Meadow's Keep (The Gatekeepers Series) (18 page)

“May I?” he reached out for the papers.

She frowned but handed them to Eryk, watching as he scanned them.

“Here.
” He pointed at the paper. “She makes references to some labels my family uses. Accessories from a shop in Washington, DC.” He got up and moved next to her. “See where she recommends you might order this bag and scarf from Gromman’s. That’s in Washington. My mother always insists we buy her presents from there.”

Jasmine called Jenn. They talked for a few moments, hung up
, and Jasmine turned back to Eryk. “Jenn says for now she’ll hold that information close. Until we know exactly how she got those injuries and why she doesn’t want us calling her family, Jenn thinks the fewer people that know, the better.”

“It won’t come from me,” Eryk said.
He glanced at his watch. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m hungry.”

Jasmine laughed. “It did seem we were eating the entire time we were in Ruthorford.”

“Why don’t you give ol’ Bask a call and set up our meeting tomorrow, while I order dinner.”

She made the call and headed to her room to freshen up. Bask couldn’t understand why they hadn’t opted to stay at Abbott House. It had a staff and guest rooms always available for visitors. Jasmine knew the old man too well. He just wanted more time to delve into Eryk’s past and her newly discovered abilities.
No matter how graciously he offered…in fact, the more gracious he was, the more she suspected his motives. Bask was, if nothing else, one hundred percent Abbott House. She often wondered about his past. No one mentioned it. Except that he came from a long line of people that served the good of Ruthorford.

Jasmine
laughed when he suggested staying at the St. Regis was a waste of money. This from the man who would send a plane on a moment’s notice. Or authorize an endowment to Safe Harbor in what was probably, she wasn’t sure since she hadn’t asked, an astronomical amount. However, she did promise to be front and center no later than 10 o’clock in the morning. He emphasized they were only about twenty minutes away, depending on traffic.

When she came out of the bedroom, Eryk was talking to
a thin woman, wearing the crisp service uniform of the hotel, while she set the table. “Don’t leave, Tina,” he said and disappeared into his room.

Eryk walked back in smiling and handed the woman a small wooden case. “This is for
Brian,” he said. “It has a book and some supplies for beginners. I think he’ll enjoy it.”

“Oh, Mr. Vreeland, you shouldn’t have
,” Tina gushed.

“It’s a small thing, compared to what he’
s doing. Tell him he holds the magic within him to get better.” He put his arm around her shoulders and hugged her.

Jasmine felt a slight crackle in the air.

“Tell Brian I expect him to get well and come to my show. You call me when he can do that and I will send my plane for him and you.”

There were tears in her eyes. “All he does is talk about your visit to the hospital. He
’s doing very well. It looks like they got the tumor and he is almost done with the chemo. He’s still weak but he gets stronger every day. He’ll love this.”

Tina turned to answer the tap on the door and
direct the server with the dinner cart. With a last smile, she left and quietly closed the door behind her. Eryk escorted Jasmine to the exquisitely set table and held her chair. Once he was seated, the server showed him the wine, which he approved, and finished setting the table with silver containers and from those, he served their plates. Eryk had order a surf and turf dinner. A plump, medium rare fillet rested next to a succulent lobster tail. The server picked up a foiled potato, running it back and forth in his white-gloved hands before removing the foil, setting it on a side plate and, with a quick stab and press, it popped open to emit steam and presenting a fluffy, white interior.

“Butter
? Sour cream?”

“Yes to both, please.”

Herbed asparagus, long and thin, completed the presentation.

Hot rolls rested in a basket.

She waited until he was finished with Eryk’s plate.

“Please call when you are ready for de
ssert.”

“We will
, Carl. Thank you.”

Carl
gave a quick nod of his head and left.

“Do you know everyone?” Jasmine asked as she
dipped a piece of lobster into the drawn butter, held it as a few drop fell back into the cup, and then popped the morsel into her mouth.

He took a bite of steak, chewed
, and swallowed. “Everything okay?” he asked nodding to the food.

“Wonderful.
”

“
It’s my business to know people,” he answered her question. “Honestly, I’ve gotten to know these people over some years. Tina’s grandson has cancer. I met him when I visited the Children’s Hospital. She happened to be there that day. He was still recovering from surgery but insisted he be allowed to see the show, so they wheeled him down on a gurney. I went to up to his room later and found out how much he likes magic, so I got the kit.”

Jasmine sipped her wine a
nd watched him, purposefully bringing an image of Dorian to mind. A wave of Eryk’s black hair had fallen over a brow, in a similar way Dorian’s had a tendency to do. Eryk had more creases beside his eyes, probably a result of squinting into the sun. Although the men had very similar DNA, they were very different. She buttered a roll and handed it to him, then took one for herself. “I bet
visit
wasn’t all you did, was it?”

“What do you mean?” He took a bite
of the roll.

“
I’ll wager you gave the kid a little push of energy.” She nibbled on the bread and offered him a big grin. “Just like you did Tina when you hugged her.”

“Maybe a little one.” He held up his fingers indicating a pinch.

She raised one brow.

He widened the
space.

Jasmine leaned back, studied him
before speaking. “You can’t tell me you only treated one child.”

He swirled the wine in his glass, lost in thought. “No. I won’t tell you that. But, I’ve learned I have to be careful.”

“How so?”

“It was my first show at one of the hospitals in Atlanta, in fact. I had already figured out that I could aid. Not heal, mind you. I’d tried that on
some injured wildlife.” He pulled his sweater away from his neck. A scar, long, thin and whiter than the rest of his skin, ran from the back of his ear, down and around, disappearing under the hand that held the sweater away.

Jasmine leaned forward, her hand reaching forward t
o touch the pulse she sensed next to his scar, caught herself and clasped her wine glass instead. She took a gulp of wine and choked.

“You all right?”
he asked, yet his eyes held a smile. He’d seen the subtle movement and it had his pulse race just a shade faster.

“Fine,” she coughed.

“Anyway. When I saw all those kids, I just couldn’t help myself. I went to everyone they would let me near.”

“What happened?”

“Carl found me passed out when he came to check the room. God knows how he knew, but he ordered coffee and food. I spent that night and the next eating and resting. I couldn’t do the show the next night. It took almost a week for the headache to go away.”

He rose. “Speaking of coffee, do you want some?”

“No. I’m fine.”

Eryk poured himself a cup and returned to the table. “I’ve learned to pace myself. I still make it through the wards, but I do it in days, not hours.”

Jasmine got a faraway look, staring into her wine. When she looked back up at him, her eyes twinkled. He could feel the sudden rise in energy coming off her. “Eryk, do you ever do a one man show?”

“My shows are one man,” he defended.

“No,” she waved her hand. “I mean without props or a crew.”

“In
the children’s pods at the hospital, sometimes. Some sleight-of-hand. Why?”

“I really should discuss this with Jenn first, but
, if she okays it, do you think you might do one for the kids at Safe Harbor. I know she’d never go for the crew, but maybe a one man show?”

He leaned forward, unaware that her energy was p
ulling at him, an instant turn-on.

“
Eryk, these kids have been through so much, seen so much. They come to Safe Harbor, leaving whatever life they had behind and they are pretty cloistered for a long time. They aren’t ill. Well, most aren’t—at least not physically—”

He reached across the table and took her hand.
“I would love to do it. You work it out and I’ll come.” Energy sparked between them and he released her hand.

She didn’t seem to notice.
“Would you? It would mean so much to them. I just know it would.” She pulled out her phone, remembered they were at dinner, and set it on the table. “I’ll call her after dinner,” she tried to sound calm as she cut a piece of steak and popped it in her mouth.

Eryk sat back,
chuckling. “I love it when you get excited. Your eyes dance.”

Jasmine offered him a coy smile and tried not to rush through dinner.

****

Her swollen tongue tasted the copper
y metallic tang of her own blood as it eased across her cut lip. She couldn’t close her mouth. The last blow had misaligned her bottom jaw. A tooth moved when her tongue pressed on it. Son-of-a-bitch!

She smel
led his fetid breath as the spittle hit her face. She turned her head away, but he snapped it back with his fist.

“You’re gonna do it, bitch,” he snarled. “I know you can. If you don’t, Morgan will.”

She no longer felt the pain in her arm as he tore the rest of her sleeve off. She had ceased to feel the pain after he’d pulled her arm out of her shoulder socket. It lay dead beside her.

His body was heavy as he pummeled into her, his sweat sticky and rank.

Tiny bursts of energy tingled in her fingertips. She had it. She stopped fighting him and reached for the energy, letting it move through her body to her good hand. With every ounce of determination she possessed, she thrust the energy out from her. His weight left her body. She concentrated and tried to produce more, shooting into the dark. He was somewhere. Jasmine let the energy surge through her and explode from her in rapid bursts, along with her screams.

****

The scream cut through him like a jagged knife, tearing into his soul. Eryk shot up, tossing the sheet on the floor, and hit the door on a run. He could see flashes strobing from the space beneath her closed door. As he gripped the doorknob, another scream tore through the night and he threw the door open, only to be slammed by a bolt of energy, knocking him back.

Jasmine
twisted on the bed, one arm under her back, the other flailing, throwing balls and jagged bolts of energy in rapid succession around the room. Her black eyes were open, staring blindly at the horror from the abyss of a nightmare.

“Jasmine,” he called, trying not to yell. The fear he heard and saw made it difficult for him not to rush the bed. He blinked. She came into view
, shimmering like a lightning bolt, her whole being afire with energy.

“Shit,” he cursed and blinked while diving to the floor to avoid another bolt. The last one had burned like hell.

He crawled toward the bed like a marine breaching a moonlit beach and came up on the other side of the bed. Just as he called her name, she let out another scream. He leapt onto the bed, grabbed her and rolled onto his side, getting her off that arm.

“Jasmine…,” he called
, feeling the pulse of energy burn through him, “…it’s me, Eryk…,” he tried to push against it, only to have it charge back. “Damn.” He felt his body jerk as the energy gushed through him. He tried to take a deep breath and open his senses, accepting it instead of fighting it. Like tendrils, it slithered around his own threads of energy and grabbed hold, squeezing.

“Jasmine,” he modulated his tone
as best he could, “it’s Eryk. You’re having a dream.”

She stilled.
Another pulse went through him. He took it, letting his body adjust to her erratic rhythm, wondering how long before he lost consciousness. It felt like he was being defibrillated. Then, his heartbeat found hers and matched, beating wildly. He concentrated and slowed the beats. It seemed to take forever, concentrating while holding a wild woman, bent on destroying him. Finally, with one last jerk, her rigid body went limp against his.

He shifted, gently
easing her onto the mattress. The sweat-drenched T-shirt she wore molded every line and the boy shorts had hiked up to reveal a gorgeous hip. When his eyes moved back to her face, she was watching him.

“Welcome back, luv,” he said softly.

The fog began to clear and Jasmine stared at him, confused, waiting for understanding to unfold. Her eyes grew wide as she remembered the dream. She hadn’t had one this bad since the first week after the attack and then she hadn’t had the means to fight.