Lucy's Liberation [Elk Creek 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (36 page)

At the thought, Prentice’s glance found Cody standing in one corner of the room, the other man’s sights set on Lucy and Ki in the middle of their clinch.

The man looked like he wanted to do bodily harm to someone and Prentice could only guess who.

He wondered how much Cody had had to drink already. He couldn’t remember a time since he’d known Cody Paxton that the man hadn’t been inebriated and wondered again how he had ever collaborated with him for any project, much less to take down the Malloy brothers.

Prentice closed his eyes and tossed out his psychic net, slipping into Cody’s mind and threading his thoughts with the other man’s.

Being in Cody’s head was like navigating a minefield. Despite his inebriation, Cody’s thoughts were lively, clear, and focused on Lucy and Ki, just as Prentice had thought they were. Cody was busy considering all the ways he had been screwed by the couple when Lucy had accepted Ki’s impromptu proposal and he was planning his revenge. What form the latter would take was unclear, and more troublesome because of its vagueness.

Prentice swallowed hard when he recognized how similar Cody’s and his thoughts, pre-reincarnation, were to each other. Prentice realized in that moment how self-aggrandizing and self-righteous he had been, justifying his actions and whining about his childhood hardships as if he had been the only person in the world who had ever been betrayed or hurt before.

The idea that he and Cody shared anything in common, especially a mindset, was a harsh slap in the face, but something Prentice admitted he needed. He wished he had gotten his wake-up call so much sooner, before he had damaged so many lives and hurt so many people.

He wished he could bring back Aura and his parents to tell them how sorry he was and that they had been right about how he had used his gifts, or more accurately, how he had misused them.

Prentice opened his eyes to see Thayne approaching him.

His heart skipped a beat as fight-or-flight adrenaline instantly flooded his system. He forced himself to stay put as Thayne stopped just a couple of feet in front of him.

Prentice assumed Thayne had sought him out as a result of his proposal to Maia, so reasoned he had brought the current confrontation on himself. He swallowed hard, determined to take his medicine like a man.

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you, Ethan. Hope this isn’t a bad time.”

“No, not at all.” Prentice reined in his powers, refusing to cheat and find out what Thayne wanted before he had a chance to tell Prentice himself. He tried to take a page out of Thayne’s book and didn’t know how the man resisted the temptation to go around reading people’s minds at will.

“Maia tells me you’re interested in coming to work as my assistant?”

“I mentioned the possibility to her, yes.”

“Interested in medicine, are you?”

Prentice met Thayne’s direct blue gaze with his own brandy one, and wondered if he was being tested again. Did Thayne want to know how serious were his intentions and whether or not he’d be worth mentoring? Finally, he just answered from his heart. “I want to help people.”

Thayne nodded as if in agreement. “There are all kinds of other ways you can help people. Medicine isn’t an easy profession, not if you want to do it justice.”

“I…I want to do what you do.”

Thayne grinned and reached out a hand to pat him on the shoulder. “If you’re trying to flatter me, you’re doing a good job.”

“It’s the truth.” Maybe one day, he would be able to tell Thayne and Cade the whole truth—about Brielle, Caith, and Aura.

Prentice knew that all roads would eventually lead to him coming clean about his identity and who had helped him become the man he was now—a man Thayne’s parents and aunt could be proud of.

Hopefully, he would get the opportunity to make Thayne proud of him too.

“If you’re really serious about this, just drop by the house next week when you have some free time and we can discuss your career change in more detail.”

Prentice smiled. He could feel Thayne warming up to the subject as if he had been waiting all his adult life for the chance to pass down his knowledge to an eager student. He guessed he would do until Thayne had his own little one upon whom he could lavish his wisdom.

At the thought, Prentice wondered at the legacy he might one day pass down to a child of his own. The unexpected thought of having and raising kids with Lucy and Ki made his heart suddenly soar with hope for the future as he noticed Kate standing just behind Thayne.

She stepped forward, her progress simultaneously determined and hesitant as if she was driven by two different minds. “I don’t mean to interrupt…”

Thayne stepped back, placing a gentle hand on Kate’s back as he urged her toward Prentice.

Prentice could well imagine the warmth and wellbeing Kate experienced from Thayne’s touch. He had felt that same warmth and wellbeing himself when he had first woken up in Ethan’s body, so confused and scared. The memory of how Thayne had calmed him down and made him feel not so alone, reinforced Prentice’s decision to join Thayne’s practice in some capacity. If he had to go back to school and further his education to do it, then he would.

“You’re not interrupting, Kate. Ethan and I were just discussing the possibility of him becoming my apprentice.”

Prentice caught Thayne’s wink right before Kate gaped at the doctor.

“Of course, nothing’s definite. It all depends on our next interview, but I’m very optimistic.”

Kate looked at Prentice as if her prayers had been answered. She seemed like she was about to burst from joy.

Prentice was pretty sure she hadn’t registered Thayne’s “nothing’s definite” part.

“Well, I’ll leave you two to it.” Thayne proffered his hand and after they shook, Thayne took his leave to continue mingling. Once they were alone, Prentice wasn’t sure what to say to Kate. The urge to apologize and beg her to allow him to return home was strong. He wanted to tell her more about his plans to work with Thayne. He wanted her to be proud of him but realized that he would only be getting her hopes up to dash them again. Whether he left Winchester’s or not, he wasn’t coming home and still couldn’t give Kate what she wanted most—her son.

Prentice reminded himself that Kate was not his mother. As much as he wished he could do things all over again, his parents were dead and he was basically all alone in the world…except for Lucy and Ki.

Prentice was about to speak when a heavy hand fell on his shoulder and swung him around. Before he knew it, he was facing the towering and formidable figure of Kurt McCall.

Kurt didn’t look like he was in a talking mood, but Prentice controlled his own natural inclination to lash out with a psychic strike first and ask questions later. Instead, he took the punch that Kurt landed against his jaw, a blow with the power of a virtuous, seething father behind it that sent Prentice sprawling back against the floor.

“Daddy, no!” Ginger ran to Prentice’s side and crouched beside him, cradling his head in her lap, and God, why did she have to do
that
?

Prentice wanted to tell her that he was okay and to leave him alone. She was only making things worse for him and her and incensing her father even more. He could tell, however, that she wasn’t about to listen any more than her father was.

“Get away from him, Gin-Gin. He ain’t no good for you and you know it.”

Prentice wiped the back of a hand across his mouth, staring at the blood that stained his knuckles.

“C’mon Gin-Gin.” Tanner grasped her under the elbows and helped her to her feet, guiding her away from Prentice.

Prentice got to his knees, feeling like the town pariah that he was until Thayne rushed to his side.

“You all right, son?”

The address threw him. Prentice didn’t think he’d ever get used to anyone calling him son since his actual father was dead. “I’m good.”

He let Thayne help him to his feet and accepted the handkerchief the other man pressed into his hand to wipe his nose.

Kurt kept one fist at his side as he pointed at Prentice with his other hand. “You stay away from my daughter, Crawford. You done hurt her enough already. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep your no-good hands away from her or you’ll be sorry.”

Kate stepped in front of Prentice, planting herself between her son and Kurt as she lifted her chin and glared at him, looking just as proud and upstanding as Kurt.

“Ka…Momma…” Prentice tried to move Kate behind him, but she wouldn’t budge. He felt her body shaking against his, but the more he tried to pull her away, the firmer she planted herself.

“My son is plenty good, Kurt, and you darn well know it. He just made a mistake, like any one of us has done at his age. He’s not perfect and neither is your Ginger. You’d be wise to remember that.”

Kurt’s face turned so red he looked like he was going to bust a gasket and steam was going to start coming out of his ears any moment.

Prentice wondered if he was remembering all the times when Ginger had snuck out of his house to see Ethan, or was he so thoroughly convinced that Ethan was some kind of Machiavellian Mephistopheles bent on corrupting his daughter at any cost and his little Ginger was an innocent helpless victim in all this?

In the hush that followed Kate’s challenge, Clint stepped into the fray to stand by his wife and son’s side. “You best pull in your horns, Kurt, if you know what’s good for you.”

“C’mon, Ginger. We’re leaving.” Kurt grabbed his daughter’s arm with a huff and pulled her away from the scene, Tanner following on their heels.

Poor Ginger, Prentice thought. He didn’t envy her having to face down Kurt’s wrath.

The crowd that had gathered around Prentice and Ethan’s parents had yet to disperse, as if everyone sensed more drama to come. They made Prentice self-conscious about what he wanted to say next, but he couldn’t hold it in any longer.

He took Kate’s hand and squeezed it. “Thank you, Momma, for standing up for me.”

She gently slid her hand out of his and nodded, looking like she was doing her best to hold herself together and not just break down altogether.

Prentice admired her strength and thought that she reminded him of Lucy the way she tried not to appear weak in front of anyone.

These pioneer women were made of strong stuff, stronger than a lot of the “strong, single, independent” twenty-first century women that he had known in his time.

“This is the sort of thing that happens when you stray from your good Christian teachings to…do whatever it is you’re doing out at that house with…” Clint dismissively waved in the general direction of Lucy and Ki, who had broken their clinch to join the rest of the partygoers watching the spectacle Kurt had initiated.

Prentice noticed, however, while Clint alluded to Lucy and Ki, his glance plainly found Cody across the room as if for support. “You really should pay attention from who you get your facts, Dad.” He turned away from Ethan’s parents, his heart aching more than when he had first walked out of their house and away from them to go live with Lucy and Ki.

“Ethan…”

“Let him go, Katie. He was lost to us the minute he took up with that crook and…now this man and woman. He’s…he’s just not our son anymore.”

Prentice closed his eyes at Clint’s obviously reluctant but harsh words. He told himself it was better this way. No good could come of him associating with Clint and Kate, but even though Clint spoke the truth without actually knowing, it didn’t make the fact hurt any less.

“Are you okay?”

Prentice opened his eyes at Lucy’s quiet voice to see her and Ki standing before him. The first thing he noticed was Lucy’s concerned expression, her heart in her eyes.

He remembered the psychic energy he had earlier cast right before he started to answer her. He instantly felt Cody’s rage seeping into his brain cells like an inky insidious oil spill in an ocean, spreading out and contaminating everything in its path, namely Prentice’s mind.

Prentice lurched back and grabbed his head with one hand, realizing too late how open to attack he had left himself. He hadn’t expected a psychic threat from anyone here.

Had what he’d felt been all Cody’s emotional and mental activity or someone else’s?

Ki caught him around the shoulders and led him over to the nearest bench against a wall where Prentice shakily sat down. “Ethan, what is it?” ”

“I…I’m okay. It’s just a little headache.” He looked around, scanning the crowd visually and mentally, catching the curious stares and disapproving glares as he homed in on that malevolent mind that had touched his. The feelings and thoughts he had felt belonged to Ethan’s killer!

* * * *

What had happened back there? What kind of black magic voodoo had touched his mind?

He staggered out into the alley way behind the store, eager to get away before anyone recognized him, like Ethan’s two fillies, eager to escape another attack.

Something wasn’t right about that boy since he’d come back. It wasn’t just the amnesia, but it was as if he’d brought something back with him from the other side, something…not right, something dangerous, especially when it could distress him from across a crowded room without either of them coming into physical contact with each other.