Reflections

by Susan Griscom

Addison surprised him when she said, “I don’t think it sounds all that crazy. At least what Maia learned will help her relax a bit about what is happening and not worry about the babies using their abilities.”

  “I didn’t get the chance to tell her about my findings. There were other more pressing things to talk about, but we’ll let her know.”

  When they first met, Cael and Addison had tried to figure out why her abilities had never shown up when she was younger. They didn’t appear until she met Cael, when she was halfway into her twenties. They always figured it was because her father didn’t use his abilities around her and she had never witnessed anyone else’s either, therefore the pheromones required for an ability to work were never triggered. But they had been wrong. Gerry was proof of that. He and Cael had a very lengthy discussion about it the day they’d gone to Scotland. Gerry met him at the pub after seeing his dad and they’d had a couple of pints. Cael confessed his problem with Addison’s fears of having a baby with him. Gerry told him all about his first experience with his own ability. Back then, there had never been a person Gerry knew aside from Aiden that used their ability around him, and Aiden’s first use of his own power came after Gerry’s.

  “Maia’s concerns about the voice and the visions of herself are natural, but I didn’t know she was worried about the twins being born with the capacity to use their powers,” he said, knowing they were actually Addison’s fears. He smiled, realizing he’d been able to reduce some of Addison’s concerns about having a baby with him, glad that sharing his findings with her might change her mind.

  He was even more surprised when she pulled herself up on all fours and straddled him. When she bent down to kiss him, he placed his fingers at the nape of her neck, accepting what he realized she suddenly needed to give him. The passion and heat in the kiss had him instantly hard and he tugged her silk nightgown up over her head, tossing it on the floor beside him. It had been a long time, at least two days since they’d had sex—an eternity as far as he was concerned. Addison’s worries about Breena being able to hear them or having the little girl walk in on them during their love-making put an instant stop to the act. He had to admit, having a young girl in the next room had its negative aspects. Tonight though, Addison seemed different, a bit more uninhibited and exuberant. The conversation they just had must have helped. She seemed more relaxed about the whole situation now, and besides, Breena was a sound sleeper and not likely to wake. He’d come to learn this fact the other night after dropping the metal lid to the frying pan on the hard tile kitchen floor. It clanged so loudly, reverberating throughout the house, he thought for sure Breena would wake up. The kid could probably sleep through an earthquake.

  Cael pulled Addison up so he could touch the soft heaven he was about to plunge into, ecstatic to find her already wet; he knew he’d never last long enough this time to satisfy her. Fortunately for her, he had the ability to recover very quickly.

  ***

  Fears of babies with abilities, uncertainties of what would happen to Maia and concern about the sleeping child in the next room were difficult to ignore. The fact that there was nothing they could do at the moment to aid Maia helped ease the guilt of the selfish act of making love to the man Addie loved with all her heart. The new information Cael ascertained eased some of those concerns. Maybe it would be fine. But this time, this night, she remained on the pill. Besides, she really had huge plans and the perfect wedding dress in mind for when she and Cael would marry, which didn’t include a protruding stomach. Putting all those thoughts to rest in some far corner of her mind, she kissed Cael, reveling in the softness of his lips as her tongue seemed to become one with his. His strong hands slid down her sides then back up to her breasts, teasing a nipple between his finger and thumb before tasting it with his tongue and sucking gently with his lips the way that drove her crazy. His fingers danced down her stomach and flitted between her legs. She had to catch herself as she almost cried out with pleasure.

  Her hips rose involuntarily while his fingers played inside her, tantalizing her. Leaving her breasts, he glided his tongue down the same path on her stomach his hands had just taken, slowly leaving soft kisses along the way. When he reached her most sensitive spot, her breath hitched as his hands held her bottom and his tongue … that magnificent tongue … did that little swirly thing, making her tremble from deep inside.

  “Cael,” she spoke his name softly, but pleadingly. She reached for him, but he was too far away. I want to touch you. I need to touch you, please. She just couldn’t keep her mind from thinking about wrapping her hands around him, wanting to give him as much pleasure as he gave her.

  Cael kissed the inside of both her thighs before retracing his kisses back up to her breasts. Now baby, now. I want you to touch me, now. Hold me, glide me in. I need to be inside. “Take me in,” he whispered aloud before kissing her neck, then her lips. The passion and heat enveloped her as he thrust into her and she thought she would explode right then. With her hands tightly grasping his buttocks, she pulled him in deeper and deeper until she felt him explode inside as her own orgasm burst from within, mingling with his.

  ***

  Cael held on to Addison as though she might disappear if he were to let go. God, how he loved this woman. His body half on top of her, half beside her, he listened to the pounding of her heart keeping time with his own. A rhythm. The perfect love song. Addison giggled, and then whispered, “I like that, our very own love song.”

  Breena’s cry jolted them from their satiated state and Cael and Addison jumped out of bed, scrambling for some clothes. Addison grabbed her robe and shrugged into it as she ran from the room. Cael had one leg in his pants and hopped to the door while trying to get the other leg in. Once he got his pants up and zipped, he dematerialized, reappearing in the study to find Addison cradling Breena in her arms, cooing softly in her ear. “It’s okay. You’re okay. Shhhh …” as Breena’s whimper subsided.

  “I had a bad dream.”

  “Aw, it’s okay now. You’re okay.”

  “I’ve never had a bad dream before. I don’t like them.”

  Cael sat on the small bed close behind Addison, reached his hand out and stroked Breena’s pink-flushed cheek. “It’s okay, squirt. Everybody has a bad dream occasionally. They’re not real. They can’t hurt you.” He thought it strange that she had never had a nightmare before, especially with the gifts she had. Being able to see someone’s future, even if it was only for twelve hours or so, and her empathic ability were sure to cause some anxiety. Knowing others’ fears and emotions couldn’t be fun, but he supposed his mother had helped shield her from as much as possible. The gloves she often wore helped immensely to keep her from seeing other people’s future. Breena was one of the rare few who developed some of their talents at a very early age. He remembered how annoying she’d been as a preschooler. Never knowing what was appropriate and what wasn’t, she’d tell every detail of someone’s short-term future. Luckily, it only took one x-rated scene before his mother came up with the glove idea, but gloves didn’t help much during an embrace. He felt sorry for Breena and wished he knew of a way she could shield her abilities. Her father, Stefan, had been Cael’s best friend. He owed him out of respect and love to see that his daughter grew up in safe environment, one without fear. Stefan and his beautiful wife, Claire, had been victims of Eidolon, a fact Cael had recently discovered in a letter from Addison’s father. Up until that point, Cael, as well as everyone else, always thought they’d died in a plane crash, but evidently, Eidolon tampered with the plane, making the crash look accidental. Guilt still inched its way into the back of Cael’s mind whenever he thought about them. If only he had teleported them that day, they would not have been on that airplane. He blinked to clear the tragic memory from his head. How had Stefan dealt with those unwelcome and intruding powers? Cael remembered how Stefan would always take a couple steps back when someone held out their hand for him to shake, and look around the room as if searching for someone or so
mething, pretending not to notice the outstretched hand. After several ignored handshakes, he too donned gloves—black leather ones. They had seemed so natural on him Cael had forgotten he wore them.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” Addison asked.

  Breena shook her head. “No.” She pushed back from Addison and looked into Cael’s eyes. “Yes. Um … I’ll try. I don’t think I can describe it. It was weird. Some man, I don’t know, I couldn’t see his face, but he had Maia. She was crying, begging him to release her. Is Maia okay?”

  Cael glanced at Addison, not sure how much to tell Breena. She was only a child, but he knew she’d find out soon enough. It wasn’t easy keeping things from her. Her father had been the same way. “She’s fine. She did have to go away, but she’ll be back.”

  “It looked like she was in jail,” Breena said.

  Cael and Addison stared at each other for a moment, before Cael said, “She is in jail, but it’s all a big mistake.”

  “What did she do?”

  “Nothing,” Addison said. “Someone, someone bad has hurt somebody and they think Maia knows something about it, that’s all.”

  “But why would they lock her up if she only knows something? She could just tell them and go home. They think she did it, don’t they?”

  Breena was too smart to try to hide the truth. Addison nodded.

  “But why?”

  Cael decided to lay it all out. “They have some evidence against her, but we all know she’s innocent and we’re going to work at figuring out the truth and clearing her of the charges.”

  “She didn’t do it.” Breena shook her head. “I don’t know who did, but Maia didn’t kill that singer woman.”

  “How do you know it was Careen who was murdered?” Addison asked.

  “My dream, I guess. Weird, huh?” Breena paused, then added, “This sucks.”

  “Yeah, it does,” Cael agreed, understanding Breena wasn’t only talking about the murder or Maia’s incarceration but also the dream ability.

  Chapter 22

  Morgues are for Dead People

  Cael materialized on the beach behind the rocks that jetted out from the cliff, the yellow police tape around the area where Careen’s body had been found still up as he’d expected. He didn’t think he’d find anything substantial here, but then, he’d never thought he would find Addison’s fingerprints all over that broken beer bottle a few months back either, implicating her in the murder of the three women Eidolon killed. The only good thing that came from that discovery was the fact that the piece of glass played an important part in identifying the real killer.

  He scanned the beach, making sure no one else was snooping around before he left the security of the rocks. He wasn’t hiding his investigative curiosity from anyone, but he didn’t need any questions about how he’d gotten there since he teleported instead of driving Addison’s truck. He squinted as he looked around. The sun glowed orange as it made its slow ascent into the sky. Six-fifteen in the morning was a hell of a time to be at the beach in February, particularly in Oregon. Cold didn’t even begin to describe the chill in his balls. Satisfied no one else had the insane idea to investigate the crime scene so early on this God-forsaken frigid morning, Cael tugged up the collar of his leather jacket and stepped out from behind the rocks. With his hands in his pockets, he strolled to where the strips of tape, held down in the sand with metal stakes, still showed the outline of Careen’s body. He studied the sand where her torso had been, stained red from her blood.

  He glanced out at the sea. Her body had been placed up high on the beach so that the tide couldn’t wash away any evidence. Curious. Somebody wanted to make sure she’d be found with the knife, covered with Maia’s prints, still in her heart. Cael didn’t sense anything as he scanned the area for signs of something unusual, some clue, some shred of evidence to clear Maia. As he stared at the bloody spot in the middle of the tape figure, he slowly shook his head. “What a waste. Who did you piss off, anyway?” he said as if Careen’s body still lay in the sand.

  He looked up when he heard one car door slam and then another. Thankful he’d gotten there when he had, he watched Lieutenant Whelan and Chief Thompson walk down the path from the parking lot.

  “Detective,” the chief said.

  “Morning.” Cael nodded at the two cops. “Any changes since you arrested Maia MacKenna?”

  “No. None.”

  “You know you have the wrong person.”

  “That may be, but we have no other leads at the moment.” The chief stared down at the taped outline in the sand. “Stopped by here to see if maybe we missed something, but I don’t see how. Nothing here but sand, kelp, blood, and seagulls.”

  “How is she?”

  He looked up at Cael, who towered over the chief by about a half a foot. “Holding up. I checked on her this morning. She’s a strong woman; I have a lot of respect for Maia. I’d like to release her as soon as possible, so I’m hoping the results of the autopsy will provide a breakthrough. Listen, we are about to head over to see Nelson. You were a huge help with the last murders, want to tag along?”

  “Thought you’d never ask.”

  “Great, you want to follow us?”

  “Uh … no. I walked here.” When both men gave him an incredulous stare Cael added, “Jogged. Morning ritual.” He glanced down at himself; of course he wasn’t wearing the proper clothes for jogging, but at least he had on running shoes.

  ***

  The hallway smelled of a mixture of bleach, ammonia and death. Walking into the morgue gave Cael a shiver as he remembered being here a few months back. The girl on the slab then had looked almost identical to Addison. She’d been drugged with Ecstasy and Rohypnol then shot up with Ketamine, a horse tranquilizer known as Special K on the streets. Eidolon had injected it to the inside of her left big toe, completely shutting down the girl’s respiratory system. He’d wanted it to look like an overdose, but Nelson was good at his job and found the pinprick spot after he’d gotten the toxicology report back.

  The last time Cael witnessed Nelson at work, the guy struck him as a man incapable of picking out his own clothes. Today the same theory ran through Cael’s mind as he took in the outfit under the white lab coat. A bright red shirt and the equally bright yellow tie, not adorned with kittens like the last one, but with … what the hell were those things? Maybe turtles? The guy’s clearly a fan of animals. Like the last time, Nelson’s peppery gray hair was pulled back, and hung to the middle of his back, fashioned with a ribbon the same color as his shirt. A pair of protective goggles that made him look similar to a loony scuba diver rested on his forehead. Cael wondered if they were a permanent fixture; probably, considering his line of work. He wouldn’t mind coming back another time just to see what other ensembles the man had.

  Cael glanced at Nelson’s faded old blue jeans—an odd paring with the rest of his outfit. Not important, Cael told himself as the figure under the sheet on the table drew his eyes unwillingly. It didn’t take a good fashion sense to be a good medical examiner.

  “Come on in, gentlemen. Oh hey, nice to see you again. Cael, right?” Nelson said excitedly.

  Cael nodded. “Yeah … uh, good to see you too?” He hadn’t meant to end the statement like a question, but he wasn’t sure it was good to see Nelson, considering they were once again looking at a dead woman on a metal table.

  Nelson held out his hand to shake Cael’s, then immediately pulled it back. “Sorry, don’t want to contaminate the gloves. Grab some of your own and come on over here.” Nelson gestured to the box of rubber gloves on the counter and walked to the table where Careen’s body lay, covered by a sheet. “You guys always show up at the right time. I’ve just discovered what killed our pretty little singer here.”

  ***

  Gerry had tossed and turned all night. Opening his eyes and looking toward the window, he noticed the cloud cover giving the morning a macabre and gloomy appearance. Fit with his fucking mood. He missed Maia. Not havin
g her body beside him tore into his soul. He rolled to his other side and leaned over to look at the clock on the nightstand beside the bed. Six twenty-five in the fucking morning and he hadn’t really slept at all, worrying about Maia. How had the kitchen knife with her prints, her knife, ended up being the murder weapon? He knew she didn’t care for Careen. Hell, he couldn’t blame her. Careen was all over him, constantly in his face, in Maia’s face, like stale air, making threats. Maia certainly had reason to kill Careen or at least want her dead, but she would never want that or even wish that about anyone, enemy or not. Right? Christ, he just didn’t know anymore. The evidence was right there. He supposed it was possible Careen called, asked Maia to meet her at the beach and then maybe pushed too hard, got Maia mad enough. But why would Maia take the knife with her? For protection? He didn’t want to believe that Maia, his Maia was capable of murder. He switched to his other side again and stared at the blank sky.

  “No, Gerry.” The voice startled him.

  “Maia?”

  Maia’s face appeared in the glass of the window making Gerry sit up, rubbing his eyes and face hard, but the vision remained.

  “You can’t believe we are guilty of such an extremely wicked crime. You must not lose faith in us. Not this time, please.”

  “Not this time?”

  “You know I’m here from the future, but it doesn’t have to be your fate. Don’t let your heart harden. Don’t let my life sentence come to pass. Maia … did not kill Careen. You must believe her.”

  ***

  Maia woke with a start; the unfamiliar surroundings were cold and she was lonely. Slivers of light trickled in through the gap between the floor and the heavy door leading to the outer office. Her back ached and her head hurt from a restless sleep. She was starving and she had to use the toilet again. When Chief Thompson came in earlier that morning to check on her it had still been dark outside, as the sun had just begun to rise. It had been a good thing he’d come back when he did, because she was about to have to use that God-awful little metal toilet. He let her out to the one in the office but now she had to go again. Surely Cheryl would be in soon with food and would let her out to go to the private bathroom. Why didn’t they have some sort of communication system so Maia could let them know she had to go? Maia didn’t know which hurt more, her head, her empty stomach, her back or her bladder. And on top of everything else, the twins were restless too.