Intuition (The Path to Redemption Series Book 2)

by Kimbra Swain

  “I’m going to poke something,” I said grinning.

  “I see that we can no longer have a civilized discussion,” she continued to pout.

  I couldn’t help it. It was hilarious.

  “Okay, so I wanted to talk to you, and I used my boots as an excuse.” She looked satisfied.

  “That whole row started over you feeling him in there, and I felt you approaching down the hall, or something. I got nervous that he might push his luck, and I didn’t want you to see it. I felt apprehension and a sense of urgency from you. Then we argued, and your anger and pain overwhelmed me. I couldn’t take it. I decided it would be best to block your emotions. I would rely on my intuition about you, and not what I knew through my magic,” she explained.

  “It started, because I felt your confusion to his advances. It started, because I didn’t want him to have you. I didn’t know him. To me, he was just a guy hitting on you, and even then, I didn’t want anyone flirting with you. Now I know that he was a good man,” I explained. I felt the sadness coming off her. She missed him. I decided to move on to avoid upsetting her. “You have me blocked?” I asked.

  “Essentially,” she replied.

  “Unblock it,” I said.

  “I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” she said.

  “Why? At least we’d be even,” I reasoned.

  “My sense of you is going to be naturally stronger than yours of me. I can’t imagine what will happen when we… I mean, if we. I don’t assume that we might, or, um, never mind,” she scrambled her words turning her red face away from me.

  I just looked at her with my mouth wide open. She couldn’t say it. I died laughing at her.

  “Watch the fucking road,” she blushed pointing forward to the interstate.

  “Say it,” I said.

  “No.” I laughed harder. This was turning out to be the best night of my life. I didn’t realize how much I enjoyed watching her squirm. She refused to continue to feed my laughter.

  “Okay, I know what you are saying, just keep going,” I let her off the hook again.

  “If we ever, then what happens? Will you know my thoughts? The exact words that run through my head? What’s the next step? When is it too much?” she gushed questions.

  Even though I was having a good laugh at her, she had a point. “We can ask Ichiro. He’s been researching soul bonds.”

  “What? When did you plan on telling me this?” she asked.

  “If you’d unblock me, you might know,” I said. She glared at me. “He told me this morning that he was studying it, right before I busted through Gregory’s wards, burnt my suit to a crisp and risked my butt to save you from Hyperion. Sorry, it must have slipped my mind.”

  “Oh,” she said dialing on her phone.

  “You are going to call him now?” I asked.

  “Yeah, sure, why not?” I laughed.

  She dialed and pressed the phone on speaker. “Hello.” We could hear many voices behind them talking.

  “Ichiro, you busy?”

  “No, we are just going over check-ins. The rest of the team arrived,” he said. We could hear Ashley behind him asking if it was us, and to ask us what happened. Abby laughed at her. “What can I do for you?”

  “I have a couple of questions about the soul bond, and please tell Ashley chill out for five minutes,” she said.

  “I can try to get her to calm down, but you know that’s virtually impossible,” he said. “Let me step outside. She’s coming with me, but she promises to be quiet.”

  “That’s not likely, but okay,” Abby conceded.

  “Is Tadeas with you?” he asked.

  “I’m here,” I spoke up, and I heard Ashley giggle.

  “Go ahead ask, Abby. I can’t say that I know everything about it,” he said.

  “Tadeas feels all my feelings now. He feels them empathically especially when we…” she trailed off. I died laughing again. “Fine. You ask the questions, Tadeas!”

  “Maki, when I kissed her, I felt exactly what she was feeling. The emotions come through loud and clear. It’s somewhat dulled all the rest of the time. What could happen beyond this point?” I asked.

  She whispered, “You can’t say it either.”

  “I would assume, Tadeas, you could nearly read her mind word for word,” he explained. “Is it one-sided? Abby does not feel your emotions?”

  “No, she’s had me blocked since the day of the party in the compound. She’s blocked my emotions so she could rely on her instincts. Está loca.”

  “Hey! I know Spanish, Gúirito,” she shot at me.

  “I assure you, honey, I’m not a boy.” At that point Ashley couldn’t hold back, and she died laughing.

  “At least someone finds you amusing,” Abby laughed.

  “Maki, have you found anything like this?” I asked over both of them.

  “Tadeas, I think in your case, it’s very different. The soul bond between you is one thing. Abby told us what Gregory said about Lincoln. I believe that bond is the red strand, not the purple. You would give your life for her without hesitation. It’s your guardian nature. Lincoln just tied it to her specifically. I started looking more into the bond between shaman and jaguar. The ultimate goal for a Mayan shaman was to become the jaguar. The jaguar was considered fierce, but wise. Jaguars were also considered to have a psychic sight. This parallels with Abby’s natural instincts. All of these things make the bond between the both of you extremely powerful. As corny as it might sound, but it could be that you both become of one mind. Frankly, I think it could be a mystical bonding beyond anything on record in the Agency.”

  “Maki, you sure know how to put a damper on things,” I replied.

  “You asked,” he responded.

  “I know, Brother. Thank you. Ashley?” I said, knowing she was listening.

  “Yeah?”

  “Chill out!”

  “Do what I said!” she laughed, and Abby hung up the phone.

  “What did she say to do?”

  “You know,” I said.

  “That thing you accused me of not saying?”

  I laughed, “Yes, but she had no problem saying it. Outside of the building. Very loudly when the angel was there, but I didn’t realize it was an angel at that point.”

  Abby held the rose in her lap as it continued to gleam.

  “That’s Ashley,” she laughed.

  “You going to take down the block?” This would be the last time that I pushed on the matter. She was still apprehensive about it and didn’t answer. I reached over and held her hand in mine. “I’m with you whatever you decide.”

  “I will, but let’s wait until we get back. Just in case,” she said. I knew everything would be fine, but she continued to doubt herself. Just holding her hand, I realized that I didn’t have to be kissing her to get the emotions from her. Just touching her was enough. She knew and squeezed my hand.

  “Did Overton send you any details?” I asked.

  “Yes, I got an email saying that a crew member found a circle and several large holes. The descriptions reminded me of the hole that Meredith opened in the bottom of the compound. I wish I knew how she did it. It all ties back to the Osmium and the GEA. I just don’t know. I thought we should look into this, because they have been quiet since Boulder,” she said.

  “We do need to look into every lead. I can’t see why a little town in Alabama would make a difference though,” he said.

  “Well, considering it’s a mining town, there will be deep holes into the earth. It’s possible they don’t have enough wizards to enact a plan. Meredith opened a hole big enough to swallow the compound and cause the earthquake, but there was no real damage in the city of Boulder. They may need big holes that are already like abandoned mine shafts. I wouldn’t put it past them to use active shafts. If they create small earthquake in strategic places, then you might get a bigger result,” she said sadly.

  “Like large land masses falling into the ocean,” I said.

 
; She grimaced. “Just like that.”

  “In one mile turn right on Alabama Highway 216,” the car’s navigator voice interrupted our conversation. I followed the instructions. The windshield was covered in a fine mist as it started to precipitate outside.

  “The weather isn’t going to cooperate. We probably won’t find anyone,” I said.

  “Who knows? I’ve never been to Alabama. Meredith was recruited from this state,” she said.

  “Yeah, I know.” I thought about my ex-friend. Occasionally, she would get upset about something, and the southern accent would come out of her. I always teased her about it, but it was unique. She covered it most of the time. Then my memories drifted on how she drugged me and tried to kill Abby and myself. I decided to forget Meredith existed.

  “Sorry, I brought her up. I won’t say it again,” she said.

  “You know plenty without unblocking me,” I laughed.

  “You can bring up some of my old boyfriends if it makes you feel better,” she said.

  “She wasn’t,” I started to say, but laughed at myself. “Yes, let’s talk about your old boyfriends.” I tried to concentrate on the road. Alabama highway 216 proved to be quite curvy.

  “I know there are things on that subject we haven’t discussed. I had no idea that Lincoln’s daughter would ever influence my life after he died. I never would have guessed,” she said.

  “Any other old boyfriend offspring I need to know about?” I teased her.

  “No, outside of Lincoln, Lukas and one other, there wasn’t anyone serious,” she said. I realized that we had built what we had without knowing what was in each other’s past. She avoided talking about Lincoln’s death, but the more I learned about him, I knew that he must have sacrificed himself for her. I also knew she blamed herself for what happened to Lincoln and Lukas. I didn’t know there was anyone else, but I didn’t need to know details. I told Ashley in California that I wasn’t concerned about her relationship with Lukas, but I lied. Now, I knew her heart was mine, and it no longer bothered me.

  “Over the years, I had a couple of very short relationships. I think the longest one was a week, and I can’t even tell you her name,” I offered.

  “It only takes one time,” she grinned.

  “Thanks Dr. Obvious. I had my birds and bees talk from a Catholic Priest. Talk about uncomfortable!” I laughed.

  “That actually sounds pretty horrible,” she said. “There is an old high school building up here. We are going to try to circle around it and park behind it. It’s on the left just ahead.” We turned down a road that split between the football field and the old school. They were demolishing the building, but we found a spot behind the remaining buildings. We got out of the car and grabbed our gear out of the back. She pulled her hair back. The mist had turned into a light rain. I was glad she grabbed the jackets.

  She opened her right palm, and a shiny metallic orb appeared. It turned to liquid almost immediately and undulated as she motioned it outward. It flattened as she waved her hands as if she were physically stretching it. It grew to the same size as the car. She flipped her wrists like putting a sheet on a bed, and the silver metallic substance rested down over the car. I walked around it. It mirrored whatever was behind the opposite side and completely concealed the car. The magic impressed me. I’d seen her magical skills in various ways, but this was delicate and effective. She smiled at me admiring it.

  “We’ve got a good walk,” she said.

  “Lead the way,” I said looking around at our surroundings. It was quiet except for the rain.

  “Let’s try to do this quickly and get out of here. I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” she said.

  I, too, felt uneasy. She set out in a brisk jog, and I flanked her on the left. She ran past the school and a baseball field. We crossed a small road, and an open dirt field. Once we hit the tree line, we slowed. The underbrush was thick with fallen limbs and pine needles. She weaved her way through the trees. I stayed close and listened all around me. Frequently, I would switch my sight to view the world as a cat. There were plenty of small creatures in the woods, but nothing very large. Then I heard it and froze in place. A familiar rumbling growl echoed in the trees. I grabbed her arm yanking her back to my body.

  “What was that?” she said.

  “Cat. Big one,” I said.

  “Are you kidding me?” she said. I felt her shiver. “Whole new meaning to cat fight?”

  I had to laugh at her. “Seriously?”

  I looked around through the trees and the rain, but I saw nothing. Letting my jaguar senses flood over me, I couldn’t smell it or see it. “I don’t see anything. Just stay close, okay?”

  “Okay,” she said holding my hand. We walked into a clearing with a huge pumping rig.

  “Oil pump?” I asked.

  “It’s a natural gas pump jack,” she said.

  “This is where it’s supposed to be.” The pump jack had a chain link fence around it. The area was littered with beer cans indicating it was a hangout spot for the younger generation.

  “See anything in the spectrum?” I asked.

  She took a deep breath with her eyes closed then opened them. “Hm, this way,” she said walking into the woods to our right. We came to a small clearing with stones laid in a large circle. Inside the circle was a deep hole. She walked across the circle to the hole.

  “Would you please stay away from the edge of that thing?” I said.

  “I’ve had enough of deep holes. I’m just looking,” she said, backing off for my benefit. “It’s been two or three days since the circle was used. We need to call back to the team. Aiden should take a look at this area. See if he can find any geological surveys. He might even have to come out here to take a look at it,” she said pulling out her cell phone.

  “Abby, Aiden can’t look at it,” I reminded her.

  “Shit. I’ll call Vince,” she said grimacing at the phone.

  “No service?” I said.

  “None. We should go back. Nothing we can do here,” she said. We barely hit the edge of the woods when I felt someone approaching. She turned to me, sensing it too. I pulled one of my Sigs and waved her to me. We crouched next to a tree with some bushes at the bottom. She held the staff in her hand. I switched to my sight, and I saw a single figure approaching us.

  “He has a shotgun. He’s approaching from our right. He has it raised and ready. Don’t move. Hopefully, he won’t see us,” I said, and she nodded.

  “Come on out. I’ve seen you both. You are trespassin’ on this property,” he spoke with a thick southern accent. “Don’t make me start shootin’.”

  “I don’t want to shoot anyone or get shot again,” she said. She stood with her hands raised leaving the staff on the ground.

  “Hey, I think we got a little lost out here. Could you point us back toward the high school?” she asked sweetly with no trace of British accent.

  “Tell the boy to stand up too,” he growled.

  I laid the gun down at my foot and stood with my hands up.

  “Hey man, we were just checking out the pump jack back there. Looks like there was one hell of a party,” I said.

  “You ain’t fooling me. The two of ya over there at that big hole. What you know about that?” he said. His face was still shrouded in darkness.

  “Nothing, sir. We do apologize. To be honest, we thought it would be fun to come out here, and you know,” she said.

  “You still can’t say it,” I teased.

  “Shut up. He has a gun on us.”

  “He’s harmless.”

  “I’ll remind you of that when we are picking buckshot out of your butt,” she said.

  “Your hands on my butt. Sign me up.”

  “Tadeas!” she shouted in my head. I laughed loudly.

  “What’s so damn funny? You a border bandit, ain’t ya?” said the man.

  “What’s a border bandit?” I asked.

  “He thinks you are here illegally,” she said.


  “Oh, no sir, I assure you. I am legal,” I said.

  “Neither of you look like witches,” he said. I felt her flare with concern, and her heart rate picked up.

  “Witches? Are there witches out here?” she asked.

  “Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night,” he said. I was suddenly confused, but Abby relaxed.

  “And when you move, fall like a thunderbolt,” she returned to him with full British accent.

  “You are her,” he said.

  “Depends on who ‘her’ is,” she smiled at him. “It’s okay. He’s crew.”

  “Secret phrase?”

  “Sun Tzu quote. We use them to identify friendlies in just these types of situations. I need to teach you a few.” I shook my head and laughed.

  “How did I not know that?”

  “It’s regional. The proxies pick their quotes. The rest of us learn them all. I forgot about the simple code,” she explained.

  “You are the head lady,” he said.

  She offered her hand to him, “Abigail Davenport.” He shook her hand jovially.

  “Micah Kyzer,” he replied and spit on the ground to his right.

  “You are crew. Did you call Overton?” she asked.

  “Yeah, I did. There are some strange things happening out here,” he said.

  “I agree. I’m going to send a team out to check out the hole. Do you own the land?” she asked.

  “No. I’ve just been pretending since I found the circle. There are two others just north of highway 216,” he explained.

  “I’ll send someone out tomorrow. Can they meet you somewhere, and you show them the places?” she asked.

  “Yeah sure, there is a burger joint down 216 about a mile. They can meet me tomorrow afternoon around 1pm. Thanks for coming to take a look . I never imagined they would send you,” he said.

  “Oh, forgive my rudeness, this is Tadeas Duarte. He’s my partner,” she said. I shook his hand.

  “Sorry about calling you a bandit. I was trying to provoke you. See what you two were really about, you know,” he said.

  “No problem, man. Hell, I’d never heard the term,” I said. The rain poured heavier. “We should head back, Abby. Get out of this rain. Thank you, Mr. Kyzer, for reporting this to us.”