“What do you want to know?” They lined up in front of the window.
“The Colony or Eva? Not some stance against me, Caroline, or Seth. I mean Eva or the entire world you believe in; your home, your friends, your family, your leader?”
I sat up from my slouch realizing what he was doing. He knew I could feel how serious they were taking this question. He knew it would be hard for me not to feel their hesitation or the true meaning of this question.
He went down the line one right after the other, without hesitation, they chose me. And as painful as it was to answer, Pint chose me. We would have to speak of it once.
“All right, I have questioned whether those items in the gift room were meant to help you or hurt you,” Caleb lowered his voice.
“They were from Chayton…” I spoke, the shock nearly flooring all of us. Caleb’s face was in a state of realization. He stared at me, but he wasn’t looking at me.
“When I started receiving them, a letter was attached. It wasn’t the kind of letter... I didn’t think it was a good idea to let you have them.”
“But you kept them.”
“Something was off about the letter; there was something about how it was written. It was meant to be threatening, but the gift had a different vibe about it, so I kept them.”
“Wait, so Mr. Chayton helped Mr. Leon get Ms. Eva out of the Colony,” Coat, the hand player’s Spanish accent was thick, but he was a quick one.
The news created a mixture of emotions that overwhelmed me. I stood up trying to keep my balance. It was getting hot and my seat was burning my skin.
“Eva, are you all right?” Mitchell took a few steps towards me.
“Not even a little bit.” I was freaking out. “I destroyed everything in there……”
Knock Knock Knock
“Hello? Eva?” Caroline tried the knob but it was locked.
“Yes?” I moved to the door, my heart was pounding to some random rhythm it nearly distracted me.
“Are you busy?”
“I am. Something you need?” I kept my hand on the door.
“Get rid of her,” they all mouthed at me with different motions of their arms and hands.
“Well, Caleb seems to have disappeared and I thought we might talk.”
“I was going to lie down. Rough morning.” I chuckled under my breath at the funny display of men playing charades, like I didn’t understand she couldn’t come in.
“Of course, come find me when you get up,” she said.
“Right after,” I assured her. There was silence. I was beginning to think Caroline was not a part of the club anymore. I looked at Caleb and was surprised at how quiet faced he was.
“And we aren’t including your gal pal, why?” I whispered loudly to Caleb.
“Not now.” He folded his arms and leaned against the window.
“Still hurt I’ve been right?”
Just because you’re a Vatic doesn’t mean you know everything.” He spit the words at me, adding to the ugliness of my title.
“Been right so far.” I held my stomach. His eyes followed and popped back up to meet mine. His jaw tensed as my free hand clenched.
“Speaking of, she shouldn’t be getting worked up.” Mitchell subtly guided me back to the couch.
“Have you decided what you’re going to do?” Caleb asked cautiously.
“If you mean in terms of keeping it, it’s my plan to welcome this bundle of joy,” I said curling my legs up on the couch finally relaxing.
His hands dropped from his chest. His face and emotions screamed at me, but his words came out only slightly elevated. “Is that a good idea? I mean with the hows of it all.”
Joss spoke up reminding me of the feeling I had with Mitchell. “We do not believe in termination.” He grabbed Caleb’s wrist.
“Please, you two.” My head was in a fish bowl. Joss just needed a nod.
“I wasn’t saying that.” He tugged his arm away. “But it is Seth’s?” He looked back at me.
The room went stale and then a heaviness loomed as each face snapped in Caleb’s direction.
“Does it need to be said?” Mitchell was usually a very calm person, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he slugged Caleb before Joss.
Mitchell was 11 years older than I was. He has seen his share of brutality in the military, but he was gentle, calm, and kind. He has seen me at my lowest and every time the tough conversation came up, I felt the tug in his heart and anger pool in his limbs. He took Caleb’s comment personally.
“You don’t say anything about something as serious as…,” Caleb paused. “And now she’s pregnant.”
“No one else needs a play-by-play because no one else questions me as much as you do, you son of a bitch.” I took deep breaths, trying to control the mixture of my emotions and Mitchell’s.
“To be fair, Mr. Leon hasn’t known any of us for very long. And he is outnumbered here.” Coat was a reasonable man. He was the oldest, but sometimes I think he missed the bigger picture.
“It is Seth’s. Would you like to know the particulars? Wait, the finer points?” I smiled coldly.
“I didn’t ask for them.” I was on my feet, moving closer to him.
“You look at me and you know that it’s Seth’s. You know what happened because I see what it does to you and you still ask……” The tears silently streaming down his face stopped me in my tracks. And it all made sense. He wanted it not to be Seth’s.
“Well, he had plans to take her home,” Jake said, changing the discussion.
“Over my dead body,” Caleb’s anger was getting the best of him as we all ignored the tears he was wiping from his face.
“Now you care.” Pint rolled his eyes.
“We can’t go back now,” Mitchell said with regret.
“It’s not safe here either,” Joss pointed out.
There was silence again. And the slow fade of overwhelming feelings relieved me.
“Who knows I’m here?” I asked trying to create a plan.
“Us, Seth, Caroline.”
“And Chayton,” Caleb added, my stomach flipped at his name. “But I haven’t been able to make contact since I told him of your memory loss.”
“You understand we have a total of two people who created this mess,” Joss admitted.
“Well, it’s obvious who’s done the most damage,” Jake referenced Seth.
“He only knew I was here because…”
“It can’t be…” Caleb shook his head; his fist met the brick wall.
“Caroline was here before you found me, she actually found you, didn’t she? How did she come to stay here?”
“How did you…right, Pulls.” He threw his arms up in air. I noticed Jake and Pint were carefully placed between us.
“She left the Colony early last year to bring more followers to the cause. We were told she found a good job that would lead to our expansion,” Pint informed us.
We sat in my room silently realizing Caleb had not been made aware of Caroline’s reasons for being in his home until this moment. She happened on me, but I didn’t know what else to make of it all. I felt bad for Caleb.
We were all drained by the information and hadn’t even scratched the surface. We were still sitting in silence when another knock came at my door.
“Eva?” Caroline tried the knob again.
“Yeah, Caroline?”
“I’m sorry, Honey. But I really would like to talk now if you don’t mind.”
It was now or she would be back. Her referring to me as ‘honey’ only made me want to get this over with faster.
“Give me a few minutes and I’ll be down.”
The realization that their whole world was being pulled apart left me full of dread.
“I don’t think you should go out there alone,” Joss was paranoid. He seemed to be the paranoid one of the bunch generally.
“She’s still one of us,” Jake stated the obvious.
“Right now, we don’t know that,�
�� Caleb reminded them that she’s been working with him for almost a year before Eva arrived.
“Whatever we spoke of here still has a lot of open holes,” Pint said.
“Let’s not act like we’ve been in a room together for hours.” I walked out of the room carefully shutting the door behind me.
I wasn’t sure which was worst, leaving Caleb in the room with my six protectors or meeting with Caroline, alone? It was easy to assume the ones not in the room to justify their actions were the guilty parties.
We weren’t friends though and even after her reaction at breakfast, she was still the bane of my existence and nothing would change my mind. I walked through the halls and Caroline’s head popped out from the back office. I left my mask on until I was seated at the conference table.
“I’m sorry to take you from your nap, but I wanted to talk.” She was fiddling with her fingers.
“I see that, and what can I do for you?”
“Not for me but it’s what I can do for you. I know you’ve had Mitchell tending to your injuries, but I thought maybe you’d feel better with a female doctor for your baby.”
“I appreciate the offer, but Mitchell is experienced and comfortable with continuing as my doctor, but thank you.” I stood up expecting the conversation to be over.
“I’m sorry, but wouldn’t you feel more comfortable with a female doctor for those needs.” She was now standing between the door and me.
“It doesn’t matter either way.”
“But after what happened with Seth, I’m sure I’d be a better fit,” she insisted with a sweet smile.
“Caroline, I’m glad you’ve taken interest in what I would be more comfortable with as you never have before, but Mitchell is doing a great job. I’m okay sticking with him. Keeps me out of your hair anyway.” I tested the water.
“I understand we’ve been on rocky terms for some time, but I think you need a female companion during this very emotional time.”
“I’ve been dealing with this for six weeks and you haven’t said anything about my attack in those six weeks. In fact, you chose Seth’s side. I have my support, but thank you again for your concern.” My hand was on the handle of the glass door.
The entire office was surrounded in glass and completely transparent. I found irony in the room’s remodel.
“Stop!” she shouted unnecessarily.
“Caroline, no. I have a doctor.” I studied the feelings oozing from her. She was in a panic mode. I always assume the dear doctor was cool and calm all day long.
“You can’t trust them or Caleb. He and those men he’s hired to be your guards are the reason you’re being forced to bare this.” She pointed to my stomach. She actually had tears in her eyes.
“You brought Seth here.” I could see my reflection. “You played nice. You were besties.”
“I was told to call a number and alert them of Caleb’s plan, but I didn’t know this was their plan.”
Was it confessions day or did I have gullible written on my forward? The realization that their game went too far? Case of the guilty conscience?
“Your treatment of me?” I dropped my uninjured hand from the silver handled.
“I was given the instructions to push your buttons because our only understanding of your Pulls were that they were triggered by your emotions. The more we picked at each other, the bigger the chances.”
“And the place I was before here? The reason I’m here?” Final test.
“All I know is Caleb brought you here to better control your gifts.”
“Gifts?”
Her voice was shaking, “Now that you’re pregnant, you’ve got access to your child’s gift.” Hello, left field.
I flipped around unsure I could sort my anger and her panic while keeping everything straight.
“My child’s gift?” This was the plan all along?
“I wasn’t told the specifics other than if…Caleb could get you into bed……”
“We’d be tied together and I’d be pregnant.”
As much as I wanted to assume she was playing me, what she said made sense, and I hated that. What a hell of a performance someone was giving me today. I didn’t know this gift enough to weed through the feelings of others, so I could only use my gut because it was right about Seth.
I wanted to believe Caroline was holding the strings and playing me like a fiddle. I wanted to believe those people upstairs were actually my friends. I wanted to believe I didn’t destroy everything in that room, everything that Chayton sent to me.
“I need you to believe me.” Caroline’s hands were on mine. My heart quickened its pace.
“Why does he need me?”
“Something about redemption, fixing something he’s done to get something back.” Caroline’s face fell more.
“You can’t be…”
“There you two are,” Caleb walked in chipper. “What are we doing?”
“Just thought I’d show Eva the new office, now that it’s done.” The calmness she easily reverted to wouldn’t go unnoticed. She was good; I would give her that.
“Amazing view; No one will ever get any work done in here.” I smiled.
“If you two are done in here maybe we could sit down for some lunch.”
I didn’t realize so much time had passed. I was hungry, but I wasn’t sure if I could handle what I was feeling between the two of them. They were a ball of sexual tension and I was a ball of mess.
“The guards are due to leave here soon,” Caroline reminded him.
“I’ve decided that given Eva’s new circumstances, we will need them to stick around. They’ve been informed.” He smiled at her, but he was now looking through her. Subtle.
“I see.” She wasn’t surprised.
“So, lunch?” Caleb asked again.
“Sure,” I agreed reluctantly.
Chapter 14
His Gift
Lunch was awkward, proper, and slow. We avoided unpleasant talk, nearly avoided talking to each other all together. I headed back upstairs noticing how quickly the projects in the house were finishing. In my room, my guards were waiting, still discussing the news from earlier.
“Caroline?” Joss asked.
“I don’t know if she was just trying to help or make things more confusing for me.” I sat down.
“What did she want?” Thomas asked.
He took over as the leader, but rarely enforced command over the others unless he needed to. He wasn’t the oldest nor did he have the most military training, but he could command a room without a word.
“To take over as my doctor given that I am now pregnant.”
It didn’t take long to register why she would offer or why it would make sense that I would want to work with a female doctor during my pregnancy.
“We need to discuss what Caleb said about Chayton,” Coat said. Sometimes it was a game when trying to understand him. His accent was a thick.
“If he did help you get out of the Colony then we can’t let you go back there,” Pint said reluctantly.
“Would there be a reason I would be safer there?”
They all looked at each other as if thinking the same thing. They mind melded and it was enough to make me wonder if Caleb was right.
“We love our home, Ms. Eva,” Pint wasn’t finished.
“But?” I added when the silence lingered.
“Some of us wondered if maybe,” Joss continued.
“We thought they were starting to use your gift more than trust in the faith,” Jake spilled the beans.
“Jake, easy.” Thomas was stern.
“No, let him.”
“It’s just instead of allowing you to come to a Pull on your own, it became habit that they were forced,” Jake said slowly.
“We didn’t know the details until after you were gone,” Thomas added looking down. He knew he needed to participate. Reassurance that they were doing the right thing was important.
“Of course not.” Guilt festered in each
of my men. It was a distraction.
That night was filled with hours of dreams that only added to my cluttered head. I hardly slept with as much as I had to think about. On one hand, I could stay here where someone was still lying to me or I could go back to the Colony where I didn’t know what happened, why I wasn’t there, or if I was in any real danger.
I pulled my quilt from the chest under the large window and paused. I wouldn’t be disturbed at this hour. Caleb knew about the quilt. He hid it in my room, after all. I just hadn’t told anyone that it brought on a memory, a lingering loving memory, that gave me a deeper connection to Chayton.
“When we get married, do you think we’ll be able to leave the Colony?” I asked.
“I would love to think so and I hope I can make that happen for you sooner rather than later.” Chayton faced me.
I took extra care with his features. From the picture under Caleb’s bed to this superior being in front of me, he was a lady-killer. And he was mine.
“They’ll want us to have a family soon after the wedding.” I traced the patterns on the quilt with my fingers.
“We have a home waiting for us. You know as well as I do the Colony won’t stand in the way of that.” His hands squeezed around mine. His touch made this more real, his words more believable.
“My last Pull has given us a little family someday.” I rubbed my belly, smiles across both of our faces. Was the child I witnessed in that Pull, Chayton’s? Or was he at my side as I carried another man’s child? Was this the beginning of our little family? Or did this just destroy that possibility?
“See, we will have all the happiness in the world. He can’t stop us. Our children will be safe.” His hand clasped over mine. Safe was a seductive word. It shouldn’t have been, but that promise was what I wanted right now.
“We have a ways before we see our happy ending.”
“I always hated it when the books say The END. Endings are merely written for that story. Lives continue after the last page, after the credits roll. And we my dear, have only just begun.” He kissed me gently, cradling my face in his hands. Our lips met, the air shifting, freezing us in the moment, just us.
“Let’s stay here forever.” I curled up in his arms. I could stay here forever, right here.
Without Knowing (When You Wake Book 1) Page 17