Paranormal Realities Box Set (38 page)

“Kizzy.” He wiggled. “You’re squeezing
me.”

“I’m sorry.” I set him down on his feet.
My fingers sifted through his silky hair. “I thought you were a tube of
toothpaste.”

“You only have one shoe,” Adam noted,
pointing at my foot.

“I gave it to a one-legged man,” I said.

Adam giggled. When he saw Rom, the smile
fell from his face he sidled shyly around to hide behind my leg.

“This is my friend,” I said. “His name is
Rom.”

“Hello Adam,” Rom said. “I understand you
have the liking for dinosaurs.”

Adam peeked around my leg.

“They are to my liking, also. In fact, a
T. Rex inhabits my household room.”

Venturing out from behind me, Adam moved
directly in front of Rom.

“T. Rex is cool.” Adam reached into his
pocket and took out a plastic toy. “My favorite is the Pterodactyl.” He offered
the toy to Rom for inspection.

“A very fine specimen.” Rom turned the
dinosaur over in his hands before giving it back to Adam.

A figure strode around the corner of the
house into the courtyard from the outdoor gate. My father. The dad I’d always
known before the bridge. The handsome dad. The hero dad.

“Hey kids,” my father called.

Before he could say more, I threw my arms
around his neck and held on tight as I fought off sudden tears.

“Wow. It’s not often an old dad gets such
a warm welcome.” Dad laughed. “In fact, I don't think I've ever come to pick
you up for visitation and been greeted so nicely. Should I be worried you’ve
done something I’m not going to approve of?”

“Of course not. You know I’m perfect.”
Pulling back I glanced down to hide my expression.

Dad offered his hand to Rom, who took it
in a shake.

“You’re Kizzy’s friend.”

“Rom, sir.”

“No more drama class scene rehearsals I
hope.”

“No sir,” Rom said with a quirky smile.

“Good.” Dad fixed him with a steady
glare. “I’d still like to have a conversation with you.”

“Dad,” I warned. “Please don’t embarrass
me.” Unfortunately, I spoiled it all by grinning. For some reasons his dadness
made me happy.

“Okay, okay. Another time.” Dad kneeled
down to address Adam. “Well, big guy. Are you ready to go?”

Adam giggled and nodded.

“We’re going to get ice cream.” My
brother peered up at me.

“That sounds great.”

“I’d ask you to come, but—” Dad
glanced at Rom and back to me.

“You guys have fun,” I said.

“You too. Just not too much fun,” he
drawled.

“Dad!”

He smiled and waved.

Rom’s hand slipped into mine, as I
watched Dad walk away with Adam. When they disappeared together around the
corner, I turned into Rom’s arms and we embraced each other for long minutes
without speaking. We pulled apart and walked hand in hand to the bench in front
of the fountain to sit down.

“It is so weird.” I shook my head. “When
I saw my dad, memories flooded into my brain. Memories of me and Adam, of me
and my dad, and of all of us together. All sorts of memories of the last three
months. But the memories of the bridge and what happened after that are all
there too.”

“Since we were all in the area of the
wormhole and under its influence when the change occurred, we were part of both
timelines,” Rom suggested. “Having lived through both times, you have both sets
of memories.”

“Really?”

“Theory only,” he said.

“I wonder what kind of grades I’m getting
in this timeline? I can’t recall.”

“Probably similar grades, I venture.”

“Uh oh. I'm going to have to start
studying,” I joked.

“Since I remain in this world for the next
twenty-nine years, I too shall need to study.”

“Why are you here?” I asked. “I didn’t go
off the bridge the second time, so I didn’t open the portal to Augustinia. And
if I didn't open the portal, you never came here. But here you are.”

“My matter, my body already existed in
this universe thus my body could not disappear upon this timeline's change.”

“I’m really glad your body didn’t
disappear by the way. But what about…Rom. Is there an alternate you in
Augustinia? One that didn’t ever meet me?

“I don’t know.”

“What about Franky?” I asked. “Why isn’t
he alive like Adam?”

“Nothing is certain.” Rom squeezed my
hand. “Mayhaps because he died in Dorcha, he was outside this world’s timeline.
Adam's death was within your world's timeline, thus its alteration changed his
fate.”

“Is it possible the tsunami never
happened in your world? All those people could still be alive in Augustinia.”

“Until the portal becomes permeable, we
will have not certainty.”

For a few moments we sat quietly and
enjoyed the jasmine scented breeze.

“Seeing you with Adam warmed me,” Rom
said, breaking the silence. “He reminds me of Nicia.”

“Oh Rom. You must be worrying about Nicia
and your family. I’m sorry.”

“Feel no sorrow, Kizzy.”

“But I should have known from what you
said about the Dorcha and Augustinia portals being linked that the portal to
your world would also seal at the same time as the Dorcha portal.” Caressing
his cheek, I searched his eyes. “I didn’t even think about you needing to get
back to your portal, I was so busy worrying about the one with Dorcha. Forgive
me.”

“None of your actions requires
forgiveness.” He waved my apology away.

“Twenty nine plus years is a long time to
be cut-off from your family.”

“To see them again would be of worth to
me,” he agreed. “The loss of Nicia particularly will be a hole in my heart. Yet
I feel this is place is also home.” His lips quirked into a slanted smile. “And
you are my family.” He linked his hands with both of mine, leaned toward me,
and our lips touched in a gentle kiss. “It is my hope you have similar
sentiments.”

“Yes,” I admitted. “I didn’t want to feel
this way but…”

His lips covered mine again as his thumbs
traced gentle patterns on my palms. Releasing my mouth, Rom rested his forehead
against mine.

“As long as you feel thus, if return to
Augustinia is never possible...” Rom smiled his quirky lipped smile. “I’m cool
with it.”

# # #

DEDICATION

To my mother, Elinor Mason,
who showed me what unconditional love truly is and how to be strong in a
difficult world.

Copyright
2012

Patricia
Mason writing as P.R. Mason

Liam's full lips brushed mine and a sweet
hum of pleasure played along my nerve endings. His kisses made me feel safe.
Liam
made me
feel safe. Some might have thought there was something strange about that, him
being the star running back of our high school's football team. Weren't all
football players supposed to be rough? But Liam restricted his roughness to the
field.

When he pulled back, one of his hands
remained lightly at my waist as he smiled down at me. "You're so pretty,
Tara," he said.

"Hmmm." Hiding my face against
his chest, I cuddled close to him. My looks bordered on average, but I was glad
Liam saw me differently.

We were lost in our own world even as we
stood on the sidelines of Richard Johnson Academy Stadium. My hands rested on
Liam's shoulders. With one finger he swept a long lock of blonde hair from my
face and tucked it behind my right ear, being careful not to snag the hoop
earring I wore.

I loved so many things about Liam. But
most of all I loved that he wouldn't die until he was a very old age. His death
would take place in his own bed where he was surrounded by his children and
grandchildren. As a banshee of the O'Neil clan— as my grandmother had
been and her grandmother before her—I knew these things. A vision of
Liam's fate had hit me with the force of a semi-truck the first time I'd
touched him when we were both just ten. His destiny hadn't changed in the seven
years since then or I would have known the next time we came into contact. I'd
have
seen
his new death.

Liam put a hand to my chin and brought my
face up so our eyes met. "Let's go across the river to the reserve
tonight."

The wildlife reserve was the local
lovers' lane. In the last few weeks, Liam had been subtly pressing to take our
relationship to the next stage: a full-fledged hook up. Sex, or even heavy
petting, scared me. But I also didn't want to lose Liam. So far he'd been
patient about me keeping my virginity, although he did joke that at seventeen I
must be the oldest one in the school. How long could he stay faithful to me if
I didn't go all the way?

Even though I was unsure of how I would
answer, and put him off yet again, I opened my mouth to speak.

"Ellsworth," Coach Dixon barked
out to Liam, interrupting us from a few feet away. A scowl furrowed his brow.
"You planning to practice today? Or shall I consider you off the
team?"

"Practice, Coach." Liam picked
up his helmet and tossed me one last smile before he sprinted off toward the
field.

The coach turned his red-faced glare on
me as he mopped at his forehead with a handkerchief. "Tara Jones.
Shouldn't you be practicing with the other cheerleaders in the gym?"

A voice spoke beside me: Keagan.

"Yeah. Don't you have anything better
to do than hang with my boring brother? Like, maybe, watch the Astroturf
grow?"

"I'm just going, Coach." I
didn't respond to Keagan with even a glance. No need. His teasing smirk
radiated from him.

Unlike his fraternal twin, Keagan didn't
make me feel safe. He was going to die young in a motorcycle accident with his
head cracked open and his body horribly mangled under the wheels of a car. The
vision hadn't told me exactly when, but Keagan had looked about the same age as
he was now. How could I warn him? He wouldn't believe me. Nobody believed me
about my visions. Nobody but Gran. Even my parents hadn't believed me. If only
they had.

"Come on. Not going to say anything
to defend Liam?" he drawled. "That's new. You're usually such a
cheerleader." His fingers flicked at the skirt of my uniform, brushing the
top of my thigh. That glancing touch sent an involuntary shiver through me and
I jumped away from him.

How could twins be this different? Where
Liam was a sunny day, Keagan was a stormy one. Liam had shoulder-length blond
hair where Keagan had short brown. Liam was athletic but lanky and Keagan had
the physique of a wrestler. Where Liam's eyes were sky blue with a mischievous
glint, Keagan's were storm cloud gray with an angry edge. Liam was boy-next-door
cute but Keagan was dangerously hot sexy. Even as that comparison occurred, a
pang of guilt pinched at me.

"Come on, Goody," Keagan said.
"Where's your sense of humor?"

"Don't call me that nickname,"
I grumbled. "I'm not a goody two-shoes."

He chuckled, a low baritone rumble.

"What are you doing here?" I
demanded, angrily. Keagan didn't attend our private high school, Richard
Johnson Academy or Double Dick as the students had dubbed it. When Keagan had
failed a math test, his father went crazy, ranting how he wasn't going to waste
good money on tuition.

"Either you're stupid or lazy,"
Mr. Ellsworth had screamed. "And I'm not going to pay for either."

Unfortunately, I'd been at the Ellsworth
house for dinner and heard the whole horrible fight. I would never forget the
shame that twisted Keagan's face when he realized I was there. Keagan's
response had been to rush out and total the family car. After that, he'd been
relegated to the public school: Broughton High.

"I'm here scouting the talent,"
Keagan answered me. "The big game is this Friday night. Johnson Flyers vs.
Broughton Hawks."

"You're playing?" Now I did
turn to him in surprise. The rivalry between our two schools was fierce. Almost
as fierce as the one between Keagan and Liam.

"I'm the Hawks' new middle
linebacker. Broughton's coach was thrilled when I enrolled. He even tracked me
down to recruit me to the team." His sneering lip quirked even higher.
"It seems
someone
appreciates my talents."

"Does Liam know?"

"He will soon." His tone dripped
with such animosity it frightened me. I'd always thought Keagan's Mom and Dad
were wrong to treat him like demon spawn and Liam like an angelic gift, but
that wasn't Liam's fault.

"Are you really so jealous of your
brother that you actually hate him?" I asked. "Sometimes you can be
such a...a...a...toad."