"There's one more gift that I forgot to mention earlier. Tyler can see into the future. She's already seen this whole meeting, the only thing she can't see is what happens after you open the envelope so this is new to all of us," I said, laughing quietly, gripping her hand.
The one that was looking bored earlier, Colin, sat up straighter and looked at me like I was crazy until Roland started shuffling through the papers, his eyes getting wider with each passing second.
Tyler had replayed her vision to me over and over and between us we'd managed to write a transcript of everything that was said since we walked into the room - right down to the part where the guy complained he had to go to a charity dinner. She'd also drawn sketches of the room, the ceiling, even the board members themselves and what they were wearing today. The icing on the cake for me was that she'd drawn the envelope with the signatures across the seal. She'd drawn out an exact replica of the envelope with the four random signatures on the back and had placed it into the envelope before they had even decided who would sign it. It was a little mind blowing really just how much thought she'd put into it all. That was all her idea, not mine - I was happy with the transcript but she said we should bulk it up for extra emphasis.
An eerie silence settled over the room as they passed the papers back and forth between them, sometimes flicking their eyes up to us, other times just reading with open mouths.
The one that I'd decided was the most important, cleared his throat and passed the rest of the papers down the line to the other members. "Clearly this is some kind of hoax or something. How did you manage to get those things in the envelope?" he asked, raising one eyebrow.
I cocked my head to the side. He obviously didn’t want to believe us at all. "Tyler can see into the future like I said. She replayed her vision of the meeting to me over and over until we managed to create all of the things that you have there," I answered.
He frowned. "You honestly expect us to believe that?"
I sighed and wondered just what else we would have to do to convince them, surely there was nothing more that could be done to prove to them that this was serious and that we weren't lying.
"Sir, you've had that envelope in your possession the whole time. How else can you explain it?" I countered, shrugging.
Roland was watching me intently; his head cocked to the side as his eyes slid down my body slowly. He was taking in everything that I'd said, maybe because of Ryce he was being a little more open minded.
The other guy shrugged, shaking his head. "I think you should leave now. The prophesy has been discredited for years, none of this is up for debate," he stated confidently.
Roland turned to him then and frowned. "But, Colin, how can you explain the papers here? Martin has been holding that envelope for the last ten minutes; my exact words are typed onto this piece of paper. A drawing of an envelope with my signature on it, was inside a sealed envelope for goodness sake. That's just….. I don't……" He shook his head looking back to Tyler. "If you can see into the future then why is it that you can't see the outcome of this meeting? Your husband said this would be new to both of you too."
Tyler shrugged. "I have no idea. I don't know how it works to be honest. I can control some of them and see things that I want to see sometimes, but most of the time they just come out of the blue. It seems that if there are things I don't understand fully then I can't see it. I really don't know," she answered, sounding nervous and unsure.
Roland nodded, looking thoughtful. Another guy, the one that held the envelope for us, Martin, sat forward, his face brightening. "Why don’t you prove one of the physical things to us?" he suggested. "You said you heal rapidly whilst in human form, prove it."
I frowned. I didn't really want to do that because I still hadn’t come up with a way to shield my pain from Tyler, she felt what I felt when I got hurt and I didn’t want to put her through that just to prove a point. I opened my mouth to protest but Tyler squeezed my hand, nodding.
"Just do it, Sean. If it'll make a difference then just do it," she urged.
I sighed and nodded in agreement. Looking back at the desk, I spotted a letter opener sitting there.
"Can I borrow that?" I asked, nodding at it.
Roland picked it up. "This? And what do you intend to do with that?" he asked quizzically.
"Cut myself."
He frowned but Colin sat forward excitedly. "Go ahead; let's see this with our own eyes."
I stepped forward and rolled up my shirt sleeve, exposing my forearm. "I think you should do it, Sir.
I don’t want anyone to accuse me of cheating somehow," I stated, raising one eyebrow at him. He would most likely be the one that would come up with some excuse as to how I'd misled them somehow with it.
He laughed quietly but held out his hands for the little golden letter opener. I stepped forward again, trying not to listen to Tyler's heart rate increase behind me. I could feel her twisted emotions inside me, she wanted this to happen but at the same time she desperately didn’t want me to get hurt.
I moved my other arm away, just holding out my uncovered arm to Colin, making sure everyone could see. I gritted my teeth as he sliced it vertically down my forearm from elbow to wrist. Tyler gasped behind me, pain immediately shot up my arm but within seconds the burning of the healing had started. Barely any blood had seeped out of it before the cut was closed again.
The seven council members stared at my arm with their mouths wide open. Even the guards that were close enough to see were watching in awe.
'You okay, baby?' I asked Tyler through our link.
'Yeah, fine,' she replied.
"That's impossible," Roland whispered.
"Let me do it again," Colin said quickly, raising the blade and slashing it down my arm again before I could protest. Again Tyler hissed though her teeth and made a little whimper sound and I had to fight with my urge to grab the council member round the throat and break him in half for hurting my girl. The cut healed instantly and Colin's eyes met mine. There was wonder there now though, not the disbelief or annoyance, he was seriously starting to consider it.
"And you both heal like that?" he asked, flicking his eyes to Tyler behind me.
This time a growl slipped out before I could stop it as I stepped to the side, blocking his view of her.
"If that knife goes anywhere near my wife then I'm going to have serious trouble controlling myself," I hissed. It was a threat but I was also just trying to get my point across that I wouldn't be responsible for my actions if she got hurt. I just wouldn't be able to stop myself if he was to approach her with that knife.
He smiled and set the knife down onto the table. "Easy there, Mr Houston. I know what it's like to be bonded, I was merely inquiring," he replied.
I nodded slowly. "She can heal too. We're not sure of how much she can heal from or how fast but that won't ever be put to the test," I said, trying to control my voice so I didn’t bark it at the guy.
"And this has been since you bonded?" Martin asked.
I shook my head. "Before we bonded actually. I got hit by a car in human form and healed instantly from it. The linked feelings, mind speak and the other more physical things such as my eyesight, have all been since the bonding," I corrected.
He turned to Roland who was staring at the new bond marks I had on my arm. "What are you thinking, Roland?" he asked. Roland obviously had a lot of say here too, by the looks of him he was probably the second highest rank on the council.
He sighed deeply and ran a hand over his face. "I think maybe the council should speak about this in private," he answered.
Colin immediately nodded in agreement. "Good idea." he turned to me and waved off to the left, to another equally large oval door. "There is a waiting area out there, if you could just give us some time to consider what you are saying. We'll call you back when we have finished discussing what we've seen here," he stated. He nodded to one of the guards and they instantly stepped forward towards me again.
/> I smiled and nodded in agreement even though it didn’t look like a request, the way the guards were watching us they obviously thought we were a threat now that we'd explained what we had come here for.
I moved back to Tyler's side, taking her hand and pulling her close to me as we followed one of the guards out of the door and into what looked like a hospital waiting area. It was a square room with plastic chairs lining the walls. I guess this was where people had to come and wait while a decision was being made about them by the council.
I sat down on one of the chairs and pulled Tyler down next to me. Three guards remained in the room with us, one standing at the door, the other two taking loose positions either side of us about four foot away. Tyler's hand was gripping mine tightly as she looked around worriedly.
"Okay?" I asked, rubbing the back of her hand soothingly.
She nodded, leaning closer to me. "They seemed like they were believing us in there."
I nodded in agreement. "It seemed that way, yeah." I bent forward and kissed her forehead softly.
She sighed and leant against me, nuzzling into my neck. 'Sean, what do we do if they don't believe us?' she asked straight into my head. She was probably worried about the three guards that were watching us intently, listening to our every word.
'We go home. Enjoy the rest of the summer, then you go back to school and I start job hunting for a year before college. I get to stop worrying about you so much and just make you blissfully happy for the rest of our lives,' I answered, kissing the top of her head.
She sighed, her hand gripping my shirt as she pressed herself closer to me. 'That sounds nice.'
I smiled, that sounded very nice indeed. I desperately wanted that but I knew that it wouldn't play out like that. I was trying not to listen to them, but I could hear them talking in the other room.
Some of them were believing us alright, by the sounds of it though we were going to have more proving to do to win them all over though.
After half an hour we were called back in and told that the council would need further evidence before it accepted what we were saying and even considered anything to do with the prophesy. That was where we were headed now, to give them their evidence. We were currently sat in a car with Roland and Martin. Martin clearly believed us, he was sitting right forward in his seat, a moronic grin on his face as he fired question after question at us. He wanted to know everything - when things started changing, how I hadn't bonded with her immediately, our marks, it was never-ending.
I was pretty glad when we finally pulled up outside an office building a little outside of Westminster.
The sign above the door read 'Castro Labs'. I took a deep breath before climbing out of the car.
They'd said they wanted to test our 'gifts'. Apparently we were to be separated and things like our mind connection and feelings were to be tested somehow. I'd already made it clear to them that at no point would any tests be directed at Tyler that hurt her. Roland had wholeheartedly agreed to that one - Colin on the other hand didn’t look like he liked that idea very much, but he also agreed nonetheless.
I kept Tyler close to me as we wove through the hallways, following Roland who seemed to know where he was headed. I'd have to ask Ryce what it was that his grandfather actually did for a job because he certainly looked at home in this building. Maybe he was a scientist or something.
He stopped outside a room and punched in a code before pushing the door open. "Tyler, if you could just step in here for me. I'll be taking Sean up to another room a few floors away. Someone will be in to talk to you shortly," he requested, waving her into the room.
I frowned, tightening my hold on her. I didn't want to leave her on her own with these strangers, I didn’t like the way they were looking at us. I stepped in the room, looking around quickly. It was fairly small; a wall of one way mirrors covered one side of the room, a desk sat in the middle of the room, bolted to the floor and a metal chair that looked like it was bolted down too. I had no idea what they would use this room for before we were instructed into it. There was no danger to Tyler as far as I could see but I still felt uneasy about it.
A lady walked up behind us, a clipboard in her hand as she smiled at Tyler. "Hi there, I'm Shelly,"
she chirped, holding out her hand to Tyler.
Tyler smiled in response. "Hi, how are you?"
Shelly nodded happily. "I'm good. Are we ready to get you settled?" she asked, looking back at Roland, raising one eyebrow curiously.
Roland nodded, stepping out of the door again, looking at me expectantly. "Sean, Tyler will be fine.
You have my word," he assured me.
I clenched my jaw unsure whether I could walkout and leave her in this strange sterile little place.
"Sean, just go. Everything's fine. I can see you ordering pancakes for breakfast tomorrow," she whispered, squeezing my hand tightly.
I laughed and closed my eyes as she forced the vision onto me of us laying on the bed eating pancakes and joking around in the hotel room. That had to mean we weren't harmed here in the hands of these people.
I pressed my lips to her softly. "I love you. See you soon then. If you need me, you call me and I'm here no matter what," I promised, looking at her sternly.
She nodded, her eyes locked on mine. "I know that, Sean."
"If you're ready," Roland prompted, smiling at us.
I sighed and took one last look at her before stepping out of the room. Roland pulled the door shut behind him making a loud click as the lock latched into place. He smiled and turned walking up the hallway again, I followed behind him listening to the goings on in the room behind me. Tyler was talking to the lady with her; they were talking about our trip and the sights we had already seen in London so far.
I forced myself to calm down as Roland led us up to a steal elevator, pressing the button for the thirteenth floor. "So how is this going to work then?" I asked as we were taken to our floor.
He looked at me, seeming to choose his words carefully. "There are people who are….. doubtful.
We have some controlled experiments to test your gifts that can't be seen. Once we get into the controlled room, one of my scientists will explain to you. I don't want to say too much when the cameras aren't rolling." He turned back to the door as it pinged open.
Cameras, nice. I felt a little like a lab rat but I guess if we had to go through this then we had to do it. I was led to my room then. It was exactly the same as Tyler's one - just eight flights higher and on the other side of the building by the look of it.
I sat down in the chair and was introduced to a guy names Charlie who would be my liaison for the duration of the tests. As he stuck on little electrode pads onto my chest I noted that he was a shifter too. I would imagine that the whole of the staff were shifters. This was probably some sort of shifter laboratory or something.
We spent hours on end going over and over things. They would tell Tyler things downstairs and she would have to pass the message onto me so I could repeat them. They would show me pictures and Tyler would have to describe them downstairs in her own room. It seemed never-ending and I was getting seriously tired and irritable. Later they decided that they wanted to test out our linked feelings too. They would make a series of cuts on various parts of my body and apparently Tyler had to tell them where it hurt. I was getting more pissed off by the second but I guess it was all to be expected, and they were only tiny little paper cuts that they were making, nothing that could hurt Tyler too badly when she felt it. I was tested for my sight too, tiny words on a screen would flash up for a split second then I'd have to try and read them. They were small, I would imagine to the lab guy, Charlie, they looked like little dots but I could read them clear enough. Then I had on a set of headphones and had to press buttons when I could hear a faint beeping sound.
Tyler and I were in constant talks, not that the scientists knew that though. Tyler was telling me soothing words through our link, trying to calm me down as I got angrier a
s time went on. I hated her being away from me and I had had more than enough of this now.
"Look, what's the point in going over and over things time and time again? You've done your tests now, that's enough!" I barked angrily.
"We just wanted to test out the physical one. I was told that you could shift on your own free will, is that right?" Charlie replied, looking a little sceptical.
I sighed and stood up, pulling off the little electrode pads from my chest and throwing them onto the table angrily. "Fine, last thing though because I've had enough," I growled, yanking my shirt over my head.
Charlie stepped back and fiddled with the video camera, looking at it and readjusting the angle as I ripped off the rest of my clothes. All I wanted to do was go home with my girl, they'd had their proof, if they didn’t believe us now then that was their problem.
I shifted into my wolf, watching as Charlie gasped and jerked back - he obviously wasn't expecting me to actually be able to do it.
"That's…. that's….. if you could do it again for me, just so I could record it again," he stuttered, raising a shaky hand to the camera and checking the buttons. I Shifted back to my human form and looking at him with one eyebrow raised, waiting for the go ahead.
After shifting back and forth another few times he finally nodded and told me to put my clothes back on. "Done now?" I asked, exasperated.
He nodded. "Just wait here one minute, okay?" He headed out of the room, letting the door click shut behind him. I slumped down into my chair and closed my eyes calling Tyler.
'Okay, baby?' I asked her.
'Yep. Bored though,' she answered.
I laughed at that, I could tell she was bored and I think that's what made me even more antsy to get out of here . 'I think we're almost done now,' I assured her.
Before I could listen to her reply, the door opened and Colin, the head of the council, walked in with Roland behind him.
Chapter 31: Revelations
Ryce’s grandfather smiled at me, and awed expression on his face as he bustled into the room.