaines will pay for their disloyalty.” Here she stopped to contain herself. She continued with elaborate control, as though talking to a child. “So I found a pair that had already conceived and got them out of the way. I had the child raised as I wished, willing to do whatever I wanted. Strong and comely, so I would enjoy the consummation. Ignorant and dependent, so I didn’t have another failure like the Tremaine debacle. And pure. That above all. It took years.”

  Tammy felt Thomas’s touch turn to a tense grip on her forearm.

  Morgan whirled on Jason, almost unseating the raven. “There is no alternative to Thomas. The comet will achieve the Pentacle in four nights.”

  “We haven’t found any tracks outside the compound,” Jason said, his face impassive. “Of course, it’s been windy. Or he could have kept to the rocks. I’ve got search parties combing the west side of the ridge in case he hiked over the top.”

  “You’d better find him alive.”

  The fear that rose in Tammy’s throat and the tension in Thomas’s grip seemed to throw them out of the vision. Tammy’s chest heaved as she looked up at Thomas. Her horror was reflected in his face.

  “What did she mean, ‘get them out of the way?’” he asked, his voice drenched in pain. Which meant he already knew. “My parents died in a clash between tribes in the Sudan….”

  Tammy couldn’t speak. She’d wanted him to see that the Clan was different. She hadn’t counted on this.

  “She couldn’t have had them killed.” His gaze darted this way and that, looking for any way to avoid the truth. Then his gaze rose to Tammy’s. “She doesn’t want anyone to have love, except love for her, does she?”

  Tammy thought there was a way to give him proof. “Our genes are activated by finding a mate. Clan members should each have their love by their side if they have a power.”

  Thomas sucked in a breath. “But they don’t. I didn’t see a single pair in their compound.”

  “Yeah. We think she kills the one whose power doesn’t matter as much to her.”

  Thomas jerked to his feet and began pacing in the sand. The fire lit his face from below, making his expression, contorted in pain, seem demonic. “She raised me to be dependent? I’m some kind of an experiment, an ignorant dupe? That is my purpose?”

  “Maybe that’s why she didn’t want you to know much about the modern world. You would need her to help you make your way.” That wasn’t likely to make him feel better. But then, this pain was inevitable.

  He whirled, shaking. The fire leaped up, sparks flying. Then he sagged and the fire died back down. Somehow that didn’t make Tammy any happier. “She placed me with monks in a remote location to keep me stupid and pure.”

  Tamsen nodded cautiously.

  “But I wasn’t pure. The monks had to beat me because I wasn’t.” His voice was drenched in self-loathing. She could practically feel him drifting away on shame and disillusion. “I did not know love. And now she thinks I am so much her creature I will let her use me for this…ceremony.” His voice had gone flat.

  To grow up without love…. Tammy’s hatred for Morgan flared up like Thomas’s fire. No one deserved what he must be feeling. She pushed up off the sand and stood him front of him.

  “You are not her creature, any more than my parents were. They escaped and so can you. They had a happy life, filled with love and family. You saw that tonight. You must have.”

  He gave the tiniest of nods. She could see his eyes flicker as he struggled. He was stronger than he realized. She knew he was.

  “They aren’t out killing people. They have love.”

  She had to convince him he had it in him. “You can lead that life too. Thomas, you know love. You remember your father and mother, don’t you? They loved you.”

  “I remember. But they are like characters in a book, not real.”

  “But books can teach us about love, can’t they? You spoke of Tristan and Isolde. Did they not love?” She was gaining steam. “And you know Shakespeare. I’ll bet you read Romeo and Juliet. What about Beatrix and Benedict, or Katherine and Petruchio? They were all lovers.”

  He blinked. “I only know the words.” His gaze steadied and fell on her. The burning there almost took Tammy’s breath away. “Or maybe I do know…”

  “Well, you see? That’s a start.” Tammy tried to get her mental balance. She wasn’t ready for that look in his eyes. Or maybe she was more than ready, but she was scared. It would be so final if that heat in his expression and the fire she felt in her own loins ever joined. Conflagration worse than any fire he could start. But if she wanted him to have courage, that meant she had to have courage too. “Maybe Morgan forgot that humans have always known love, not just after 1800. And they could think for themselves too.” She watched thoughts flicker through Thomas’s eyes.

  “Perhaps Brother Theodosius was rebellious,” he said slowly. “Like your parents. Perhaps she did not mean him to let me read about love.” His gaze rested on her.

  Her body knew just what they should be doing right now. She got a grip on herself. “We have to find protection. They will realize you came on the helicopter very shortly. They will come for you. You are too important to them.”

  “But where will we go? She will not stop until she finds me. And…and I no longer want to be a part of her purpose,” he said with decision. “Not if she kills anyone who loves.” His face contorted in pain again.

  “I know, I know,” she soothed.

  “I have no purpose now,” he said, in almost a whisper.

  How could she have ever thought he was an evil member of the Clan? Morgan had tried to keep him from being a whole human being, but Thomas had too big a soul for that. She put her hand on his shoulder and the kindling of the flame inside her was almost comforting. He was for her. She was for him. And there was only one way to protect him, though it might put others she loved in danger. No good choices. But she had to have some faith here. The only ones who could possibly stand against Morgan were her family. She’d worry about their reaction to Thomas later. And if they were going to be short-sighted about Thomas—well, they’d have her to deal with. She wasn’t little Tammy anymore.

  “We’ll go to The Breakers,” she said firmly, as though she had all the confidence in the world. “My family will protect us.” She looked up at the comet. “That will put their lives in
danger too. But if you’re important to Morgan, then it’s very important to the world that she not have you.” She whirled to the brushy hill above them and shouted over the waves. “Mr. Marrec! We’re going home.”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  ‡

  Michael tried not to let all the staring eyes around the kitchen and the breakfast table make him falter. Could he stretch out his deceit a few more hours? He watched his elegant wife, now looking worn from constantly trying to ferret out the truth from the chaos of her visions, narrow her eyes in suspicion. “Michael, where is Tammy? She isn’t down at the stable, is she?”

  That tone. Now I’m in for it. He could hardly believe he’d kept Tammy’s secret for twenty-seven hours. Well, he’d expected it would be bad when the deception broke down. There was no use lying anymore. They’d search the place and realize she was gone. He’d just have to stand buff. He’d promised Tammy. “No. She isn’t.”

  Pandemonium cut loose in the Tremaine kitchen as everyone talked at once.

  “Is she up in her room?” Kee asked. She hadn’t figured it out yet.

  “I’ll get down to the barn and have a look,” Tris said, ever the man of action.

  “We’d better search the property. Come on, Greta.” That was Lanyon.

  Michael took the moment of their confusion to let his mind go blank and Find Tammy, just to reassure himself. A three dimensional grid popped up with a glowing presence that was Tammy, flat in front of her, a big hill at her back, practically due west of the Tremaine kitchen. Yep, she was still there. He flicked back into his surroundings.

  “Don’t bother to search,” Kemble said. “I already have.” He turned steely eyes on Michael. “She’s not here.” You couldn’t fool Kemble. He’d inhabited all the security cameras around the place in the instant of confusion. There was no need for Lanyon’s search.