When he reached her, she pointed and whispered, “Logan.”
“What? Are you sure?” Every ounce of anger drained away. She must have seen Logan pass by the window at the restaurant.
“It’s him. Go. Call Tyler, have him call Zack.”
“Are you crazy? I’m not leaving you here alone.”
“Just go. We can’t pass up this chance. Walk down the street, just far enough so he won’t hear you.”
Dismissing Reid with a wave of her arm and making it clear she expected him to do what she’d asked, Amethyst turned back to watch the other man.
Well, she could order him around if she wanted to but if she thought he was going to leave her there alone, she had better think again. Not happening, not for a single minute.
Stepping into the shadow of a doorway, he pulled out his phone. No service.
Not for half a block farther down and that was as far he dared to go. Any farther and he wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on her.
Reid turned back to look toward where Amethyst had been standing but she wasn’t there. He had only looked away long enough to pull up Tyler’s name on his contact list. She couldn’t have gone far. His heartbeat sped up at the thought of his wife taking on a dangerous criminal.
Tyler picked up on the second ring and Reid only took the time to bark out, “Logan is on the street near the wharves right now,” and hung up.
Then, he hurried back to where he had last seen her.
_,.-'~'-.,_
Once Reid walked away to make the call, Amethyst turned back to watch Logan advance slowly down the street, his movements furtive. If he knew she was trailing him, he never let on. Twice, when he inadvertently stepped into a pool of light, she could see his lips moving. Was he talking to himself?
After a moment, she became aware of a humming noise that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. Logan heard it, too. She could tell by the way turned his head from side to side as though looking for something.
When she tried to describe it later, she said it sounded like a thousand bees were flying overhead.
The buzzing got louder, closer. Instinctively, she ducked. Nothing was there, but something surely was coming right at her. The air rippled as a wave of energy rushed forward, then stopped to hover a hair’s breadth away. Galmadriel’s voice, like the gong of a bell, sounded in her head.
“Do you accept?”
This was it. Her moment of truth.
Amethyst closed her eyes. The powerful wave of energy seethed and writhed in front of her as though it was waiting for something—and none too patiently.
Saying yes meant changing her life in ways that the angel could not or would not explain. It was a gamble, though the idea of helping more people appealed to her sense of community. Using her ability to help others felt right and made up for a lot of the teenage angst that had left her feeling like an outcast.
Softer now, “Do you accept?”
Was she ready to take control of her life, her gift, and all the messiness that might come with it?
The pressure built another notch but she sensed that if her answer was no, she would not be harmed.
Galmadriel asked for the final time, “Do you accept?”
“Yes.” She whispered and lifted her face just the slightest bit, just enough to touch it to the mass of energy.
For an instant, the buzzing returned as the shifting mass swelled then slammed into her with what felt like tornado force. For less than a second, or several lifetimes, she wasn’t sure which, it whirled around her before bonding itself to her every molecule and filling her with light.
Even with her eyes still tightly closed, she saw stars against her lids as the brilliance flared and blinded. Then, leaving the tang of ozone in the air, it was over.
The enormity of what she had just done slammed into her. She had accepted the deepening of her gift. There would be no hiding it now, no turning it off the suit the sensibilities of any man.
She opened her eyes and at first, saw absolutely nothing. Still dazzled by the light, they had trouble focusing. Then with each blink, the effect subsided and she began to see what the angel had given her
Every living thing glowed with aural rainbows of color. Grass, trees, even rocks gave off some halo.
There were so many so close together that they almost melded into a single, amorphous whole.
Something tingled at her senses and she turned to see Reid standing nearby. Her focus fell on his aura.
Such beauty and warmth. More than she could have ever imagined. Then she glanced toward where she had last seen Logan and the beauty rapidly faded as the chill of evil washed over her.
Dread tingled into a wave that rippled across her body leaving goose bumps in its wake. The sensation bordered on painful.
Unprepared, she had no shield against the frigid darkness and it engulfed her, threatened to force itself into her before she could look away.
Flung almost to the edge of consciousness, an eternity passed before the spark within her flexed then flared into an inferno of light.
_,.-'~'-.,_
Reid watched it all happen; he saw the energy as it rippled the air, faintly heard the buzzing and now he could see and feel the light as though it was a living, breathing thing inside her. If this was what an aura looked like, he envied her ability to see them.
As the light inside and around her expanded, he felt privileged to experience her transformation and if she thought he couldn’t handle it or her auras, she was delusional. She was everything.
Needing to go to her, he tried to take a step forward only to discover that he could not lift his foot. A barrier, an invisible wall had shot up between them and he was powerless to move.
Rooted and helpless to act, he could do nothing but stand and wait. When she opened her eyes, he felt the hair prickle on the back of his neck. Echoing light flared eerily in her eyes before she blinked slowly and they returned to normal, then fell on him like a thunderclap. In that moment, he realized Amethyst had put up the wall. Maybe unintentionally, but it had been her doing.
Enigmatically, she smiled at him and turned away to search the darkness where Logan had been only moments before. As she did, the barrier began to fade.
With a wrench, Reid finally managed to take a hesitant step and then another. Each movement forward an effort that finally ended long moments later with him reaching her only to find she stood rigidly; her eyes fixed on the point where Logan had faded into the shadows.
_,.-'~'-.,_
Logan was there, she could feel him, or more correctly, she could feel what was inside of him. Even through the thick darkness it generated, if she concentrated, she could see him.
All the warmth drained out of her to be replaced by bone chilling cold.
Intuition told her the invading presence had sensed her ability to see it.
That lurking, leering, smear of hatred was now directed at her. A stronger chill shot through her already shivering limbs as Reid wrapped his arms around her offering the only thing he had available, the heat from his body.
It helped but not enough. Not nearly enough.
Darkness dragged her down, emptied her out, and left her even colder than before.
There, a glimmer of color flashed as the wash of light from a passing car shone off his skin and this time, she saw the auras.
Little more than a pallid shadow of color fought against the thing that held him, its aura blacker than night.
Amethyst was rooted to the spot, unable to tear her eyes away. A bell sounded in her head as the auras pulled back to show her more—a nightmare image, Logan and the thing inside him.
The lowering dusk faded against the light of her new, angel-given vision.
The scene imprinted itself on her brain.
Logan, mouth open and screaming, his face a mask of terror as he struggled against a figure dressed in filthy rags. It was the spirit of a man, not a demon.
She blinked and it was as though a filter fe
ll over her eyes that allowed her to see the spirit’s aura, not only as it was now, but as a living history of a life. From the bright spark of infancy to the broad colors of manhood. Layer upon layer, each experience, the good and the bad defined by color and texture as each built upon the one before until some event brought a touch of the black. His past scrolled before her eyes. The man had not turned from the darkness, choosing instead to embrace it, to bind his own fate to evil.
Then, Logan’s auric history played itself out like a movie stuck on fast forward. She watched him flirt with shades of gray but never black. Not until it was forced on him.
Julius had been right. Logan may not deserve it but they needed to help him.
Amethyst blinked again and the auras receded until she only saw the two men. Separate now; standing side by side.
Logan was gaunt, his body whittled away under loosely hanging clothing. His once well-groomed hair, now lank and greasy, fell nearly to the collar of his shirt. Beside him, the ghost wore a cape over simple breeches tucked into a pair of worn boots. A sword hung at his side but he did not seem to need it as he held the struggling Logan firmly in his control.
Turning his head, the spirit’s eyes locked with Amethyst’s, the hatred in them boring a hole through her. His face was as dirty as his clothing; the straggly beard affixed to his chin as matted as his hair. Eyes dark and shining like the carapace of a beetle held a fierce intelligence and cunning under a pair of bushy dark brows but also carried surprise. She could see him. How was she able to do that? She read that thought as if it he had created it in words of white written on the blackness.
The brief moment was over as the car passed, pulling the light away from the dark corner. Amethyst felt them turn to walk away into the night. Galmadriel had given her the ability to heal the blackness but not the knowledge of how. Yet, she had to try. Out of sheer instinct, she threw her light into the darkness where, for one brief moment, it filled the void. Logan’s eyes pleaded with her to finish it, to free him completely before her energy depleted and if she had known how, she would have done it. Instead, she lost the ability to focus.
Her knees buckled but Reid caught her before she fell. He reveled in the chance to hold her close. Her skin felt like ice so he yanked off the light jacket he was wearing, wished had had something heavier and wrapped it around her while gathering her in. The need to warm her, to quell her violent shivering, was strong within him.
Always scornful of how characters in action movies seemed to find the time for a sexual encounter during the thick of things, he now understood how heightened emotions and a desire to protect could easily turn to a desire for other things.
Filing the urge under the heading of this is not the time for that, he carried her to the car and after some awkward maneuvering, managed to get them both into the passenger seat with her still in his arms.
Heat, she needed heat. Okay, he thought, start the car. He squirmed in the cramped quarters and confined space until he could get a hand in his pocket and pull out the keys. Reid stabbed at the ignition switch with the key and missed by a mile. He made a vow to practice becoming ambidextrous; you never knew when you might need to do something left-handed.
Finally, after several tries, he managed to coax the engine to life and fire up the heater, all the time murmuring words of comfort into Amethyst’s ear. Was it his imagination or were the shudders beginning to subside?
Gently, he cupped her face in his hand, willing his warmth into her as she began to pull herself back to the present. Enough light fell from the street lamps illuminating the parking lot, that he could see her eyes flutter then open.
She whispered, “Cold. So cold,” as she burrowed deeper into his body.
“Shh, baby. Just hang on,” He encouraged as he tried not to think about the intimate contact of their bodies. She clung, so tightly he could feel the hammering of her heart.
The night was still warm enough that if it hadn’t been for the chill coming off her body, he thought he might have melted into a puddle.
Time stretched out into long minutes before enough warmth seeped into her cold-tightened body that she was able to relax into her breath. She inhaled deeply then, without thinking, relaxed even more as the unique scent of him washed over her.
A hint of soap, a dash of shampoo—something with a faint odor of lime—and the indefinable essence that was just him and home and life itself. Forgetting everything but that feeling, she nuzzled his neck until his breath hitched and his hand slid under the jacket to stroke down her back.
All it would have taken was one small movement to bring their lips together and he didn’t want to resist the temptation but this probably wasn’t the time even if she was only a whisper away.
In the end, he didn’t have to resist because she was the one who gave in to the need and moved that fraction of distance to lay her lips on his.
Once the kiss started, he couldn’t help but take it deeper and she went there willingly with him, mingled her breath with his, listened to the sound of their thundering hearts in the small space.
Reid knew he had to stop or he never would so he eased back, just a bit, then a bit more.
Tenderly, he brushed the hair back from her face, gently turning it to gaze into her eyes. “Better?” She nodded, biting her lip as she pulled her awareness back from him to ponder what she had seen.
Chapter 7
Silence lay over the pair of them like a thick blanket during the car ride back to Hayward House. All the way there, Amethyst worried about how to control the intensity of her new level of aura vision. It had not come with an instruction manual. Everything looked incredibly beautiful but even beauty can be overwhelming when it is everywhere at once.
She had to concentrate because the motion of the car against all that color was making her sick. Squeezing her eyes shut and pressing her hands over them helped reduce the nausea but not enough.
Reid noticed. “Do you need me to stop?” He slowed down until she began to look a little less green. Was he being callous if part of his concern was that she not chuck her seafood in his car?
About halfway back to Hayward House she realized there was no way she would be driving home by herself. Not if she couldn’t even open her eyes.
“Pull over. Please.” Amethyst stumbled from the car and into the cooling night air. The crisp chill felt invigorating. Even in velvety, moonlight-free darkness, the colors were overwhelming. Instead of getting used to them, she thought they were becoming more intense, making it harder to focus.
Dizziness made her stagger and lose her balance. She would have gone down if a strong pair of hands hadn’t caught her. She thought it was Reid supporting her but when she managed to pry her eyes open just the slightest bit, she saw him standing by the car, mouth open and staring. Odd, she thought, wasn’t it dark out a minute ago?
Now, it was as though a spotlight shone all around her and she moaned as the brilliance lit up even more shifting bands of color.
Amethyst gagged and dragged her eyes toward the source of that light, then upward until they latched on to the face of the one who held her. Galmadriel gazed down at her with an unreadable expression. The angel settled the woman on her feet with gentle concern then spoke as gently as she could.
“Speak your concern.”
Stammering, Amethyst said, “I can’t unsee or even mute the auras at all. I can only see layer after layer after layer of color that shifts and shifts. This upgrade is making me sick from the constant movement—I can’t focus on anything. I’m too disoriented.”
“There’s little enough I can do for you but I will try my best.” Galmadriel laid both hands on Amethyst’s head for a moment then drew them away slightly leaving a trail of light to show the path they had taken.
Within moments, the excess of color and motion stabilized. Heaving a great sigh of relief, Amethyst said, “Thank you. Will it always be like this? Or will I gain more control over time? Having the entire world look like a moving rainbow
barfed on it will get old in a hurry.” Her attempt at humor amused Reid who tried to smile with a face that wouldn’t quite respond properly, but failed to elicit any change of expression whatsoever from the angel who gazed back at her, head tilted to one side considering.
Determined to keep her composure under scrutiny, Amethyst lifted her chin slightly but otherwise remained still. She felt as though the angel was measuring her but refused to wilt under the pressure.
Finally, Galmadriel pronounced, “I have placed a temporary block on your energy centers. It will not hold forever and will reduce your new ability to a level slightly above the original. Accepting the upgrade, as you call it, is only the first step. You must now embrace what you have become in order to control your vision. I cannot help you with that.”
Turning this new information over in her mind, Amethyst asked another question, “If I have not done so when the block is gone, will the layers and motion become permanent?”
Galmadriel refused to answer directly, “Embrace your gift. Make use of the reprieve you have been granted but do not fail to act in a timely manner. Much depends upon you.”
“Anyone ever tell you that ambiguity is not a virtue?” She wanted answers, not vague portents. Frustration colored her tone with a bit of snark before she remembered stories of angels smiting bad guys. Better shut up before she got—smited? Or was it smote? Well, whichever, she didn’t care to find out firsthand.
A hint of a smile slid across the angel’s face before she schooled her features. Maybe she did have a personality, Amethyst thought, or she can read minds.
“There will be three tests to prove that you have embraced your gift and you will know when you have passed each one.”
“Will I be visited by the ghost of Christmas past?” Sarcasm dripped from Amethyst’s tongue. Let the smiting commence.
Now Galmadriel smiled broadly. Yes, there was definitely a sense of humor there. “You have already been visited by two ghosts and an angel. Is that not enough for you? Maybe I should send a unicorn.”
She Shall Have Music (Psychic Seasons Page 9