“Thanks, I needed to hear that. I also had another weird premonition.”
Riccan had to consciously stay relaxed as he processed what she said. Every time she had experienced premonitions, it had put someone in danger. Trying to remain casual, he asked, “What was it?”
“Do you remember reading in my journal what happened when I came home the first time in my dream?”
“Which part?”
“The part where my dad tells me Neal had moved on and had another girlfriend.”
“Oh, yes. I do recall something about it. What are you thinking?”
“Don’t you think it was odd for me to have so many delays today? Then Angie told me she doesn’t normally work on Sundays and she was heading home at the exact time I had the flat. What are the chances her father would own a towing company?”
“And the girl from your dream reality was named Angie, wasn’t it?”
“Yes!” Amanda suddenly moved away from where she had been leaning on Riccan’s chest so she could turn and face him. “You think it could be her, too, don’t you?”
“Maybe,” he agreed slowly. He no longer believed in coincidences either. If this were true, then the part of her day which worried him even more than Nealand’s relationship status, was the encounter with the Dr. Gascon look-a-like. He did not like to think the deranged doctor was going to make another appearance in their lives. Their lives were crazy enough all on their own!
Chapter Fourteen
WILLIAN KNEW IT was a risk, but he decided the outcome was worth it. He picked up the phone and dialed before he changed his mind. There were several outcomes which could occur from this conversation, and he hoped it would go as he wanted. Several rings had sounded, and he almost pulled the receiver away from his ear when he heard a woman’s voice on the other end.
Knowing there could only be one woman in the house, he cleared his throat and said, “Hello, Amanda. This is Willian calling.”
“Hello, Willian. The girls aren’t home right now.”
“I know, I wanted to talk about something with you.”
“Me? Really? What is it?”
“There’s two things really. First, how’s Jena doing? I haven’t heard from her, and I wanted to make sure she’s doing okay since…you know…since we ended our betrothal.”
“It’s very kind of you to ask. I’ve never seen her happier, actually. What was your second question?” For some reason it made her feel better to be snarky with Willian. After everything the boy had done to hurt her daughter, she was not feeling very charitable.
Willian winced slightly at Amanda’s comment, but he also felt he deserved it and so much more from Jena’s parents. He almost felt lucky to get off as easily as he had. He cleared his throat and promptly asked his second question in one breath.
“Valentina told me Gevena has asked for her to come and visit with her in Manzanit. I was wondering if you would allow me to borrow your telepod to take her there. Valentina really thinks it would be good for Gevena to have someone to talk to about the trauma she went through. Also, I’d like to be able to visit with Rasa and find out how she’s getting along with her new duties.” He drew a deep breath to recover and was glad to have it all out in the open as he waited for Amanda to reply.
At first, Amanda was amused at how much Willian had packed into one breath, but then she mellowed out slightly as his request sunk in. She felt guilty for her previous comment as she realized Willian was trying to do something nice for other people. “Sure,” she replied easily.
“Sure, what?” Willian asked, hardly able to believe it had gone so easily. Surely there had to be some sort of catch.
“You can borrow my telepod. When did you want to go? I don’t have any plans for travel anytime soon, so it’s just sitting in the garage collecting dust. You may as well get some use out of it.”
“Well, I’m not exactly sure. I didn’t want to say anything to Valentina until I asked you first. Can I get back to you on it? Like later today or maybe tomorrow?” Willian’s hands were shaking with adrenaline at how well the conversation had gone. His respect for Amanda had just risen a hundred-fold.
“Sure. Go ahead and plan the day and time and I’ll make sure the telepod is available. Okay?”
“Thank you, Amanda! This will mean the world to Val and Gevena.”
“Sure thing. Is there anything else?”
“No, well…maybe.”
“What is it?”
“Could you possibly contact Rasa and ask her when it would be okay to come? I can’t tell you how frustrating it is not to have a patil to do this myself.”
“Sure, I can. I’ll message her as soon as we’re done talking. Can I reach you at this number?” She looked down on her caller ID to make sure a number was displayed.
“Yes. Thank you. I’m going to call Val right now and see what we can arrange.”
“Okay. Goodbye.”
“Bye!” Willian ripped the phone away from his ear and fumbled to end the call as he let out a huge sigh of relief.
It took him several attempts, but his fumbling fingers eventually dialed Valentina’s phone number. She answered almost immediately, much to his relief.
“Hey, Val.”
“Hi, Willian. I was just thinking about you.”
“Good thoughts, I hope.” Willian was pleased to hear she had been thinking about him. He wanted to be the only thing on her mind for the rest of their lives. Well, she could think of other things occasionally, he supposed.
“Of course!” she teased.
“I was really calling to make you an offer. I called Amanda and asked her if I could borrow her telepod to take you to visit Gevena.” He stopped when he heard her gasp. “What?”
“You didn’t! I mean, not after what happened with Jena! Did she yell at you?”
“No, she was actually really nice.” Mostly, he thought. He was not about to tell her about the tone of voice in which he had been addressed at the beginning of the conversation.
“Wow! I don’t think I could be if I were in her shoes.” Valentina shook her head in wonder.
“Hey, whose side are you on here?” Willian was actually a little hurt by Valentina’s comment.
“Yours, of course. I’m just saying…oh, never mind. Tell me what she said.”
“She’s going to find out from Rasa when a good time to visit will be, and Amanda said we could use her telepod whenever we’re ready to go. She’s going to call me back with the days and times, and we can coordinate it with whatever you have going on. So, what do you think? Is that cool or what?”
Valentina giggled, and she just had to ask, “How long did it take you to find the right time to use the word ‘cool’? I understand it’s not a word you use in Tuala.”
Willian chuckled in return and admitted, “I’ve been trying ever since I learned about it, actually!” They both burst out laughing.
Getting back to the conversation, Valentina wiped her eyes from laughing so hard, and said, “If we can arrange it for this week, we won’t have to worry about school schedules or anything like that. I think that would be easiest, especially because I won’t know how long we’ll be in Manzanit. Who knows how much Gevena will want to discuss, you know? What are you going to be doing while we have girl talk?”
“I’m hoping to catch up with Rasa and find out how things have been going with her. Don’t worry; I’ll keep myself busy and out of your way.”
“As long as you don’t get yourself into trouble,” Valentina teased.
“Now you’re starting to sound like my mom!” Willian rolled his eyes at having another woman in his life telling him to be good. “Well, I should probably get off the phone just in case Amanda is trying to call me back.”
“Don’t they have call-waiting over there?”
“What’s that?”
Valentina chuckled and then gave up. “Never mind. Call me when you know something more, okay?”
“Okay. Bye.” His thumb pressed the button to e
nd the call, and he dropped the cordless receiver on his mattress next to the dog. She looked up at him expectantly since the phone had startled her awake. “Now we get to wait, Pesi,” he said, and he rubbed the side of her head and watched as she tilted her chin to the side so he could scratch a better spot.
Chapter Fifteen
AMANDA HAD KEPT the phone to her ear a moment longer and heard Willian’s long exhalation. She rapidly hung up her end and burst out laughing. Maybe Willian was going to turn out okay after all. Maybe Valentina was going to be the difference in how he behaved with others.
Today’s conversation went a long way toward giving her hope. After all, she was probably going to be dealing with him for a long time when he stepped up to be an Elder and Riccan did likewise. They would be considered equals at that point so it would be better to mend their fences before anything happened.
Thinking it was nice to have a distraction since she was alone in the house, Amanda went into the office and uncovered the hidden patil. She powered it up and tried to decide if she should send a message or try to video chat with Rasa. It had been a while since she had touched base with her cousin, so she opted for the more personal approach.
When Rasa’s face appeared on the screen, she could see strain showing around her eyes. Amanda wondered what could possibly have been going on to be so evident in her usually gentle expression. There was a fierceness about her which seemed at odds with her personality.
“Hi, Rasa. How are you doing?” Amanda asked cheerfully.
“Busy! I can’t believe how petty people can be sometimes! Sorry, you don’t want to hear about my problems. What can I do for you?”
“I don’t mind listening if you just need a sympathetic ear. After all, I’m going to be the wife of an Elder someday so it might be a good idea to let me know some of the troubles I might encounter.”
“Oh, believe me; you’ll learn fast. I don’t want to jade your opinion before you even begin.”
Amanda chuckled at her tone. She decided not to take up too much more of her time and got to the reason for her call. “I understand Gevena has been wanting a visitor. Willian asked if he could bring Valentina over. We were just wondering when it might be good for them to come. What do you think?”
“Anytime would be good. It would be nice to know Gevena was getting the attention she needs. I’ve hardly been able to spare a minute since returning home, apart from getting her enrolled in school. Yes, the sooner, the better as far as I’m concerned.” She looked down at the piles of work strewn on her desk and then looked back up at the patil. “That would take one thing off of my roster of things to get done.”
“I’m sorry I’m not able to do more to help you out. I’m just roaming the empty house without anything to do. It just doesn’t seem right; does it?”
“Well, there may be something…” Rasa began as her mind went back to the prophecy Amanda had found in the ancient text.
“Yes, what is it? How can I help?” Amanda leaned forward, eager to do something, anything really.
“I was just looking over the new writings you had found in Riccan’s historical book. It occurred to me you have been right about everything when it comes to the samaras. Only three of them have remained unclaimed. And if your theory about the attendants of Jehoban’s meeting are each supposed to have one, then…it would mean I should be looking for mine. I just don’t have the time, but I don’t want to be the reason the prophecy doesn’t come to pass. I know it’s a lot to ask, but could you possibly look into it for me?”
“Certainly! But I have to warn you; it might be a personal thing. It might only make itself known to you. Remember, I don’t even have one myself. I don’t know what they feel like other than the descriptions told to me from the others who have claimed theirs. I will do whatever I can, that I can promise.”
Rasa sighed in resignation. “Thanks, I’ll have to hope it’s enough. If you could, please let Valentina know she can come anytime. I’ll leave word with the guards and staff for her to have complete access to the Residence when she gets here.”
“Can you grant the same access for Willian?”
“Oh, he doesn’t need it. As the successor to the First Elder, everyone here already knows who he is.”
“Really? I didn’t know about that. I still have so much I need to learn about Tualan culture. Sometimes it seems so daunting and like I’ll never know enough.” Amanda sighed, worried about her future involvement with the people in the Pantano District.
“Don’t worry about it. You already know the important things, the rest will either become apparent or won’t be important. I really should get back to work now. Did you need anything else?” Rasa hated having to cut the conversation short, but she had several deadlines looming over her, and she was feeling the strain starting to overwhelm her.
“I’m sorry. No, that was everything. I’ll let you go now. Take care!” Amanda smiled one last time before she disconnected the video connection. She had seen Rasa’s farewell nod before the screen went blank.
She sat back in her chair and sighed deeply. It had been her discovery of the prophetic words which had set in motion the search for the samaras. They still had no idea what was going to happen once they were all located. It seemed rather daunting to search two worlds for a small crystal which could fit in the palm of your hand. Well, they had done pretty well for themselves given the fact ten of them had been uncovered by various means.
She wished they could all have been as simple as when Captain Ahn had thought his into existence. Nobody else had been able to succeed in the same manner, certainly not for lack of trying! Amanda chuckled as she imagined the amount of time had been spent trying to use willpower to get the remaining samaras to appear out of thin air.
Before she became too absorbed in the mystery of the remaining samaras, Amanda picked up the phone and selected the last caller ID number from the history on the phone. It never even had a chance to ring before it was answered, which caused Amanda to smile at Willian’s eagerness to hear back from her.
“Willian? Is that you?”
“Yes.”
“Hi, this is Amanda. I just talked with Rasa, and she said she would arrange clearance for the both of you for any time you want to come. She did mention it would be better if you could come sooner rather than later. Have you had a chance to speak with Val yet?”
“Yes, right after I spoke with you. She said she would like to go while it’s still winter break at school. Do you think it would be too soon to try to go today? It’s still pretty early.”
“I don’t see why it would be a problem. Just promise me you won’t try to time your arrival. It’s not worth the risk involved just to gain a few hours.”
“I promise I won’t, I’m not sure how it works anyway, and I certainly would never risk Val’s life on something so stupid.”
“Good, I’m glad to hear it. Okay, well, whenever you figure it out, just head on over to our house. Both Val’s and Behn’s cars are already programmed with our gate so you won’t have any trouble getting onto the property. If we aren’t here, then feel free to take the telepod on your own. The remote for the shield and door lock is on the desk in the kitchen. You know what it looks like, right?”
“Yeah, they’re all pretty standard. Amanda, I appreciate you letting me do this. I wasn’t sure how you would react to my asking, but you’ve been great about everything. I also wanted to apologize for the things which happened between me and your daughter. She is really a wonderful person, and I’m ashamed to admit I was always quite jealous of her abilities. It’s my hope she will find someone to be happy with.”
“Thank you, Willian. I know it isn’t easy to admit when you’ve made a mistake, but your sincerity goes a long way to making amends. Things have been pretty tense between you and Jena, but as I said before, she is happy. More than that, I think she is happy with what you and Val have found together. You better be good to Val or I might have to change my mind about you!” She was only
half-teasing with her mild threat.
“I definitely will. Besides, I think she could make my life pretty miserable if I didn’t since our life-lines are actually joined together. If she ever left me, it would feel as though I had been ripped in half and, believe me, I never want to know what it’s like.”
“That’s good to hear. Okay, enough of my lecture. Go call Val and get this all settled.”
“Okay! Thank you again. We’ll be seeing you soon!”
Amanda instantly pulled the phone away from her ear as the sound of him slamming the receiver in the cradle to hang it up was loud and unexpected. She had to chuckle at his enthusiasm, though, so she was not angry at his abrupt end to the call. This would seem like a great adventure to a teenager. She could recall how excited she had been when she was the same age and waiting for a date with Nealand.
There he was again, coming to her mind at an unexpected time. While she had never regretted marrying Riccan, it might have happened quicker than it should have. After all, she had just recovered from her coma and had not really had any time to work through her feelings over the loss of her relationship with Neal.
Well, it was not exactly true, since she had experienced years of her life in Tuala while she had been dreaming. The dream state had included getting to know Riccan and falling in love with him. Unfortunately for Riccan, he had not experienced the same thing with her, but everything had turned out perfectly anyway.
With her mind focused on the things which had happened in her dream, an idea sprang into her mind which caused her to jump to her feet. Something Rasa had mentioned offhandedly made her think her answer might lie in the beginning. She ran from the office, down the hallway, and into the library.
Her momentum moved her through the room until she stopped at the wall of books. She ran her hands under one of the shelves until her fingers found the lever which released the latch on the secret door. The room hidden beneath the bookcase held all of the objects Riccan had collected from Tuala which should not be seen on Earth.
Ascension Vision- The Levels of Ascension Box Set Page 67