Shattered: A Psychic Visions Novel (30 page)

“It’s working, isn’t it?”

“It is, but it’s hard.”

“So make it easier. But remember your low energy could be contributing to that heavy effort sensation.”

Right. She grabbed up the bits of strength she had left and forced the treacle through the filter. She knew she was doing it the hard way but couldn’t seem to find the energy to change it. She just wanted this done. It would still leave two blocks but compared to what she’d started with, that was nothing.

She’d call this a success if she could just finish this one.

And just like that, the job was done. She collapsed back on the floor. She held up her hand, hating that her fingers were trembling and that her back and face were moist with sweat.

“That was…” and she stopped, at a loss for words.

“Exhausting? Tiring? Invigorating? Or terrifying?”

She groaned. “All of the above.”

He smiled and reached over to take her hand in his. He squeezed it reassuringly. “You did it, that’s what counts.”

“I did four of them. But the last two are going to be brutal.”

“You did do four so that’s huge. And while you sleep overnight your memories will reset.”

“Good. I hope they do it while I’m in a deep sleep,” she said in a faint voice. “I don’t want to be woken by nightmares as the hidden memories filter back in.”

“No, but you aren’t
wanting
to see so you have put up a slim barrier at the same time.”

“Of course I have. That makes so much sense. I tear down blocks and put up barriers instead.” She shook her head, dispirited.

“Except as they are your barriers, they are easy to remove. The blocks are old and other people’s work.” He hesitated but she could hear him holding back.

“What?”

“Just wondering if you had a sense of anyone behind this work?”

“No, I was too busy arguing with Jell-O and treacle.”

“Yeah, I love that of all the things you could possibly turn the blocks into, you chose food.”

She twisted slightly to look at him. “Is that a problem?”

“No, but it tells me you’re likely needing a snack again.”

“Oh good Lord.” Her stomach growled. “How come you’re never hungry?”

“You’re burning through so much energy to keep your aura snugged up tight.” He grinned and patted her thigh. “Add in the other work of blasting these blocks…”

“I need more energy. More energy means more food.”

“Well, you can pull more energy from other sources but your system, particularly this last while as you felt under attack, has chosen food as its direct source.”

“And why this last while?”

“That is something you need to ask yourself. I wondered if a block had tried to be placed and couldn’t be, but in the process may have triggered your warning.” He shrugged. “Or if it was something else.”

“It started when I hit adulthood. There was always that pressure in the back of my mind, but it wasn’t an active threat. But after I turned eighteen something shifted.”

He caught his breath back. “That’s been what, seven years? That’s a long time.”

“It wasn’t so bad in the beginning, but after that initial year I felt like I was always fighting off something.” She stared moodily at the small living room and the big glass doors leading out to the backyard. “Sometime it was fine then at others it was horrific.” She shrugged. “I thought I was just going crazy. After spending enough months in hospitals, it’s something I believed for a long time. I was also on medication for many months in there.” She dropped her head back. “Seriously set me back.”

“That’s in the past, not right now. You haven’t been on medication for months, and you are getting the help you need. More than that, you are learning to do what you need to do – for yourself. That’s huge.”

It was huge. It gave her confidence and security to know she was getting the right training. Something she couldn’t get anywhere else.

*

She’d been through
so much already, he wondered if he’d have done half as well. There were a lot of mysteries in her history, but they’d get to the end of it all soon enough. He had filed the paperwork, and Monday they’d have a clearer picture of where she stood financially and how the money was set up. Then she had decisions to make regarding her trust. And she needed to see how her will had been established – if she even had one. There was so much to do, but if they could hunker down and stay safe, they’d make it. He studied her and saw the fatigue, the lines of her face, the drooping shoulders. It wasn’t much past nine yet but she was done.

“Bedtime for you,” he said, getting to his feet. “Energy work is exhausting.”

He helped her to stand then walked around the house, locking up and turning off the lights. He grabbed up his laptop and motioned to the stairs. She was still standing in the middle of the living room where he’d left her. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“Let’s go.”

“You don’t have to go to bed just because I’m beat.”

“No,” he said cheerfully. “I don’t. But I could use the extra hours myself. I’m going to do a little work before sleeping though, but I can do that upstairs.”

Together they climbed up the stairs. In the bedroom, she headed to the bathroom and came back out a few minutes later. “We need to go shopping tomorrow.”

“We can. What do you need?”

“Something to sleep in,” she said. “I was so tired last night it didn’t matter, and I’m in no better shape now, but sleeping in my t-shirt that I’ve worn all day is not something I’d choose to do.”

He’d been sorting out the file he’d brought up with him. At her words he glanced over at her and frowned. “Not to mention you only have the one outfit.” He shook his head. “Why didn’t we grab clothes today?”

“It wasn’t on the top of the list. It still isn’t, but considering the list is likely to be very long for a long time, let’s move it closer to the top.”

“I have several clean t-shirts if you’d like to wear one of those. They’d be loose and comfy.”

She glanced down at hers and sighed. “Not to mention mine is dirty.”

“Right. Sorry, I never even thought of it.”

She shrugged. “It’s not that big a deal.”

It was a simple matter to reach for one of his clean t-shirts and hand it over. She accepted it gratefully and he realized that it did matter. And he was an idiot for not thinking of it sooner. Mentally he added it to the top of the list. “Tomorrow is Sunday but the mall is open after eleven. I suggest we see what we can find.”

“And go out for lunch while we’re at it.” She tossed him a big grin as she walked to the bathroom already stripping off her dirty t-shirt. He swallowed hard when he saw the long line of her back, the gentle curve of her ribs, and the dip of her tiny waistline.

She disappeared into the small room to get changed. Leaving him with just enough to fire up his imagination. Damn it. She was beautiful and he was alone with her, soon to be sharing the same king bed – and to make matters worse she was his wife. His mind, already happy to move in that direction, had no intention of hitting the brakes.

Hannah was back out almost instantly, her hand over her mouth, trying to cover a yawn, and he saw the heavy dark shadows under her eyes.

That cooled his ardor.

“Into bed with you.” He flipped the covers back.

She tumbled into bed beside him and he flipped the covers back over her. She rolled once to face him, punched the pillow under her head to fluff it and closed her eyes.

He watched her, seeing the layers of awareness drift off her back and her aura, seeing the tension ease as her body succumbed to the need for rest. In her case, the healing, the effort of keeping that aura snugged up tight, and the work she’d done tonight had taken its toll. Well, he couldn’t imagine how she’d been going this long. It was only nine-thirty and he wasn’t tired. Maybe that was a good thing. He was way behind on his work.

To that end he turned to his laptop and the files he’d brought upstairs. Files he’d have explained to her if she’d asked but given she hadn’t, he didn’t feel guilty poring over them. They were files on her father, Will, Hannah and yes, on Mr. Niggard, his old science teacher. Drew had sent him a lot of information on the old case. As it was considered an accident, the information wasn’t hard to get hold of. The question was, did the file he’d received hold anything that Trevor didn’t already know?

He read it through first. The fire had started in his chemistry room. Had quickly consumed the room as there were any number of flammable materials stored there. By the time the fire department had arrived, it had been too late to do anything but execute damage control for the other building. Thankfully the “building” had been a trailer on the back of the school while the school underwent renovations. It also meant the fire burned hotter, faster than if it had been in a standard wood and stone structure. No one had understood that Mr. Niggard had been in there until the fire had cooled and his body found.

That had sent shock waves around the small community. He’d been well liked and his penchant for booze tolerated as long as he didn’t drink at school and did his job. But the kids knew he kept a bottle in a locked drawer of his desk and that the occasional sips had turned to full on shots between classes.

His attempts at hiding it had been a joke. Kids always saw what teachers didn’t see. Trevor knew one was having an affair with a student while his wife was home pregnant with their third child. The girl involved had thought it was great fun. Likely it had been until the wife found out.

The girl involved had dropped out. The teacher had been fired. But Trevor didn’t think he’d faced charges, and he wasn’t sure why. He sat back and tried to remember the name of the teacher. But it eluded him. In a way he felt sorry for the man. He’d disappeared afterwards whereas the girl had laughed and talked about it like a conquest. As if she’d gone after him on purpose.

And she likely had. She’d been that kind of girl. She’d also had a boyfriend at the time who hadn’t been as impressed. But she’d just laughed it off and told him to deal with it.

But the teacher…and his wife…interesting he couldn’t remember their names. Surely it wasn’t important. But it bugged him, the names just sat in the back of his mind, refusing to come forward.

He returned to the information but although the police had done their due diligence, nothing had come of it, and as it had gone cold they’d deemed his death an accident.

He’d always wondered if it hadn’t been suicide. At least when he wasn’t looking at his fellow students and wondering if one of them had killed him.

S
he rolled over
then rolled over again, hating the sense of unease lying just beneath the surface. She’d slept heavily but only for a few minutes while Trevor was working beside her.

Damn he was sexy. In that half-light, the shadows highlighted his lean features, the square jaw, and total focus on his laptop.

Was he as unaware of her as she was aware of him? Lord, that would be seriously sad. She’d been attracted to him since their first meeting but being a mess, she was hardly going to take him over that step into an intimate relationship. With memories all screwed up, she couldn’t trust the nudges in her head. The only one she couldn’t ignore was the one that said she’d met him before. But who knew where?

Trevor was special. A knight in shining armor. Look at the way he’d stepped in to help her. Not just at the beginning when he gave her the protection of his name, but even now. She had gotten bank cards but hadn’t thought to take cash out. So far he’d paid for everything.

He obviously wasn’t broke, but she didn’t want to be beholden to him any more than she was already. Maybe she could gift him a chunk as thanks for saving her.

Somehow she figured he’d be horribly insulted if she did. Her eyes drifted closed.

Still, she couldn’t have him go to all this expense for a stranger.

She opened her eyes again. The room was dark, but he was still working on the laptop, his brow furrowed in concentration.

“You should be sleeping,” he murmured without looking at her.

“I was,” she said in a sleepy voice. “Memories are rolling through my head. I did use the name Miasha to hide from my father. Silly because I had to use my legal name to buy the shop in the first place.” She sighed. “I feel like such a failure at times.”