“You’ll let me know when he gets there, won’t you?”
“Of course I’ll let you know, Chaz.”
Chapter 16
Danaé had rented an upstairs studio the day before, and now, she and Alec sat on the wrought iron balcony at a lovely glass-topped table with two matching chairs. Baskets of ferns, ivy, and red flowering begonias hung from the upper railings. Surrounded by the sweet, aromatic scent, it was a peaceful, private atmosphere.
They waited for the din to die down on Bourbon Street. The magical pull between them was both dreamlike and physical. Alec trusted her and Danaé’s hope for the future blossomed.
They sat quietly talking into the night. They discussed the many aspects of their lives and what they had accomplished over the last two decades.
Alec went first.
He shared his deepest feelings for Sabrina, and even though his grief was overwhelming, speaking from his heart helped it lessen. Next, he discussed his supernatural gift, and although it was a conversation he had never had with Sabrina or any other living soul, he intuitively knew that Danaé would understand everything he told her. He also admitted how hard it was to resist her in high school and how drawn he was to her then and even now.
Danaé talked about Tommy and shared information about her own gift. Each one closely listened to the other without commenting. After the stories were done, Danaé placed her hand on Alec’s cheek, stroking it gently as she leaned in to kiss him. As their lips met, strange passions were aroused and caught fire – resulting in a blaze that neither could have imagined possible.
It was the fulfillment of a promise imbued by ancestral magic and agreement. Every tissue, cell, and molecule in their bodies desired to unite, to satisfy that pact, to make good on that vow – and they did.
Alec and Danaé couldn’t get enough of each other. Their scents, the sensations of each touch, the miracle of their union, the insatiable yearning and desire seemed to know no end. Alec was more than he had ever been. Although he didn’t know it was possible, he was both angel and demon as he made love to her. He was ever aware of Danaé’s auric field as it burst into a multitude of colorful shards each time they made love. Her gift of sight told her everything she needed to know about Alec and his secret passions. It was the most intense, earth-shattering sex either had ever experienced.
Rarely eating or sleeping, the blissful union lasted for two full weeks. Then, the moment ended. Once Danaé conceived, the attraction, hunger, and longing they had felt for each other was gone.
It was finished.
Knowing that she was pregnant, Danaé left New Orleans returning to her father’s family home in the deepest recesses and outskirts of Bayou Lafourche.
Unaware that he and Danaé were going to have a baby, Alec returned to the family home on Carrollton. He felt sane again but he still didn’t grasp that the pact made between the Chisholm and Saguache families was complete.
Chapter 17
Three weeks after Sabrina’s funeral, Alec felt like a different man, and in some respects, he was. He felt liberated from a deep-set burden that he didn’t know how to name. He hadn’t known the weight even existed or was there until after he was with Danaé.
It was as if he finally understood that his life was never his own. Life, as he now understood its concept, couldn’t be contained, influenced, stopped or derailed. ‘Life’ always found a way to do whatever it must do.
Alec realized he was a speck of dust passing through time. He had no control; nothing was his, had never been his to lay claim to – not Sabrina, not Danaé, not his family or his supernatural ability. Everything and all was orchestrated by ‘Life’ itself.
In many ways, the knowledge was comforting and liberating. It felt like a ride at an amusement park, so he knew he must learn to let go and enjoy it. He had to stop trying to mold it to his will.
When Martin Saguache next appeared to check on his grandson, Alec asked, “So, what is the point?”
“We are servants, Alec. Nothing more or less. We do what is set before us without question and we make the best of it according to our belief systems. That is true for everyone, not just the Saguache family. Every human, every person, does the best they can even if they don’t realize it.”
“That’s it? That’s the best you can do? Seriously?”
“What more do you want? What do you really want to know, Alec? What is eating at you? Tell me and I’ll try to answer your real questions and concerns.”
“What about Sabrina? Whatever was the point of my love for her… spending twenty some odd years loving her, wanting to spend my life with her, hoping to have a family with her? What was the point when she was only going to die before any of that was realized?”
“Your love for Sabrina was perfect for what it was. She supported you in the worst of times as you did her. Your relationship with her was what it was – good for you and good for her.”
“I’m so sick of the ‘everything is perfect’ crap Mom spouts. And you, Grandfather. You do it, too. Tell me something new. Tell me something that makes sense.”
“I told you from the beginning about the offspring of the Saguache family. I told you that Buck Winters and Cassidy passed on gifts to you and Catalina. Cassidy has hated me for years because I forbid her union to Zach Weaver. However, you’d have never been born if she had married Zach. Their union would have been childless. Yes, she loved him the same as you loved Sabrina. But Zach was not her perfect match just as Sabrina was not yours. Sabrina could never conceive a child with you and the Saguache bloodline would end without an heir to the ability.”
“And that’s the most important thing? Having a child so that this ability is passed on to him or her?”
“With regards to your mate, it is the most important thing from a universal perspective.”
“What about Danaé Chisholm?”
“What you had with Danaé, what you experienced with her was a cosmic mating call. It was the same for Cassidy and Buck – a mating call. In the beginning, your mother’s attraction to Buck was so powerful, she didn’t miss Zach Weaver. Once Catalina was conceived, their desire for each other ended. Cassidy grew miserable and saw life with Zach as the only answer for that unhappiness. Then she turned the anger of her misery on everything around her, but mainly herself.”
“The attraction Danaé and I had also ended rather quickly. Wait a minute; are you suggesting that Danaé conceived a child with me? Are you saying that once she became pregnant the desire we felt for each other ended?”
Alec was stunned.
“You can probably answer that yourself. The draw to her was irresistible wasn’t it? Even though you were grieving for Sabrina; you simply couldn’t resist Danaé any longer. Am I right?”
“You are correct,” Alec replied with his head down.
“Don’t feel guilty, Alec. No need to feel shame. Ask your mother to tell you about Buck and their early years of marriage. It will give both of you some much-needed clarity. She never understood why she couldn’t marry Zach. She has hated her mother and me for far too long.”
“So, Danaé is pregnant with my child.”
“She is; and I suspect that you’ll see her again in about seven months.”
“Why in seven months? Doesn’t gestation take nine months?”
“In most cases it does, but not with our bloodline. Talk to your mother, Alec. That’s the best advice I can give you at this point.”
Chapter 18
Alec sat at the breakfast table with Cassidy. Although, he’d intended to keep the conversation with his mother private, Catalina soon joined them.
“Where were you Alec?” Cassidy asked.
“I was with Danaé Chisholm.”
“I knew that,” Catalina said.
Imaging the things his sister knew or saw while he was passionately locked away with Danaé caused Alec to blush.
“That’s odd. Sabrina asked about her while we were preparing for her move here. It was out of the blue… as
if something brought Danaé to mind.”
“I think we made a baby,” Alec rushed on. He had to get it out, to let his family know the things that had happened and why they had happened.
“What?” Cassidy and Catalina echoed.
“A grandchild? After all this time? And with Danaé Chisholm?” Cassidy gasped.
“Grandfather explained it.”
“Then, please explain it to me,” Cassidy demanded with her cheeks flushing brightly. “I mean, I would love to have a grandchild, you know that, but I simply don’t understand and I want to.”
“The bloodline of the Saguache family must continue. Sabrina could never carry my child because she didn’t have the proper DNA match to me…just as Zach could never impregnate you, Mom. According to Grandfather, there has to be a receiver and a giver from particular bloodlines… Danaé’s was a match to mine.”
“That sounds absurd!” Cassidy exclaimed not wanting to believe it.
“Let me finish… When we were in high school, Danaé once told me that she was ‘exactly right for me.’ I resisted her because I loved Sabrina, but her mysterious pull was very strong even then. It was difficult to fight it. While we were together, Danaé told me about her husband, Tommy. She explained how they had never been able to have children even though they used every fertility method known to man. As far as I know, Sabrina never used any kind of birth control with me either and she never got pregnant. I didn’t know the reason for that, but Danaé did. She’s been waiting for this, preparing for it, ever since she left New Orleans twenty years ago. She came back just for this. Grandfather called it a cosmic-mating call.”
“I still don’t understand,” Cassidy said feeling overwhelmed and still resisting what her heart told her was true.
“Danaé had what it takes to make a baby with me…Just as Dad had what it took to create me and Catalina with you. Don’t you get it? If you had married Zack…I wouldn’t be here. Catalina wouldn’t be here. We would’ve never been born. Your parents had to insist that you marry Dad.”
“Oh my God!” Cassidy exclaimed as the things her son said began to ring true, to make sense to her after so long a time.
“As for me and Danaé, a long time ago, the Saguache and Chisholm family agreed to my union with Danaé because of that bloodline. They made a pact and it had to be honored. Do you understand now?”
“Yes, I think I do,” Cassidy said as she dropped her head, staring at her hands. Her breathing was raspy and her voice was a horse whisper, “I’ve blamed my parents all these years for the misery I felt while married to Buck. That was wrong of me, but they never told me the reasons. They should’ve been more forthcoming. Why didn’t they tell me the truth?”
“I don’t know the answer to that, Mom. Even when he told me some of it years ago, I didn’t grasp the full meaning. It felt as if he talked in riddles.”
“I remember feeling the same way. I recall that both my parents told me that ‘if I wanted children, I should marry Buck’… but, like you said, it felt like riddles. They should’ve been more open with me.”
“I think that must be true for all generations… there is a gap between what an elder says and what their younger offspring actually hears,” Catalina wisely added.
“Grandfather said I should ask you about your early years of marriage to Dad.”
Cassidy was silent for a few moments and then said, “When Buck and I first married, we couldn’t get enough of each other. We were in perfect harmony. It was the same, after you were born, Alec. There was a peculiar animalistic attraction to each other. I had forgotten how intense it was to be with him in the beginning, but this conversation brings it back to mind. Back then, he never cheated on me or even looked at another woman. After I conceived Catalina, that magnetism was gone. Instantly. It was as if that attraction was the only thing we had, and when it was gone, we could barely tolerate each other. We often had heated arguments about the most inane subjects. It seemed like nothing either of us did pleased the other one. As Catholics, divorce was simply out of the question. We had to remain together even though we were both miserable. Later, when I learned of Buck’s obsessions and vile nature, everything seemed to go to hell in a hand basket. I was so miserable that I began to self-medicate as a way to escape.”
“Cassidy and I both remember those sad days, Mom. No need to dredge it up.”
“Still, I am very grateful that the union with Buck created you and Catalina,” her eyes gently caressed each of them. “I wouldn’t change a thing, especially since the two of you were the outcome. You’re both a blessing.”
“How long did you carry us in the womb, Mom?”
“Both of you were premature. I think you were both born around the seventh month. Why?”
“Did the doctor say we were premature?”
“He said you were early but very healthy and fully formed. It puzzled him… Why are you asking this, Alec?”
“Grandfather said we’d see Danaé again in about seven months.”
“Oh my goodness! A grandchild in only a few months. Oh, we need to talk to Danaé, Alec. We need to determine her plans. If she couldn’t have a child with her husband, she might take my grandchild back to Rhode Island… I might never get to see him. Please, you have to do this for all of us.”
“Maybe I can reach out to her,” Catalina offered. “She’s very psychic.”
“I’ll do as you ask, Mom, but it will have to wait until I return from Melbourne. I have to get back to work. Cat can try to connect with her while I’m gone. In the meantime, will you contain your anxiety about it for another week or so?”
“I’ll try,” Cassidy replied as she anxiously twisted her hands. “I’ll try.”
Chapter 19
Alec’s job took him to Melbourne, Florida, often called Harbor City. Melbourne, located on the east coast about halfway between Jacksonville and Miami, was south of NASA Space Center and north of Boca Raton.
Melbourne was a quiet, peaceful city lying on the Indian River and very near the Atlantic Ocean. Huge causeways connected the mainland’s Highway 1 to the barrier islands of Coco Beach, Indialantic, Melbourne Beach, Wabasso Beach, Vero Beach, and many other coastal cities that ran along Highway A1A. That slender, two-lane highway separated the sandy beaches from Indian River and was lined with beautiful waterfront homes and orange groves. Melbourne’s crime rate was low compared to New Orleans and Mobile, but the smaller city still had a dark, sinister side.
After he’d visited his contacts and filled orders, Alec checked into The Crane Creek Inn near the causeway that led to Indialantic. He chose the location because it was about halfway between the areas he would cover.
On his first night, he tracked a putrid spiritual stench that was offensive and odious to Port Canaveral. The scent reeked of greed, corruption, and disregard for the wellbeing of others. It stank of abuse and drug-trafficking, but there was more. Something very disgusting was underway.
Alec, now less attached to the outcome after his recent epiphany on life, was ready to resume his supernatural calling. Grandfather appeared to tell him that he would once again need a couple of burner phones. Alec purchased the prepaid cell phones and performed all the usual tasks he normally employed to find out exactly what was going on. He was on the trail and followed it.
Chapter 20
Previously, two good-old-boys, Buddy Stevens and Billy Ray Adams, had happened upon a scheme while delving into ways to supplement their income. The two simpletons had no idea that they were out of their league. The actual man in charge was much higher up than the yahoos they came across when sending out feelers about their business venture.
It took weeks for word to reach an ear that could make a decision and they were almost ready to abandon the idea when they caught a break. Quick to understand the importance of Port Canaveral dock workers on the payroll, a middleman named Heady Fields contacted them.
***
Buddy and Billy Ray had been selling drugs since junior high and had
a reputation as ‘go-to’ guys in certain small circles, but they were low on the totem pole even in that. They were simple dealers…they had a supplier who also had a supplier, and so forth and so on. There was a high echelon that never seemed to reach the top, keeping those there untouchable and safely from harm’s way.
When word finally came down from Heady that they’d have to prove themselves, they were keen to do that very thing. They eagerly made all the arrangements, and as they went about the task, Buddy secretly worked on his own plan.
Buddy and Billy Ray used their contacts at the docks to offload a container from Mexico onto a flatbed trailer they’d rented. Once locked down, they were out of the gates and on their way to what they felt was a productive new business. They drove the thirty-five minutes back to Melbourne, but when Buddy detoured from their planned meet-up, Billy Ray became nervous.
“What are you doing? This isn’t the route they told us to take.”
“I have other plans for this shipment. It’ll get us our startup money. Otherwise, it’d take months or years to get what we need,” Buddy replied. He drove directly his home just off Babcock Street. It was a stupid and amateur thing to do, but they unloaded the cargo and sat it directly in front of his garage. “Yeah!” Buddy yelled in exultation.
The container wasn’t huge, but it was large enough to hold two tons of product. It didn’t. Instead, it carried a short ton of cocaine, along with an additional surprise.
Inside, they found eight young Latino females. Some were beautiful and some were alluring, but none of them looked very appealing after the time spent locked inside a small dry storage unit. With very little food, water, and only one small port-a-john that had quickly reached capacity, the trip had taken its toll on the captives.
Tired, hungry, and dirty, the prisoners were also frightened and angry. Most of them had been taken off the streets in their hometowns without any explanation. Daughters and sisters, they’d been abducted, disappearing without a trace, from poor families who had no resources or any way to rescue them.
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