by Anise Eden
“Also,” Pete said, “make sure you only order drinks that you can see are being poured for everyone from the same container, like coffee, or that can be ordered still in the bottle, like soda. I don’t want to have to deal with any more drugged-up patients this week.”
“Which brings us to Cate,” Ben said, locking his eyes with mine. I sensed that I was about to get the list of terms and conditions I’d been expecting. “We have no reason to believe that you’re in any danger right now, but as we’ve discussed, there are plenty of reasons why Skeet or others might want to isolate you in order to manipulate, influence, or pressure you in some way. Obviously, we can’t have that, so you won’t be going anywhere alone, even inside the lodge. I spoke to Skeet this morning; he’s going to have a cot brought up to your room so that I can sleep in there with you.”
Since we were far from alone, I refrained from commenting about how ridiculous it was that he had ordered a cot when I had a frigging king-sized bed. Instead, I asked, “And what reason did you give him for that?”
“I told him you’ve been having insomnia and that you have a history of sleepwalking,” Ben said matter-of-factly. “Owen told him about the ‘walk’ you took through the field this morning, so Skeet very quickly saw the benefit of having someone keep an eye on you during prime hunting hours. Whatever else he might be up to, at least Skeet appears to share our interest in keeping you alive.”
A hot blush bulldozed its way up my neck and blasted across my face. I thought briefly about dropping backwards off the side of the skiff and swimming back to the lodge. “All right, fine. I’m a sleepwalker now. Anything else I should know?”
Ben looked up into the distance for a moment, considering. Finally, he shook his head and said, “I think that about covers it.”
Eve leaned over and murmured, “Sleepwalking? That’s awesome. We can totally use that to go raid the kitchen at night—using the buddy system, of course.” She grinned.
“Oh, yeah!” Asa’s eyes lit up. “Vani said the food here rocks! We can totally sneak some midnight snacks.”
Ben smiled and shook his head. “We’ll meet twice a day in my room, after breakfast and dinner, but if anything happens in between, be sure to touch base. Any questions?”
There were none, so Pete turned the boat around. In ominous silence, we headed back in the direction of Mercier Cove.
Once we were docked and walking back towards the lodge, Pete made a point of falling in next to me. “Hey, sis, can I talk to you for a sec?”
I whispered, trying to conceal a sudden rush of excitement. “What is it? Do you have news from Captain Abbott?”
Pete grinned. “Yup. The package is available and will be delivered to Mercier this week.”
“Here? This week?” My mouth dropped open. “Really? I mean, that’s great, I just wasn’t expecting it to happen so fast!”
“Yeah, well.” Pete slid his fingers across the front brim of his cowboy hat. “As it turned out, the timing was good. Also, it would seem that Abbott’s got a soft spot for you. Or for Ben. Either way, you’ll have your hands full soon.”
I felt a surge of anticipation, imagining what Ben’s reaction to his surprise gift would be. “That’s great, Pete. Thank you so much!” I threw my arms around his neck.
Pete tentatively patted me on the back. “No problem, sis. It’s the least I can do for one of our wedding wranglers!” He said the last two words loudly as Kai approached, looking curious.
“Wedding wranglers? Really?” Kai scowled at Pete. “For your information, the members of our wedding party are our most honored guests. And you’re not giving her extra work, are you? Because that girl is going to have enough to do!”
Then Kai launched into a monologue about what party favors he might give guests at the reception. Ben came over to see what the ruckus was all about, and I was grateful that Kai’s single-minded obsession with wedding planning had shifted the focus away from my conversation with Pete. I didn’t want anything to ruin my surprise.
Chapter Thirteen
The waitstaff had to push two tables together to accommodate our group when we joined Skeet, Michael, and Liv for lunch. Skeet had ordered a number of local specialties to welcome us, followed by huge slices of Smith Island cake. Each slice was a tower of ten thin layers, and we were all full to bursting by the time we finished.
The mood was relaxed and congenial. Still, by the end of the meal, it seemed to me that Skeet and company had extracted a lot more information about us than we had about them. They managed to appear friendly and open while keeping their cards close to the vest. Meanwhile, we were a pretty sincere bunch, and aside from Ben and Pete, unused to subterfuge. Not that we’d divulged anything we shouldn’t, but it was obvious that everyone at the table had an agenda.
After lunch, Liv and Michael said they needed some study time to prepare for the demonstration they were going to give us the next day. Skeet said we could use the round meeting room for our conference call, which we told him was with Dr. MacGregor about clinic business. We all agreed to meet later for a game of paintball before dinner—with the exception of Skeet, who managed to duck out of it by playing the age card. Getting shot with high velocity balls of paint didn’t exactly sound like my idea of a good time, so I tried to back out, too, with the excuse that I’d never played before. But after Asa and Eve basically shamed me into it and Kai promised to watch my back, my fate was sealed.
Ben came to join me as I lagged behind the rest of the group on the way to our conference call. “Look, Cate,” he murmured, “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable on the boat earlier, singling out your safety as an issue. I wanted to run it by you first, but other things kept taking priority.”
With chagrin, I said, “Like me running around naked in a field?”
His eyebrows slowly lifted. “If you ever want to do that, by the way, I’m all for it, as long as nobody’s around but me.”
I fake-punched him in the arm. “Thanks, good to know.”
He slid his fingers up and down the inside of my forearm. A familiar tendril of heat wound its way through my body. “Seriously, though, I know this has been a lot for you to deal with,” he said. “If you need to step out of the conference call, or take a break from any of this, or go home, anything—just tell me.”
I knew I wouldn’t. The rest of the group had accepted me without question, and seemed to be confident in my abilities. I didn’t want to ruin any of that by appearing weak and unable to handle things. But I didn’t want to give Ben anything else to worry about, either, so I said, “Okay, I will.”
He tugged at my hand, pulling me to a stop. His eyes were penetrating as he looked down at me from beneath the dark ridge of his brow. The portal between us slid open, and his concern wound its way through to me. “I mean it, Cate,” he said softly. “Bad things happen when you get overwhelmed.”
I sighed; I couldn’t argue with him there. After all, when we’d first met, my emotions had overwhelmed me to the point where I was practically a shut-in. “If I feel like things are getting to be too much, I’ll let you know. I promise.”
He stared at me a few seconds longer, and I had to resist the urge to squirm. I could see the memory of every promise I’d made to him and subsequently broken flash across his face. Finally, he brushed his lips across my temple. “All right, then.”
We filed into the conference room. Those who were seeing it for the first time were duly impressed. Skeet had set us up with an octopus-like phone featuring a round module in the center of the table. Wires led from that module to small microphones sitting in front of each chair. Pete set up a “scrambler” device on a table near the window, while Asa clipped something on to the wire leading from the phone to the wall jack. “To keep the line from being tapped,” he stage-whispered. Then the rest of us settled in as Asa showed Ben how to dial out and put us in conference call mode.
They answered on the first ring. We heard a chorus of “hellos,” and the Smithsonian researcher
s did a roll call. We did, as well. Then Dr. MacGregor spoke. “We’ve been looking into all of the information you gave us on Saturday and your demonstration,” She said. “We were struck by the similarities between the way Eve described Ben’s role in the circle and the information we received from the Chinese team on Monday. They’ve been working on some tablets that refer to the palm of the hand, the center of the kheir, and they came up with a new translation: ‘a steadfast heart,’ or ‘one with a steadfast heart.’ That doesn’t refer to a paranormal ability, but I think everyone who knows Ben will agree that that accurately describes my son. However, it also describes Pete, so we are left with more questions.”
“Yes, it certainly fits you both,” I said, reaching under the table and laying the back of my hand on Ben’s thigh. He reached down and took my hand in his, intertwining our fingers.
“Dr. Byrne here. The word ‘one’ would seem to suggest a person, rather than a theory or a concept,” Dr. Byrne said. “And if that person is ‘with a steadfast heart,’ that would be consistent with Eve’s observation that the light came from Ben’s heart chakra—the light that seemed to be ‘charging’ the rest of you, as she put it.”
Eve grinned. “That’s because he’s the Energizer Benny!”
“The…what?” Dr. Morgan asked.
“Nothing!” Ben shot a warning glance around the table. “Sorry, side conversation. You were saying?”
Dr. Morgan continued. “If these interpretations are accurate, then Ben is the key to activating your double kheir. Of course, as Dr. MacGregor said, this raises more questions for us to answer, such as what is unique about Ben’s ‘steadfast heart.’”
“Yes,” Dr. Singh chimed in. “As far as we know, there has never been another incidence of double kheir activation—at least not in the modern era. If we could find out what it is that makes you special, Ben, well—not to sound too dramatic, but it could lead to a sea change in the field of paranormal research.”
Dr. Abera couldn’t conceal the excitement in her voice. “It could save us decades of study—centuries, even! Having the means for sensitives to access their gifts fully and instantly…”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Dr. Morgan said. “There are many more experiments to be run before we can draw any conclusions. In the meantime, MacGregor Group, have you had any additional insights?”
Ben looked around the room full of shaking heads. “Nothing here, I’m afraid.”
“At any rate,” Dr. MacGregor said, “I’m sure it’s obvious that we’d love for you all to return and do some additional work with us. I know that you have your own work to do this week,” she said discreetly, “but we hope you can pencil us in after your return.”
“Absolutely,” Ben said, and we all voiced our willingness. We all said our goodbyes. Then Ben nodded at Asa, who pushed a button on the center phone module.
We all sat in silence for a moment, taking in what had just happened. Finally, Vani mused, “Well, that seemed to go well.”
“Yeah, that was super cool, Ben,” Eve said. “The ‘steadfast heart’ part gave me chills.”
Kai cocked an eyebrow. “Well, I know Pete’s heart is steadfast. But the question remains: is Ben’s heart steadfast in general, or just steadfast toward a certain empath with curves that won’t quit?”
At that, everyone chuckled. As a blush worked its way up my neck and into my cheeks, I tried to kick Kai under the table, but it was so big that I couldn’t quite reach him.
Ben squeezed my hand and deadpanned, “I guess we’ll have to leave that question up to the experts.”
Pete kicked back in his chair, pushed his cowboy hat up, and rubbed his hairline. “Well, Big Dog,” he said to Ben, “good to hear you don’t have any special powers, at least. I wouldn’t want you to have an unfair advantage at paintball.”
Ben broke into a half grin. “I don’t need an unfair advantage to take you down.”
“Oh lord,” Kai moaned, “the trash talk’s already starting. I’m going to take that to mean this meeting’s over. I don’t know about everybody else, but I need a coffee and another piece of that Smith Island cake before we go anywhere near paintball.”
The mention of cake caught everyone’s attention. As the rest of the group stood and filed towards the door, I pulled Ben back so that we could have some privacy. I slid my arms around his waist and pulled myself close to him. “That was pretty amazing stuff, Mr. Steadfast Heart,” I said. “How does it feel to be the key to the whole thing?”
Ben sighed and kissed my forehead, then smiled. “It feels like we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. It’s all still theory, interpretation, and translation. And if it turns out that I am transmitting energy to the rest of you somehow, I think that Kai was right; it must be because of the way I feel about you.”
Heat tingled in my cheeks. “That’s very romantic, but it’s not just me you have a heart for,” I pointed out. “You love everyone in this group! I know you’d lay down your life for any one of them.”
“As would Pete. Like Dr. Morgan said, we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves. I suspect further experiments will show that it’s you and the others who are making things happen. There’s nothing special about me, Cate.”
With a surge of emotion, I squeezed him as tightly as I could, pressing my cheek against his chest. “Oh, Ben, there’s so much!”
He held me in his arms for a moment, then pulled away, smiling down at me. “Well, there is one thing. I have you.”
Clearly, he didn’t want to discuss his profound role in the double kheir any further. But his romantic words made me want to push up onto my tiptoes and kiss the side of his neck—which I promptly did.
“So,” Ben began, but his voice caught. He cleared his throat. “What are skivvies, exactly?”
I tried not to laugh. “You don’t know?”
He shook his head.
“Well then, I’ll just have to show you. When this damn internship is over, and I don’t have to act like a nun anymore, I will show you.” Then, in my best seductive voice, I added, “You’ll like them, trust me.”
“Oh really?” His scandalous tone sent shivers all the way to my toes.
“Yes,” I whispered. “I even have some extra-special skivvies in mind.”
It was true. There was a sweet-but-sexy purple lace chemise with matching lace-up panties that I’d bought on impulse one day from a department store clearance rack—then never worn, not even for Sid. The set had been a real find, since my curves were too copious to look good in most clothes off the rack, and I’d wanted to save it for a really special occasion—or person. The thought of wearing it for Ben had been flitting through my mind ever since we’d started dating. I would have Ben wait on my bed, then I’d go into the bathroom and change, unbraid my hair and fluff it out, maybe even put on some cat-eye make up…
And all it took was one sexy “Oh really?” from Ben to make my mind wander from all the worries we were facing to my stupid chemise. I closed my eyes in an attempt to bring myself back into the moment, but when I opened them again, Ben’s expression was candidly ravenous. “You are very distracting,” he said in a sensual rumble.
“Oh, please,” I snapped. “Pot, kettle!”
“Tryin’ to get out of paintball?” Pete called from just outside the doorway. “’Cause if you’re scared I’m gonna kick your ass, that’d be totally understandable.”
Ben gave me a smoldering “we’ll finish this later” look, turning my knees to jelly. I clutched his arm for support as we walked toward the door.
“I’m ready,” Ben called back at Pete. “Bring it.”
“Oh good grief,” I muttered to myself, knowing that for the next couple of hours, I was going to feel completely out of my element.
• • •
“Rule number one. Always wear your mask when you’re on the field.”
Randy, our paintball safety instructor, was a no-nonsense retired state trooper with a commanding presence. He towered ove
r all of us, even Pete. We were standing in a line near the entrance to the paintball field, all trussed up in protective gear, with our facemasks pushed up on top of our heads. The only person missing was Vani, who’d beaten the rest of us to claiming that she had a headache and needed to rest. I was still kicking myself for not thinking of it first. Our paintball guns lay on a table in front of Randy.
“What’s rule number one?” he asked.
“Always wear your mask when you’re on the field,” came our scattered mumbles.
Eve raised her hand. “What if the mask fogs up?”
“Double layer lenses,” Randy said. “They won’t fog.”
Liv wrung her hands. “What if a bug crawls in it?”
“Hold your gun in the air, yell ‘time out,’ leave the field, and then you can take off your mask and remove the bug.” He scanned the group. “Any more questions about rule number one?”
We all shook our heads.
“Rule number two. Always put your gun sock back on before you leave the field.” He demonstrated how to slide the cover over the muzzle and secure it. “We don’t want anybody outside the field getting shot. What’s rule number two?”
There were mutterings about gun socks. That seemed to satisfy Randy.
“Okay. When I call your name, come up and get your gun. Ben, Pete, and Michael are paintball veterans, so they’ve already selected their weapons. For the rest of you, I chose what I thought would suit you best. All of the rifles have been looked over and tested for velocity, but I still want everybody to shoot off a couple of rounds on the test range before we begin. If you don’t like your gun, we’ll find you another one.”
Before I knew it, I was toting a paintball rifle towards the shooting range. We all stood back and watched as Pete, Ben, and Michael took a few shots, and I was shocked to find that the rifles were rapid-firing and sounded like machine guns. Then Randy and our three experienced team members helped the rest of us figure out how to hold the guns, aim, and fire.