Oracle Seeing (The Phoenix Files Book 2) (10 page)

How the hell was there so many instructions? Shouldn’t this be simple?

“Oh shit! I have to read them.”

Avalon was amused. “I think I pee in the cup, and then you dip the stick in and we wait. That’s what Maura said. I’m guessing she’s had some experience with this, or she knows someone who has.”

“Do you need help with that?” he asked.

She started laughing. “Nathaniel, I think I can handle the first part. You can do the second part. How about you start reading?”

She took the cup and stood. He stopped her from walking away.

“Then we need to talk.”

“Okay.”

She went into the bathroom and closed the door. Once there, Nate began skimming the directions. They were pretty specific, but they seemed basic. Now he knew why women handled this part of the pregnancy thing.

It was making him a nervous wreck.

Nate had to take a few deep breaths to regain his control.

He could do this.

When the door opened, he went into the bathroom and dipped the stick into the cup before replacing the cap.

“What now?” she asked.

“We wait.”

He set the timer on his watch. Together, they both sat on the bathroom floor, side by side. It seemed like a damn good time to have a conversation.

“Why didn’t you just come to me, Avi?”

“I’m scared.”

“You don’t want to be pregnant?”

She could hear the hurt in his voice. It was crystal clear. This was exactly why she didn’t go to him.

“I know you want kids, a wife, and a family, but what do I know about nurturing kids? I spent my first ten years locked in a room, the last ten in a cage for the government. What if I can’t do this because I’m not smart enough?”

This was always her fear.

What business did she have being a mother?

A wife?

Anything other than Oracle?

Nate hated that Avalon thought she wasn’t smart enough because she didn’t have an education. She was very intelligent. She just needed someone to teach her the parts she’d missed.

“I love kids, and really, they aren’t that hard to handle. The whole team is here for you, and I’m always here to help you, Avi. You’re the love of my life, and one day, you’ll be my wife.”

She didn’t seem to be buying it.

Nate knew what he needed to do.

“How long did it take you to learn to read?”

“I’m still learning.”

“You’ve got it down. How long?”

“A month.”

“So, you, a blind woman, managed to learn to read. How huge was that when I first met you? That day I read to you, and you wished you could read, you were afraid it would never happen. Look at how far you’ve come. You only had to make it a reality.”

“This is different. I can’t screw up a book. I can screw up a kid. Then there’s always the biggest what if, Nate. What if our child is cursed with this.”

“This?”

She waved her hand and meant herself.

“Your gift?”

“My burden.”

He stopped her right there. “It’s not a curse or a burden, Avalon. You just got finished telling Lucian the same thing. You were meant to be mine. This is how we connected. If we have a child who’s blind, we’ll make sure he or she learns early. If we have a psychic, we make sure we foster that gift. You weren’t fostered, and you weren’t loved. That’s why you’re scared.”

“What if I can’t love someone else?”

“Oh, honey, you’re stressing yourself out for no reason. You’re not going to fail. My money is on you each and every day. You’re amazing.”

His watch beeped.

“It’s time.”

She took a deep breath. “I’ve got this.”

He had one last thing to say.

“I believe in you, Avi. No matter what that stick says, I believe in us. One day, you’ll be my wife.”

She should have trusted Nate from the start. He was calm, and he was in control.

“Honey, you do have this. I have faith in you.” Then to make her laugh, he asked the funniest thing he could come up with at the moment. “I am the father, right.”

She laughed. “Well, it’s you or the pool boy. I can’t remember. I get you both mixed up. I am blind.”

He smiled, and then gently kissed her on the lips. “I am the pool boy, so I’ll let this slip up go.”

“If I’m pregnant, are you sending me home?”

“Not unless you want to go home.”

She relaxed.

“Okay. I’m ready.”

So was he.

       
                
* * *
  O R A C L E   * * *

Across Town

Townhouse

Sleep came fast.

It was a long day, and Sheriff Bishop Killion didn’t have to wait long to finally pass out from sheer exhaustion. It was a quick drop into the blissful arms of sleep.

Once out cold, what wasn’t blissful were the dreams.

The entire time, she could hear someone calling for her.

His voice was there.

It was in her mind.

For some reason, it was so very familiar. Bishop could swear that she’d heard it before, but where?

As she walked down the dark street in her dream, she waited for him to appear.

She waited for him to show himself.

Only he didn’t.

Instead, he kept repeating her name over and over again from somewhere in the darkness. Bishop didn’t understand what he wanted.

“Who are you?”

There was no reply.

She was losing it to the static. It always came, driving her insane.

“WHO ARE YOU?” she shouted.

She heard his reply, but it was barely a whisper in the loud static sounds of the street.

“Lucian.”

She only knew one man named Lucian, and it was odd to have this dream so many years after meeting him.

He’d vanished.

He’d told her to leave.

Bishop had given up hope.

“What do you need?” she asked, willing to help him. Like before, she’d do anything for him. All he had to do was ask.

The static was so loud that it made her grab her ears in pain. She wanted to pass out, but this was a dream.

It was her dream.

She could control it.

“What do you need from me, Lucian?”

Finally, her answer came.

“Bishop, I need you to save me.
Again
.”

       
                
* * *
  O R A C L E   * * *

Graymoor

He was lying on his bed, trying to focus. It wasn’t easy. Avalon made it seem like it was possible and within his reach. She told him how to do it, and it wasn’t working. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t manipulate the colors in his aura.

They wouldn’t cooperate.

They wouldn’t listen.

Instead of being in control, he was floating around in the static, unable to focus on the room around him.

His head was killing him.

The noise was almost unbearable. Something had to give, and he was pretty sure it was going to be him. Two killings in two days was a lot to carry on his shoulders.

It stripped him raw.

It ate away at his gut.

What he needed was some peace. He could go to Avalon’s room, begging for help, or he could take control and handle it. His life had been a runaway train, so he went with plan B. Lucian needed to handle this himself.

As he focused on the noise, he thought that he might find Avalon in there. He hoped he would.

Only he felt something different.

She felt familiar.

How did he know her?

Her energy was calming, and it was almost as peaceful as Avalon’s.

“Who are you?” he asked.

The words were barely out of his mouth when he heard the shouting. She was in pain, and it was killing him.

Again, he tried what Avalon had told him to do, dialing the noise back, playing with the colors of the aura.

It seemed to work, giving him a moment to focus on the voice in the static. Only now, she was out of range. It was hard to hear her.

“Who are you?” he asked again.

There were whispers.

He knew what he needed to do. This wouldn’t work. If he wanted to communicate with that other person, he had to let the static come, burying him in the noise.

He took a deep breath and dropped what little protection he had against it. The pain was fast, immediate, and full force. When he could feel it slamming into him, he asked one more time.

“WHO ARE YOU?”

Her reply was an equally loud shout.

“BISHOP!”

His heart skipped.

She was the last person he wanted to connect to in this mess. Just her name brought him anxiety.

Why was she connecting to him now? After all these years, why was she here, playing in his head? Why now? Her timing couldn’t be worse.

“What do you want?” he hesitantly asked.

There was static, but no reply.

“Bishop?” He used the name. “What do you want from me?”

The static intensified, and he swore he could feel a wave of energy cover him. It was like a warm blanket on a cold day. It was Bishop.

“I’m here to save you.”

Well hell!

This was an interesting turn of events, now wasn’t it? The woman he refused to think about all these years was now going to be his biggest ally in the fight for his life.

Fate sucked.

Suddenly, Lucian wanted to cry.

       
                
* * *
  O R A C L E   * * *

He read the stick.

Then he put it down.

“Well?” she asked, watching his aura change. It morphed before her eyes. Immediately, Avalon’s heart began pounding in her chest.

“We’re having a baby.”

Tears filled her eyes. Her hands went to her midsection as she marveled in what they’d done.

She and Nate had created a life.

“Are you happy?” he asked, trying to hold back his emotions until Avalon had a moment to digest what was coming. They were going to be parents.

They were going to bring a child into the world.

Talk about scary shit.

“Yes,” she said, tears spilling over. “I didn’t know I would be, but I am. I’m having your baby.”

“Can I be happy now?” he asked. “I really want to run around and do cartwheels, but I’m waiting for you to get accustomed to the idea that you’re having my child.”

The way he said it was so serious, that she couldn’t help herself. Of course, she started laughing.

“Oh, Nathaniel, we can both be happy.”

He pulled her into his arms. “You’re the mother of my child, and I’ll love you until the end of my life when the dust replaces my flesh. We created a miracle. Out of it all, Avi, we created something so amazing. We created an us.”

She was aware.

Her mouth sought his.

Together, they shared one hell of a kiss. The battle of tongues was nothing compared to the intensity of their love. This was one of the best days of both of their lives.

Then Nate pulled free.

“Marry me immediately.”

She stared blindly at him. “Nathaniel.”

“We can run off and elope tonight. By morning, you can be Mrs. Avalon Carter.”

She pushed free of his grasp and began walking toward their bed.

His heart dropped.

“Avi?”

“No, Nathaniel. I can’t.”

He didn’t understand.

She didn’t want to marry him?

Really?