Before she could leave, I stopped her and leaned close. “That lady talking to Dad—the one that’s about to have a wardrobe malfunction—totally tried to come on to him. She’s thinking yucky things. Fifty shades of things…”
Mom laughed her big, booming laugh.
Not the reaction I was expecting from her. “Don’t worry though,” I whispered into her ear. “She hasn’t gotten anywhere with him.”
Mom sobered and stepped back to look at me. She seemed to realize something and then shook her head. “Of course she hasn’t. That’s one thing you don’t have to worry about. Your father and I are one of the few who have a forever marriage. Your abuela made sure of it.” Growing up with my abuela made Mom able to block everything but what she wanted me to see. No one else I knew could do it. So when she reached out to cup my cheek, I relaxed my head into her hand and closed my eyes.
I was flooded with the twenty or so times that they’d said they loved each other today. She kissed my forehead, and I heard the echo from her mind that she loved me.
I opened my eyes and smiled. “Thanks. Love you too, Mom.”
She gave my cheek a couple of light pats before looking at my brother. “Be good, you two.”
Axel scoffed. “Are we ever not good?”
“Yes. Frequently.” With that, Mom slid back into her role as hostess.
“Let’s go before anyone else stops us,” Axel said.
We made our way to Dad’s office and locked the door. Thick law texts were haphazardly stacked in his now mostly empty shelves. Bankers boxes were piled high to the right of his large oaken desk. Two long file cabinets sat along the wall behind the desk. I had no idea where to even start to look for the St. Ailbe’s stuff.
“You find the file, and I’ll touch it.” I took off my right glove and stuffed it in the back pocket of my jeans. “I’m not touching anything I don’t need to.”
He dug through some drawers, and then started in on the Bankers boxes. My palms were sweating. The longer Axel took, the better chance there was that Dad would look for us, even if that was ridiculous when we had half of Hollywood in our house.
“Got it!” Axel stepped around the mess he’d made and handed me a folder.
I grabbed it and my father’s office disappeared.
Chapter Two
An image flashed through my mind. Five red brick buildings in a circle, surrounded by forest. Teenagers. Students carrying books walking through the center of them. Wolves running through the forest around the buildings.
Why weren’t the students scared of the wolves? Were they tame? Or maybe they were just large dogs. Or maybe it was a farm school. A giant-sized, wolfish-dog farm school.
Wind blew against my face. The scent of the trees and dirt filled my every breath. I’d never had a vision so vivid before. Usually it was just one or two senses, but this was all of them.
Someone brushed past me, and before I could react, my vision shifted to a one-room cabin. It was nighttime now. The two men—one about my dad’s age, one maybe a few years older than me—were sitting at a table discussing something. No, they were arguing.
“Trusting some unknown outsider with—” The younger one stopped, and looked straight at me.
I froze. He couldn’t actually be looking at me, could he?
“We’re being watched.”
No way. This was impossible. When I touched something, I only saw echoes of the past that had imprinted in the object. There was no way I could actually interact with a vision.
I had to test it. I had to know if he could see me. “Hello?” My voice cracked.
The younger guy stood up. “There’s someone here. In this room.”
“Can you see them?” the other one said.
The younger guy shook his head.
Then how could he hear me? Or could he hear me? Maybe he could just sense me? But how? I was looking into the past, wasn’t I? There was no way I could’ve linked with whoever signed the papers. Because that would be way messed up.
The younger one continued to stare in my direction. The look he gave me made my pulse race; it was like he was seeing through my soul. His muscles strained against his black T-shirt as he stepped toward me. His inky black hair made his amber eyes seem brighter. Holy shit. He was way sexier than my favorite Scotsman.