Dead Awakenings (17 page)

Tristan got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Getting up he went to his computer and Googled Orion Industries. Their Web page was at the top of the list. Tristan clicked on the link, his hand shaking.

Chapter Sixteen

Ronan and Evaine went to the top floor and emerged out through the panel under the staircase. They walked out into a white living room area with white carpet and dark wooden floors. The furniture looked antique and was highly polished.

There was a couch and table with a vase of white flowers in the middle. Two plush chairs sat opposite the couch. A Tiffany lamp stood in the corner, a beautiful tall piece of wisteria. A brick fireplace, covered in photos of the old Nate and Abbey, was flanked by two bookcases filled with old books. The room looked like something out of Better Homes and Gardens.

“Come on.” Ronan led the way. Evaine followed him down the short hallway, tiptoeing in the almost silent house.

Ronan walked to the front door and pulled it open. Evaine stepped out and breathed in deeply. She sighed and stepped out further. The night sky hung above her. The stars twinkled and sparkled like fireflies. The air was sweet and a bit salty.

A broad smile spread across Evaine’s face as she took the night into all of her senses. All of the confinement she had felt below in her cell melted away; she wanted to run, cartwheel, and dance on the green lawn.

“Hey, Evaine.” Bobby Lee came around the corner of the house, pulling her out of her reverie.

“Hey, Bobby.”

“First time topside in a few weeks, huh?” John Casey following behind.

“I think I would go bonkers if I didn’t get to come out here every day,” Bobby Lee said.

“It isn’t easy being down there all the time,” Evaine said.

“You—”

“Get used to it.” Evaine finished Ronan’s thought.

He looked at her, chagrined.

“Let us walk you to the barn.” Bobby Lee nodded toward the building.

The group headed toward the rear of the property. The side of the house had a wonderful and aromatic garden. Rows of neatly pruned vegetables were fenced off from the rest of the lawn. The freshness of the tomatoes, the sweetness of the pea pods, and the earthiness of the root vegetables made her gut clench. She could no longer have any of them.

Ronan stopped outside the barn. “Guys, why don’t you show Evaine around a bit and I’ll meet you out front.”

“Madame, your tour awaits.” John Casey made a sweeping gesture with his hand.

Evaine laughed.

Ronan met them on the side of the house where Bobby Lee and John Casey had been introducing Evaine to the six dogs in the kennel. When the group headed to the front Evaine noticed a car in the drive that hadn’t been there earlier.

“Luca must be back.” Bobby Lee peered into the darkness.

A flutter ran through Evaine. She wanted to run into the house to see him. She stopped. Memory of their last meeting slapped her with force. Who cared if he was back? She was having a good time outside with Ronan and the twins. But telling herself that and believing it were two different things.

Chapter Seventeen

Evaine stood in the kitchen staring down the hallway toward the bedrooms. The desire to speak with Luca pulled at her constantly. Finally she gave in. She spotted Cami on the way to the pool with Victor and asked her which room was Luca’s. Cami pointed and wished her luck before bouncing off.

Evaine listened at his door, her hand raised to knock. She could feel him sleeping. Her heart sank.

A door opened to her left and Karen emerged. Her eyes flicked from Evaine to Luca’s door and back. Evaine lowered her hand. Karen approached, her mouth twisted into a scowl.

“He’s sleeping.” She stopped and crossed her arms.

“I’m aware of that.” Her temper flared. She pictured flinging Karen down the hall.

“Luca doesn’t like to be disturbed when he’s sleeping. Except by close, personal friends.” Karen inspected her fingernails.

Evaine had to keep calm. She couldn’t afford to lose it again. No matter how much she wanted to gouge out Karen’s heavily mascaraed eyes.

“I’ll try to remember that.” Evaine’s mouth went dry.

“You do that.” Karen planted herself in front of Luca’s door and stared at Evaine.

Evaine swallowed her pride and the lump in her throat and walked out to the family room. Her head pounded in anger. She threw herself onto the sofa trying to calm herself. The more she tried, the more she thought of Luca. He was the one who helped her calm down. No. Not this time. This time she had to do it herself.

She took several long deep breathes and pictured someplace nice. A safe place. Laying down she meditated on the place that she felt most safe.

Thirty minutes in, she fell asleep, thinking about Luca.

* * *

Evaine drifted in a foggy dream state. Slowly, as if finding her focus, she arrived in the front room of a small apartment. It wasn’t posh, but it was comfortable with a big, squishy couch and a wooden bookcase full of books and CDs. An artist’s easel waited in the corner in a makeshift art studio. Paints, brushes, a palette, and other artist things lay scattered across a table. Water cups and sketch pads littered the floor. The smell of bacon drew her toward the breakfast nook. Giggles and a shriek of delight floated from down the hall, catching her attention. Evaine headed down a cramped hallway adjacent to the studio area.

At the end of the hall a door stood slightly ajar. She crept closer, listening to the voices coming from behind it. She peered through the crack in the door. A man with long brown hair, tied back with a leather strap, stood between the legs of a woman, perched on a dresser, as she knotted his tie. A short curly bob framed the woman’s round face. With her pretty smile and freckled nose she looked like a model for the girl next door.

The girl chatted and laughed; he tickled her on the side, trying to distract her from the tie.

Evaine stepped into the room quietly and looked around. The messy bed was strewn with discarded clothing, as if the man had tried on several different outfits before deciding on the French blue shirt and tan slacks. Three beautiful paintings hung on the walls. One was an intricate portrait of a city, done down to the smallest detail. The colors were so realistic that it was like looking out a window at the street, instead of at a painting.

A picture of a circus was equally as amazing. Done in muted tones, it looked like an antique poster from the nineteen hundreds. The three rings each had their own show going on. A third painting was a portrait of the woman sitting on the dresser.

“Babe, you’re going to be great. You’ve been working on these pieces for months. If they don’t like your work enough to give you your own show, then they don’t know what art is.” Pride and affection warmed the girl’s voice.

The man laughed nervously.

“Now, don’t sell yourself short. Don’t let them pick you apart. If they ask you to tell your inspiration for the pieces or what you were trying to do with them, be honest. Your art comes from your heart, Luca, and no one can judge that.”

Suddenly Evaine didn’t want to be there anymore. A gnawing in her stomach told her she should leave. She reached for the door that she had come through and felt the knob. It was stuck. Not wanting them to see her, she backed into the corner of the room.

“Mya, what would I ever do without you? No one has ever believed in me the way that you do.” Leaning forward Luca kissed her full on the mouth. Mya responded, throwing her arms around his neck. The kissing became more intense, and Evaine had to avert her eyes. Jealousy bubbled inside of her. She swallowed to keep down a scream that had begun to grow in her throat. The girl’s legs wrapped around Luca’s waist and he carried her to the bed. He laid her down and kissed her over and over, the same way he had with Evaine.

Evaine’s breathing became more rapid. Her eyes darted around the room. There had to be a way for her to get out. She wracked her brain, trying to find a thread that would pull her back to her own mind. She couldn’t bear to watch anymore. Standing slowly she tried not to make any noise. She felt for the handle behind her. Twisting the knob over and over she willed it to open. To her relief it clicked open. She eased out the door, her eyes still on Luca and the girl on the bed. His nice shirt was getting wrinkled. So much for the business meeting.

Then, as if he could hear her thoughts, Luca’s head snapped up. Evaine froze. He looked at her like he couldn’t place her. His tan face and long brown hair, with eyes like milk chocolate; he had truly been handsome when he was human. He was up in a flash. The woman dissolved and disappeared.

“Evaine.” His image changed. He became the new Luca with his long white hair and ice blue eyes.

She shook her head. He stepped closer.

“Evaine, wait.”

She bolted down the hallway into the front room. His heavy footsteps sounded right behind her. Looking for a way out she saw a front door. Throwing it wide she stepped out into midair; there was nothing there. She fell like Alice down the rabbit hole.

Evaine shook awake. She was in the family room and Judge Judy was telling someone to put their listening ears on. Luca called her name from his room. She didn’t want to see him, not now. Bolting into the study she heard his door slam open. She stormed down the hallways and headed toward her cell. She ran past Curtis, who stared at her through the glass with his hand pressed against it. She rushed into her room and closed the door. He would be there any minute. Being in his head again, not knowing the why or how of it was confusing enough; but all of his talk about never having felt something so special before—it had been a lie. A lie that she had dared to believe.

Her vision sharpened and she could hear his footsteps pounding down the hallway. He was thirty feet away. She backed away. Twenty feet. She didn’t want to see him. Then he was there at the glass. His hair down and wild. He wore only black pajama bottoms, his feet bare, his muscular chest pounded, sucking in deep breaths. He tried the door; it didn’t open. Punching in the code he looked up into the security camera and pulled on it again, but nothing happened. Evaine crouched down on the floor and pressed herself into the wall. His fiery gazed turned to her. She knew they mimicked her own.

“Open the door.” He pulled on the handle.

As if he had pulled on her physically, she felt a jerk.

He pounded on the door and yelled her name. Had it all been a ploy? A way for him to try to control her too powerful ability? Was everything a lie?

Luca ran his hands over his face and then put his palms on the glass as if trying to reach her.

“Evaine.”

She threw her hands over her ears; she didn’t want him in her head. She tried to push him out, but it didn’t work. She could feel his anger at being shut out.

“Evaine, I cannot control what I dream anymore than you can. I know you’re confused by what you saw.”

She pressed her fingers against her temples. “Get out!” Again she pushed at him with her mind, and this time she felt him leave. First he looked confused. Their eyes locked, and she could tell that he was trying to speak to her, but he was unable to get back in. He pounded on the door with his fist, and she knew he’d figured it out.

His fury blasted her in the face as he howled in rage. Slowly she lowered her hands from her ears. She stared at him blankly and watched as he tried to connect with her.

Finally, he sat on the floor outside of her door, defeated. Her eyes continued to burn with rage long after his rage had died. Aron and Nate appeared. Nate tried the handle, and she felt a small mental tug. Ten minutes had passed while she held the door shut and blocked out Luca, and she’d begun to fatigue.

Luca stood again, as if he could feel her tiring. Aron stepped forward and looked at her then said something to Nate and Luca.

The door had become heavy for Evaine, like Atlas holding the world. One of her hands fell from off her bent knees and hit the floor. Painstakingly she picked it up and set it on her knee. Aron said something, and then he and Nate turned and left. Luca stood again, ever vigilant. He tried the doorknob. It went halfway down before she was able to snap it up. He pulled his hand away, waiting, his face a blank mask. Her legs fell flat on the floor uncontrollably, too heavy to hold up any longer.

Another five minutes passed and Luca stood, never moving, except to try the door. Her vision dulled first, then her hearing. Finally she could barely hold her head up anymore. It felt like carrying a cannon ball on top of her slender neck. Laying it against the wall she momentarily closed her eyes. She’d only let go for a second, but in that instant the door swung open and Luca slid inside. Slamming it shut behind him, she nearly took off a couple of his fingers. Behind him, Nate and Aron rushed to the door and tried the handle. Luca looked back at them and connected with Nate. Nate nodded his head and the two men left again. Luca turned to her. He didn’t speak, just stood there in his relaxed stance that she found so aggravating.

She no longer felt the need to keep the door closed; she was sure Nate and Aron had left for good this time. Concentrating her powers now on keeping Luca away from her, she could feel him physically in her room. The space around him bent to her will as she pressed on his skin to keep him at bay. Her temples throbbed. Finally he took a step closer and she held up her hand. She pushed hard, but he wouldn’t budge. He shoved against her mental block, but he could get no closer. Minutes passed and her hand began to shake from the strain of the impasse. He tested her and got a step closer. She tried to push him, but couldn’t; her head pounded all over.

He spoke softly. “You need to stop now or you are going to seize again.”

She knew she needed to stop. Her head told her she needed to stop, but her heart wouldn’t give up. Somehow this had gone beyond the dream now. This had become a battle of wills, and she needed him to see that she was stronger.