by Amy Reece
“Where are we? What is this place?”
He didn’t answer, but kept leading me farther into the cavernous structure. My heart beat wildly against the waves of danger pressing in on me; I wasn’t safe here.
“Kai, we need to get out of here. It’s not safe. Please, let’s go,” I begged.
“We can’t. Not yet. Not until we find her. She’s here somewhere.” He turned to motion me on and I could see his eyes nearly overflowing with tears. He had been crying in the last vision and I realized that this must be just before that time. He led me up several flights of stairs to a platform of some sort.
Something was ahead, maybe fifty feet away. It looked like a pile of discarded clothing from here. Kai gave an exclamation of some sort and began running toward it. He fell to his knees beside the pile and started weeping. I crept closer, the feeling of dread pulsing heavy in the air around me. The pile of discarded clothing resolved itself into Megan, lying crumpled and unconscious at his feet. I reached out to touch his thin, shaking shoulder.
He turned to me, tears streaming from his piercing green eyes. “I’m sorry, Ally. I didn’t want this. She isn’t part of this. I tried to save her, but he made me! I’m so sorry!”
“Kai! What have you done? Is she…?”
“No,” he cried as he wiped his eyes. “She’s alive. It’s you he wants, Ally. He used her to get to you. You have to protect her! I came to warn you.”
“Ally! What’s wrong? Ally! Wake up!” I could hear Megan calling to me, panicked out of her little mind, but it was from a great distance. I couldn’t get through to her to tell her not to worry. “Rémy? Are you at home? Oh, God, Rémy! Something’s wrong with Ally! She fell on the kitchen floor and she won’t wake up! I’m scared, Rémy!” I knew she was talking on my cell phone to him, but I still couldn’t open my eyes or speak or even move. “Okay. Hurry!” I could feel her rubbing my hand between hers. My heart broke as she sobbed.
The kitchen door flew open and Rémy and Mina burst through. I felt myself being lifted and carried through to the living room, where I was placed on the sofa. I felt Mina’s cool hands on my face and heard her soft voice urging me to wake up. I heard Rémy on the phone with Jack, urging him to come home now. That finally caused me to push through whatever barrier was holding me half in and half out the vision: I had to tell Jack I was okay. I didn’t want him rushing home, speeding and possibly getting in a wreck.
“I’m okay. I’m awake.” At least that’s what I was trying to say. All that came out was a garbled mess of sound.
“Okay, sweetie. It’s okay.” I heard Mina crooning as she placed a cool cloth on my forehead. By the time Jack burst through the door I was sitting up, sipping a glass of water. I hadn’t spoken yet.
“What happened?” he asked as he knelt in front of me, pushing my hair back.
“I’m okay,” I whispered; this time I actually said the words. “I’m sorry I scared everyone. Where’s Meg?”
She had been standing out of the way, beside the sofa. “I’m here.”
I held my hand out to her. “Come here, Meg.” I pulled her to sit next to me and cuddled her. “I’m so sorry I scared you. I had a vision. Sometimes I pass out when I have them. I’m so sorry you were scared. I’m fine. I promise.”
“Okay.” She sniffed.
“Tell us,” Rémy commanded.
I shook my head at him. Not with Megan here. It was about her. And Kai. I don’t want to talk about it in front of her. “I can’t right now. I need to rest. Please.”
“Okay.” Jack, a man of few words, took the water glass out of my hands and scooped me up into his arms. He carried me to our bedroom and laid me gently on our bed. He pulled the afghan up and sat beside me. “Are you okay, Ally? Really?”
I nodded and placed my hand over his. “I really am. It was one of those visions, Jack. The kind that really do a number on me. I scared Megan. I’m so sorry.” I felt a tear roll down my cheek.
“Hey.” He reached to wipe it away. “She’s fine. She’s strong. I’ll talk to her. You need to rest. We’ll talk about the vision later, okay?”
I nodded gratefully. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to tell what had happened without breaking down. I needed some time to gather my thoughts. I rolled over and closed my eyes, intending to rest for a few minutes. When I woke, the bedroom was dark and a delicious aroma wafted in from the kitchen. Jack must have finished the soup I had started earlier. The bedside clock said it was nearly nine o’clock. Embarrassed, I shoved my feet in my slippers and headed out to the kitchen.
Mina, Rémy, and Jack were seated around the table, talking in hushed tones. “Ah, cherié. You look much better. You have your color back. You were pale as a ghost when I first got here.” Rémy poured a glass of red wine and set it at the empty place, gesturing for me to sit. Mina stood up, saying that she would get me a bowl of soup. Jack stood and pulled me into his arms, tipping my face up, searching.
“How do you feel?”
“I’m better. I can’t believe I slept so long.”
“Don’t worry about it.” He leaned down to kiss me softly.
“All right. Enough of that!” Mina scolded gently. “She needs nourishment right now.”
I sat and tasted the soup. It was delicious and I ate an entire bowl before stopping to say anything else. I was ravenous! Mina took my empty bowl and refilled it silently. “This is great. It makes me mad that you’re a better cook than I am, Jack.”
He placed a small dish of crackers beside my plate and leaned down to kiss the top of my head. “Mina made it.”
“Thanks, Mina. Where’s Meg?”
“I tucked her in a little while ago. She was pretty tired.” Jack wouldn’t quite meet my eyes.
I pushed my soup away, disgusted at how I must have terrified her. “God. I’m so sorry, Jack.”
“Hey.” He sat across from me, forcing me to look at him. “She’s fine. She’s worried about you, but she’s fine.”
“Tell us about the vision, cherié,” Rémy suggested.
I did, leaving nothing out. I told them how it appeared to be a prequel to the previous vision and how I had been able to actually converse with Kai. “He was trying to warn me. He said Megan was being used to get to me. He must have been talking about Luc.”
“I agree,” said Rémy.
“What are we going to do about it?” I asked, standing up to pace. “I can’t stand just sitting around and waiting for something to happen!”
“I have a few ideas, but I need some time to sort them out.”
“We don’t have time, Rémy!” I felt in my very soul that time was short.
“I know.” He sounded so calm and assured. “We will talk when we’re in France. We will make plans. I promise this will be over soon.”
“We have to keep Megan safe. That’s got to be our number one priority.”
“It is, cherié. I swear we will do everything we can to keep her safe.”
***
I jerked awake, unsure of what had woken me. I couldn’t remember a nightmare and had, in fact been sleeping soundly and peacefully. I lay still, trying to figure out what was bothering me. That’s when I heard a muffled clunk from the kitchen area. My heart started pounding, although I told myself it was only the dog. I lay still and waited. Thud.
“Jack!” I nudged him and whispered furiously. “Wake up!”
“Wha? Huh?” he mumbled sleepily.
“I think there’s someone in the house.”
Clunk.
“Shit!” he said as he threw the covers off. He reached into the closet and retrieved the nine-millimeter handgun he kept in a gun safe. “Stay with Megan,” he ordered as he inserted a clip into the gun and headed into the hallway.
Oh God, oh God, oh God, I prayed as I ran across the hall to Megan’s bedroom. Her door was cracked and I opened it slowly. She was asleep, lying on her stomach, while Sodapop stood on the end of her bed, growling. He stopped and wagged his tail when he saw me. “Good boy,�
� I whispered and moved across the room to stroke his head. He spared me a lick before jumping off the bed and running out of the room, probably to give Jack backup. I heard his toenails scrabbling on the kitchen tile as I knelt beside Megan’s bed, not satisfied until I brushed the hair out of her face and felt her even breathing. She slept like the dead unless she had a nightmare, so I pulled the covers up and tucked them around her shoulders before tip-toeing out and closing the bedroom door behind me. Heart still pounding, I crept as quietly as I could toward the kitchen.
“Jack?” I reached out to touch his back as he stood by the kitchen door, which was open to the backyard.
He jumped and cursed loudly. “Jesus, Ally! You scared the shit out of me! You do know I have gun, don’t you? I could have shot you! I told you to stay with Meg!” He ran his free hand through his hair and turned to look at me. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to yell.”
“It’s okay. Meg’s still sound asleep. What’s Soda doing?” The blue heeler was running around the perimeter of the yard, growling and snuffling.
“Where’s the flashlight?” he asked, not answering my question.
I turned and fished it out of the junk drawer and handed it to him. He turned it on and walked out into the yard after the dog.
“Soda?” he called in a hushed voice. “Get over here, boy!” The dog kept running around the yard, barking and growling. “Goddammit, Soda, get over here!”
“Jack, what’s going on?”
He gave up on the dog and jogged over to me. “The back door was open when I came out to the kitchen. I think you should call Brian. Ally? Sweetheart? Hey!” He shook me slightly. “Are you okay?”
I nodded mechanically and went back to the bedroom for my phone to call my stepdad. As I hung up, I heard Rémy in my head.
I’m coming in the front door. Tell Jack not to shoot me, please.
I returned to the kitchen as I heard Rémy’s key in the lock. “Rémy’s on his way in and he doesn’t want you to shoot him.” Jack had managed to get the dog back in the kitchen and was examining the lock on the door. Rémy appeared and the two men conferred while I decided to make a pot of coffee to keep my hands busy. My mind was numb; I couldn’t seem to wrap it around the concept that someone had broken into our house while we were sleeping. I knew I’d be angry soon, but right now I couldn’t feel much of anything.
Within fifteen minutes we had two patrol cars and Brian at our house, inspecting all the doors and windows. Jack, Rémy, and I sat at the kitchen table, mugs of untouched coffee and the nine-millimeter gun between us.
“Please tell me you have a permit for that,” said Brian as he poured himself a cup of coffee. Jack simply nodded. “And you keep it locked up, away from your sister?”
“Of course.” Jack sighed, sounding beyond exhausted. “I have a gun safe in our bedroom closet.”
“Good.” Brian leaned against the counter and took a sip of his coffee. “It looks like whoever it was broke into your house through the kitchen door. They picked the lock somehow, but it looks like a pro job. We’ve dusted for prints, but I’m willing to bet they wore gloves. The only prints we’ll find will be yours.”
“What did you find in the yard?” Rémy asked. “The dog was going crazy out there.”
“A few footprints and trampled bushes. Looks like it was a man, judging by the size of the prints. He apparently vaulted over the back fence. How did you know what was happening?” he asked. “Did Ally call you?”
“Not on the phone,” Rémy replied and took a sip of his coffee.
“Never mind. Sorry I asked,” muttered Brian. He was well aware of the psychic connection we had, but preferred to pretend it didn’t exist.
“Why is this happening?” I whispered. “What did we do?”
Jack lifted his head off his arms and reached for me. “Come here, babe.” I gladly moved to sit on his lap, curling into his comforting warmth and burying my face against his neck, inhaling the scent that brought my world back into alignment.
“Call your mom, Ally. Please. I’m sure she’s freaking out. She would have been here, but she didn’t want to wake Elijah.” Brian ruffled my hair before he left the kitchen to join the other policemen.
I called her, assuring her that we were fine and I would see her in the morning. It took a full two hours before Brian and the other officers left, telling us they would file a report, but that was all they could do at this point. Brian made Jack promise to call our alarm service in the morning to upgrade to a system that monitored for nighttime intruders. I thought guiltily that I was pretty sure we already paid for that service, but I had never gotten into the habit of setting the ‘at home’ alarm at night. I would certainly never neglect to set it again. Rémy went back across the street to Mina and we were finally able to go back to bed, but neither of us felt much like sleeping. I lay in Jack’s arms, curled against his warm chest.
“It was Luc, wasn’t it?” I asked.
He stroked my hair and I felt him nod. “Probably. I can’t imagine it was just a random break-in.”
“What does he want, Jack?” I felt the tears slip down my cheeks. “Why won’t he leave us alone?”
“I don’t know babe. I just don’t know.”
We were bleary-eyed in the morning, but Megan had somehow slept through the whole drama and bounced out to the kitchen, cheerful and ready for breakfast, chattering about what she and her Auntie Trina were going to do this weekend.
“She said we could go to the zoo on Saturday and we could have a picnic! I wish Kai could go with us, but he said he’s grounded. As soon as he’s not grounded, can he come over? Please?”
I met Jack’s sleepy gaze across the table and he nodded briefly. We would have a few questions for Kai, or whatever his name really was soon. “Sure, sweetie. It’ll be nice to see him again.”
***
The days seemed to rush by and before I knew it I was sitting beside Jack, with Mina and Rémy across the aisle from us, on our way to Paris. If I ever found the need to travel economy class again, I was in trouble; my standards had been raised impossibly high. Although I was exhausted from my student teaching schedule and all the preparation for this trip—not to mention the crazy visions and the break-in—I couldn’t quiet my mind enough to sleep. Jack didn’t seem to have the same problem, judging by the even breathing and occasional soft snore. I smiled ruefully and contented myself with rereading Antigone in preparation for some lessons I would be teaching the following week. I found myself identifying with poor Antigone as she struggled against the power structures in ancient Greece. Everybody thought they knew what was best for her and kept bossing her around, telling her what to do. I could certainly relate. I finally felt my eyes drooping and was able to close my Kindle and get a few hours of sleep.
It was late afternoon when we arrived in Paris, but with such a short trip we had decided not to stay the night. Rémy rented a car and drove us the 130 kilometers to Rouen and his grandparents’ estate, where we would be staying for the next few days.
André, the Giles’ majordomo, met us at the door and showed us to our rooms. We showered and unpacked with time to spare before dinner, so I took Jack on a tour of the grounds and gardens. We found a lovely deserted corner and indulged in few moments of the kind of kissing we rarely had time for anymore. It was nice to take a beat and remember that we were newlyweds, after all. On top of the rapidly escalating Seer issues, finishing college, and Jack starting grad school, we had taken on the rearing of a ten year old child. What were we thinking? I sat on my husband’s lap, looked into his nearly black eyes, and remembered that I really liked him. He laughed when I told him as much.
“So, what do I need to do to get you to love me? Or should I concentrate on like like first?”
I laughed back and leaned in to kiss him on his scruffy jaw. “Oh, I definitely like like you. I was going to have Mina slip you a note later. You know, the kind with check-boxes?”
“Well, I’ll be sure to check off all the boxes
. Who knows? It might help me get lucky later.” He retaliated against my kissing, taking over and letting his lips wander over my neck while his hands wreaked havoc under my shirt.
“You might just get lucky right here, mister.”
“I like the sound of that,” he murmured.
“We do have rooms inside the house, you know,” Rémy said with a chuckle as he rounded the corner into our previously private bower.
I groaned and leaned my head against Jack’s chest. “We can’t catch a break.”
“Get lost, Rémy,” Jack growled. “Don’t you have a wife of your own? Go kiss her and leave us alone.”
“She is napping. I just came to tell you that Geneviève and Arnaud have arrived. But carry on. I’m sure they’ll understand,” he said and walked away, laughing.
I jumped off Jack’s lap and grabbed his hand. “Oh, I can hardly wait for you to meet her! Come on!”
Dinner was a lively affair as we caught up with everything that had been happening in our respective lives over the past few months. Geneviève was almost five months along and starting to show an adorable baby bump.
“We had an ultrasound yesterday,” she began, casually cutting into her chicken cutlet.
“And?” Kate asked, setting down her wine glass and leaning forward. “Could they tell what it is?”
“It’s…a baby, Grandmére,” Geneviève said mischievously.
“Hilarious,” Kate said dryly. “You’ve married quite the comedienne, Arnaud.”
“That she is.” He laughed and stood up, raising his glass. “I would like to offer a toast to my son. It’s a boy.” He grinned hugely and accepted good-natured backslapping from Phillipe, Rémy, and even Jack.
I pushed back from the table and rushed to hug Geneviève, rocking her back and forth. “Oh, I’m so happy for you!” I cried. “All your dreams are coming true, aren’t they?”
“Yes, they are. Yours too, no? You have married your Jack and he is every bit as handsome as you described. Maybe you too, will have an exciting addition to your family soon?”