Starcrossed: Perigee - A paranormal romance trilogy (16 page)

I grimaced and stared, unseeing, at the playing cards. He was treating me like a child. What else did he not want me to know?

"He's only trying to take care of you Lucy."

Leaning back in my chair, I sighed and glanced at Marcus. "I know." I just wished he'd trust me with a bit more information.

Moving aside my bowl of M&Ms, I presented my palm to Marcus. "Can you teach me how to use my wyk? Can I do the ball thing?"

"Of course. It's hard work at first though. It'll wear you out." I told him I didn't mind.

They spent the next couple of hours giving me a crash course in the theory of Wyk, and how to manipulate it. Apparently, once I understood and really believed I was the master of it, controlling it would come more naturally, and it could be done subconsciously, leaving me able to do other things at the same time.

After two hours, I was sending M&Ms rolling across the table, without having touched them. I threw up my hands in triumph as Phil tried desperately to catch the barrage of candy before it went off the edge.

"This is fun!" I said. Putting out my palm, I concentrated on making a ball of light appear, and sent it flying around the room. The glowing orb sped faster and faster until I made it explode silently into a shower of twinkling lights which petered out as they neared the floor. My very own fireworks display - not a bad effort. I laughed as Marcus and Phil gaped, gob-smacked at the spectacle.

"That was incredible. You shouldn't be able to do that already," Phil said, eyeing me carefully. "You should be exhausted. It takes everyone years to even produce a decent spark of light."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "Really?" I wasn't feeling tired at all, in fact, I was exhilarated.

Marcus nodded thoughtfully. "The Innaki are going to be really peeved you've gotten away."

I shivered; the mood becoming somber. "So they can milk people's wyk? What do they do with it?"

"Wyk is power, Lucy. They're addicted to it. Imagine what you could do if you had great stores of it." Phil left the table and filled the kettle again.

"I think we should talk about something cheerier," said Marcus. "Lucy, I do believe you know enough now to whip Phil's butt."

He dealt the cards again, and I picked up my cards - two aces. I hoped it was a lucky sign.

* * * * *

"Hmm... I think I have a way to go." I examined the spindly flower arrangement in front of me and straightened a gerbera. It keeled over again.

Ellen grinned. "You need to wire that one."

I'd been helping Ellen out at her florist shop. I'd felt like I was climbing the walls after being cooped up in the apartment for so long. Plucking the gerbera from the oasis foam, I placed a piece of floral wire against the stalk, and wound the green tape around it in a spiral. I was all fingers and thumbs - flower arranging was more difficult than I'd thought. Ellen hoisted a bucket of roses on to the counter, and began to wrap the stems ready for an arrangement for a bridal table. She worked quickly and easily, and had finished six by the time I'd finished my one stem.

The bell sounded on the front door. It was Aric. His eyes widened as he saw my floral monstrosity.

"Don't laugh," I warned him. He laughed anyway, and I hit him with the flower. The head of the gerbera fell off, and I was left holding the stem.

"Going well, then!" Aric said cheerfully. I smiled and grabbed another bloom.

"I'd like to see you try this," I said, cutting another piece of wire.

"I'm a man of many talents, but flower arranging isn't one of them." He perched himself on a stool and passed me the florist's tape.

Ellen pointed to a bucket of roses in the corner, and handed Aric the flower stem stripper.

"Make yourself useful," she said.

"I was hoping you could spare Lucy for a while. I thought I'd take her out to lunch."

Ellen looked at my ugly flower arrangement and grinned. "I think I can spare her for a while..."

Aric tossed the strippers on the counter and I threw the roll of tape down too. It rolled off the counter. He bent to pick it up, but I stopped him.

"Wait," I said, holding his arm. I concentrated on the roll of tape on the floor, and it floated up and landed gently on the counter.

"Hmm," said Aric, "Impressive."

I rolled my eyes in the direction of the ceiling and placed my hands on my hips. "Well, it is pretty good - for a beginner."

He raised his hands in protest and grinned. "Hey, I don't disagree! Handy skill if you can't reach the T.V. remote - lazy bones!" he teased.

I laughed and reached for my bag. "You're just jealous. I'd like to see you do better."

He smiled, rising to the challenge. "Okay. Can you do this?" He disappeared into thin air.

My mouth hung open in an 'O'. I looked around, confused. "Where'd he go?" I asked Ellen.

"I'm still here,' his voice came out of nowhere. I waved my hands around until I felt his arm.

"He's cloaking, and showing off," explained Ellen. "He's still there, but he's changed the wyk field around him so it's folded over and makes him appear invisible."

Her explanation went sailing over my head. Aric appeared again, in exactly the same spot as he'd been before.

"Can I do that?" I asked.

He nodded. "It's all to do with your wyk." He explained how to manipulate the field of energy around me, and I managed to make my hand disappear.

"Wow..." I said, gazing in awe at the empty space where my hand had been. I tried to disappear entirely, but I only managed to lose my arm up to my elbow.

"It takes practice," said Aric.

"This is seriously cool," I declared as my arm appeared again. "What else can you do?"

"I'll show you later," Aric said, with a wink.

Ellen rolled her eyes upwards, and lifted the bucket back down to the floor. "Will you two get out of here?! I have work to do!"

We had only walked a short distance from the florist's shop, when Aric stopped and indicated the doorway to his right. "In here," he said.

"We're going to have lunch in an internet cafe? You do know me and computers don't get on..."

He smiled and gave a small nod. "I have something to show you."

We bought some sandwiches and coffee and settled down in front of a computer. To my surprise the monitor behaved itself. "I'm shielding it from you." Aric said with a grin.

"I've been thinking about where we should go from here. We can't stay at Saul and Ellen's forever." He tapped out the internet address on the keyboard, and a Canadian real estate website appeared on the screen.

"You want to move to Canada?" I asked.

"We can't stay here," he said. "Your photo is going to appear on the back of every milk carton pretty soon. Someone will recognize you sooner or later. We have to get out of the country."

I swallowed and looked at the screen.

"Look," Aric went on, clicking on a link. "I was thinking somewhere like this. It's remote, but nice."

I clicked through a number of the photos. The property was located just outside of a logging town in picturesque, heavily forested mountains. It was beautiful, but very isolated.

"Isn't it dangerous to be stuck out in the woods like that?" I was thinking of the Innaki standing in the clearing in front of the cabin on Turner's Ridge.

"You don't have your implant any more Lucy - they can't trace you."

I read the blurb under the listing. A timber cabin, fifty acres, a large barn. It sounded idyllic.

"We could run a little hobby farm - you could breed horses. You said you'd always wanted to do that."

I stared at a picture of a bubbling stream beside the cabin. It was a big move. A month ago I was a high school student, and now I was being asked to move to another country to set up a new life with a man I'd known for only three months.

"It's a big change," I said dubiously.

Aric nodded, "I know."

He leaned closer, and he spoke to me in my mind.

Listen, Lucy, I know all this is happening so quickly. I know it's scary. But I want you to understand, I'll always look after you, I promise.

I turned and studied his face. His eyes were only inches from mine. I put my hand on his cheek and caressed his face.

You know,
I said shyly, in his head,
we've only known each other a few months, and yet I feel as if I've known you forever.

He was silent, his head nodded slightly, and he continued to look at me with eyes that made me feel weak at the knees.

I don't know what it is... it is crazy to feel this way about someone so soon, but I want to be with you,
I continued.

He glanced down at my hand, and took it in his own.

Swallowing, he moved closer, and leaned his forehead against mine. "I've waited a long time for someone like you," he said out loud, although his voice was a whisper. "I can't promise things will be smooth-sailing, but... I want to be with you. Forever."

I wondered what his idea of 'forever' meant. He would outlive me; I would eventually age while he stayed as perfect as he was now. I pushed the thought away - I didn't want to think about it.

'Star-crossed lovers'. The phrase popped into my mind. I'd first heard it when we'd studied Romeo and Juliet in eighth grade. Two lovers, destined by the stars to meet and fall in love, were thwarted by the circumstances around them. In Romeo and Juliet, the relationship was doomed - I hoped ours would fare better.

Aric leaned forward and kissed me gently, then pulled away and his eyes met mine.

I love you, Lucy,
he said quietly in my head.

I'd always had a difficult time proclaiming my affections - a security measure, I presumed, from my childhood, but I had little hesitation in declaring them now. "I... love you too," I whispered back.

We kissed again, and were interrupted by a cough from a scruffy looking man on the next computer.

"Get a room," he said grumpily. I looked at him in surprise, and Aric laughed good-naturedly.

"So," he said, pointing towards the property listing on the screen. "What do you think?"

I took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. What the heck - it was a big adventure. I threw him a shaky grin, and nodded.

He hugged me, and planted a quick kiss on my mouth. "I'll get it sorted then."

* * * * *

Chapter Seven

"I really wish you'd reconsider." Aric maneuvered the car into a parking space and killed the engine.

I shook my head and stared at the imposing Victorian facade of the sanitarium . Aric had been trying to dissuade me from visiting my mother for days, but in the end, when he saw I was determined to go with or without him, he conceded defeat, and offered to drive me. I almost changed my mind as we climbed the marble stairs to the entrance, but the image of the tiny black speck in a pool of blood rose in my mind. I steeled myself and walked on.

We were ushered into the treating psychiatrist's office to discuss the unexpected visit. My knees were knocking as the doctor poured over my mother's file. Aric held my hand and rubbed his thumb over mine.

Relax.

"Well, this is entirely out of left field, I must say." The doctor peered over his thick black-rimmed spectacles, and shuffled some papers in the file.

"I see you haven't visited her at all in the past ten years." It was an observation, not an accusation, and I bobbed my head.

"For the past few years she has been a model patient. In the beginning she was under the impression everyone around her were... 'aliens' out to get her - there was no chance of anyone visiting as she was afraid of everyone. She's much improved. We've considered releasing her, but, unfortunately, she still persists, to some extent, with her delusions."

I threw a disturbed glance at Aric.

The doctor tapped his pen on the desk as he flicked another page over. "I know you were the one she injured. How do you feel about seeing her again?"

"It was ten years ago. I'd just like to... see how she is."

He looked up again and pushed his spectacles down the bridge of his nose.

"Are you afraid of her?"

"No," I said.

He made a vague grunting noise, and continued to examine the papers. We waited in silence until he closed the folder with finality, resting his hands neatly on top.

"Well, I can see no reason why there shouldn't be a supervised visit. As I said, she is a model patient - she has made great progress in the past ten years. She hasn't had many visitors. I can't say how a visit from you will affect her, but it may be just what she needs."

I sat back and beamed at Aric. He was looking at the doctor stonily.

We were taken to a waiting room and told we would be called when my mother was ready to see us.

"I think it should be just you this time Lucy." I gulped and looked at the double doors, with the electronic locks and the wire mesh window. I couldn't rely on Aric to be there for everything. Some things I just had to do by myself, just as I had had to do growing up. I mentally berated myself -
don't be pathetic, Lucy.

The electronic locks beeped, and a nurse appeared through the doors.

"She's ready for you now." I drew a deep breath and stood up shakily.

Aric rose and put his hands on my shoulders. "You don't have to do this you know. You can still change your mind."

I shook my head again. "I need to know her."

I left him and followed the nurse. He led me into a large room furnished with vinyl-covered lounge chairs and a few tables dotted with board games and puzzles. A television flickered silently in a corner. There were numerous patients milling about the room, some had visitors. On the far side a woman sat at a table flanked by two well-built male nurses. The doctor I recognized from our recent interview stood further back, a folder in his hands. She looked smaller and more vulnerable than I remembered.

My legs felt like they were made from cardboard as I walked toward her. Butterflies appeared in my stomach, and my heart beat a fast staccato rhythm against my chest. My mother stood up slowly as I approached. I reached the table and she smiled at me with tears in her eyes.