by Jordan Dane
Lucas knew Kendra had envisioned this and made it happen. She had cultivated her garden in the same way she had plucked each child from danger and brought them here to become her family. She nurtured each one as she wanted to do with him.
Kendra’s ability with her mind paled in comparison to the beauty of her heart.
“This is...magic. You did this, didn’t you?” He stared up into the rafters of plants that spiraled up the wall over his head.
“I started it so we’d have food to eat,” she said. “The excess I sell to local grocers and a health-food store buys my medicinal herbs so we have spending money. Rafe and Benny take care of that end.”
When she kept working, he sensed something had changed between them. He had to make her understand how he felt about being with her.
“I’m new to all this,” he told her. “You tell me that I have a place here with you...that I belong, but I need time. It’s like I’ve been in a coma for years. I don’t know who or what I am. All this time, I thought I was defective. A lifetime of feeling damaged can’t be fixed overnight.”
When Kendra stopped working, he felt the lurking shadows in her soul before she even made a sound. She let him feel her darkness.
“I used to hear the voices, so many voices. I heard them most when I worked with flowers. Plants helped me channel them.”
“That’s beautiful.”
“But time has taken those voices from me, Lucas. Time and the Believers. One by one, our gifted children have been taken and their voices silenced. I don’t know what has happened to them, but I feel their loss in a way I can’t describe. Our children could be dead or silenced in other ways. The Believers are interfering with what should be the natural order.”
“We could get help...to stop them.”
She shook her head.
“Who can we trust to help us? We’re perfect victims for anyone who preys on us, because we can’t speak out. We can’t afford to be put under a microscope for the world to see. If we go from weird New Age websites to government-funded scientific studies, there’d be no place safe for us.”
She lowered her voice and her expression softened. Her aura drifted to a darker hue and vibrated.
“Do you remember the joy you felt to finally be connected...to hear my voice and know my words were meant for you?” she asked. After he nodded, she said, “Well, think of how much it hurts to have those voices taken from you, one by one.”
Her eyes glistened with tears.
“I don’t have to know them, or meet them face-to-face, to feel they are a part of me.” She stood and turned to him, taking off her gloves to throw them onto a scaffold. “You ask me for time when all I see are lives destroyed forever. We don’t have time. We’re in a war for our very existence and our future. I need you with me.”
When she stepped closer and put her hand to his chest, he heard the music from his childhood playing softly in his mind as if it had always been with him. Looking into her eyes made everything perfect, as if he’d come full circle. He smelled the scent of lavender and herbs and something uniquely Kendra. She balanced the strength of her cause with the vulnerability of her secrets. She was a mystery he wanted to understand. As she touched his cheek, he breathed her in and cradled her face in his hands before he kissed her.
Sweet. Pure. Perfect.
He stayed in the moment with her, feeling her warmth and the press of her body next to his. She pulsed in brilliant blue again, the way he’d first seen her. In the midst of her garden with its mist and flowers and the hum of bees—that blended in perfect harmony with music only he could hear—he understood what she wanted of him. He had to let go of the life he had before. She had drawn him to her for a purpose, one that she hoped he would eventually embrace. He felt unworthy of her belief in him, but maybe one day he would measure up.
After they kissed, he held her.
With his eyes closed, he thought of what she’d said. She had such unwavering faith in him—maybe too much. How could she know him when he didn’t know himself? After their minds had linked, he felt a dependence on her. She had opened his eyes to a world he might never have known, but she wanted her cause to become his.
That scared him, but not enough to leave her. Kendra had a drive and a purpose she would die for. He wanted to believe in her cause as much as she did. Maybe one day he would, but for now—all he had was her.
Haven Hills Treatment Facility—L.A.
Morning
Dr. Fiona Haugstad hadn’t gotten much sleep last night. Her mind wouldn’t let her. Even now, as she headed down a hospital corridor of Haven Hills, her interrogation of Mia Darby played on her mind. The young woman had witnessed something amazing, yet the whole event at the museum had been wasted on her. Mia Darby was ordinary. Although the girl was employed by the church and officially involved in recovering her missing brother, she would never attain Fiona’s level of security. She simply did not have the skills or the drive. She was weak.
She only had her brother. Lucas was the real prize.
As Fiona used her keycard to unlock the staff entrance to Ward 8, she puzzled through what she had found. Once she’d obtained the traffic-cam surveillance and pictures her security team had acquired from the museum, she had assessed everything and had one image enlarged. When that digital photo had come back, she was shocked at what she found. She compared the face in the photo to the file she had on Lucas Darby to be sure, but she had her answer.
The boy at the museum with Rayne Darby had not been Lucas.
Impossible, she thought as she grabbed a clipboard of medical history that hung outside another locked room. When she got inside, she quickly flipped through the pages of the health records of the drowsy boy strapped to a gurney. He’d been drugged for the procedure, but that seldom stopped them from trembling when they realized they were completely in her hands. A plastic bag of fluids fortified with an anesthetic hung near his head. She upped the dose and waited for his eyes to shut.
“This will be a big day for you. Very significant, I would say.” She stroked his cheek and looked into his eyes.
“Just one last procedure, then I’ll be done with you. I promise.” Fiona tousled his hair and forced a smile. “Now, close your eyes and let me get to work. I’ve got a busy day.”
It would be the last time this one heard her voice. She’d done all she could do with him. Some simply did not conform to her standards or cooperate in any way to make themselves useful to her or the church. This one had taught her all he could.
She hadn’t lied to the boy. Today would be significant for him. All that remained was one final procedure—one that required a sacrifice on his part for the good of science. She would make better use of his brain than letting him keep it. One way or another, she got what she wanted from each of them. The best they could give her. When a nurse entered the room, Fiona looked over her shoulder and gave an order.
“Prep him for surgery. And arrange for disposal of his body. This one won’t be staying with us. We could use the bed.”
“Yes, Doctor.”
While the nurse prepared the boy, Fiona turned the final page of one boy’s life in favor of another more interesting case. She replayed the library images in her mind, assessing everything again, especially the gem she had found in the backpack. The aftermath of the scene had felt like the product of a Crystal child. Her instincts couldn’t be wrong. She had believed that the boy in the sweatshirt, who had done a great deal to hide his face, had been hiding something more than his identity.
She’d been right. Fiona smiled as she headed in to scrub for the harvesting surgery.
Her instincts on the backpack had proved correct. When she had unzipped the bag and dumped the contents to look over them, she felt disappointment in what she’d found at first. It looked like an art student’s bag. It had a sketch pad and a library book on L.A. County art inside, but little else. She had almost given up until she got a better look at the drawings and recognized a face.
; The face of Lucas Darby. There were two sketches of
the boy.
Fiona had made copies of each sketch. She had a plan and wanted to surprise Alexander Reese with it once she made progress, but she had to tell him something today. He was expecting a full report of the incident at the museum. She had enough to tell him for now, but she would save the best to savor later.
After surgery, she would run each sketch through the Tracker program. If she got hits on their database of targets, that would tell her a great deal about the boy who had drawn the images. If the drawings were significant, the library book the boy had planned to steal had to be significant, too.
She needed time to figure out the puzzle this mystery boy had left behind. Fiona had no intention of presenting only half a theory to Alexander. She’d wait until she had more on the importance of the library book and the Tracker results. Alexander would expect no less than perfection from her, and she felt up to the task.
She also had confidence that she’d found another Crystal child, one even stronger than Lucas Darby. If this boy could draw the faces of other special children, then perhaps he had the ability to see them in his mind and track them. She could use a boy like that.
Fiona had to know more.
Bristol Mountains
Rayne opened her eyes and thought she was still dreaming. Under warm linens and a plush comforter, she gazed in a sleepy stupor at a lacy canopy. The four-poster bed had elaborate carvings in the wood that had an old-world feel to it. When she heard a fire burning in the hearth of the bedroom, she stretched and sat up to gaze around the room that had been hers for a night. She wanted to remember everything. No way she’d ever get a chance to sleep in luxury like this again.
Giant doors and oversize furniture made her feel like a little kid in the biggest bedroom she’d ever seen, even in the movies. Last night a girly nightgown and robe and slippers had been laid out on the bed. It looked like silk, and when the ice-blue color shimmered in the light, she ran a finger across it to make sure it was real. Wearing something that fancy felt weird, but in a place like Hogwarts 2.0, she didn’t think anyone would laugh.
She threw back the covers and jumped out of bed to put on the robe and slippers. Gabriel had a bedroom down the hall. She got the impression that the room had been his when he lived here before and his uncle had kept it the same, hoping he’d come back. Guess Uncle Reginald hadn’t wasted his time.
Rayne went to her private bathroom and flipped on the lights. Everything glittered in tall mirrors that dwarfed her. Fancy soaps and scented stuff were there for her use and the soaker tub awaited, but when she thought about not having clean clothes to wear, she turned out the bathroom light and went back to the bedroom. The reality that she didn’t belong here hit her hard until she saw an envelope pushed under her door.
A note had been written on stationery. She smiled as she read it.
Anything you like in the armoire, it’s yours.
Gabe
Rayne didn’t know what to expect. She turned to see the ornate wardrobe closet across her bedroom and opened the doors. Clothes in different sizes hung inside with lingerie drawers filled with new things that still had price tags and were in unopened packages, ready for any unexpected guest of the estate.
“Oh, wow.”
She’d never seen so many beautiful things, not even in Mia’s closet.
The Church of Spiritual Freedom Headquarters—L.A.
Noon
After Fiona had shown Alexander Reese everything she had on the incident at the museum, the man sat in silence looking down at the stills she’d printed for him. His jaw tightened as he held up the blurred picture of a boy in a hooded sweatshirt, the best one they had. Everything in Alexander’s body language set her on edge as she waited for him to speak.
In her mind, the boy was clearly not Lucas, yet he had been in the company of Darby’s sister Rayne. She’d done her homework on the family, and Mia had talked about her sister, too. There was a definite connection between this mystery boy and the Darby family, something worth pursuing. Yet Alexander did not look satisfied.
“Are we any closer to finding Lucas?” he asked.
Fiona furrowed her brow.
“No, but I thought you’d be pleased. We may have found another boy like him, maybe more powerful. This one is an artist.” She flipped to the sketch of Darby and shoved it over to him. “Perhaps he draws what he sees in visions. I recognized the face of Lucas Darby from this sketch without running it through our Tracker software. Doesn’t the implication thrill you? We could use this boy to hunt them.”
Alexander stared at the drawing in uncomfortable silence before he finally spoke.
“I want the Darby kid.” He shoved back the sketchbook and the picture of the boy in the sweatshirt. “You’ve tested Lucas. He’s a sure thing, you told me. This boy could be no one, a boyfriend to the sister. You don’t even know if these drawings are his. I don’t want us chasing another target until we have Darby. Do I make myself clear?”
“I understand your concern, but I thought we could acquire this boy, too.”
“It’s not your job to manage our strategy and resources, Fiona. That’s my responsibility.” He swiveled his chair to face her. She had to admit it—the man intimidated her when he got like this.
“I appreciate your enthusiasm,” he told her. “But let me worry about this new boy when and if I see he is a viable target. Now you have your assignment. Get to it. I want Lucas Darby.”
Fiona clenched her jaw and stood to leave. When she reached for the knapsack, Alexander stopped her.
“Leave the bag,” he ordered. “Leave everything. I want you focused.”
Fiona did as he told her. She left his office without another word, but if he trusted her as his rock, she had to follow her instincts on this new boy. She’d asked his permission to pursue him and that had failed. Now all she had left would be to ask for Alexander’s forgiveness after she did what she had to do.
He’d left her no choice.
Bristol Mountains
Even with gowns and designer clothes to choose from, Rayne picked out the simplest outfit to wear, because the borrowed clothes weren’t hers. Mia would have no trouble playing dress up, but Rayne couldn’t do it. She’d bathed and washed and dried her hair, using all the fancy products they had, but the clothes were too much.
Dressed in dark slacks that fit her as if they’d been tailor-made and a powder-blue, long-sleeved blouse, she crept down the hall to Gabriel’s room. After she knocked softly on the door, she put her ear to it and listened. No answer.
“Gabriel?” She tried again, whispering his name.
When she didn’t hear him, she turned the knob and slipped into his room, with a peek over her shoulder to see if anyone watched her do it. In his room, she turned to see Gabriel. He was still in bed, sound asleep.
She inched toward him, unsure what to do until she got close enough to see him breathing. With his chest bare, she realized he could’ve been naked under those covers, and a rush of heat warmed her face. Rayne knew she should have turned and walked out, but seeing him like this, it wasn’t easy to leave.
Despite Gabriel’s powers and strength, she saw him as vulnerable, too. Maybe those feelings had started and been grounded over the guilt she felt about not protecting her brother enough, but she knew that whatever she felt for Gabriel now, those feelings were real and about him.
His childhood home had brought out his soft underbelly that she never would have seen if he didn’t allow it. When she first met him at the zoo and he’d let her see how he lived, she sensed that he’d been lost. Something was missing. If anyone knew that lonely feeling, she did, but Gabriel belonged here. He had his uncle and a past he couldn’t outrun. Whatever haunted him, the answers would be in this place. She watched the gentle rise and fall of his chest and resisted the urge to brush back the strand of dark hair that had fallen into his eyes.
She wanted to touch him, to kiss him. Every seco
nd she spent with him felt like a dream that she’d wake up from and he’d be gone. Watching Gabriel sleep, Rayne had no trouble seeing the child he had been—the extraordinary boy who had lived an odd adventure with his mother in a traveling circus.
But Rayne knew his story wouldn’t be that simple. Something had made him run and an unmistakable misery colored his eyes. Without waking him, she backed out of his room and shut the door behind her.
Alone in Gabriel’s childhood home, she felt the mystery of him everywhere.
Minutes Later
Rayne had a strong urge to wander the hallways of the vast estate on her own, but without leaving a trail of bread crumbs, she believed getting completely lost was a distinct possibility. Even though she wanted to eat, she retraced her steps downstairs, back to the great room, and stood under the circus posters of Gabriel and his mother.
She stared into the eyes of Gabriel as a boy. It was as if he stood before her now. He had a way of captivating her, and his mother must have had the same ability. Even now Rayne couldn’t turn away—from mother or son.
“Good morning, my dear.”
Rayne jumped at the sound of a loud male voice and footsteps behind her.
“Uh...hello.” She gulped a breath and turned.
Uncle Reginald appeared and didn’t notice that he’d startled her. The man wore dark slacks and an open-collared white shirt with rolled-up sleeves. He looked happier—and younger—than he had last night.
“Is he still sleeping?” the man asked. After she nodded, he said, “That’s not like him.”