by Kallysten
It felt strange to hear such uncertainty in Jack’s voice. It was so very unlike him. Daisy ignored her uneasiness and continued to press him. “Dark?” she repeated. “Where was it dark?”
“We were in her lair. There were…torches? Or maybe candles? Flames. I remember flames. Maybe we were underground. There was a bed. We…” His face paled suddenly. “We had sex. I had sex with that girl. That vampire.” He shook his head and a grimace twisted his mouth. “Why would I—”
“What was her name?” Daisy cut in sharply. “Do you remember her name?”
Jack passed a hand through his hair and blinked. “What? Whose name?”
Daisy stifled her sigh, allowing her tense body to relax, her shoulders to slump in relief.
“Did I…” Jack licked his lips then turned a questioning look to Woods. “Did we do the vision thing yet?”
Woods nodded cautiously.
“So why can’t I remember?” Jack asked, frustration thick and heavy in his words.
Woods threw an exasperated glance at Daisy and opened his mouth. She gave him a pleading look. If Jack had forgotten, there was no point in reminding him—wasn’t that what Woods had said earlier when Brett had started to forget?
A tiny frown flickered on his brow and when he looked back at Jack he seemed uncertain. “Sometimes it doesn’t work,” he said hesitantly, as though he expected Jack to immediately call him a liar.
Jack only gave him a puzzled look. “Why not?”
Woods shrugged then continued more naturally, as though succeeding with his first lie made a second one easier to produce. “Hostility. You didn’t really want to do this, to see. Because you already know. You knew the moment she walked off that balcony, didn’t you?”
Jack’s frown revealed that Woods had guessed correctly. His expression was the same as it had been earlier, when he had demanded that Woods tell him what Lydia had seen. Daisy decided to intervene before the déjà vu could become even more pronounced.
“Jack…” She patted his shoulder gently. “Love is a funny thing. You may lose Lydia but you’ll find someone else. And maybe you’ll both be happier for it.”
Jack still seemed uncertain, but at least the anger had faded from his eyes. He looked back and forth between Daisy and Woods as though asking them to witness his words. “But I love her. I love Lydia more than anything in the world.”
There was such a deep note of pleading in his words that Daisy felt a rush of intense sympathy for him. She rubbed his back gently, wishing she could tell him that everything would be fine. She had had her doubts about Lydia and Jack for a long time. They loved each other, she was sure, but it wasn’t always enough.
“I know you do,” she said softly. “So why are you here and not with her? It doesn’t matter what she saw. Not as long as you two are in love.”
For a second she was sure Jack would challenge her on the ‘as long as’ part of her reassurances. In the end, all he did was nod and mutter a quiet, “You’re right. Thank you.”
He gave her a quick hug, but even as she patted his back Daisy couldn’t stop herself from shivering; he felt so cold against her. He pulled away then he held his hand out to shake Woods’ a little awkwardly.
“Thank you, too. And I’m sorry if I was rough before. I didn’t mean to be, I just…”
His voice trailed off and he shrugged as he let go of Woods’ hand.
“I understand,” Woods said. “I really do. Good luck, Jack.”
Another nod and half smile, and Jack started for the door. Daisy opened it for him and watched him walk back all the way to his car. She didn’t close the door until he had driven out of sight. When she turned back to Woods, he was standing a few feet away, observing her so intently that she suddenly felt defensive. She crossed her arms over her chest and raised her chin just a fraction of an inch.
“What?” she snapped.
“You did that on purpose,” Woods said calmly, and she wasn’t sure whether she heard a hint of reproach in his voice or not.”You made him forget. You asked him so many questions he forgot as fast as Brett did.”
Daisy didn’t deny it. She wasn’t proud of what she had done, but she didn’t regret it either. “You disapprove?” she asked coolly. “It’s the same thing you told Brad. If they don’t like what they see, all they have to do is talk about it until they forget.”
Woods observed at her for a moment as though he had never seen her until now, then shook his head. “No, I don’t disapprove. I think he’d have forgotten very quickly regardless. I just didn’t think you’d play games like this.”
“I’m not playing games,” Daisy protested. “He was unhappy. He was freaking out! This is why some people shouldn’t know about the future.”
Woods picked up on her slip of the tongue immediately. “Some people?” he repeated, his eyebrows climbing halfway up his forehead. “Does that mean it’s okay for other people?”
Daisy let out a frustrated sigh. “I didn’t mean—”
“But that’s what you said,” Woods cut in.
“I just think he’d have been happier not doing this at all. Not knowing what’s ahead of him. Who wants to see themselves dying?”
“I didn’t know that was what he would see. And he did make a choice that will make him happy in the end.”
Daisy bristled in annoyance. How could Woods even say something like that? “He’ll be a vampire! The thing he hates! How could he be happy?”
“He hates that vampires kill,” Woods said slowly. “If he doesn’t kill, if he manages to convince his Sire not to kill either, he can stay true to who he is. To what he believes.”
Taken aback, Daisy stared at him for few moments. No, she wasn’t imagining things. He had just told her about Jack’s vision.
“I thought you didn’t talk about other people’s visions.”
Out of the blue, she wondered if Woods had any interest in playing poker. His expression certainly wouldn’t have been out of place in a high-stakes tournament.
“I don’t,” he replied evenly. “Jack told you about his vision. I just made hypothetical statements. If.”
Despite Woods’ detached look, Daisy could see right through him. She was sure he had just told her more than he was supposed to. She didn’t know if it had been on purpose, but there was no doubt in her mind that he regretted it already. She could have tried to get more information or even a simple confirmation that this was truly what would happen, that Jack would try not to kill even after he was turned. She could agree with Woods on one point, however: as much as she liked Jack, this was his life, his future, and she had no right to know more about it than he did. She decided to let the topic drop.
“Have you read Special Enforcers before?” she asked, wondering if the question was vague enough that Woods might answer it.
He seemed to wonder the same thing for a few seconds, but finally replied. “I’ve met a few, but only one ever wanted a vision. Other than Jack, I mean.”
They had both picked up a few plates and glasses as the conversation moved to a safer level and he followed her to the kitchen. She started loading the dishwasher, and he handed her what he had brought over. It felt oddly domestic.
“Is it just S.E.s that don’t care for your visions?” she asked. “Or are there other professions that are reluctant too?”
“Nothing as clear cut as Special Enforcers,” he replied when they returned to the dining room to get the last of the dishes. “I think a lot of them are afraid they might see themselves becoming vampires.”
“It has to be their worst nightmare,” Daisy said, remembering with a pang the expression of pure distress on Jack’s features when he had emerged from his vision. “To become the same thing they have hunted, I mean.”
“For most of them that has to be hard to consider, yes.”
They went back to the kitchen and repeate
d the loading process. An absentminded look fluttered across Woods’ features. After a few moments he added, “But not all of them feel that way. I mean, if it was a S.E. who was already in love with a vampire, or even mated to one, he might be wondering about allowing her to turn him. Wondering how much it would change him, and whether it’s something he could agree to.”
“What do you mean, mated?” Daisy asked. She had never heard the term in this context before.
“Usually it’s between two vampires,” he explained. “They bite each other and something happens, it’s… I don’t know, magic or something. They become linked forever.”
Daisy had started transferring what remained of the hors d’oeuvre from the trays to a smaller plate. Woods went to get another plate and helped her finish.
“So, this mating thing,” she said, “it works between vampires and humans too?”
“Apparently. I never even knew about it until I read—”
He cut himself short abruptly and finished with a little cough. Daisy glanced at him, noticing his sudden embarrassment. He had definitely said more than he meant to this time.
She decided not to mention it. It wasn’t as though she knew that Special Enforcer, after all, and Woods hadn’t given her enough details to ever figure out who it was if she wanted to try. For that matter, he hadn’t even said what the vision had been exactly.
Still, Daisy’s curiosity was piqued, and she couldn’t help but wonder whether that guy had decided to let himself be turned or not. It would have been a complete reversal of his identity, and, as Jack had just demonstrated, it would be excruciating. But sometimes change seemed the only way to go forward. Knowing that didn’t make it any easier, however.
“Hypothetically,” she asked, observing Woods closely in case his expression answered even if he chose not to reply. “Do you think that Special Enforcer would go through it? Could he accept such a big change?”
If that unknown man could adapt to such a different life, then maybe Jack would be able to find happiness as well, even if it wasn’t in any way he would ever have imagined, or even in a way he could have comprehended after he had seen it.
“Hypothetically, I think he might do it,” Woods replied, obviously weighing and measuring each word. “Not for himself, but for her, so he wouldn’t condemn her to madness and death when he died.”
Forgetting what she was doing, Daisy kept her eyes on him as she replayed his words in her mind. How much of what he said was something he had seen or heard? And how much was a conclusion he had inferred from that vision—and the many others he had experienced before and after it? To experience so many situations like this, to witness so many choices must have given him an insight into the human mind that most couldn’t dream of.
She was still watching him after a few moments had passed, and he shrugged one shoulder uncomfortably and said in a defensive tone, “You’re staring at me.”
Daisy blinked and looked away at once. “I’m sorry, I was just thinking… I think I’ll pick up your book, one of these days.”
“Why?” Woods asked after a beat. “There aren’t any visions in it. It’s all just general advice.”
“I know,” Daisy said with a nod. She knew this already, having browsed through the book once, at Helen’s place, reading only enough to find it wasn’t a series of supposedly real stories as she had believed. “I just think I’d like to see what someone who has seen the outcome of so many dilemmas has to say about relationships.”
She glanced at Woods again. An open mouth gave away his complete surprise. He snapped his mouth shut and picked up an empty tray, but a small smile showed that, beyond his surprise, he was pleased too.
“I’ll give you a copy next time I see you. If you really want to read it, I mean.”
“That’d be nice, thank you,” she replied automatically, but as she gathered the last of the crumpled paper napkins, she had to wonder if the offer was Woods’ way of saying he wanted to see her again.
And if it was…
Daisy was surprised to realize that she wouldn’t mind seeing Woods again after that night—just as long as he didn’t offer again to give her a vision.
Final Vision of Destiny - Sam
The New Year was there; the party, over. Remnants of food and drink, empty plates and glasses bore testimony to the soiree that had taken place in the ocean-side cottage. Daisy felt cold.
Earlier, with her friends around her, celebrating the realm of possibilities the brand new year was opening to all of them, the possibilities—and certainties—that the seer Sam Woods had showed them in visions of their future, Daisy had felt full of life, full of warmth. And while she had refused a vision of her own future, she had been heartened to see that, for everyone, a happy ending was ahead. Maybe she could hope for one of her own, too.
Everything had changed with Brad’s vision, then Jack’s.
Neither Brad nor Woods had explained in details what they had seen, but Daisy had put the clues together and understood that her friend Joan, Brad’s girlfriend, was to die before her time. Woods had refused to tell Daisy more, and even his claim that Joan would be happy before she passed away had not soothed Daisy’s unease. She couldn’t help but wonder how long her friend had. Joan had mentioned seeing two sons in her vision, so at least a few years? How would Daisy manage to look at her friend without saying anything? She had to, though. Scaring Joan would not help her in the least.
Jack’s fate was equally troubling. He had left the party early, upset when his girlfriend refused to share her vision with him, then returned after midnight to finally be shown his own future. His vision had left him confused and disoriented. Even now that he was gone, Daisy still felt the chill his anger had brought on the cottage. He had calmed down eventually, but she had seen how upset he was. She wondered how long he had before the events he had seen in his vision unfolded and whether he and his girlfriend Lydia would break up right away.
She couldn’t avoid the nagging feeling that, when they fell apart, she would bear part of the responsibility. She was the one who had contacted Woods and organized this soiree, after all. And even if Jack and Lydia weren’t meant to remain together as a couple, it looked like tonight’s events would precipitate their break-up.
“Are you all right?”
Daisy jumped, startled by Woods’ question, and nearly dropped the plates in her hands. She had almost forgotten he was still there. Forcing a smile to her lips, she blurted out a quick, “I’m fine,” that sounded entirely unconvincing.
“There’s nothing you can do,” he said quietly, as though he knew exactly what troubled her. “What is meant to happen will happen. It would have happened the same way if they had never seen these glimpses of their future.”
“But if they hadn’t,” Daisy said, unable to accept this, “they wouldn’t be upset now.”
Woods shook his head lightly. “They won’t be upset for long. They’ll think about it so much, they’ll forget fast. You know that. It’s why you made Jack talk so much.” He raised his hands, palms out, placating her next, predictable argument. “I know what you’re going to say: what was the point if they’ll just forget? But it was their choice. No one forced them to do this.”
Daisy searched for an argument to counter this, but she had to concede he was right. She had repeatedly told her friends they didn’t have to go through with it if they didn’t want to. They had asked her to invite Woods in spite of her misgivings, and they had had more than enough opportunity to change their minds. She couldn’t blame herself—or Woods.
Nodding tiredly, she conceded defeat, at least for now. She had no doubt that if she ever saw Woods again—or rather, when she saw him again—they would continue to debate whether he should keep giving visions. But debating was a far cry from the arguing they had done before, and she almost looked forward to it.
She changed the subject and asked, “Did you
drive here?”
“I did, yes.” Woods glanced toward the front door and scrubbed his fingers through his hair, causing it to stick out at odd angles. “But if you don’t mind, I think I need to clear my head a bit before I leave.”
She considered him with a critical eye. He seemed steady on his feet, and he wasn’t slurring his words. She couldn’t remember exactly how many glasses of wine she had brought him over the course of the evening. Was he intoxicated? Or maybe he was trying to find an excuse to stay a little longer. Was he still hoping to convince her to let him give her a vision?
“Did you drink too much?” she asked, suspicious.
“I think I might have,” he said with a small, almost apologetic smile. “That champagne was really good. But that’s not why.” He shrugged. “With so many visions so close together, reality gets a bit blurry sometimes. Like I can’t distinguish what’s real and what’s not.”
Daisy nodded to show she understood—or at least, she thought she did.
“Do you mind if I stay for a bit?” Woods asked.
“Of course not. You can even spend the night.” Realizing that her innocent offer could imply a much less innocent insinuation, Daisy hoped she wasn’t blushing and quickly added, “Do you want me to show you to the guest bedroom?”
If Woods caught her slip, he didn’t show it. “Thanks. Later? I think I’m going to go walk on the beach for a while. I can get down by that staircase on the side of the balcony, right?”
“Yes, I unlocked the gate.”
He started to turn away. Daisy hesitated, a hundred conflicting thoughts running through her mind. Could she… Should she?
“Sam?” she finally said, and his name was a rush of air from her lips. “Would you like… I mean… Would you care for company?”
Surprise flickered across his features, but it was quickly replaced by pleasure. “That would be nice.”
He preceded her onto the balcony and down the spiral staircase, even offering her his hand down onto the beach. She grinned and jumped down without his help, then wiggled her bare toes in the cool sand.