The Empath (The Above and Beyond Series Book 1) (17 page)
Read The Empath (The Above and Beyond Series Book 1) Online
Authors: Jody Klaire
“It’s Aeron . . . Air-on.” I rubbed my tears away and smiled down at them. Considering the hell they’d been through, their auras were full of light.
“Papa says Mamma’s gone away,” the smallest one said. “That she needed to help the angels.”
My heart ached and squeezed in my chest. “Yeah, she’s okay though. She’s gonna look after you.”
“Oh, I know,” the little one said. “I see her all the time.”
I cocked my head. “You do?”
The older girl scowled and poked her sister. “Lou, cut it. You know Mamma hated that nonsense.”
The little one folded her arms. “She does not so.” She stamped her feet, making me chuckle. She was kinda cute. “Not no more. She said Aeron would help.” Her nose wrinkled up as she concentrated. “And . . . um . . . Lollipop.”
“Lilia,” the eldest muttered.
I knelt down and took both their hands in mine. Lou’s glowed hotter than a fire in wintertime and Ruth’s wasn’t far behind it. Seemed my mother wasn’t the only one with a gift or two. Thankfully, it was just a perception, not a full blown burden.
“Lilia is my mom but she was gone when I was growin’ up. So, as you need someone to help you take care of Dad—”
“Papa,” Lou corrected.
“Well that Hopalong over there.” I pointed at my father and the girls giggled. “How ’bout she helps you?”
Lou folded her arms and stuck out her bottom lip. “Does that mean they’re gonna yell now?”
“Lou!” Ruth muttered.
“Ruth!” Lou muttered back.
“Girls, come get your food,” my father called.
They kissed me on the cheek before I could object and hurried off, leaving the gifts in my hands.
I got to my feet. Renee nudged my shoulder and walked ahead to the tent. I looked out across all the tables—the Toughtons, the Borlands, the gypsy families with the grandmother, Bill and . . . “Mary?”
“Bill’s orders, don’t ask,” Renee whispered.
There were quite a few of the townspeople there too, some I knew, some I didn’t but to my surprise Mrs. Stein was even there, in the back and sour faced as always.
“What did you do, put a spell on them?” I asked my mother as I sat at the table.
Renee plonked a hat on my head and one on her own.
“She’s always been grumpy. It’s her thing.” My mother handed me a present. “I’ve wanted to say this for so long. Happy birthday.”
I put the girls’ gifts on the table and took my mother’s present. By my father’s grin, I knew he had been in on the present too.
I shook the box and stuck my tongue out. I hadn’t had presents in . . . well . . . When had I last had a present? “What is it?”
“Tradition,” they both answered.
I unwrapped the box and opened it up. I stared at a necklace of solid silver with a picture of someone engraved on it. “What is it?”
My mother pulled it out of the box. “St Christopher’s, patron saint of travelers. Nan was given it by her mother and she gave it to mine, then to me.” She held it out to me. “Now, it’s yours.”
I wasn’t sure I should touch it. I was terrified I’d get several lifetimes of flashes thudding through my head.
“Just love and protection,” my mother reassured me.
I picked it up and felt such a wave of love crash over me, that it chased all the pain away, if even for a moment. Renee helped me put it on. I clutched it in my hand and noticed something inscribed on the back.
“Ephesians?” I asked, reading the passage about armor. Had Nan, my mother—had they all worn the same protection?
“One and the same,” my mother said.
My jaw ached as it trembled, my tears threatening yet again.
“See, told you that you were a hero,” Renee whispered to me.
I raised an eyebrow at her. “How’d you figure that?”
Renee pointed to the necklace and winked. “All heroes have armor.”
Heroes? I was no hero. “That so?”
She folded her arms and gave me a satisfied nod. “Yup.”
Her aura danced around like it did when she was in a playful mood.
“I thought heroes did the saving.” I pointed to my jaw. “And you were the one in that role.” I looked down at myself and chuckled. “Not quite the image of a damsel, am I?”
Renee’s eyes twinkled but she said nothing, so I poked her.
“Don’t you go picturing me in any dress,” I said. “It ain’t ever gonna happen.”
She had a cheeky glint in her eyes. “Sure about that?”
I narrowed mine at her. “Crystal.”
Renee handed me a burger and squirted a flower pattern on the top. “Shame it wasn’t pink.”
Pink? Now she was asking for it. “Don’t think I won’t dunk you in the river.”
“You’d never catch me.” She squirted ketchup at me and hit me in the cheek. “Besides, as the hero I’d more likely dunk you.”
I put down my burger and wiped the ketchup off with my fingertip. “You think so?”
Renee backed away from the table. “Oh, I
know
so.”
She ran a few feet but I caught her. She struggled but I had a lot longer arms.
“Aeron, now be nice,” she warned. “You need me to watch your back, remember?”
She squirmed and I hoisted her off the ground. “In that case maybe we should get you all healed up, huh?”
I carried her to the river as she wriggled like a hooked fish. I could sense everyone watching me but the river was beckoning.
She tried to push away and unclasp my hands but I wasn’t letting her go nowhere. “Aeron. Don’t you dare.”
“Too late.” I readied myself to throw her.
She spun in my arms and dropped to her feet. I hurtled over her shoulder as she threw me.
Splash.
I sat in the cold water and spat out the river.
Renee stood on the bank with a smug grin. “You need rescuing?”
I held out my hand. She took it. I grinned. Got you. I gave her hand a yank and heard my sly laugh echo out.
Splash.
She surfaced. Her hair plastered across her face.
“That was sneaky.” She flicked her hair back and splashed me.
“I thought you were a doctor,” I said with a smile. “You said you could read minds.”
She slapped the top of the water and sent it crashing into my face. “Maybe I let you do it.”
“I
know
you didn’t.”
“Thought you couldn’t see anything about yourself?”
I opened my mouth and then closed it, which made her laugh as she pulled me to my feet. “Besides I’m a hero, it’s my job to know these things.”
Her eyes met mine and I pulled her into a soggy hug. “I can’t argue with that. I reckon you’ve proved beyond doubt that you’re good at your job.”
Chapter 86
THE DAY PASSED by in a blur, I was told of all that Bill and the others had done, how even Mrs. Stein helped out by catering for the workers. I had never felt so loved, so included, so . . . well, happy as I did that afternoon. My birthday, the day my life had begun all those years ago, seemed to have begun all over again that day.
My parents and the girls were going to move into the cabin. Although it was mine, I was happy for them to share it. I wanted the place to be filled with love and laughter, I wanted the girls to know what joy and happiness were. I wanted the walls coated with it and the love flowing through it.
I knew they could do that together.
After much celebrating, the night was nearer morning, the smell of dew hanging in the air, we finally wandered into the cabin to sleep. Renee helped me up the stairs as my head felt like it was on backward with laughter and hope.
Hope, now there was a feeling I didn’t know well. It wasn’t even hoping for something, just an odd little flicker of optimism that somehow the sun had burst through the clouds in my life. Not that I was expecting an endless summer. No, just a few dry days here and there.
“Y’know,” Renee said as we got to my floor, “you never did explain to me how your father healed up his heart. The doctor said it’s better than a man half his age.”
I tensed and concentrated on getting to the bed without stumbling too much. “Must be Lilia.”
“Uh huh.” Renee grinned at me and nudged me in the ribs. “So you telling me that you don’t know anything?”
I shook my head and nudged her back. “Oh no, I’d never say that.”
Renee raised her eyebrow. “And what do you say?”
Her gray eyes twinkled like her aura all over again. It felt so weird how it was hers above everyone else’s that enchanted me. Even her eyes, like the color of a stormy sea ringed with the sky on a cloudless day. I couldn’t help but wonder why no one had tied her down to domestication but I was kinda glad they hadn’t.
I thought about telling her that but she’d gotten so tense when we talked about her date, after the twister. I didn’t want her to get all upset again.
So, realizing I was pretty much gawping at her, I cleared my throat. “Nothing.”
I tried to untie my boots. I struggled, exhausted from the day. Renee knelt down and helped me to pull one off.
“You need a good rest,” she scolded, untying the other one. Her eyes flicked to mine often, like she was wondering what I’d been thinking about for so long.
“A road trip will fix that right up.”
Renee beamed at me, and the tears started to bubble over. I laughed at myself. I’d been spun around by my emotions most of the day. They were good tears this time though. I’d never experienced good tears before today.
“Are you okay?” she asked softly, pulling me into a hug.
“Think so,” I mumbled into her shoulder. I was pretty sure I’d soaked her shirt several times over the course of the day.
“I have a present for you,” Renee said as I rubbed my stinging eyes. Go figure how crying could make you so tired.
“You do?”
Renee nodded with a mischievous look. “I know you wanted to get them but I thought I’m more of an expert.”
“You did, huh?” I didn’t know what she was talking about.
“Don’t get mad though, I used your money.”
I raised my eyebrows. “What money?”
Renee laughed. “You telling me no one’s told you that you’re an heiress?”
My mouth opened and closed in my best fish impression. “I’m a what?”
“The entire town,” Renee said. “Oppidum, it’s owned by your family.”
After everything that had been thrown at me in the last couple of months, I wasn’t sure what the hell to do with that information. “So, you tellin’ me, I’ve ended up Ivy League too?”
Renee winked. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell a soul.”
I should hope not either. What would they think? I sucked in the air. “Especially not the girls. What the hell would Aimee make of it?”
The thought of the girls back in the institution made me restless, but I got an idea of how I could make it right. “So, are we talkin’ rich or really, really rich?”
Renee put a wrapped box on my lap. “Even richer.”
“Enough to make sure the girls will be okay?”
Renee beamed. “More than enough. They won’t be out for a while though.”
It didn’t matter. I wanted them to have somewhere safe, somewhere people cared for them when they were released. “But they will, get out, won’t they?”
She flicked her gaze away. “Aimee is continuing her recovery. I made sure the new psychiatrist was the best.”
I was glad of that. I got a little picture in my head of Aimee twiddling her ring on her necklace. I hoped one day she’d be able to take it off, to let it go.
Renee pulled off her own shoes and wiggled her toes. “Nora is much better. If the new doctor can continue to convince her to take, and keep taking her medication, she’ll be okay.”
I chuckled at Renee’s mis-matched socks. Go figure the Doctor Llys I’d met back in the institution wearing mis-matched socks. “Will she get out?”
She looked at me as if she was trying to figure out what was funny. “That’s really up to her. Tiz will be with her for a while yet though.”
I looked down at the present. I’d never known why Tiz was in the institution. All I knew was how much she loved shiny objects. “What she do?”
“It’s more what may happen again,” Renee said. “It’s for her safety, Aeron, and everyone else’s.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. “That bad, huh?”
“Let’s just say that if she gets out, she’ll be watched very, very carefully.”
Tiz? Renee was making out like Tiz was some dangerous psycho. Sure she got the fluctuations, something whispering in her ear, but that bad?
“Open.” Renee tapped the box.
I ripped the wrapping off and lifted the lid. My breath caught as I pulled out a very shiny, sparkly set of golden high heels.
“For Yasmin,” Renee said.
I hugged her half to death and planted a kiss on her cheek for good measure. I couldn’t speak, they were perfect.
Renee took them off me as I wiped my eyes with my sleeve. I hadn’t noticed the display case on the wall before Renee placed them inside.
It was just like I’d seen in the dream. They glinted and glimmered and shone like jewels. Yasmin would have loved them.
I sighed as I watched Renee fuss. “You are staying with me, right?”
She looked up, eyebrows raised.
I felt like a dumb kid again. “I mean, I’m used to you being near and after everything—”
“Of course I will.” She pulled her bed clothes out of her pack. “I’m here for you.”
“You know that works both ways, right,” I said. “If you need me.”
She beamed at me, her aura once again like a firework display. “What are you looking at when you do that?”
I shrugged, feeling like a snooper. “Your aura.”
She cocked her head. “I have an aura?”
“Everyone does.” I felt a wave of guilt wash over me and shrugged. “I see your mood an’ well . . .”
“What?” Her gray eyes studied mine.
Ah heck, she must already know I was crazy. “It’s kinda pretty.”
Her smile lit up her face. “It is?”
My cheeks were so hot they got itchy. “Right now it’s all warm, red mixed with purples swirling ’round.”
She bit her lip. “Do you know what it means?”
“Not a clue but it’s more pink when you’re talking to me.” I met her eyes again and the aura display continued. “Like I said, I didn’t get an instruction manual.”
I lay back on the bed.
“Do you find it hard being in here with us all?” Renee whispered as she turned out the light. I felt her get in on the other side of the gigantic bed. “Considering how alone you’ve been, it must be an onslaught.”
Maybe she had a point, I guess with five other people in the same place I could feel battered but I didn’t. “I guess after the institution, I’m used to it.”
There was ruffling and the cover flicked off my feet. “Is it a problem?”
I listened to the stillness. Renee’s soft breathing, I could feel the glowing love of my parents, the peaceful dreams of my sisters as they were watched over by Nan. I could even sense Mrs. Squirrel’s care and tenderness for her new arrivals.
I felt lucky, I felt . . . blessed for the first time. “It used to bother me. I thought I knew too much.”
A feeling of deep peace and joy washed over me. It felt good, really good.
“And now?” Renee asked.
I touched the necklace and smiled. “No, no, it’s not a problem anymore.”
About the Author
Jody Klaire started writing in 2011 and although she had been writing music and lyrics for fifteen years, becoming
an author had never been something she aspired to. How
ever, the moment that she began to compose the story for her first
novel, she was hooked. Jody has been many things from
police officer to singer/songwriter and tries to use her ex
periences in life to evoke vivid pictures. She aspires for her characters to touch the hearts of the reader. She lives
with a host of furry friends: her golden retriever, several ger
bils, some sneaky house mice, and a neighbour’s cat. She loves writing, sport, music, art, and teaching herself new subjects. Jody is a proud member of GCLS, The Writer’s Workshop WordCloud, and is delighted to be a part of the Bedazzled Ink family.
The Above & Beyond Series, Book 2
BLIND TRUST
TEASER
Renee looked at Evan and signaled to him. He started to back
up the ATV. The other members of our rescue crew carried on
in the distance, digging around a car on its side. The snow under
neath us shifted and I got a warning flash.
“Stop!”
Evan did as he was told and Renee lifted her eyebrows in ques
tion.
“I’ll have to pull him from here, the whole thing is shifting.”
Renee didn’t argue but took Duke and moved him back. “Aer
on, can you pull him up?”
I nodded. I hoped it looked convincing.
“Then I’ll bring a rope out to you too,” she said.
“There’s no time.” My heart thudded, my skin clammy against the cold weather gear. I shivered and Renee frowned.
“Aeron, you don’t look to great . . . maybe—”
“I can do this. Get everyone back.” I turned to the edge. “Char
lie, I’m gonna pull you up,”
“Hurry.” His faint cry shot adrenaline through my veins. Renee met my eyes, all manner of thoughts flashing across her face.
“Hey,” I offered her a smile. “I’ll be okay . . . what’s a little snow, right?”
She hesitated.
“Nan didn’t get you saving my butt back in Oppidum to see me hurtle over a snowy edge.” I met her eyes, trying to send every bit of reassurance I could her way. “Trust me.”
“I do,” she said. It was such a strong statement that I swore it could have knocked me backwards with the force. Renee had always been kinda intense. I guessed that’s what happened when you lived the life she did, but there were times, like now, when I wondered how much of a toll it took on her.
“Good. Back up and let the snow expert do her thing,” I said, my throat feeling like it had a snowball wedged in it.
Renee did as I asked and I turned back to face the edge. An
other flash had warned me that I was sitting on the top of a huge slab of snow, which was going to give way, soon.
All I had to do was haul up a fully grown man with a tow rope and not get me or him hurt.
No problem, I thought as I gripped hold of the rope. No prob
lem at all.
