Independence

  He rubbed his thumb over the scar on her cheek and sighed. "You're beautiful. Even with this."

  "Kyle, stop beating yourself up."

  He shrugged like he was appeasing her, but had no real plans to do so. I broke in.

  "Why don't we all go take a nap? I'm pretty tired actually."

  "Yeah right," Kyle said and grinned deviously. "We all know why you want to drag my cousin back to that room, Maggie Jacobson."

  I glared and Caleb punched his shoulder. "Shut up," he hissed and glanced at Dad.

  "Mr. Masters knows why you want to, too," Kyle joked and dodged Caleb's swing.

  "Kyle," Dad complained and rolled his eyes. "That's a good idea. I am actually pretty tired. Want to meet back up for dinner?"

  Caleb held up his hand. "There's actually this great little seafood place right around the corner the guy I booked the cottages through told me about. We can try it if you want."

  "Yes!" Jen said and smiled pleadingly at Bish. "Aw, I've been dying for some real crab cakes!"

  He quirked his mouth to the side in a half smile. I knew that smile. He used to use it on me when I was a kid and he thought I was being adorable. And I'd seen him use it on Maria when she asked him to dance at the Reunification. And now he was using it on Jen because even I had to admit she was adorable. She was so happy and almost silly. That just wasn't Jen, and it was good to see her kick back and be able to be young again.

  "Yeah, let's," he agreed. She squealed a little. Squealed…and jumped up to hug him around his neck. He held her to him easily and looked at me over her shoulder. He smiled the biggest smile. It was amazing.

  So that's what we did. And that night at the restaurant, Dad gave us some big news. I must've been too focused on Caleb to pay attention to anyone else's thoughts because I was a little shocked. "So…" he started and made this noise like he knew we weren't going to like it, "I've decided to go and live with Fiona's family…clan…for a while."

  Bish was the first to respond. "But why? We're going to be…"

  He stopped his thought of saying he was going to live right next door and immediately started using Caleb's trick to keep Jen from seeing about the house. His thoughts of an art project he was working on flitted through his, Jen's and my minds. He was thinking about finishing off the trees on his canvas with a light stream from the sun. What brush stroke to use.

  Jen looked at him with a curiously raised brow. He just smiled and turned back to Dad and frowned. "Why are you leaving?"

  "Well…for one, I don't think it's right for her to have to leave her family like that."

  Fiona butted in. "I told you, it's tradition. It's just…the way we've always done things. I'll still see them, just not all the time."

  He took her hand in his. "I understand, but Bish and Maggie are getting on with their lives. I'm ready to get on with mine. We can travel, see your family and stay with them for a bit, and then we'll come back in a few months. I just really would like to get to know your family, learn where you come from."

  She blushed with pleasure. "And I really love you for that."

  He smiled. "So, we're going to leave," he announced. "I figure that Marcus or whoever else is trying to get to us can't do that if we're with her family. He won't even know that we're there. And you," he said to me, "well, you're very capable of kicking anyone's butt, so I don't think I have to worry."

  I laughed. As much as I hated that he was leaving, he had a point about not being here. And it was really sweet that he wanted to get to know her family. And in his mind, he was thinking that he didn't want her to lose touch with her mother like I had mine.

  Chapter 18

  Caleb

  "Well…call me and let me know that you made it there, OK?" Maggie sniffled a little and it kinda made me want to tell ol' Jim off for making her cry. But the guy was just trying to make his own significant happy so I couldn't blame him too much.

  He hugged her hard. She hugged him back just as hard. He leaned back and put his hand on her cheek. "Love ya, baby girl."

  "I love you, too, Daddy," she whispered. He smiled tightly, trying to hold in his emotions. He moved on to Bish, and Fiona moved on to Maggie.

  She smiled with chagrin. "Well, Maggie, I'm sorry that it seems like I'm stealing him away."

  "It's all right. I understand why he's doing it. It's really sweet. And I'm glad that he actually wants to do something like that. It was just kind of sudden, that's all."

  Maggie hugged her, which surprised Fiona who made a little, "Oh," sound.

  "Take care of him, OK?"

  Fiona nodded quickly. "Of course. I promise, Maggie. Thank you." She touched Maggie's shoulder. "Don't worry about him, OK?"

  She hopped in the cab and Jim came to me. Of course I was last. "Well, son, I don't think that I have to convey how much I'll hurt you if anything happens to Maggie, right?"

  "No, sir," I said and stuffed my hands into my pockets. "I'll take care of her even before myself."

  "Good." Then he hugged me. I gulped, waiting for the pun, for the shoe to drop. There was none. He leaned away and gave me a crooked smile. "Take care of yourself, son. I couldn't have handled Maggie ending up with anyone else."

  Did he really just say that? "Thank you, sir."

  "Jim," he corrected.

  "Jim."

  "Bye, Caleb. We'll see you soon!" Jim called before getting in the cab.

  Then they were gone to the airport and Bish turned to Maggie. "Well, little sister, we're all alone with no parents to watch us. What mischief can we get into?"

  She smiled along with his joke. "We could bake every pack of sugar cookies in the cabinets again. That went over well when they got home last time."

  He slung his arm over her shoulder and chuckled. "Boy, I've never seen a woman so worked up over cookies before."

  They began to walk back to the rooms. Jen came to my side and we watched.

  "Yeah," Maggie said laughing. "Well it was over a hundred cookies."

  "They totally overreacted."

  Jen laughed. "They're happy," she mused like it was amazing.

  "And you're happy." I mirrored Bish's pose and threw my arm over her shoulder. "It's about time."

  "I was happy," she rebutted. "Maria makes me happy."

  "Yeah, but not like that." I nodded down to her tattoo that had Bish's name on the outside. There was an infinity symbol in the middle. She blushed like I've never seen her blush. "When did y'all ascend?"

  "Last night." She sighed like I was being dramatic. "It's not a big deal. We didn't say anything because-"

  "You didn't want the spotlight on you. I get it." I waited as we walked. She folded her arms over her chest as we walked. I stared. Finally I saw her mouth crack a smile.

  "Stop staring, weirdo." I kept staring until she finally caved. "What is your deal?"

  "What's your ability? You know what I'm asking. Don't withhold just to be mean."

  She smiled at me like I was a child. "Whatever. It's, uh…I can kind of blend into my surroundings."

  I felt my eyebrows rise. "Blend in?"

  "Mmhmm."

  I grinned. "Say it."

  "I will not say it," she laughed.

  "Come on, say it."

  She fought it for a few seconds before she smiled. "Fine," she groaned. "I'm the invisible woman."

  "Sweet."

  We laughed as she lightly punched my gut and caught up to them.

  That night we ate steak and homemade bread and honey butter in the veranda. I had to hand it to the place, as Maggie moaned and licked it off her fingers, the food was killer.

  Then we turned in, and went back to our own cottages and…man, I just couldn't believe how much pure elation I got when it was time to go back to our room at night. I chewed and sucked on my bottom lip as we made our way through the sand. I looked back to see where Kyle and Bish were. They were almost to their rooms, too. When I turned back my arm swung right into a cactus. I hissed and cursed.

  I felt her he
art skid as she turned with inhuman speed and came to me to see what was up. "What happened?"

  "Freaking cactus. Who plants cactuses at the beach?"

  She smiled and kissed my finger. That got my blood boiling. She pulled me up the step to the porch and then swung open the bay doors. I pushed her with my hands on her waist to the big white bed and went down with her. The wind blew warm and salty air through the sheer white curtains. I kissed her mouth, her neck. We traded places as we rolled and then I was back on top.

  Then I saw in my mind, the vision. This was one of Maggie's visions from when we imprinted. We walked through the sand, came through the bay doors and I kissed her 'til she couldn't breathe in a big white bed. Maggie broke the kiss and gasped as she realized, too. "That's two. Only one left to go," she mused.

  I thought for a second. I wondered if it was too soon to show her the one I had. I looked up at her wide, expectant eyes and decided she was ready for anything I could give her. "Want to see?" I whispered.

  She didn't hesitate. "Always."

  I took a deep breath and got ready for the vision, the one that made me want to burst into tears every single time I remembered it. Maggie snuggled in and pressed her forehead to mine. I let it flow through me to her and heard her intake of breath when it started to play. Maggie was sleeping. She heard a noise and rolled over, her hand reaching across the bed until it reached the alarm clock. She stretched and then got up, going into the yellow room down the hall. I was there, rocking the little boy in my arms and smiled when I saw her. She came and kissed me full on the mouth over the baby and then laughed when the boy complained and reached for her. She took him. He was very little still and she kissed his forehead, making my heart melt like an ice cube. "He's hungry, mommy."

  "He's always hungry, aren't you, Rodney?" she cooed and smiled at him.

  "Daddy!" we heard down the hall. Our girl that looked like Maggie's mini-me ran in and the vision faded. Maggie shook beside me and I hugged her to me tightly, understanding.

  I pressed my lips to her hair and whispered into her hair. "See, baby? We're going to have it all."

  She leaned back, her face wet. "I want it all. Caleb…Rodney…"

  I shook my head. "I know. I never really understood why we named him that until he died. It's perfect."

  "I can't wait," she said in awe. "I know we're young and barely even getting started, but I can't wait to hold that little girl in my hands."

  "You will," I promised. "And everything will be perfect one day."

  She pulled me down to kiss her lips. "I love you. Thank you."

  "I love-" She cut me off with a kiss and I chuckled against her lips. I surrendered. The girl was good at persuasion. We melted into the white sheets and comforter. I had been the one to control the bedroom so far for the most part. But tonight, Maggie was on fire from the inside out. She drove me to new heights in record time and I just held her and tried not to combust into flames. Man, she was hot, and so freaking sexy.

  We had yet to add mutualizing to the mix. That was OK. Maggie was a beautiful force all her own and I was plenty occupied. I pulled her shirt over head and 'oomphed' when she pushed me back down to the bed. I laughed at her enthusiasm. She grinned sexily with her hair across her face.

  Soon I was lost in my beautiful girl. And I wasn't ready to be found.

  In the morning, I knew something was wrong. Even though neither of us had clothes on, and almost every inch of our skin was touching, I was in withdrawals. I groaned and swallowed the pain down in the throat. Maggie jolted awake and threaded her fingers through my hair to bring me closer. Finally after long seconds of panic, I began to feel her touch seep into me. She sighed and I pulled her closer. "What the hell…" I groaned.

  "I'm starting to worry now," she said. "Yesterday was weird, too, right?"

  I nodded barely. "I wonder if it was just us."

  I rolled over and took her with me. She lay on my chest and breathed deeply. It was almost as if we were scared to stop touching each other. "It's OK, baby. Let's go and see if the others-"

  Our room doors swung open. Kyle and Lynne stood there with angry and scared faces.

  "Dude, freaking knock," I yelled and pulled the blanket up to Maggie's chin.

  "We have a problem," Kyle barked back.

  Maggie sat up a little, taking the blanket with her pulled tight. "We know. We were in withdrawals, too."

  The blanket around her wasn't enough for me. "Get out so we can get dressed."

  Kyle huffed. "You are such a-"

  "Out!" I yelled. "Sorry, Lynne."

  "It's all right," she assured and tugged his arm. "Come on, babe. Just let them get some clothes on."

  "So stupid," he complained and pushed through the doors to the sand.

  "Babe," Maggie complained, "he's just freaked out."

  "And you're just naked," I grumbled.

  "Yeah," she agreed. She pushed the covers off and went to the suitcase to pick through and get some clothes. I stared, even with everything going on, I stared. I saw her grin and shake her head in her peripheral. She threw a t-shirt at me. "Get dressed, you," she laughed her words.

  So I did, and then we met Lynne and Kyle on the back porch where they were sitting at the umbrella table. "Nice threads," Kyle sneered, "now can we get back to the fact that my significant was in withdrawals this morning even though I was right there beside her?"

  "So was mine," I growled.

  "OK," Maggie interceded and took my hand. "OK. Let's just sit and figure this out. Something happened. It must've just been us. Surely we would have heard from Peter and the rest if anyone else had this problem, right?"

  I sat in the chair and pulled Maggie to sit in my lap. I didn't want to be away from her touch right now. "Yes." I sighed. "Dad would have called."

  "Maybe we should go check on Bish and Jen," Maggie suggested, but we saw them walking up the beach. Maggie could hear the confusion in Bish's mind. "Oh, no…"

  They came up and plopped down on the patio sofa. He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, and held Jen's hand tightly. "So, I guess it wasn't just us this morning?"

  "No," Maggie said sadly. "We're trying to figure out what happened."

  "It doesn't make any sense," Kyle said angrily and touched Lynne's arm. "I can feel her right now. It's just like it always is. And we were touching all night, so why are we in withdrawals one minute and just fine the next?"

  "We don't know," I said back. "That's what we need to figure out. Just let me think."

  "Call Uncle Peter," Kyle barked and glared at me. "When he was Champion, he didn't just sit there with Aunt Rachel on his lap, he got to work to see what needed to be done."

  I felt anger roll through me.

  "Kyle!" Maggie scolded and turned sideways to put her hand on my arm. "We'll figure this out. There has to be a clear-cut reason. Something happened. We just need to figure out what."

  "You do that," Kyle muttered under his breath.

  Maggie rolled her eyes and stared at me.

  He's being a jackass because he's scared for Lynne. Don't sweat him.

  I breathed deep and let her calm me. And I could feel it seep into me. Kyle was right. It didn't make sense why it only worked half the time.

  He's right.

  But he's not right about you. You made sure all of your family was safe before we left.

  I shrugged. And now I was failing at keeping the most important person to me safe. It felt like everything was coming to a head. That visiondream I had of Maggie dying… I just felt like this had something to do with it.

  "Don’t," she said harshly.

  Bish and Jen said they wanted to go back and lie down. I agreed. I needed to go and make some calls, think, try to see what we could find out. Jen knocked over one of the tea glasses left on the porch. It shattered on the wood deck. She bent over to pick up the pieces, even though Maggie said she'd get it, and cut her finger on a shard. It was like time just stopped. We all stared at her cut, barely breat
hing, as Bish gulped and took her hand in his trying to heal her.

  It wasn't even thinking about healing. Maggie breathed out a sigh. "Oh, no," she whispered.

  "What?" I asked and stood. "What, babe?"

  "Your calm didn't come to me earlier yesterday either, remember? Then this morning, and now this." She knelt down to Jen and put her hands on her face.

  I wanted to scream when the vision hit Maggie and I both. I heard her gasp as we saw Marcus…and he was here.

  The vision started off with room service. They were getting the breakfast carts ready to bring to our rooms. Marcus was off to the side speaking with the concierge. "And the juice, too, for all of them. I want them to have everything they need."

  "And would you like to address a card to them, sir? So they'll know who to thank?"

  "No," Marcus said quickly. "I want it to be a surprise. I don't want them to know I'm here." He smiled. "They've just always been kind to me. I want to return the favor."

  The man smiled. "Very well, sir. I'll get the glasses and then have this delivered."

  "Great." Marcus watched as the man went to the cabinet behind him. Then he took a vial from his pocket and poured a little bit into each pitcher of juice. It was a light liquid and didn't change the color of the contents. He stuck the vial back into his pocket as the man turned and put the glasses on the trays.

  "Thanks for doing this."

  "No problem, sir. I'm sure the newlyweds will be very grateful."

  Marcus grinned. "I can't wait to see their faces when they find out it was me."

  The man winked. "It'll be our secret."

  The vision faded and I wanted to punch something. Jen's breathing was ragged as Bish pulled her up and to him. He touched her cheek and they stared at each other. We all knew it. This was it. This was Marcus' big move, his plan, the visions we'd seen before all lead up to this. And he was ahead if we were keeping score. He'd managed to scare us into secluding ourselves, then getting us where our abilities and healing touch stopped working on each other. We were vulnerable and he knew it. He was just playing with us, waiting for the right time.