I’M PSYCHIC. How cool is that? After listening to Sean’s theories and Googling my ass off, I’m sure of it. Psychic? Huh. My life just took a sharp turn towards crazy. Apparently, shit really does happen. So now what? Sean said I could get more control if I practiced. Soooo, that’s exactly what I want to do. Practice makes perfect . . . but on whom?
Domino was lying prone on the bed watching me pace. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear she was mocking me. She seemed to be smiling, and every now and then she wagged her tail for no apparent reason. I stopped to examine her face. She had intelligent eyes. They were beautiful too. I rubbed her ears playfully. Did dogs have minds? If they did, then they would have thoughts, right? Dogs had memories. That was a no-brainer. I wonder . . . I was staring into space, lost in thought for a minute. Finally, I cleared my daydreams to get down to business. I changed position so I could see directly into her irises and tried to focus.
She got up and left the bed. Don’t even think about it.
“Hey! Come back here.”
Nope.
Well, crap. Plan B? I thumbed out a text to the only friend I have who wouldn’t assume I had lost my sanity. Dani showed up about ten minutes later. I was literally vibrating with excitement the second I heard the sound of tires on the driveway. I was going to tell her all about my weekend and my shiny new psychic powers.
“Well, what are you so excited about? Did something happen with Sean? Oh, my God! Did you guys do it?” She bounced up and down with way too much enthusiasm.
What? “Geez, no; I would’ve texted you with something that important.”
Her dimples collapsed. “Oh, that’s too bad. So what’s the news then?”
“You’re not going to believe this—I—” I started to tell her, but something made me hesitate. As excited as I was to share this secret, I couldn’t. Will you keep our secret, Mica? He trusted me to keep his secrets. I felt like a jerk. I didn’t have the right to share this with anyone; not even Dani. I pictured Dec’s soft blue eyes and serious face while he held my head for me. He took care of me. He was gentle and kind when I needed him. He’d protected and defended me. Aw hell, they all had. Even the asshole Killian went out of his way to keep me safe from Scott. I was a traitor. I couldn’t betray their trust. I sighed. Damn it! I couldn’t tell her. So I settled on something else.
Lying through my teeth, I said much more calmly, “I read an article about mind reading. I’ve always wanted to do that. Don’t you think that would be cool?”
She nodded, confused at the change in my excitement. “Um, sure. Yeah, that would be kind of fun. Is that why you called? You couldn’t tell me that over the phone?”
“No! I think we should try it out on each other! Wouldn’t it be so awesome if we could learn to read minds?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Domino retreating to the doorway. Killjoy.
After a few minutes of talking about the mechanics of mind reading, we decided to give it a shot. With my devious plan in place, I volunteered to try first. As I set us up across from each other, I felt a tiny little pang of guilt, but I was determined to practice. Other than my throwing up an organ or two, what’s the worst that could happen? If Dec was right, I could learn to do this. And that would be amazing.
Dani had clear gray eyes with thick rings around the iris. I’ve looked at her a million times. How could I have missed this? They were so pretty, and I hadn’t even noticed before. I held her hands to stay balanced and got ready to focus.
“Okay, Dani, just sit still and look into my eyes.”
At first, nothing happened. I didn’t see anything beyond the eyes themselves. She shifted her weight and blinked.
“Don’t blink! You have to stay really still. Just gaze ahead and relax.” I tried to keep my voice quiet.
“Well, hurry up then. My eyes are drying out.”
I tried again. Peering more deeply, I opened my mind, reaching for her subconscious. Deeper—just a little farther—here we go . . . Suddenly, everything clicked. Random images swirled around in chaos. I struggled to settle the images. After a second, I forced them into a slower moving flow, but they were blurry. There were snatches of vivid green trees blending into burning fires that morphed into grey stone caverns. Nothing looked to be from our world. These impressions were alien and strange as if they were completely imaginary. I saw no memories of people or landmarks I recognized. How was this Dani? It didn’t make sense, but before I could blink, I lost control of the spinning impressions, and soon they bombarded me like bees. Something snapped behind my right eye. With a cry, I tore myself away, jamming my palms into my eye sockets, trying to crush the unbearable pain and crazy dizziness.
Paralyzed with agony, I curled into a ball as the disjointed images of Dani’s mixed with my own nightmares and thundered through my head. Scott Flynn appeared as a disfigured monster, expanding and contracting in the midst of a burnt alien landscape. Suddenly my thoughts and memories were gone. There were only nightmarish pictures ripping across my vision. I tried to focus on Sean, but I couldn’t see him. I couldn’t pull any of my memories into focus. My mind was out of my control. Spinning and spinning . . .
Dec’s visage flashed like a beacon. I wasn’t up to yelling so I gasped his name with my forehead anchored to the floor.
Warm breath tickled my cheek. Dec. He was using his thumbs to massage my temples and the delicate bones around my eyes. It felt heavenly.
I felt his chest tense with anger. “Good, you’re alive. What the hell were you thinking? Are you trying to kill me?” His thumbs were working magic even through his scolding.
I tried to turn my head, but he jammed it back into his lap. I croaked, “I tried to practice . . . you know what.” I looked around. “Where’s Dani?”
“I sent her home. I told her you had a seizure, but she shouldn’t worry about you.” He was gritting his teeth. His fingers tightened on my temple, and I winced. Ow.
“And she bought that? She would never leave me if she thought I was sick.”
“I can be very persuasive. She didn’t have a choice. I’m not happy about that either. You put me in very bad position tonight. It’s not cool to adjust Dani’s memories. I hate doing that. I hope it was worth it.”
“Oh, Dec, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for anything bad to happen. I just—” I started to explain, but he cut me off.
“Never mind the apologies. Just tell me everything that happened. Don’t hold anything back.”
I told him about the nightmare of uncontrolled chaos and how it escalated and got more violent. I shuddered as I told him about the stabbing pain in my eyes, and the overwhelming sensation of spinning. By the time I was done, I was crying in his arms as he patted my back awkwardly. The sound of another voice stopped me cold.
“Dec? What the hell are you doing here?”
“Killian, it’s not what you think!” I tried to get up, but Dec pushed me back.
“Sit!”
With one last pointed look, he drew Killian into the bathroom. Killian was livid and didn’t bother to hide it. I curled back into a fetal position and tried to lie still. My head felt odd, and my eye was twitching. Worst of all, I felt guilty and stupid. What was I thinking? I had no idea it was so dangerous. I was an idiot.
Five minutes later, Killian read me the riot act and raked me over the coals. He had no sympathy for a stupid girl who was determined to play with fire. How did it feel to get burned? Was it worth the pain, the danger? Did I want to destroy my mind? What about Dani? Didn’t I care about her? Wasn’t she supposed to be a friend? How could I put her in danger like this? What if I had passed out before calling for Dec? He went on and on with the scolding and accusations. He didn’t even need to raise his voice.
I got the point. I had no argument, no defense. I was a terrible person. I sucked. Damn. I was trying to get angry, but he was right. I was wrong. I sat stone-faced while I got my butt chewed. Eventually he wound down and slowed his pacing.
I finally noticed
he was wearing black camouflage pants and a black t-shirt with black boots. He looked like a commando. He was armed too. The bulge of a pistol tucked under his shirt was unmistakable. He hadn’t shaved, and his jaw was shadowed. If possible, he looked more lethal than before. I gulped. Who was this guy? If I didn’t know he was protecting me, I would be terrified of him.
“You should always be afraid of me!” he snapped in my face.
I had nothing witty to say to that. Did he just read my mind? I knew it!
Warming to his subject, he lectured me some more. “What you did was irresponsible. Dangerous. We can’t fucking babysit you, Mica. You do this again and you’ll find yourself in a padded cell—or worse. Am I clear?”
Dec interrupted. “Uh, hey, I think she’s still in some pain. I should probably finish healing her before, uh, we leave.”
Killian growled, “Whatever,” and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
Brushing his lips across my forehead, Dec closed his eyes to concentrate. With hands on either side of my head, he pressed gently into my temples. A warm pulse of energy flowed beneath my skin as his fingers drifted over my skull, around my cheekbones, along my jaw. My blood flowed smoothly under the surface but with more urgency than usual. I recognized the saol immediately and surrendered to it. Through my eyelids, I saw a faint light that wasn’t there before. Was that his power moving through me? Dec moved his fingers across my eyes again and paused under my right eye socket. With a burst of heat, the pain was gone, and his hands were still.
His mouth tickled my ear as he murmured, “All better, darlin’.”
When I opened my eyes, he relaxed into a breathtaking smile and winked.
Killian snorted impatiently across the room. “This conversation isn’t over, but we have to leave. We have important work to do.” Peeling away from the wall, he stalked over and gripped my hands, forcing me up to meet his eyes.
“Don’t try anything like that again! Leave your psychic abilities alone for now. You have no idea what could happen, and I don’t have time to explain today. We have something urgent to take care of, and I can’t send Dec back here to save your ass again anytime soon. I want your word on this. Promise me.”
It wasn’t a request.
I could hardly meet his eyes so he shook me. “Okay, Killian, I promise. I feel horrible and stupid. I won’t do it again! I don’t want to be a distraction. I want you guys to be safe. I know what you do matters.” Whatever it is . . .
He nodded curtly and motioned for Dec to join him at the door. He was wearing the same clothes as Killian from the t-shirt to the boots. Does he have a gun too? He raised his eyebrows when he caught me checking him out. He picked me up in a bear hug and pressed a kiss against my cheek. I felt the slight shock at the contact and looked at him with a question in my eyes.
“Everyone matters, Mica. You’re part of us now. I hope you’re ready.”
Chapter 14: Welcome to the Family