Brenna took her draught of absinthe and found an altar, too. She watched more women do the same, welcoming men who approached them. It was some time before anyone came to her, and she laid there absorbing the soaring orgasmic collective mind that was developing. Then Collin stepped up to her. He was gentle at first getting stronger as he built toward his climax. When he spilled in her, her orgasm and his added to the collective, his energy sending her soaring out of her mind and into another reality, into worlds she didn't recognize.
For those who did not have the Gifts of Precognition or Postcognition, such as Irina, the night was a transcendent experience of pleasure. For the others, it proved to be something far more incredible.
Afterward, everyone present had their own memories of the event. Some never spoke of what they’d seen, while others shared freely with their friends and family. People saw future lovers and children. Some saw personal triumphs or tragedies. Some visions were shared by so many people that they became common topics of conversation.
Through the haze of the drugs, Callie saw Kallen, her childhood lover and life-long shadow. His face was far older than it was currently. He held her in his arms, standing on top of a hill in a raging storm. In the distance on a higher hill, Brenna stood channeling lightning. A feeling of peace enveloped Callie, and Kallen kissed her. Lightning crashed, consuming them in a blinding flash. The Goddess smiled at her and Kallen, opening Her arms and welcoming them home.
At some point, past, present and future blended to create a reality that had no time. As if in a dream, scenes and emotions ran through Rebecca’s mind. Some things she recognized, some seemed to be glimpses of the future, and some seemed so fantastic as to be visions of another world. She saw the Goddess, and was warmed by Her smile. Rebecca was filled with wonder and satisfaction.
In another vision, she stood on a hill in a storm with Brenna, whose raven hair was streaked with gray. Black clouds boiled above them as Brenna channeled lightning over and over, sending it crashing into the valley below. A teenaged girl smiled at Rebecca. The girl was tall with an hourglass figure, brown hair and a face that almost mirrored her own – and Rebecca knew it was her daughter. Rebecca saw a stone arch standing in front of her, rough and weathered, with only blackness beyond. Her vision shifted to Brenna lying in a bed, incredibly old and dying, holding her hand and smiling at her. And over and over, she saw Carlos de Vargas, in different settings at different ages.
Interrupting her visions, Callie, naked and wide-eyed, loomed over her.
"Why? Why Rebecca?"
"Because the Goddess told me to," she answered, consciously realizing for the first time what had spurred her to arrange this night.
Lying nearby, Brenna watched the celebration and felt the drugs in the incense and the drink seep into her mind.
She drifted away into a vision and found herself standing on top of a mountain with the fury of a storm surrounding her. She drew lightning from the clouds, channeling it into the army in the valley below. Two young women with long black hair and blue eyes gave her sardonic grins. Four young succubi, excited and dressed for a ball, turned to her for approval. A young man, tall and strong, with a wild gleam in his eyes, rode up on a horse and saluted her. She saw Seamus, lying in bed and so very old, an older Cindy holding his hand with tears running down her cheeks. Then, a stone arch appeared before her, rough and weathered with only blackness beyond. And in every vision, she saw Rebecca with the Goddess hovering over all.
“Why me?” Brenna asked the Goddess.
“It is a time of change,” the Goddess answered. “You will light the path for my people.”
Walking through fog, her parents came to her. They told her how much they loved her and how proud they were of her. As her mother slipped away, she said, “You have been given the greatest Gift the Goddess bestows. Enjoy it, Brenna, and share it freely.”
Her father, almost lost in the fog and his voice faint, said, “Tell Aine I love her, and I’m sorry I didn’t get to know her.”
The first light of dawn filtered through the high windows of the ballroom and Brenna sat up, looking around. She felt marvelous. The Glow she had attained was beyond anything she had ever experienced. Rebecca silently sat nearby and watched her, eyes and hair wild, shivering and holding herself.
"Are you all right?" Brenna asked, almost afraid to touch her.
Rebecca stared at Brenna’s face as though she didn't recognize her, then her eyes slowly started to focus.
"You're glowing, like the sun," Rebecca told her in a voice of wonder, reaching out and touching Brenna's breast with her fingertips. "I love you. You know that, don't you?"
Brenna hugged her, "Of course I know that. I love you too."
Rebecca looked around the room. "I wonder if anyone will ever let me throw a party again."
~~~
The next evening, Brenna and Rebecca were going upstairs after dinner when Brenna turned to her and asked, “Rebecca, is there anything in the library about soul merges?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Do any of the books talk about merging with multiple people?”
“I’m not sure. Want to go look?”
They trooped into the library, and after a quick check with the catalog, Rebecca pulled several books off the shelves. They sat down and started looking through them. Several references mentioned that a person could bind with more than one person. Brenna found one reference to a person binding with three people, none of whom were bound to each other.
“Look at this. A network. Wow, I thought my life was complicated. Suppose two of them hated each other, or someone was jealous,” Brenna pointed to the passage in the book she was reading.
“Brenna, this book says that way back when, succubi commonly took multiple mates.”
“Yeah, it would make sense. Rebecca, I’ve been thinking. I love you more than anyone, even more than Collin. I want to try and merge with you.”
Rebecca had been turning pages. Now her hands stopped, though she continued staring at the book in front of her. “It wouldn’t work. Our relationship is different,” she said. “Besides, we already have a link. We don’t need to do that.”
“Aren’t you curious? Don’t you even want to try?”
“Not particularly. Brenna, be satisfied.”
“A soul mate doesn’t have to be a lover.”
Finally, Rebecca looked up and met her eyes. “Brenna, drop it. We don’t resonate. Do you think Callie and Kallen haven’t tried? He’s been in love with her for seventy years. Our relationship is different. It’s just as deep, but different.”
Brenna’s eyes made her want to be anywhere else.
“Can’t I just get you a pony or something?” Rebecca tried to make a joke.
“Please, Rebecca. Please.”
With a sigh, Rebecca dropped her shields. “Come in, Brenna. Remember, I said this isn’t going to work, but I do love you.”
Brenna entered Rebecca’s mind. Her soul was as Brenna always saw it, electric blue with white and gold lightning shooting through it. It was incredibly beautiful, but unlike any soul she’d ever seen. She reached out and touched it gently, expecting to be rejected, but hoping to merge.
Rebecca’s soul folded over her like a blanket, wrapping her like a mother wrapping a baby. They didn’t merge and she wasn’t rejected, but their souls remained separate. Brenna gasped, and then the greatest feeling of warmth, safety and comfort she had ever known enveloped her.
A voice spoke in their minds.
You really are my problem child, always questioning, always reaching for more. But that is also why I chose you. Rebecca is not for you, not in that way. Her purpose is to accompany and protect you on your journey. She doesn’t know where that journey will lead, and to her it is not important. The journey is her only concern. I also don’t know where your destination is or what you will accomplish. That story is yet to be told, and I am very interested to see it. You have everything you need. Rebecca has everything she needs.
Brenna was back in her own mind, staring across the table at Rebecca. She felt as though she was floating in a world that wasn’t quite solid.
“Well, that was interesting, wasn’t it?” Rebecca picked up the books they had been looking through and started putting them back on the shelves.
“Does She speak to you often?” Brenna’s voice was filled with awe.
Stopping what she was doing, Rebecca took a deep breath, “No, something like that has never happened before. You’re Her priestess, Her chosen. I never expected Her to speak to me. She’s already given me the greatest Gift. What more can She say?”
“What Gift?”
“Certainty. I know exactly what I’m doing with my life. I don’t have to make any world-shaking decisions. I’m just along for the ride. You have to do all the heavy lifting.”
“Doesn’t that bother you?”
“Not at all. I find it comforting. Brenna, we’re different people. That’s why She chose us for our roles. Not too many people are allowed to know when they’ll die.” Rebecca was silent, thinking. “Yes, comforting. I owe that to you.”
“You know when you’ll die?” Brenna was shocked.
“Yes. I die when you do. Kallen dies when Callie does. She saw it at Samhain. I saw ours, too. It’s a very long time from now. Yes, certainty is a good thing.”
“You saw me die?”
“Well, not exactly. I think that’s what I saw, the moments before you die. I was there, holding your hand. There wasn’t any context, Brenna. I don’t know how long from now, or where, but you were very old. It was very comforting to me to know that I’ll be with you for your whole life. Isn’t that what you want?”
Brenna was quiet for several minutes. “Yes. That is what I want.”
~~~
CHAPTER 6
The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other’s life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof. – Richard Bach
Callie called Rebecca into her office, “I’ve got a problem with the Thanksgiving dinner seating arrangements. I’m a man short.”
“Okay,” Rebecca said cautiously. “What does that mean?”
“For formal dinners, you always try to have a balance of men and women, and I’m short a man.”
“Oh, no problem. I’m not really part of the family anyway, so just knock me off and things will balance. I’ll tell Brenna I have a hot date and want to stay in DC for the weekend.”
Startled, Callie said, “That wasn’t what I was suggesting. I was going to ask if there’s anyone you’d like to invite. A date, you know?”
“Oh, okay. I’ll think about it.” Rebecca started out the door, then turned back. “Callie, did you count Carlos de Vargas? Remember Seamus asking him to come?”
“No, I’d forgotten that. Do you think he will?”
Rebecca smiled, “He’ll come. He wants to get in Brenna’s pants.”
A few minutes after she left, Seamus came in. Looking at Callie, he said, “Honey, is everything all right? You look as though you received bad news.”
“No, nothing like that,” Callie replied.
“Then why the sad face?”
“Just something Rebecca told me. Dad, I just consciously realized something that I think I’ve known for a long time now. I love that girl, as much as I love Brenna. You know I always wanted a daughter, and Brenna has kind of taken that place in my heart, but Rebecca has too.”
“I know what you mean. She’s become very dear to me also. But why would that make you sad?”
“Because while we may feel like she’s a part of our family, she doesn’t. She still views herself as an employee. I know Brenna treats her like a sister, but Rebecca … well … she just doesn’t feel … I don’t know what I’m trying to say. It just made me sad, that’s all.”
The following day Seamus called Rebecca into his office and told her to close the door.
“I didn’t sleep very well last night,” he started, “and you’re the reason. I’m not very happy with your status around here.”
Completely caught off guard, Rebecca pushed down a feeling of panic. “I’m sorry. I, I don’t mean to be a problem.”
“Rebecca, when you first came to us, I thought you were an engaging, very beautiful, very talented young lady, and I was glad you decided to join us. It’s been what, two and a half years now?”
“Yes, sir.”
“In that time, getting to know you, my feelings have changed, from affection to feelings very akin to those I have for Brenna. In talking to Callie yesterday, she was quite sad to discover that while she thinks of you as part of our family, evidently you still seem to consider yourself just another employee, and not the very special young lady that we consider you. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Wide-eyed, Rebecca tried to find her voice, “I guess so. Seamus, you and Callie have been so wonderful to me, everyone here has. You’ve made me feel so welcome, made me feel at home. And Brenna, well, I never had a sister, but she and I, well, we just seemed to click from the moment we met. I don’t know what else you could do.”
Seeing her total confusion, Seamus realized that he was badly bungling this.
“I’m beating around the bush and confusing you, aren’t I?”
She nodded.
“Rebecca, I know you don’t have any living grandparents. I’d like to formalize the way we feel about you and adopt you as my granddaughter.”
He thought her eyes might pop out of her head. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
“I realize this is a bit sudden, and I won’t be offended if you say no, but please, at least take a few days to think about it. As I said, we consider you as family already, but I want you to feel that way too.”
She finally sorted through the thoughts spinning around her head, “What did Callie and Brenna say about this?”
“My dear, I’m not in the habit of asking my children or grandchildren their opinions on my personal feelings. If you decide not to do this, they’ll never know I asked.”
“Oh God. Yes, I, I need some time to think about it. I, uh, never …”
She stood abruptly and walked to the door, opening it and starting to leave. Halfway through the door she stopped. “Who the hell am I trying to fool?” She turned, closing the door. “Yes.” The tears started to flow.
Seamus got up from his desk and walked around, taking her in his arms. “Can I call you Grandfather, like Brenna and Jared do?”
“Of course.”
“Can I come just for a hug sometimes?”
He chuckled, “Any time.”
She broke down and sobbed. In his one hundred and fifty-eight years, Seamus had never learned to be comfortable with crying women.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m more than okay. I don’t think I’ve ever been happier in my life.” She pushed away from him. “Is there something I need to do, or …?”
“I’ll have legal papers drawn up for you to sign. I’ll tell Callie and Brenna, and make a formal announcement at dinner tonight, if that’s all right with you.”
She nodded, wiping her face with the handkerchief he handed her. “Seamus, I love you too.” Then she turned and fled out the door.
~~~
“Callie, I need you to get hold of that shyster lawyer, you know, the one that handles all our personal family business,” Seamus said as he walked into her office.
“His name is Jared Wilkens, your grandson, remember?” Callie answered with a hint of irritation.
“Oh, yes,” he said with a twinkle in his eye, “I remember now. Did you pay all that Harvard tuition or did I?”
“I did. Now, what do you want?”
“I need him to draw up papers for me to formally adopt Rebecca Healy as my granddaughter.”
“Oh, Dad, really? Did you ask her already?”
“She said yes. Why do you women always cry when you’re happy? It confuses the hell out of m
e.”
A tear ran down Callie’s cheek and into her smile, “I guess that’s why we do it, just to confuse you.”
“Well, it does. Tell Jared I want to get this done before New Year, so she gets the dividend.”
“Dividend? Oh, should I set up the normal birth gift transfer?”
“Yes, and transfer the funds from my account for the dividend since her birth. Otherwise I’d feel like I was cheating.”
~~~
When Brenna came to Seamus’ office, she found him standing in front of the picture of his dead wife, the one painted by his young fiancée.
“Hi Grandfather, what’s up?”
“Brenna, I just wanted to let you know that we have a new addition to the family. I’ve started the paperwork to adopt Rebecca as my granddaughter.”
Stunned, Brenna’s knees gave way and she sat down on the floor, staring at him. Then the tears started. “Oh my God. When …?”
“I asked her this morning, and she said yes. So you have a sister, or cousin, or something, I’m not exactly sure. Are you all right?”
“Grandfather, that’s the best early Christmas present I could ever imagine.”
Brenna walked into her room to find Rebecca lying on the bed staring at the ceiling. “Waiting for me or my boyfriend?” she asked.
“Hmm, hard choice, you’re both pretty,” Rebecca said in a dreamy voice.
Brenna laughed. “Welcome to the family, sis.”
A smile spread across Rebecca’s face. “Is that what we are, sisters?”
“I don’t know. Jared is my cousin, I don’t know if you’re a sister or a cousin.”
“Are you okay with this?” Worry showed on Rebecca’s face.
“As long as you don’t turn into a raging bitch like my other stepsister,” Brenna smiled. She jumped onto the bed and took Rebecca into her arms, hugging her tight enough to make her ribs ache. “I’m so happy. Hey, are you going to change your name? O’Donnell or Healy?”
“I hadn’t thought of that.”
“You need to think about it, and soon,” Jared said from the doorway. “Welcome to the family, cousin.” His smile left no doubt about how he felt.
Succubus Rising, An Urban Fantasy (The Telepathic Clans Saga) Page 6