Forbidden (38 page)

“Oh. Good point. Let’s go right now,” Claire said. Erica’s face fell. “Right now? I can’t. I have to go count votes with the committee.”

“Oh, too bad,” Brian replied with mock sympathy. “I guess that means
I
get to do something fun for a change.” He turned to Claire. “May I be your chauffeur?”

Twin Palms Hospital was an immense, modern facility bustling with activity. When Brian and Claire asked about the mystery patient, they were told to sign in, given visitor’s badges, and directed up to the trauma unit on the sixth floor. Exiting the elevator, they approached the nursing station, where a woman in pink scrubs was busy doing paperwork.

“Hi,” Claire began with a smile. “We saw something on the news about an unidentified woman who was injured in a traffic accident.”

“Oh!” The nurse looked up with sudden interest. “Do you know her, honey?”

“It might be my aunt,” Claire replied, reciting the excuse she and Brian had concocted.

The nurse checked a chart. “She’s in room 643. I’ll walk you over there.”

As the nurse hurried down the corridor, Claire said, “They mentioned on the news that she can’t speak. What happened? Did she have a stroke or something?”

“No, she suffered a severe head trauma. She’s in a coma.”

A coma?
Claire thought.
Holy crap
.

“If she doesn’t wake up, they’re moving her to another facility next week.” The nurse led them into a room where a pale-haired woman was lying asleep in bed, a thin blue blanket drawn up to her chest, her arms resting outside the blanket at her sides. Claire’s pulse quickened.

It was her. Although she looked a bit more haggard than the woman in Claire’s visions, it was definitely the same softly wrinkled, beautiful face.
Helena
.

Claire nodded covertly at Brian. His eyes widened.

“Is she your aunt?” the nurse asked.

“I’m not sure,” Claire said. “I haven’t seen her since I was five years old. I think I need a minute.”

The nurse’s pager beeped. “Okay, honey. Just let me know—or if you can’t find me, you can tell any nurse on the floor.”

“Thank you.”

The nurse exited. Claire drew two chairs up next to the bed and sat down nervously. “I can’t believe I’m finally in the same room with her.”

Brian took the seat next to her, his brow furrowed. “What should I do? I’ve never seen this before.”

“Just sit there and wait.” Claire slipped the glove off her right hand, flexing her fingers. “If I start talking with someone else’s voice, don’t freak out.”

Brian gaped. “What?”

Claire didn’t feel like explaining it. She took a deep breath, then carefully picked up the woman’s hand in her own. To her surprise, almost immediately, a jolt of electricity seemed to pass from the woman’s body into hers. Suddenly, all the sounds around her ceased, as if she was inside an isolation chamber. The world around her vanished entirely.

She was no longer sitting in the hospital. In fact, she was no longer sitting. She was standing in a black void, similar to the one in which she’d met the woman before. Claire stared down at her arms and gasped. The green flames of her aura radiated from every pore of her body, flickering into the blackness.

Claire heard the patter of distant footsteps. A speck of golden light appeared on the horizon and slowly approached. Her heart pounded in anticipation. As the light drew nearer, it grew brighter and brighter, changing the blackness around her to a void of brilliant white. Claire squinted, as if she’d stepped out of a dark movie theater into blinding sunshine.

A figure came into focus, surrounded by a golden aura. It was the same woman, but she looked prettier and infinitely healthier than she did in the hospital bed. She wore the same blue dress and sparkly diamond necklace as in their previous encounters, her white-blond hair was once more stylishly coiffed, and her complexion was pink and vibrant—yet she was not smiling.

She stopped a few feet away and regarded Claire with a stern glare as their auras faded away. “You certainly took your sweet time getting here.”

thirty-two

C
laire bristled, so taken aback by the woman’s prickly expression and tone that she forgot what she’d planned to say. “I’m sorry,” she replied defensively. “But you didn’t exactly send me GPS coordinates. It took me a while to find you.”

“I thought my messages were clear,” the woman replied, the raspy edge absent from her now familiar, cultured British voice. “Perhaps you did not receive them in their entirety.”

“I guess not.”

“That may be a reflection of my injury, or your inexperience. Most likely, it’s both,” the woman said crossly. “But it’s of no matter now. At least you are here.”

Claire stared at her. She had imagined meeting a sweet older lady, not a bitchy one.

Although Claire hadn’t responded aloud, the woman’s mouth crooked into a half smile. “I’m not what you expected, am I?”

“How do you know what I expected?”

“Whether you speak or think something, my dear, I can hear it. Let us begin again.” She thrust out her hand. “I am Helena.”

Claire took her hand and shook it. “Hello. I’m sorry you’re sick.”

The woman shrugged. “The body is frail, but the mind is strong.”

“Why are you in a coma? I thought the Grigori heal faster than people.”

“We do. Some injuries take longer to heal than others. If I were a human, I would not have survived.” Helena began walking, casting a look at Claire to follow. “Come along, I need my exercise.”

Claire quickly caught up to her. Every step felt weird and awkward. All around her was blank white nothingness. With no distinction between ground and sky, she had no idea where to place her feet. “Where are we?”

“A meeting of the minds. This is the place where people go when they meditate.” The woman paused and looked at her. “If you’re uncomfortable here, feel free to change the locale. We can be anywhere you like.”

“Anywhere?”

“The only limit is your imagination. Your mind is capable of far greater things than you know. Don’t be shy. Think of someplace you enjoy, and take us there.”

Claire took a deep breath, trying to come up with a place. The first image that popped into her mind was the soccer field at school. Instantly, they were both there, walking across the wide, grassy expanse that spread out below the landscaped hillside.

“Wow,” Claire said. “That was cool.”

“Not bad for a first try.” Helena gave her a polite smile.

“Where would you have gone?” Claire returned playfully.

The woman’s hazel eyes gleamed. Suddenly, they were traversing the grounds of an expansive, beautifully landscaped estate on a perfect, sunny day. A magnificent brick manor home stood in the distance, surrounded by acres and acres of green lawns dotted with immense, leafy trees and bleating sheep. “I have a soft spot for English gardens.”

Claire laughed. As they walked on, past high green hedgerows bordered by brilliant beds of colorful flowers, Claire was finally able to ask the question that had been burning in her mind for almost a month. “Who
are
you, and why have you been contacting me?”

“Just think of me as your guardian angel, my dear.”

“My guardian? Alec never talked much about those. Is it really okay if I call you an angel?”

“I don’t object to the term myself, if it helps you understand what I am.”

“How did you even know about me? I thought Vincent was the one assigned to look for me.”

“Yes, but your abilities are so similar to mine—albeit more diluted—that I’ve been connected to your mind ever since you Awakened. My accident prevented me from contacting you through normal channels.”

“I see.” Claire sensed that the old woman was holding something back, and she still didn’t understand why Helena was helping her, but thought it best not to press the point just yet.

“My immediate concern is for your safety,” Helena went on. “Since I’ve been incapacitated, I’ve sent you messages the only way I could.”

That brought up the other worry brewing in Claire’s brain. “Am I really going to be attacked by a cougar at the Homecoming Dance tomorrow night?”

“Yes.”

Claire’s pulse quickened with fear. “How do I stop it from happening?”

“My recommendation would be: Don’t go.”

“Don’t go to the dance? But—I can’t do that.”

“Why ever not?”

All the pent-up emotions Claire had been holding back came flowing out in a rush. “Because my mom bought me this expensive dress and she’s so excited about it, and I said yes to Neil after saying no, and it’s my first dance, and there’s the whole princess thing that my friends have put
so
much time into, and—”

Helena held up her hand, motioning for Claire to stop babbling. “All right. If you’re going to act like a teenager about it—”

“I
am
a teenager!”

“Clearly.”

“What is
that
supposed to mean?”

Helena sighed. “Well, I tell you to keep your gift a secret, and you immediately tell two friends about it—and later your mother. Then—”

“But—” Claire began.

“
Then
I point you in the direction of the one person who can protect you, and you fall in puppy love with him, despite his explicit explanation that such a relationship is against the law.”

Claire’s cheeks burned. To have her whole experience with Alec reduced to the term
puppy love
was insulting. At the same time, her heart ached with fresh pain just at the mention of his name. “I won’t apologize for that. I love Alec and I always will—no matter what your laws have to say about it.”

“Well, it was very irresponsible of Alec.”

“You can’t plan who you fall in love with,” Claire insisted, rushing to Alec’s defense.

“
He
could have. You forget that to our kind, the concept of love is entirely foreign.” Helena paused in front of a large, three-tiered fountain filled with lily pads. “For more than six hundred years, I have watched humans doing the most bizarre—sometimes heinous, occasionally beautiful—things in the name of love. I still do not understand it. But Alec should have known better.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about me and Alec anymore. He’s gone now. I’m going to the dance with someone else.”

“So I saw.”

Claire sat down on the stone bench surrounding the fountain and dipped her hand into the cool water. A lump rose in her throat and she swallowed hard, struggling to hold back tears. “How far can you see into the future?”

“I can only see the crossroads which are fated to happen
next
. It is the same for you. And we can see the fate of anyone
except ourselves
.”

“Okay, so if you’re able to see my fate because you’re not me, then what should I do about the dance tomorrow night?” Claire shook her hand to dry it as they walked on. “If I don’t wear the blue dress, will I be safe? Will that keep the vision from coming true?”

“I doubt that will be enough to alter your fate. The future is a slippery thing. We are often destined to reach certain crossroads, no matter what action we take—or outfit we wear. If something
substantial
should change with regard to tomorrow evening, you will be on a new path and your destiny will change.”