“I understand. But the fact is, you do. It is time that you and Amber learn the truth.”
“The truth about what?” Amber spoke up at last. She had once again taken hold of Gabriel’s hand.
Nick glanced behind them again, apparently a silent signal. Amber and Gabriel turned to see two females emerge from behind a cluster of trees. A white cat inexplicably trailed behind them. One woman appeared to be in her mid-forties, tall and blonde; the other was much younger with medium-brown hair, intelligent green eyes…and a familiar face.
“The truth,” Nick explained, “about your sisters.”
Chapter Twelve
Amber decided that Gabriel had certainly gone out of his way to arrange this elaborate prank. Where he managed to find two girls who looked a lot like her, she couldn’t guess, never mind why he would do so. She almost laughed at the senselessness of it all.
Then she caught his gaze. He looked troubled, and she knew immediately that he hadn’t arranged any of this.
“Uh, hi,” said the new girl. Wearing a gray, dark-green and black argyle sweater over a crisp, white collared shirt, pressed gray khaki pants and black loafers, she looked like she had just stepped out of a prep school ad. Contributing to that image, she wore her chestnut brown hair back in a tight knot at the base of her neck. She carefully assessed Amber’s body language with her ivy-green eyes. Then, rather than launch herself into a hug as Skye had, she extended a hand. “I’m Olivia Murdoch. This is my adoptive mom, Jean.” Her accent pegged her as heralding from the Midwest.
Almost robotically, Amber extended her free hand and accepted the handshake. She couldn’t think of a single, rational thing to say.
“I know this is weird,” Olivia acknowledged with a half-smile as the large white cat wound its way through her legs. “I’ve known for a little while now and I’m still getting used to the idea. Meeting you really kind of seals it for me, though.”
As Amber pulled her hand away, another shudder went through her. An intense, almost painful tingle made its way from her fingertips up her arm, causing her to shake her hand as if to wake it up from sleep. Seeing and feeling her reaction, Gabriel watched her in concern. Then he took her chin and lifted her face so that he could look into her eyes.
“Gold,” he said.
When another, more violent shudder coursed through her, Amber didn’t even think. She just grabbed Gabriel behind the neck, pulled him closer and kissed him thoroughly.
“Wow,” Skye breathed from a short distance away. Nick cleared his throat.
Amber ignored them, the panic of having another Incident pushing her into self-preservation mode. When she finally pulled away from Gabriel, he kept his eyes closed briefly, then opened them and looked at her. Because he was still catching his breath and trying to regain his composure, he merely nodded.
“Thanks.” She touched the side of his face in a further show of appreciation.
Then she sighed and dared to glance around, trying to stifle her blossoming embarrassment. Skye and Olivia were both trying—unsuccessfully—not to gape, and the two adults looked considering.
“Have you been having these kinds of episodes frequently?” Nick asked after a moment.
Surprised that he was reacting to her behavior with such calm, Amber wondered what to say. She wasn’t exactly sure what he was referring to. Did he think she was prone to seizures? Or was he referring to her jumping her boyfriend in public? He couldn’t possibly know about The Incidents…could he? Uncertain, she shrugged.
Frowning, Nick said, “This just tells me how very important it is to move forward. I’m sure you both have many questions. But this isn’t the place to address them. You need to speak with Ini-herit as soon as possible. We should go back inside the museum.”
“Wait a minute here.” Amber looked disbelievingly at each of the people surrounding her. “You think we’re just going to go off with a group of strangers making wild claims? You people must be out of your minds.”
Now Jean, dressed very similarly to her daughter in a camel-colored sweater and matching khaki pants, spoke up, her expression earnest. “We understand that this is a lot to take in. You don’t yet realize how important the timing is for all this.” Because she obviously noted their remaining doubts by gauging their expressions, she continued, “Look, we have to make you believe and understand. Ini-herit can explain better than any of us, but the truths he’ll reveal to you aren’t for public ears. How can we convince you that it’s in your best interests to meet with him?”
Even as Amber raised an eyebrow and took a breath in anticipation of issuing a sarcastic response, Olivia stepped forward. She looked from Skye to Amber. “We should link hands.”
“What?” Amber defensively crossed her arms and tucked her hands out of sight. “Why would you think that would be a good idea?”
As Skye gamely glided forward, Olivia explained, “You don’t believe we’re sisters or that we’re telling the truth. We’re trying to convince you otherwise. You had a reaction when I shook your hand.”
“Uh…I don’t think this is a good idea,” Gabriel said, pulling Amber a step back from the other girls. “Let us have a minute.”
“Sure.”
Olivia and Skye turned and walked a few feet away. The white cat continued to stay near Olivia wherever she walked. It was a little creepy, Amber thought.
“They’ve got such great accents, don’t they?” Skye observed in a voice that carried.
Amber rolled her eyes. When Gabriel ushered her a short distance away, she didn’t protest. A sense of unreality had settled over her senses, almost as though she was viewing everything from someone else’s perspective.
This had certainly turned into a very strange birthday.
“There’s something big going on here, Amber,” he whispered when they were far enough out of hearing distance from the others. She felt curious eyes on them and shifted uncomfortably. He continued, “You’ve had two physical reactions since coming into proximity of these girls. They look just like you. It’s…”
“Eerie,” she finished in an equally low whisper. Glancing over at them, she added, “Even saying out loud that I have sisters I’ve never known about comes across like come kind of bad soap opera episode. It sounds absolutely ridiculous.”
She paused, trying to assess her own reaction. She felt as though the normal response to all of this would have been to blow off all of their absurd claims and leave with Gabriel, maybe even reporting these lunatics to the local authorities as scam artists.
So why did she feel instead that this wasn’t a hoax? It was almost as though this was where she was meant to be at this time.
And then The Dream again flashed through her mind.
“I am not human.”
Shaking her head at herself, she said, “These girls look like they’re my age. We’re not identical, so I don’t see how we can be the same age if we’re supposedly sisters.”
“Maybe…fraternal triplets?”
“Is that even possible?”
“Sure it is. Triplets can be a mix of boys and girls. Fraternal is definitely possible.”
“So then, why are we just finding each other now? And in this location?” She realized even as she spoke that she was indirectly giving weight to their story.
Gabriel shrugged. “I don’t have any idea. I just have this sense that we’re going to have to talk to this Ini-herit guy to get the answers.” He reached for her hands and gave them a squeeze. “These people all seem pretty believable. And they didn’t bat an eye over your eyes changing colors or the tremors. I think they know something pretty important, and we need to hear it, too. Maybe we can find out why you’re having these Incidents and how we can stop them.”
She sighed. “Yeah. This is just crazy. But I guess in the scheme of things, it kind of goes along with the rest of my life, doesn’t it?”
Squaring her shoulders, she nodded at him. “Okay. Let’s do this.”
They walked as a group ba
ck to the museum, leaving Olivia’s odd cat curled under a tree near the entrance. Nick gave a quick nod to the security guard as they walked in, and they were passed through to a part of the museum reserved for administrative functions. The walls in this area were a neutral beige and the doors were of the white and hollow variety. Covered in flecked brown industrial carpet, the floors offered little cushioning but kept their footfalls from echoing. A smattering of windows along the left side of the hallway allowed in some natural light, with glaring overhead fluorescents lighting the rest of the area. Motivational posters in cheap plastic frames decorated the right-hand wall where there weren’t office doors. There was hardly any noise with the exception of a copier in action behind one of the closed doors.
They didn’t pause to chat with any of the people in the few offices, making an apparent beeline for their destination. Amber appreciated the directness of Nick’s course. He moved with purpose and confidence, which somehow helped ease some of her anxiety about the strangeness of this situation. She couldn’t bring herself to converse with the other two girls yet. Chatting with strangers wasn’t her strength even on a good day. Her thoughts swirled, doubt and confusion taking the lead with a healthy dose of fear running a close second.
They soon reached an office near the back of the administrative corridor. After offering to hold Gabriel’s hooded sweatshirt and taking it from him, Nick knocked on the closed door and a voice on the other side said, “Enter.”
Amber took a deep breath as Nick opened the door and waved her and Gabriel ahead. As soon as they crossed the threshold, Nick closed the door behind them, giving her a bit of a start.
Her gaze shifted quickly around as her hold on Gabriel’s hand tightened. There was a single gray, metal desk with a brown faux-wood top straight in front of them, facing the door. Two gray, fabric-covered visitors’ chairs faced the desk. A large bulletin board covered in papers and brochures was attached to the wall behind the desk, with two windows on either side of the board. Overstuffed bookshelves covered the right wall of the room, while a full-size printer/copier/fax combo unit and several filing cabinets sat on the left. A name plate on the desk read, “Nicholas Tomaganuk.” She assumed the office was being borrowed for the purpose of this meeting.
This assessment of their surroundings took only a second, and her gaze swiftly settled on the man she figured must be Ini-herit. Somehow, it didn’t surprise her to realize it was the blond man with dark eyes who had caused Gabriel such anxiety during the dancing. He stood behind the desk with his hands behind his back in a nonthreatening pose, but his gaze scoured over them both as though he was trying to see their very souls.
“Gabriel, what have you done?”
Once again, Amber started. The deep, ominous tone of his voice seemed to echo through the room, even though the volume of it hadn’t been much above normal. Realizing that Ini-herit was addressing Gabriel as if he knew him, she looked up at Gabriel questioningly.
He was staring at Ini-herit with a puzzled expression. Then he flinched and released her hand, bringing both of his hands to either side of his head.
“Gabriel?” she asked uncertainly.
He made a sound like a hiss, his eyes squeezed shut as if in terrible pain. Alarm lanced through her. She swiveled to see how Ini-herit was reacting. He still stood behind the desk, his intense gaze directed on Gabriel. And in that moment, she understood that whatever was happening to Gabriel, Ini-herit was causing it.
With an agonized cry, Gabriel fell to knees, still clutching his head. Rage such as she had never known suddenly flooded through Amber, propelling her between Gabriel and Ini-herit.
“Stop it!” she shouted, and flung her hands out as if to ward off whatever Ini-herit was doing to hurt Gabriel.
To her shock, it felt as though she came into physical contact with an invisible barrier. As she threw out her hands, Ini-herit’s impassive expression morphed briefly into amazement even as his head snapped back as if from a blow. He stumbled into the bulletin board, shaking it loose from its moorings and crashing to the floor.
“Gabriel,” she said shakily, her heart feeling like it was in her throat. Dropping to the floor beside him, she put her arms around him. “Look at me. Are you okay?”
He was now on all fours with his head down. Even as she watched, a steady stream of blood poured from his nose and onto the floor.
“Oh,” she managed, her panic rising. “Oh.”
After a quick glance around in which she realized Ini-herit had one hand on the desk and the other pressed to his forehead, she noted there was nothing resembling a tissue or paper towel nearby. Her small purse held only her camera, sunglasses, some cash and her driver’s license. Giving up, she pulled her sleeve down over her left hand and reached out to stem the flow of blood.
“Come on,” she said, using her right arm to guide Gabriel into a sitting position.
She found it surprisingly easy to move him and figured he was in a severely weakened state. Her angry gaze shifted to Ini-herit, who had evidently recovered from whatever had happened and now watched them expressionlessly. She returned her attention to Gabriel. His complexion was pale and shocky. His glazed eyes kept shutting and then flickering back open.
Working hard at keeping her voice calm, she told him, “I’m going to try to stop the bleeding.”
“I can be of assistance,” Ini-herit offered after a moment.
“Do you really think I believe that?” she snapped as she switched to the other sleeve, her first now covered in blood. The flow of blood seemed impossibly strong for a simple nosebleed. Fighting back her distress, she used her left hand to pinch the bridge of Gabriel’s nose. “You’re the one who did this.”
“I did not know,” he said by way of apology. “I would not have caused Gabriel harm.”
She shook her head. Then when Gabriel swayed, she said, “Don’t you dare pass out on me. I’ll never let you live it down.”
“That is inevitable,” Ini-herit said without inflection. “He is hemorrhaging and will lose consciousness shortly. And then he will die.”
The blood drained from her face. “What do you mean? What did you do to him?”
His expression unchanged, he responded, “That is not as important right now as healing him. Your stubbornness is preventing him from recovering.”
She hesitated only a second, then gave a jerk of her head to beckon him closer. “If you harm him, so help me—”
“Yes, yes.” His tone remained level and unconcerned. Lowering down into a squat, he caught her gaze. “You must remove your hands from him.”
Pursing her lips, she reluctantly did as he ordered. Her hands were now both coated with Gabriel’s blood. She absently wiped it on the front of her sweater while she focused on what Ini-herit was doing. He placed both of his hands on either side of Gabriel’s head.
“Look at me,” he commanded.
Something in the power of his voice must have gotten through, as Gabriel’s blue-gray eyes flew open and focused on Ini-herit. No other words were spoken. They continued to sit there and stare at each other for a long moment. Amber looked from one male to the next, wondering what on earth was going on and whether Gabriel was in any danger. After another minute, she noticed that his nosebleed had stopped.
Finally, Ini-herit broke the connection. He sat heavily on the floor and seemed to stare into nothingness. Amber saw with a jolt that his nose was bleeding, though only one drop had emerged versus Gabriel’s previous free-flow.
“Amber?” Gabriel said faintly.
She turned back to him, so relieved to hear his voice that she was afraid she might turn into a simpering, emotional mess right there on the ugly carpet. Instead, she crawled to him and gave him a small smile. “Hey. Are you feeling better?”
He slowly rubbed his temples and blinked as if to clear his vision. “Man, my head is killing me. What happened?” He abruptly stilled and stared at her sweater. “Why are you covered in blood? Are you hurt?”
“Oh,
I’m fine,” she said, feeling remarkably calm as her wobbly arms gave up and she plopped down into a sitting position beside him. “No need to worry about me. After all, it’s all your blood.”
Chapter Thirteen
With disbelief etched on his features, Gabriel pulled his T-shirt away from his body and studied it, the blood on it already starting to congeal. Amber reached up with her blood-stained hands to wipe ineffectively at the drying blood still covering him from nose to chest. Even though she was able to wipe away some of it, he was a mess. The sight of all of the blood on his face, neck and shirt, not to mention what covered her and the floor, made Amber light-headed with the realization of how close she had come to losing him.
“Did you have another Incident or something?” he asked, once again turning his gaze to hers. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
“She is fine,” Ini-herit responded from his place on the floor beside them. “Your injuries were caused by me.”
“Accidentally, he says,” Amber added when she saw Gabriel’s darkening expression.
Ini-herit got to his feet and looked down at them. “It was not on purpose. And we are now wasting valuable time.” Turning, he strode back behind the desk, this time taking a seat in the chair.
Frowning at Ini-herit, Gabriel moved to get to his feet. He got no further than his knees when he faltered and had to sit back down. He brought a hand to his head with a groan.
“Maybe you should let me be the gentleman for a change,” Amber said, trying to make light of the situation. She was concerned about how pale he looked. Pushing to her feet, she reached down to help him up.
“I don’t think I can make it up,” he said quietly, as though raising his voice would hurt too much. “Something’s not right.”