Shattered: A Psychic Visions Novel (26 page)

“I’ve never told anyone before – about how I hold my energy in. It seems so minor.” She shrugged. “You guys are seriously talented.”

“That’s not easy or simple to do,” Trevor said seriously. “Your aura actually appears as if you are in a coma or dying within the next hour.”

She blinked. “Say what?”

“You heard me.” He grinned. “Stefan and Dr. Maddy were amazed when they saw you for the first time. It’s one of the reasons Stefan was so fast to get you help when you arrived bleeding and hurt at his door.”

“Sure, but he’d have seen I was fine in other ways.”

“He reacted to the low energy and poured his into your system to try and save you.”

She had to consider that. “Would I have felt his energy surge?”

“I don’t know. Did you?”

“At the time I didn’t feel much but shock,” she said candidly. “That he was someone I was supposed to have attacked. And that made no sense to me. I’m very non-confrontational.”

“You’ve never mentioned it before.” Trevor sat back and stared at her. “Stefan told me what you said though.”

“What’s to say,” she said quietly. “I don’t know any more than you. It’s yet another mystery I can’t explain.”

He nodded and continued to eat. She studied his bent head. “What are you thinking?”

“I don’t know what to think,” he said. “It’s disturbing to think you had thoughts of killing my friend in your head, but I do understand that they might not have been your thoughts.”

At that she stared down at the last bite of her sandwich in her hand, the mouthful she was working on still churning her insides. “Can people do that? Put thoughts in your head?”

“Yes, absolutely. Not easily and not often. But it happens.”

“So what, I walked past someone who thought he’d killed Stefan – and on a whim he dumps that knowledge on me?” Her voice was on a note of incredibility.

“That’s one possibility.” He picked up a strawberry and popped it into his mouth. When it was gone, he added, “It’s also possible someone could have deliberately planted that idea and sent you to Stefan’s house as a warning.” He took a deep breath. “Or you walked into someone’s grayspace and they saw you, could communicate with you. Someone who wants Stefan dead.”

“Are there people like that?” she asked in a hushed whisper.

He snorted. “Stefan helped put dozens of serial killers behind bars and has been attacked by dozens of assholes in the last year alone. So that you were seeing him and thinking you’d killed him already has implications on many levels.”

“Oh boy.” She stared at him, mouth open.

“As you can see, whatever is going on in your head is of great interest to all of us.”

“So—” and a shard of agony split through her head. She cried out and dropped her sandwich, both hands reaching up to clasp her head. “Make it stop…”

“Make what stop,” Trevor cried. Racing to her side, he clasped his hands over hers, and instantly the pain eased. She shuddered as he continued to work. Whatever he was doing was helping to ease the pressure.

“What was that all about?” he asked when the tension in her shoulders eased and she slumped in place.

“It’s Will. He’s hunting me.”

“We know that. Is this headache part of the defense mechanism?”

“Yes.”

“Interesting. Crippling you with pain, actually makes you vulnerable to whatever Will is up to.” He sat back down and studied her face.

“I’d like to know how he is tracking you. Do you know?”

“No, I’m sure you’re going to say it had something more to do with the energy blocks in my system or that he was finding a way to track me on a different dimension or something.”

“That’s definitely what he is doing. How interesting that your mother understood.”

“And yet like you said, this system cripples me more than it helps me.”

“And like
you
said, she died when you were little and likely thought she had lots of time to teach you more.”

“What did you do that the pain eased so quickly?” Hannah asked, rotating her neck. “Does it stop Will from finding me?”

“I removed the building pressure of energy in your head. It’s probably caused by conflict between the need to remove these issues and the need to keep everything in place to protect you,” he said absently. “And no, it doesn’t stop Will. I can put an energy security alarm around the house, but the large amount of energy will possibly attract him to the house, letting him know exactly where you are.”

“That would be bad,” she said in a very low voice. “I don’t know what his problem is, if he’s just joyfully doing my father’s bidding or what, but he’s never going to let up.”

“Well, he will but not on his own. We’re going to have to step in and let him know he’s got to stop or we’ll have to stop him ourselves.”

“Is that possible?”

He sighed. “Very possible. Often the only ending we see in this world. The asshole dies or his energy abilities become so burned out he is institutionalized for the rest of his life. It’s not an easy scenario for anyone.”

“No. But I wouldn’t mind either of those. I can see I don’t know if my father is involved or not, but if he is…” She shook her head. “It’s hard to imagine doing that to anyone you love. He must have loved his first family. But the second…I don’t know.”

“Give him a chance to explain. He might not have known how to deal with his own emotions after such a huge loss. That’s not easy.”

“Unless it’s a loss he wanted so he’d be free again.” She fell silent. “I don’t know what to believe.”

“Hopefully we’ll get more information soon, that will help us to figure this out.” He walked to the sink and filled it with hot soapy water. “Stay positive.”

She laughed. “Hard not to with you around.”

“Always happy to help.”

“We need do go to the bank now, don’t we?”

He nodded. “Lots of errands.” She watched that glance of his land on her, do a quick assessment then as if satisfied, he said, “I might even pick up coffee and snacks while we’re out to keep you fortified.”

“Be still my beating heart. I thought the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach, not a woman’s. Aren’t you supposed to buy diamonds for me instead?”

“Ha, you were likely raised on those, and I’m not in the diamonds with coffee category.” He grinned and as if he couldn’t help himself, he snagged her up in his soapy arms and said, “Besides, a double Dutch chocolate and walnut coffee cake will probably have the same effect.”

Her eyes widened in wonder. “There is such a thing?”

“Indeed and as soon as we get the kitchen cleaned up and a few errands run, I’ll take you there.”

That did it. She spun into action and they were out of the house in ten minutes.

*

He’d have laughed
but she was so damn serious he wanted to cry instead. He was right in that she’d had everything she needed in life but the little things like enjoying a coffee and baked treat out with friends. He was pretty damn sure she never experienced something so simple before. He walked her into the Second Home Bakery and Coffee Shop only a few blocks from his house and stopped to take a big inhale of the wonderful aroma. They roasted their own coffee here and it was delicious. Not burned tasting like so many places that tried to do the same thing.

“Oh wow,” she said, a certain reverence in her voice. He followed her gaze to the large glass display counter showing her dozens of fresh baked goods.

“See, isn’t this a great place?” He led her to a small table and chairs set off in the corner. “I’ll go order.”

She stared at the goodies and nodded.

“What would you like to eat?” he asked.

“All of it,” she said in a hopeful voice. “No, that would be too much. How about what you suggested earlier. And a latte please.”

He made his way to the order counter and stood in line. Ever since that first twinge to say they were being hunted he’d been on his guard. It was wearing. Normally he’d hole up at home or at work until the danger eased. Except instead of easing, the sensation was getting worse. He had his guards up, but to know that someone was tracking them just added to the tension.

They’d survived getting new bank cards and ordering new credit cards for her. They’d also set up a P.O. box address.

It still wouldn’t take long for anyone to track it all down, but he hoped it would take a day or two. He had meetings set up with her financial advisors for Monday, her birthday, and had managed to schedule a couple of days off at the beginning of the week so he could get this all locked down.

She was holding up, happy even. There’d been no new attacks, but even he could see her energy tight around her frame. Constantly aware. Constantly in defensive mode. Likely from sensing Will getting closer. It blew him away she could do such a thing and have no idea what that meant in terms of energy work. She was really special.

What were they going to have to do to stop her father from destroying her life again?

Stefan stepped into his mind.
You’re going to have to stop him. The father legally, and the minions
 –
likely the hard way.

Are you picking this presence up?

Yeah, there’s definitely something the hell going on? Grayscale has shifted,
Stefan said.
The energy fields all over are tweaked. We need to stop this asshole before he creates permanent damage.

But who is it?

I don’t know. I thought it was Will, but unfortunately I keep getting a female vibe, and that’s not blending with the other information.

Stefan paused and asked in a low voice,
Did you get any information on the dead wives?

Not yet. You think they are key?

Yes
, Stefan said softly.
They are key or at least they are one key…

T
revor fascinated Hannah.
She’d had ample time to study him today with all the errands and business stops. They’d arrived at his office where she’d taken a seat close to him so she could watch him. He was confident and strong, always in control. Always helping out.

From her experience, it was this last trait that made him so unique. She found herself wanting to know more. Wanting to know everything there was to know.

His office was an experience in itself. She’d been in legal offices before. Ornate, dark somber atmosphere as if heavy weighty issues were going to happen in those places and those places only. This office was bright, cheerful and airy. Lots of windows. It was on a small side street near the hospital. He had three assistants and yet he was the only lawyer.

She asked him about it.

He laughed. “As soon as I can find people who do anything even similar to what I do I’d be delighted to have them come on board. In the meantime…” He waved at the two men and one woman who were busy working, “These guys are my lifeline.”

“Any articling students among them?” she asked curiously.

His gaze assessed her seriousness. “Yes, actually Charlie here is doing just that. I gather you’ve been around lawyers a lot of your life.”

“Not much choice. They came and went through my father’s home office on a daily basis.” Too damn often as far as she was concerned. They were all the same stuffed shirt, ostentatious vehicles, and non-smiling personas.

She nodded to Charlie who happened to look up at that moment. She smiled at him. “Do you really understand all that Trevor does?”

The young man grinned. “I’m not sure anyone understands that but him.”

Trevor led her to his office and motioned at a chair for her. “I’ll try to be as fast as I can be.”

“Not an issue,” she said easily. “If you have a spare laptop, I’ll pass the time easily.”

“I can do that.” He got up and walked to the doorway to speak to Charlie. “He’ll bring a spare we have for the office in a moment.”

“Nice to have spares.”

Charlie brought her one. “Do you need a mouse?”

She shook her head. “No thanks.”

She turned it on and once it loaded, she went to her email. As expected it was full. She sighed and started to delete the bulk of them. When she’d deleted those she turned to the ones that required responses. An old school friend was asking for money for a charity fund. An old teacher contacted her about a friend of hers who was trying to raise money. She was sensing a theme here.