by Anise Eden
All three of them looked equally surprised. Ben and Pete exchanged puzzled glances, but no one seemed prepared to challenge my request.
Ben said slowly, “We’ll go get a table, then.”
“Okay!” I finger-waved. “See you in a few!”
Pete hooked his thumbs into his belt and frowned at me from beneath the brim of his cowboy hat. “What’s goin’ on, sis?”
“Don’t worry, it’s nothing to do with your wedding.”
“Phew!” Pete stretched his lean frame back and pushed his hat up, rubbing his hairline. “’Cause if you were gonna ask me to do somethin’ to surprise Kai… Let’s just say I’m doin’ as I’m told on this one, down to the letter.”
“Very wise.” Pete and Kai had just gotten engaged the previous week, but Kai was already in full wedding planning mode. I smiled at the formidable cowboy who was nonetheless cowed by his fiancé’s forceful will. “I just wanted to ask if there was any way you could contact Captain Abbott for me.”
Pete’s look of confusion was understandable. Captain Abbott could only be described as “prickly” on a good day, and since I didn’t exactly excel at following orders, our interactions the previous week had been a bit fraught. However, we’d ended things on a note of mutual respect, and I knew how much he liked Ben. “It’s about a surprise gift for Ben.”
After I explained what I wanted, Pete dropped his chin to his chest and rubbed his eyes for a full minute. Then I saw his shoulders shake with silent laughter. “I’ll tell ya what, sis. If you’re willin’ to ask Abbott for that, then you got it bad for Ben.”
With a sigh, I replied, “Yes, Pete, I got it bad, okay? Are you happy now?”
When he looked up, he was wearing a wide grin. “Yup. You know, Kai’s been talkin’ about us havin’ a double weddin’ with you and Ben.”
I gave him my driest smirk. “If you talk to Abbott for me, I’ll pretend I never heard you say that.”
He threw his hands up in surrender. “All right, I’ll ask him. Just don’t get your hopes up.”
I couldn’t help it; I kind of had gotten my hopes up. Pete’s reality check made my shoulders droop. “I know it’s a long shot.”
“It’s a fine idea, sis, and I hope it works out.” Pete smiled and pushed his hat back into place. “If that’s all you needed to talk to me about, I’d like to get down to dinner. As usual, Ben sat back bein’ lazy while I did all the heaving liftin’ on our boat trip. I could eat about six steaks right now.”
I smiled back. Ben, lazy? That would be the day. I had yet to find out what their boat trip was all about. I’d have to grill them over dinner.
• • •
“Muskrats?” Vani made a face like she was sucking on a sour candy. “What are those?”
Ben had requested a table for us in the far corner of the room, away from other diners. The dining room was about half-filled, with a soft candle-and-moonlit ambience. We were in the middle of yet another amazing meal of fresh seafood accompanied by various sauces and local vegetables. As it turned out, it probably wasn’t the best time for me to ask about Ben and Pete’s aquatic adventures. Then again, I’d had no way of knowing what was coming.
“They’re like big rats, only real musky,” Pete explained.
Vani’s fork stopped halfway to her mouth, then slowly returned to her plate.
“They’re just large rodents that live in the marsh,” Ben said, trying too late to make the conversation sound normal. “The pelt is quite valuable, actually. They use it to make those Russian ushanka hats.”
“Oh.” Vani appeared relieved that the topic had shifted to hats. “Those are quite beautiful.”
“Expensive, too, so there’s a healthy trade in muskrat fur around here,” Ben said. “We were out examining the perimeter of the property along the water when we ran into two guys checking their traps.”
“From what we could tell, their traps were right up on Mercier property,” Pete added. “So we asked how they got past security, and they just laughed it off, sayin’ any waterman worth his salt knew how to get around things—an attitude I respect.”
I shook my head. “So much for a secure facility.”
“Well, if it’s just local trappers infiltratin’ the place, I’d say they’ve got nothin’ to worry about. Lonzie and Clayton were good guys, and they said they went to high school with some of the guards that work here, so there’s probably a blind eye bein’ turned. Anyway, they gave us some good intel.”
I swallowed a bite of fish. “What kind of intel?”
“They see a lot that goes on around here,” Ben said. “Apparently, for the past year or so, there have been a lot of what the trappers referred to as ‘outsiders’ coming and going under the cover of night. They said that lodge owners bring these people down the bay on their yachts, then drop anchor on the Miles River. Then they use smaller boats to transport their guests down the creek and into Mercier Cove. Their visits always coincide with Skeet being present—along with some of his research subjects.”
“Team Forward?”
“I’m guessing.”
“That’s strange,” Vani said, delicately dabbing the corners of her mouth with her linen napkin. “It seems that the owners are going to a lot of trouble to keep visits from these ‘outsiders’ a secret. Otherwise, they’d just drive to the lodge like everyone else.”
“Who are these ‘outsiders’?” I asked.
“They’re not sure, exactly,” Pete said. “Just people they’d never seen before, or since. They said they heard some of them speaking in foreign languages.”
“Something’s going on,” Ben said, “we’re just not sure what. We exchanged cell numbers with the trappers; they said they’d give us the heads-up if they saw any of these ‘outsiders’ coming in. Meanwhile, Vani, part of Team Forward is arriving after dinner. I’m counting on you and Cate to charm some information out of them.”
“Nothing like being respected as a professional,” Vani said dryly. “But it is true that charm is not exactly one of your strengths, Benjamin.” She looked me up and down. “Cate, you have that guileless, innocent vibe going on. I think we can manage between the two of us.” She flashed me a smile.
I wasn’t sure if “guileless and innocent” was meant as a compliment, nor was I thrilled about the idea of trying to wheedle information out of Team Forward without Ben there. I batted my eyelashes at him. “I think you’re charming. Why won’t you be joining us?”
He reached over and stroked the back of my hand. “I’d love to, but I’ve got to go to Neavitt to see our Marine buddy, Max. He said he has an office in his garage with a secure phone line; I’ve set up a call with Danielle.”
“Yeah,” Pete said, eyes narrowed. “It always feels to me like somebody’s listenin’ around here—or tryin’ to. At least this room has enough background noise so we don’t have to worry.”
“Oh.” I frowned. On the one hand, such concerns about privacy seemed extreme. On the other, our stay so far had given us more reasons to be cautious, not fewer. “What about you, Pete? Are you coming with us?”
“Well, as much as I love interrogatin’ people,” he drawled, “I gotta get some equipment out of the truck and set a few things up. Besides, I do believe I’d stick out like a sore thumb.”
“Don’t worry, Cate,” Vani said with a confident toss of her hair. “We’ll have those birds singing in no time.”
• • •
Vani and I went back up to our rooms after dinner to await word of Team Forward’s arrival. About half an hour later, we received calls from the front desk inviting us to meet them in the Sanctuary—dressed for “movement.” I thought it was pretty presumptuous of Team Forward to assume that we’d be into “moving” instead of, say, getting to know them over tea and scones. Vani, however, was pleased with the idea, pointing out that if everyone’s attention was focused on doing some kind of physical activity, she could discreetly check out their auras without being noticed.
The Sanctu
ary was dimly lit and candles flickered. Sitar music played softly in the background as a man and a woman stood in the middle of the room, holding matching yoga poses. I’d taken yoga in the past—just enough to know what it looked like, and how to do deep breathing. Vani and I stood respectfully by the door and waited.
“Reverse warrior,” the man said, and as one, they shifted poses, stretching back to put one hand on their ankles and reaching skyward with their free arms. The man caught sight of us and flashed us a quick smile. After a minute or so, he said, “And release. Liv, our visitors have arrived.”
“Oh, great!” Liv straightened up into a standing position and stretched up to her full height, which appeared to be about five feet. She wore her black, curly hair in a bob, and her ivory skin almost glowed in the dark. Her biker shorts and formfitting tank top revealed a wiry physique. Liv pressed her hands together in front of her chest. Wearing a beatific expression, she said, “Namaste.”
“Namaste,” Vani repeated the Hindi greeting, hiding her almost imperceptible annoyance behind a smile.
They both came over to greet us. “I’m Michael,” he said, “and this is Liv.”
Michael had shiny, gel-tousled blonde hair and the kind of deep, uneven tan that only comes from spending the majority of one’s days in the sun. He had handsome features and a well-muscled, athletic build. They both seemed so self-assured that I decided it had been a mistake to think we could get anything out of them that they didn’t want to share.
“I’m Cate,” I said, trying to project confidence I didn’t feel. I quickly reached out to shake Michael’s hand before my palms started sweating. I went to shake Liv’s hand, too, but she gave me the “Namaste” greeting. Since I’d never greeted anyone that way before and would have felt awkward reciprocating, I just nodded.
“And I’m Vani.” She swept forward and took hold of Michael’s hand. Then she covered both of their hands with her free one and gazed up at him, her thousand-watt smile on full display. “We’ve been so looking forward to meeting you.”
It was the first time I’d witnessed Vani really turning on the charm. Mild irritation flashed across Michael’s face when he saw the telepath-blocking bracelets we were wearing, but once Vani focused her attention on him, his expression warmed. “Likewise,” he said, matching her smile. “Skeet has told us such impressive things about you.” The way Michael had his eyes fixed on Vani, I got the impression that the “you” he was talking about was her, in particular. “You’re an aura reader, correct?”
He obviously knew that somehow, so she just nodded. “And Cate is an empath,” Vani said. “She’s new to our group, still in training.”
“Oh,” Liv said with a knowing grin. “Still in monk mode? I guess we won’t be doing any tantric sex rituals, then!”
As I tried to reconcile the fact that the words “tantric sex” had just fallen from the same lips that had demurely greeted us with “Namaste,” my face fell into an epic gape. Liv’s speech was melodic, and she had an accent I couldn’t quite identify. As I tried to force my jaw closed, Michael said, “You must forgive our aura reader. She may look innocent, but her sense of humor isn’t always appropriate.”
“Hey,” Liv said defensively, “I might as well be myself around these two. It’s not like we can hide anything from each other, anyway!” She spread her arms out to her sides like wings.
I recognized her awkward attempt to create camaraderie and decided to play along. “Well, you’re right about ‘no tantric sex,’” I said. “I am in monk mode—for the next week, anyway.”
“I was just kidding around.” She scrunched up her face. “Sorry you’re still on restrictions. We all had to go through that. I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable.”
“Oh no, not at all,” I reassured her.
Meanwhile, Vani held Michael in the tractor beam of her doe-like eyes. “And what is your gift, Michael?”
“Telepath,” he said.
“Oh!” I resisted the urge to touch my telepath-blocking bracelet by playing with my pendant, instead. “That’s really cool.”
Michael pointed at my necklace. “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”
“It’s custom made. Kai—our medium—is also an artisan. The pendant protects me from picking up other people’s negative energy.”
“Very impressive.” Michael’s appreciation appeared genuine.
“Kai is coming early tomorrow morning, followed by the rest of our group,” Vani added. “Is anyone else from your group coming up this week?”
“I think Skeet just needs the two of us for now,” Michael said.
“Needs you for what?” I asked.
Michael and Liv exchanged an inscrutable look. Then Liv said, “Well, to show you what Team Forward is all about, for one thing.”
“We do some in vivo training exercises when we come up here,” Michael explained. “We get to practice our skills in real-life situations. I think Skeet wants you to see a demonstration of that—to watch us in action, as it were.”
“In action?” Vani asked with a coy tilt of her head. “What kind of action?”
“It depends on who’s here,” he replied enigmatically. “All of the members of Team Forward rotate in and out to prevent burnout, and also to provide whatever special combination of skills Skeet may need. Skeet brings different parts of the team to Mercier at different times for different reasons. Sometimes there are as many as five of us here—an aura reader and a telepath, as well as a precog, an empath, and a medium.”
“A kheir,” Vani observed.
“Right,” Michael said. “Actually, we have enough sensitives to form a few kheirs—even a couple of double kheirs at this point. Skeet tells us you have one, too. I know we’re all still trying to figure out how the double kheir works, exactly, but isn’t the concept cool? And the possibilities… But Skeet said we’ll talk more about that when the rest of your group gets here.”
So Skeet had set up these kheirs with what sounded like interchangeable parts—as though he was building some sort of machine. What was that about? Was it really just a way to prevent burnout, or was there some other reason? It seemed clear that Skeet was spoon-feeding us information, bit by bit, and there were few things that annoyed me more.
Vani and I exchanged a lightning-quick glance. I could tell that she had as many questions as I did, but judging from Michael’s last statement, we weren’t likely to get anything more out of the Dynamic Duo that evening—and if we pushed, we might raise suspicions.
“Yes, it’s a wonderful opportunity to collaborate,” Vani said smoothly. “Maybe even a historic one. Multiple double kheirs—no wonder Skeet wanted to bring us together. We can compare notes.”
“And maybe even unlock the secrets together,” Michael said. “Skeet is a visionary, for sure. I know he’s hoping we can do some joint projects.”
The last thing I wanted to do was get involved in any project even remotely related to Skeet, and it was hard work to pretend otherwise. Fortunately, Vani clocked my mood and deftly changed the subject. “That’s why we’re here, to discuss all of the possibilities. I, for one, am looking forward to it.” She sealed her statement with another one of her signature smiles, which she directed at Liv. “So, Liv, you’re from Dublin—South Side, maybe?” Vani asked.
“Most people can’t guess that specifically!” Liv smiled. “And you’re from London, I take it. Have you been to Dublin?”
“I haven’t had the pleasure yet, but a good friend of mine at Oxford was from Foxrock.”
“Oh, what was her name?”
As Vani and Liv got lost in conversation, Michael turned to me. “So, how long have you been at this empath thing? Before you joined the MacGregor Group, I mean.”
I struggled to think of an appropriate response. “That’s a hard question, actually. I mean, I was a psychotherapist before, and I kind of used my skills in that role without understanding what I was doing.”
“I can see that. I bet it came in ha
ndy as a therapist, being able to pick up on what your patients were feeling.”
“I don’t know,” I said. “A lot of therapists are very intuitive; I always figured most of us were good at that. The part that freaked me out was the empath healing stuff. I never told anyone I was doing it with my clients; I didn’t even know how to explain it until I met the MacGregors. In my head, I used to call empathic submergence ‘mind-melding.’” I rolled my eyes and smiled.
Michael squinted. “Empath healing?”
“Yeah,” I said, surprised he wasn’t familiar with the concept. “First, I use empathic submergence—entering someone else’s consciousness through eye contact. Once inside, I locate the source of their emotional wounds and talk to them about it, hoping to gain some insight. Finally, I send them empath healing energy.”
As far as I was concerned, my ability to submerge into others offer them healing was my most rewarding gift. It was also what the MacGregors wanted me to do with the clients at their clinic. But as I described the process, Michael looked at me like I was a small child offering him a mud pie—made of actual mud.
“Oh, I know what it is,” he said. “I just didn’t realize that’s what you guys were into.”
What the heck was he talking about? “Sorry if this is a stupid question,” I said carefully. “I’m know I’m new to this, but aren’t we all into the same things, more or less?”
Michael shrugged. “Figuring out what’s really going on with people—we all do that—empaths, aura readers, and telepaths, at least. But the healing thing isn’t a priority for everyone. In Team Forward, we use our gifts for other purposes, and since you all work with Skeet… But I shouldn’t have assumed anything.”
I began to feel disoriented. What did he mean, the whole “healing thing” wasn’t a priority for everyone? I’d been led to believe that was what sensitives were all about. If not healing, then what was Skeet up to? I remembered what Lonzie and Clayton had said about “outsiders” coming to the lodge under cover of night, always when Skeet and some Team Forward members were in residence. What kind of world had we stepped into, exactly? I pulled myself together and went into information-gathering mode. “Well, our group may do things besides healing, but I wouldn’t know yet. I just joined, after all, and I’m still in training,” I admitted. “What other uses do our gifts have?”