Designed to Love (33 page)

***

"I'm here
Cat,"
Lawrence says right before I'm about ready to
abandon my effort to connect with him. His voice sounds weak and
frail—nothing like it did a few days ago.

"Lawrence, what's
wrong?"

"It's nothing you need
to concern yourself with Cataryn. I want you completely focused on
strengthening your own energy. Now tell me everything that's
happened in the past two days,"
he demands, and I
quickly fill him in on the latest events starting with my out of
body experience with Ronan.

"
Typically, there are
only one or two people in the world who will match your vibrational
energy perfectly, and you just happened to be lucky enough to find
yours. You and Ronan are what some people refer to as soul mates,
which is just a romantic term for two people that are a perfect
vibrational match. It's the only explanation I have for how
interwoven together your energies are.
Of course, I knew
we were soul mates already—it was just nice to hear it explained in
a more scientific way
.

It isn't until I inform him of Zane's color
screening changes that there is a noticeable upbeat quality to his
voice.
"You're almost there Cataryn—you've
almost reached the highest potential,"
he says,
reminding me of a proud grandparent making a big deal over a
seemingly minor act of a child.

"Lawrence, if I'm
almost there then we're in serious trouble. He whipped me last
night—remember?"
I refresh his memory.

"Ah, yes that reminds me—I
almost forgot. There's one last way that you can use energy. It's a
coveted gift and the most easily misinterpreted, so exercise
caution where and when you choose to use it. In the same way that
you have learned to use energy to influence people, animals and
objects, you can also use it to heal the body."

"What do you mean by
misinterpreted?"
I ask.

"People will equate it
with religion and will try to idolize you as some sort of God. You
must never portray yourself as such, or lead people to this false
conclusion. It is simply using the law of energy. It's
science,"
he says firmly, leaving me with the impression
that he has disdain for anyone confusing the two.

I recall our reaction to Claire when she
healed my jaw and Ronan's gunshot wound. I can definitely see his
point.

"Now, look at the
energy around your ankle and tell me what you see,"
he
says.

It takes a minute for my eyes to pick it up,
and I am astounded when I see a blue ball of energy surrounding my
swollen ankle.

"The flow of energy is
obstructed in an area of injury or illness, so the frequency of
vibration slows way down.
Put your
hands on your injured ankle and close your eyes. Inhale and exhale
very slowly and concentrate all of your energy in your upper arm,
near your shoulder. Do you feel tingling in your
fingertips?"

"Yes."

"Now simply release that
energy and let it flow down your arm and out through your
ankle."

It takes a moment or two, but when I am
finally able to release it, the concentrated energy exiting through
my fingertips is as obvious as a flashlight in the darkness. When I
open my eyes, the dark ball of energy around my ankle is slowly
dissipating. I don't really need proof that I'm healed, but I stand
up anyway.

"It worked. Thank
you,"
I say, glancing at the clock on the nightstand. It
coincidently flashes 9:11 the moment I look at it, and I broach the
subject with Lawrence now, trying not to sound paranoid as I
describe the phenomenon of constantly seeing the number eleven.

"Consider it a whisper
from the universe. For me, it's always triple numbers and I see
them in clusters right before something major is about to happen.
It's a signal to pay attention,"
he says, relieving me
of the notion that it's a crazy person thing.

***

I hear the sound of an airplane on final
approach right before the knock on my bedroom door and my heart
catches in my throat when I look up to find Zane standing in the
doorway with a color screening of almost gray. Sucking in a deep
breath, I hold my hand out and he raises an eyebrow in
response.

"My ankle is still a little sore," I lie.
"Do you mind?"

"I could carry you if you would like," he
replies wryly. When I don't respond, he walks over and offers me
his hand.

"You're shaking," he says, when I place my
hand in his.

"I'm such a coward," I whisper, admitting
the obvious out loud. I can't even bring myself to check out his
color screening—anything less than a blue would cripple me.

"You're the most fearless woman I know," he
says softly, and I look up at him in spite of myself.

Orange with definite
flecks of yellow dispersed throughout.
I smile and grip
his hand tightly—as if my life depended on it.

***

As interesting as the outside of the
building appears, it's nothing compared to the inside. I
momentarily forget that I am on my way to a meeting with the mafia
when I walk through the front doors.

"Wow, it's so beautiful," I whisper, letting
go of his hand to investigate. Apparently Zane has a thing for
plants because the entire front space is a greenhouse filled with
varied size planter boxes that hold everything from common
household vegetables and fruit trees to exotic looking foliage,
even trees. Small paths wind around the planters and there are
plaques with neatly written descriptions attached to the side of
each. The colors and energy fields are intoxicating and I feel an
instant kick in my own energy. He couldn't have picked a better
setting to empower me with.

"I take it your ankle is better?" Zane says,
interrupting my trance. I was so engrossed in my surroundings that
I completely forgot to fake my ankle injury.

"If you wanted to hold my hand why didn't
you just ask?" he says folding his arms across his chest.

Caught off guard, I stand motionless, trying
to think of a valid response, and come up with nothing except the
truth. I'm toying with the idea of giving him an explanation based
on the transfusion of energy particles to raise the overall
vibrational rate of a person, when we are interrupted by a third
party.

"Ah, there you are Zane. Would you and Miss
McCullough care to join us?" an elderly gentleman with a British
accent says approaching us from the hallway on the other side of
the greenhouse.

Zane immediately stiffens and his energy
changes to a gray matching that of the man walking towards us.

"We will start the meeting when I say it's
time," Zane says challengingly, narrowing his eyes at him.

The older gentleman looks like he's about to
respond, but thinks better of it and instead turns to me.

"Miss McCullough, allow me to introduce
myself. I'm Zane's father Mr. Harrington. This meeting won't take
long. You'll discover very quickly that cooperation really is in
everyone's best interest," he says, glancing sideways at Zane and
offering his arm with the same formality that Zane did when I
arrived.

"It's Mrs. Callahan, but you can call me
Cat," I correct him, taking his arm, allowing him to lead me away.
It's better than nothing,
I
silently remind myself when the dull gray hue around him barely
lightens to blue. I glance over my shoulder and Zane smiles sadly
at me. I can't be a hundred percent sure, but he almost has a look
of remorse as he slowly follows us down the long corridor leading
to a large conference room.

RONAN

"The rest of us can see it so you should be
able to see it too. You need to set aside your feelings and
thoughts of Cat right now, and concentrate harder," Alisha says
impatiently, before getting up to leave. I was just as frustrated
as her at not being able to see the energy fields surrounding the
foliage that now everyone else claimed to recognize, but erasing
the images of Cat being beaten was nearly impossible. She was
expecting me to extinguish the smoldering flame inside of me by
thinking happy thoughts, and the only happy thoughts I had at this
moment was how good it would feel to get my hands around the throat
of the man responsible. I spend the next half hour staring at the
half dead Christmas tree, finally shaking my head in defeat. I am
not used to failing at anything, and when Brandon excitedly shouts,
"I moved it! Did you see that?" my mood darkens even further.

"Don't worry, it will happen," Elizabeth
whispers, putting her arm around my shoulder while the others
gather around Brandon, eager to confirm his developing telekinetic
abilities. "We're still going to have to use Claire for the
Keystone pipeline anyway," she adds in an attempt to make me feel
better. It would definitely be a victory if all the Designers had
their own mind movement power, instead of having to use Claire to
accomplish our dirty deeds.

Unlike Alisha, Elizabeth has a gift for
saying the right thing at the right time, and when she found me
writhing in agony after seeing Cat, she sat with me over an hour
counseling and reassuring me of Cat's capability of protecting
herself from the man abusing her.

"She knows what she's doing Ronan. You need
to listen and trust her. If you intervene now and they hurt her
brother or parents, she'll be devastated. She'll let you know when
she can't handle it anymore. You need to focus on developing your
skills further so that when the time comes you'll be ready to
help," she says wisely, rallying me to action.

Taking a big gulp of milk, I study her for a
moment. Not only is she beautiful, but she has such a kind, gentle
quality—it's hard to imagine Michael betraying such a woman. "Liz,
I'm sorry about Michael. For what it's worth, I didn't see it
coming at all—none of us did, except maybe Claire," I say.

She smiles sadly. "Thanks Ronan. I knew
something was a little off—I just thought Claire would speak up if
his color screening changed dramatically. It'll be nice to see
people's energies for ourselves, although it probably wouldn't have
changed what's happened to Cat. And besides, you've set the bar for
the kind of man every woman should marry. I mean, shouldn't every
girl have a guy willing to die for her?" she says softly, playfully
nudging me in the shoulder.

"Lizzy, I'm sure you've bewitched plenty of
men," I tease, and she blushes slightly.

"Let's see if everyone's ready to tackle the
pipeline. Alisha thinks there'll be fewer casualties if we do it
late tonight while everyone's sleeping," she says, changing the
subject.

***

"Well, it looks like we've just committed
our first act of terrorism," Alisha mutters, making Natalie look up
at her warily.

"Why don't we all get some rest? It'll be a
while before the story hits the news station. Come on pumpkin—you
were outstanding," she murmurs, picking up Claire, who is already
half asleep. The act of destroying the pipeline took close to an
hour of concentrated mental effort and as draining as it was for
us, I could only imagine what it did to Claire. If it weren't for
Austin's contribution, we quite possibly could have failed
altogether. At one point Claire started to wince and touch her
forehead, a sign that the wave of energy moving through her was
overwhelming, giving all of us more reason to develop our own
telekinetic powers.

"Well, there's no turning back now," Natalie
says to Austin, who just grins widely.

"It's sort of the perfect crime. No one
could ever prove it anything other than just an act of nature," he
muses. I stretch out on the floor and at some point close my eyes,
tuning out the voices of the others as they rehash and ponder the
fallout of the events. It isn't until I hear Elizabeth and Natalie
say goodnight that I mentally connect with Brandon and Austin
asking for their help.

***

"Big sister is going to kick our ass,"
Brandon chuckles, as he pre-flights his airplane. It didn't take
much to persuade him into flying me to Glasgow, Montana, especially
with an enthusiastic Austin chomping at the bit to engage in a more
daring, hands-on assignment. I was beginning to see why Natalie
worried about him.

"So do you want to land at the Glasgow
commercial airport first or head straight to the Air Force Base,"
Brandon asks as he studies his aviation maps.

"Let's do a fly-by over the Air Force Base
first and check out the surrounding landscape to see if we can get
in by foot." It was going to take a good six hours to get down
there, during which time I would be inaccessible to Cat should she
try to mentally connect with me. I hadn't completely made up my
mind what I was going to do once we arrived, but I knew one thing
for certain, sitting around the Freeman estate was out of the
question. I figured the Harrington's would be distracted with the
Keystone pipeline giving me the opportunity to sneak in and find
Cat. We are seconds away from being airborne when a large antelope
appears from the edge of the woods and casually walks onto the
runway, stopping dead center to stare into the cockpit of the
airplane. Brandon flicks his lights off and on, in attempt to scare
it off, but this seems to paralyze the animal even further.

"Hey, shoo!! Get out of here!" Brandon
shouts. When the animal doesn't budge, he shuts the engine off and
gets out of the plane waving his arms and running towards it. The
action is effective in getting the animal to move off the runway
briefly, but as soon as Brandon starts the engine again, it
reappears.