Mika
“Looking at the ground won’t stop me from seeing the baby, Mika.” Katrina snarled at me. I would have punched her if it would have helped. She wasn’t really there any more than I was. Smacking her wouldn’t do anything but frustrate me.
I refused to raise my gaze. Little victories where I could find them. “Then why bother yelling at me about it?”
“Mika.” She snarled then stopped with a gasp. I raised my gaze just long enough to watch her be sucked backward until she was out of my sight.
What had just happened? I whirled around. Behind me stood Jayne, Daniella’s youngest daughter. I blinked, trying to clear my vision. She couldn’t be here. Teagan could get me out, but not Jayne. And even then, I wasn’t sure it was a good idea to let her. Katrina could see through my eyes.
“Are you real?”
She reached out her hand. “I am.”
“How?”
Jayne let out a sigh. “Clara can block Katrina for a bit, and I can follow her power to get to you. We don’t have forever. Please, Sister Mika. Come to me.”
I didn’t move. “She’ll be able to see through my eyes.”
Jayne nodded. “We know. We haven’t told your Guards that we know, but we do. Teagan could see it in the future. We know what to do, too. Devyn has that gift. I’m afraid we’re going to take your eyesight. I’m sorry. It’s the only way.”
My heart might have actually skipped a beat. I digested this information silently as I always did when things shocked me, when I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t open my mouth until my brain caught up to the situation.
Bob had told me this. The Oracles were always blind. I’d not focused on it at that time.
Jayne held out her hand. “Please? I know this is too much, but we haven’t the time.”
“Did you say Guards?” I had them? When had this happened? I was going to be blinded, but I took her hand. I couldn’t stay here. The darkness she offered was better than this one.
I came through a light so bright I winced trying to get through it and was thrown back into my body. As before, my body burned, and I sagged forward. This was all very familiar. I forced my eyes open. If my sight was going, I needed to see all I could before I took it away.
“Give her a second,” Jayne called out to Devyn.
“What’s going on?” I knew that voice, and I turned toward it. Neil. What was he doing here? How much time has passed? What was…
Suddenly, he was on his knees in front of me. “Mika.” He touched the side of my face. His hands were callused, a little rough, and I loved the feeling. “Are you okay? You’re seeing us? We’ve been waiting.”
“What are you doing here? You don’t belong in this mess.”
He sucked in his breath. “We do. We’re your Guards. I’m sorry we didn’t know right away. I’m sorry we didn’t hold onto the knowledge we shouldn’t have lost. Forgive me. Forgive us.”
“I can’t hold her off too much longer,” Clara called out.
I knew what she meant, but Neil obviously didn’t. He spun around on his knees to stare at her. “What?”
They were my Guards? I hadn’t let myself hope. But I had to focus. If this was the last time I’d see them I had to memorize their faces. Neil, high cheekbones, blond hair he’d let get long, deep, soulful blue eyes. Wayne, short brown hair, long lean muscles, a strong chin, a quick smile. Gordon, so tall I had to bend my neck back to stare up at him, chocolate-brown eyes that could read everything around him in an instant. Ren, long black hair, a full mouth and an easy smile. Lennon, with his bushy hair and multi-hued brown eyes.
They were lovely. They were mine. I sucked in my breath. “Just do it, Devyn. Do it before I give in to being scared.”
Gordon rushed to my side, taking my hand in his. “What is happening? Don’t be scared, honey. Somebody talk.”
And just like that, the world went black.
One second there was color, and the next there was nothing. Not just darkness… but a complete lack of anything.
My eyesight vanished, but my hearing was perfectly fine. Everyone spoke at once. The guys were unhappy, and I couldn’t blame them. I wasn’t thrilled about this myself. For that matter, the Sisters sounded distraught as well. The difference—they had known it was going to happen and we’d all accepted a certain amount of pain as being part of our lives.
I was glad none of the anger in the room was being turned on Devyn. She was young. Since her powers had manifested with an ability to blind someone, she was both terrifying and spectacular. I’d love to know how she knew she could do this.
I rubbed at my eyes. I could feel them, just not see out of them. I tried to make my pulse calm. Nothing would be gained by becoming hysterical. My racing heart didn’t seem to want to listen, so the best I could do was ignore the panic welling inside.
“You didn’t tell us because you knew we wouldn’t let it happen. I didn’t take her from one darkness to put her in another. We’d have found another way.”
A screeching chair being pushed back and a baby crying, which stopped after the sound of a door opening and closing clicked in the distance. Was that Teagan’s baby? I’d never even gotten to see. Her voice was strong and sure when she answered Neil. “This isn’t on Daniella. This is a Prophet thing. I looked and I looked and I looked. Let me tell you the futures I saw for Mika. One, she died in that place with Katrina. You never rescued her. Another had us all dead because we lost the Oracle. The only way things are even remotely okay is like this.” Her voice shook. “Mika, I truly am sorry.”
“You didn’t do this, Teagan. Katrina did.” And if Beelzebub had been entirely truthful, then the Oracles were always blind. Maybe that was why Katrina had locked the last one up in a room. “There is a problem, though. She’ll still be able to see my visions.”
“She won’t,” Clara’s voice called out. “Not as long as you stay with me. That’s why we’ll be going with you, Mika.”
I tried to get to my feet, and my legs wobbled. Without my vision to give me a sense of the room, I was off balance. A strong hand grasped my arm. “Easy, beautiful.”
I smiled. Ren wouldn’t let me fall. I knew it. I rose slowly but surely. “Am I going somewhere?”
“To Peter’s with us,” Wayne called out. “No way are you staying here if you can’t see. If you need Clara for protection, she’ll come, too.”
I expected an argument from Daniella, but instead she responded quite differently. “All three of my girls will be going with you. It’s time. They need their teacher. That’s you.”
“You want me to instruct them on how to be Sisters, on the ways of things, without any eyesight.” That sounded like a joke. “All I am going to be able to do now is find children in my visions and stumble around.”
There was a quick suck of breath. “That’s not true,” Daniella answered. “The Oracles, it would seem, are always blind. We didn’t know that until today. They were always the teachers. So I’m going to have to ask you, Mika, to take care of my daughters. They’ll leave me now and go with you. We don’t know if we’ll see each other again. Teagan can’t see it.”
I shook my head. “Don’t give me your daughters, Daniella. I’m useless now.”
“You have no idea how wrong you are about that.”
As if to prove my point, I tried to walk forward and would have stumbled into something if Ren hadn’t stopped me. They wanted me to teach? I couldn’t even read anymore. Everyone was going to see very quickly just how wrong this was.
“Are you going to take the vision of all the Sisters Katrina cursed?” Because then they were going to have a huge undertaking on their hands.
“No,” Anne answered. “We’re going to take their powers. Krystal is not a threat, she can’t be used by Katrina without them. The others will have to be powerless until we can find another way. And when we can, Mika, we’ll restore your sight, too. I want everyone here to understand I made this decision. When it came down to it, I said we’d take yo
ur eyesight.”
I sucked in a breath. I understood her decision. I’d even semi-agreed to it in the cursed place. Perhaps it was lonely at the top for Anne. I could sympathize, but I was still alone in the dark. I had no wise words of comfort to offer.
I thought I must be in a room in the back of the guesthouse. I had my lids closed. It was easier to see nothing with them closed than to have them open and still be sightless.
“What do you need?” Gordon’s voice was close, and a second later he sat down on the bed next to where I perched.
Did I need anything? I’d been gone for over a year, trapped in my mind, countless children were at the mercy of Katrina now because I’d been unable to help myself, and now I was blind. I had no idea—none—what I needed anymore.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not.” I’d never really focused on how deep Gordon’s voice was before. The low sound resonated through me, and I wished I could roll around in the noise, as if such a thing was possible. “How could you be? I’m not fine, and I didn’t lose my vision.”
I’d spent no time thinking about the fact they were my Guards. The idea still seemed remote, sort of impossible, and like a bad joke. Gain five loves, lose your ability to ever gaze at them again.
I shook my head. I had to get control of my thoughts. “I wonder why I agreed to this. I mean, I don’t mean to be oh poor Mika. I know this is the end of days. Everything is awful. Why should my problems matter at all? But why would I have said yes to this?”
He touched the side of my face. “Because you’re brave. And you never say no when people need help. I’ve watched it myself.”
“Gordon.” I sighed. “I’m sorry you’re stuck with me. You’re going to spend the rest of your life trailing after or leading me around. I won’t even be fighting demons anymore.”
He hadn’t moved his hand. “This is hard right now. It’ll be better on Peter’s. I promise it will. And I was wondering if I could kiss you.”
I laughed. He wanted to kiss me? “Gordon, you never wanted to. Why would you now?”
“There was nothing I wanted more. I’ve spent this whole time regretting that I didn’t. Please, let me kiss you. I missed you, Mika.”
He was so sweet. “If you want to, then that would be fine. I…”
Gordon didn’t let me finish. He pressed his mouth to mine, and even though I was surrounded in darkness, for that second I didn’t feel alone.
16
I lay back in the bed, my head on the soft pillow, and despite the terror of my current circumstances, my body did relax on the bed. Gordon hadn’t pushed the kiss for more than a second, and then we’d lay in silence, just listening to each other breathe. Well, that was what I had done. I wasn’t sure exactly what Gordon had done in those moments. I was pretty sure we’d been on the same page.
He’d helped me into the bathroom, put my hands on the sink, and I’d managed to clean myself up pretty well with the water—which was warm—and cloths on the side of the sink. I’d need a full on bath at some point, but someone would have to help me with that. The idea might have at one time been tantalizing. Now, it just made me sad. I’d stumbled out of the bathroom where Gordon caught me, and now I was in the bed, alone in the room. He’d gone to see what duties he had. Being in bed, I should be safe enough.
I was relaxing, but I wasn’t sleeping. The door swung open, and I tensed. “Who’s there?”
“It’s Ren and me,” Wayne answered, and soon, the door closed behind him. “We heard you were going to try to sleep. We’ve learned some things. Sisters sleep better with two of her guards with her. Better for her energy.”
I’d heard that before. It was hard not to pick up certain things living with other Sisters who had their guards. “I wouldn’t mind company.”
I’d been alone a very long time, except for Katrina, and she didn’t count.
“I’m on your left.” Ren slid in next to me, and Wayne got in the other side. They both jostled around, or at least it felt like they did. Maybe they were simply taking off their shoes. Everything they did seemed so much bigger because I couldn’t see them do it.
Wayne lay back first, pulling me up against him. I didn’t know them as well as I’d have liked, we’d had such a short amount of time together. Yet, I’d thought about them constantly, and there was nothing awkward about this.
“We tried to hold you a little bit on the trip back. But you hadn’t exactly consented so we didn’t go too far.” Ren lay on his side, pressed against me.
That was sweet. “Maybe you guys should tell me everything that happened since I was taken.” It felt like a million years ago.
So they did. They took turns. All the things that had happened. Alexander really being a raven, which threw me for a loop. Their guard training and coming to get me. How Ren had pulled me out. The ride home. Katrina’s attempts to get to them. I found the story riveting, or maybe it was simply hearing them tell it. I craved the sound of their voices, like they were lifelines back to the world outside of Katrina’s brand of hell.
“Thank you for all of that. I’m going to try to be worth all that effort. I’m not sure how I’ll manage, but I will try.”
Wayne shifted slightly. “You’re going to figure this out, Mika. And I have to say that I suddenly believe. You’re awake. We’re going to take you home. You’re a wonderful teacher. I bet you get your eyesight back.”
I groaned, and Ren laughed. “Mika, you are going to be living with Wayne’s optimism now, too.”
“I keep you all from falling into the pits of despair.” Wayne laughed, and Ren snorted. I smiled. Despite everything, this was really nice. I did feel better being in their arms. It was like my energy could sort of let go of me a little bit. I didn’t have to be so on alert. I had them, and they would keep me safe. They were here, they were laughing. There was still joy in the world.
Ren ran a hand down my arm. “You need to sleep, Sister Mika. Let yourself drift off.”
“Maybe I can. But do you think you guys could keep talking for a bit? I… I love the sound of your voices.”
Wayne kissed my cheek. “She means me, Ren. She's just being polite, including you in it. My voice is the one she prefers.”
“Now come on,” Ren joked back. “I was just being nice about you, Wayne. She clearly prefers my dulcet sounds.”
I mock sighed, and they both laughed. Finally it was Wayne who spoke. “My mother used to tell me lots of stories. She was so sick that she often couldn't get out of bed to do things with me. My father was a great playmate. He was very busy, but he always had time for me.”
Ren brushed his knee with mine. “I love your dad and your mom. I mean, I only met your mom a few times. She wasn’t always up for company. But the few times you brought me over and she was downstairs, she was so kind.”
“I…” He sucked in an audible breath. “Yeah, she was. Sorry. Didn't expect to get emotional with this story. I can usually talk about her. I was just thinking how much I wish she’d be there to meet Mika when we got home.”
I searched for his hand, and when I found it, I brought it to my mouth so I could kiss his knuckles. “One thing about what we do, about how we live, is that we never have any doubt about what comes next, right? For the most part, we know, sort of. There’s lots of speculation about what happens if we’re possessed, but let’s assume everyone who was pretty good as a person prior to possession gets a pass, then we know divinity welcomes us home. Your mom, she’d know what happened to you, Wayne. She knows who I am and maybe better than we do, what will be.”
“I like thinking about it like that. I really do.” Wayne tugged on the blanket, pulling it over us. At least I thought it was Wayne. The tugging seemed to be coming from his side of the bed.
“I don't wish my parents were there.” Ren yawned. “Your mom, fine. Your dad will be there, he's great.”
Wayne was quiet for a second. “We assume. I mean we don't know what has happened since we left.”
“Let's not go looking for problems,” Ren interrupted. “Your dad is there. You were saying earlier that your mom told stories.”
Wayne kissed the top of my head. “Right. Before I got all wimpy and emotional. Yes, she used to tell me stories. The ones I’m thinking of today have to do with that tree in the center of town.”
They'd all brought up that tree before. “The one that legend says keeps the demons away.”
“Yes.” His voice raised slightly in pitch. Wayne must be excited I remembered it. “The legend she told me was about the birds. Do you know it, Ren?”
“No.” Ren shrugged, his body jerking when he did. “No one was telling me stories.”
I hated that he’d had such a different time than Wayne. I stroked his arm, feeling the hair and the outline of his muscles. He was so strong. “They should have.”
Wayne continued. “One day a long, long time ago, there was a flock of birds circling the island. Some of the old people claim a man in a black jacket appeared out of nowhere and inserted his cane into the ground. He said a time would come when it would grow into a tree. And it did. I'm wondering if there was some truth to it. If it was Reed.”
I supposed anything was possible. Had Reed gone to protect Peter’s Isle? Why specifically? I didn't have answers. I lay in the warm bed, listening to the small sounds Wayne and Ren made. Eventually, Wayne’s breathing changed. He snored, like he had the one night we spent together before.
Ren laughed, a low sound. “Kick him.”
“What?” I didn’t understand.
“Kick him to get him to stop. Boy snores like a sawmill. He knows it, too. If you kick him, he’ll stop. We’ve shared quarters a long time.”
I shook my head. “I can't kick him. That's an awful thought. He’s sleeping and suddenly I kick him?”
Ren yawned. “Your choice. I can sleep through an explosion.”