“No. They both have brown eyes. Even if they carried the recessive gene for blue eyes, it would be unlikely that Ehria would have silver eyes or gray eyes—that’s extremely rare. Also, simple eye color wouldn’t ‘ripple,’” Sabre replied, making air quotes.
Ghost cocked his head and frowned. “You think she has some kind of gift other than yours?”
After dragging my palms down my face, I rested my elbows on the table and crossed my arms. “I have no clue.”
“Huh,” Ghost grunted.
“She also, um, it sounded like shegrowled,” I admitted.
Sabre’s brow cocked as he shot me a disbelieving stare. “Come again?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you know about your mother’s family?” Sabre asked as he stared at me intently.
“Not much. I never knew any of them. As a kid, she told me her family was dead. We moved around a lot until she left me in the woods, so I never saw any family.”
“Wait. She left you in the woods? How did I not know this?” Ghost asked, then sat there with his mouth hanging open.
I shrugged. “You never asked.”
“Where did she leave you in the woods?” Sabre asked, ignoring Ghost. He watched me strangely as he waited for the answer.
“Northeastern Iowa. I moved to Des Moines when I aged out of the system. We moved around a lot though. I was young, but I can remember living in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. The night she left me in the woods, we were on a camping adventure. Well, that’s what she called it. We had been living in southern Minnesota, but we crossed into Iowa to camp. Then she left. She told me to walk toward the sun in the morning. I did because I thought she’d be waiting for me. Obviously, she wasn’t.” My gaze dropped. It was a little embarrassing to admit that my mother ditched me like an unwanted puppy.
“That necklace you wear. Did she give it to you?” Sabre had worked out with me in the past and had remarked on it, but I’d merely said thanks because he was a prospect at the time. He didn’t need to know my private details.
“Yes,” I warily replied.
“Have you ever been able to get anything off it?”
“You think I didn’t try the minute I realized what was happening to me?”
“How old were you when you realized you had your gift?”
“I guess I had it all my life, just not noticeable until I was in my teens. Why the twenty questions?” I asked, getting a little frustrated.
“I have a theory. I’ve seen something like that before when I lived up in Michigan. But how the hell that could happen with you and Jasmine is weird. Let me look into something, and I’ll get back to you.” Sabre chewed on his lip as he looked lost in thought.
“Well, don’t keep me in suspense. At least tell me what you’re thinking?”
He looked to Ghost with an uncomfortable expression.
“Why you lookin’ at me?” Ghost asked. “I have no clue what you’re thinking.”
Sabre sighed. “Okay, you know that I’m from New York?”
“Yeah,” I said, and Ghost nodded.
“Well, I called that home, but I moved around a lot too.” He got a strange expression, then shook it off. “When I was in Michigan, I ran into a group of people in the Upper Peninsula. They were a pretty closed-off community. One of the members was in front of me at a gas station. He remarked on my eye color when he turned to leave, but quickly ended the conversation after maybe a minute.”
“Why?” I asked, not understanding what he was getting at.
“He, uh, seemed to sniff me, and his eyes rippled with a silver, but it was gone before I got a good look at it. He went out to the pumps and got into a truck with several other men. The gas station attendant told me to stay away from them because they were bad news. I was only in town for a few weeks on a job site, so I didn’t care what they were as long as they left me alone. On one of the last days, I had gone hiking.” He inhaled deeply before letting it out in a rush.
“And?” Ghost prompted.
“And I came across a naked kid caught in a trap.”