Psychic Visions 08-Now You See Her... (10 page)

He deserved a
medal for this.

Now that she’d finally relaxed enough to let go and sleep, her body had a mind of its own. And had wrapped itself around Dean. Like from head to toe. He’d fallen asleep instantly, which surprised him given he didn’t trust her. Who knew who she was, and given the weird shit he’d seen…what she was?

He’d woken up a few minutes before as in he’d woken up in all ways. His body hummed with happiness and hopefulness.

It wasn’t going to happen, and if she woke up and saw him in this condition she’d book it right out of his house.

Although he couldn’t move without disturbing her, he needed to shower and shave. Only, she slept like she hadn’t slept in forever. Only he knew she’d been asleep for weeks. That it was exhausting to heal, and she’d been through more than anyone should since waking up.

What was the deal here?

His mind flipped and turned and went over all the stuff he’d learned since she’d woken up. None of it added up. That it was woo woo stuff just added to the gaps in his knowledge. He’d already checked the Internet on his phone, but there was no mention of anyone with invisible body parts. Lots of people talking about phantom pain but that wasn’t the same thing.

If she was for real and some geneticist found out then sure he could see people wanting her DNA, but really, that was as easy as a swab in her mouth, wasn’t it? Not kidnapping her. He didn’t know much about cutting edge research but he doubted the average company could get away with it. Then again, there was nothing average about this scenario.

Or her.

She moaned, and her hand slid across his chest and around his waist. He shuddered. He’d worn his boxers to bed and she’d slept in only slightly more. Oh good Lord. Her arm pulled up against his chest, stroking across his belly.

He shuddered.

He deserved two medals for this.

Trying to shift so as not to wake her, he rolled sideways. She flipped onto her back, her arms and legs spread. In his mind he could see her breasts gently rolling with the movement. He didn’t dare look. She was too damn attractive.

Longish hair, smooth clear skin and in the morning, she was soft and gentle.

Unlike the abrasive personality he’d met so far. He glanced at the time and realized it was ten o’clock. He’d not had enough sleep to make up for the lost night but enough he could function for the day. Now if only he knew what the day would bring.

He slipped out from under the covers and headed for the washroom. His cell phone buzzed as he passed his charger. He snatched it up and carried on into the washroom.

Stefan. Good.

He read the short message. Stefan hadn’t found a missing person’s report on either the deceased male or Simone. Figured. She’d likely killed him and booked it.

He stepped into shower. The water hit his sore back, making him lean over and let the heat pound away at the muscles.

He didn’t know what to do with Tia next. She was supposed to have been meeting Stefan when she was attacked. Maybe he could convince her to continue with that plan this morning. He couldn’t have let her walk out to the streets last night. She’d been ready to but he’d seen the hesitancy, maybe the fear. She might have been on the streets for years, but she’d lost that edge somewhere in between. In that time she’d gotten lax. And when forced back into the old situation, weak. That’s how her attackers had gotten to her. She might not have been able to fight off or avoid the confrontation when she’d been street smart, but now there was a layer of
I don’t want to live like this anymore
surrounding her.

He didn’t blame her. He wouldn’t want to either.

He finished his shower and managed to run his electric razor over his heavy stubble. Feeling better, he wrapped the towel around his waist and walked into his bedroom.

And damn if his bed wasn’t empty.

His heart pounding, he stopped in place. Had she been taken or just woken up in a weird place and been frightened?

The door to his bedroom was closed – just the way he’d left it. So was his window. The bedding appeared to be the way he’d left it. And…he walked closer. This could take some getting used to…she was still in bed, but from what he could see, she was completely invisible. As in the blankets on his side were pushed back as he’d left them. But on the other side the blankets raised in the air over her missing form.

So was she still sleeping?

And how come he couldn’t see her now?

He desperately wanted to ask Stefan some of these questions. He could see her head lying on the pillow and could hear her breath rising and falling in her chest. She slept.

He quickly texted several questions to Stefan.

And got dressed.

Not sure it was safe to leave her but not really having much choice, he walked downstairs to his kitchen and put on coffee. As it started to drip, his phone rang.

Stefan.

“She’s sleeping but appears to be completely invisible.” Quickly he explained what he’d seen last night in the middle of the night and the way she looked now.

“Why the hell is she able to do this?” he asked. “It makes no sense. No one can go invisible.”

“She’s not going invisible as much as her energy is taking on the look of the energy beside it. It’s a cloaking method she developed to hide. She could do it somewhat before her attack, but now it seems like she’s beyond capable.”

“I don’t know about capable because she’s not in control. In the middle of her nightmares her body was in and out of whatever state this is.”

“Interesting. She hasn’t had enough time since waking from that coma to assimilate the changes to her system. The attack was horrific but only on an energy level. So it needed time to recharge. A six week rest like that meant her system was busy doing something. Healing in some areas. It could take her a week or two to incorporate the changes and possibly months to understand how they affect her abilities. It could even take much longer for new abilities to show up.”

Dean couldn’t imagine. “You were going to help her before, can you help her now?”

“If she’ll let me.”

“Hmmm.” He didn’t know what to say to that. “Do you want to come over here? Or meet us somewhere?”

“She needs to see a doctor. Her system is shorting out.”

“There’s a doctor for this?” He’d never heard of such a thing.

“Yes. A couple. One in town. I’ll have to contact him.”

“Okay, get back to me as soon as you can.”

“Will do.”

He hung up and turned to pour a cup of coffee. And stiffened. Slowly he turned around to see an empty room. But…not an empty room.

Casually he poured a second cup and set it down on the table. “Here’s one for you, Tia.”

He felt the nervous start, the anger. “No, I don’t really see you. I hear you somewhat. I see something off from the corner of my eye. But I can’t
see
you.” He placed the coffee on the table. And faced her directly. “It’s more sensing you.”

A chair was pulled back by an invisible hand, and suddenly she sat down fully visible.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

“There, that should be easier on you.”

She shot him a dirty look and tugged the coffee toward her.

He grinned. “I gather you need caffeine to start your day.”

That earned him a second dirty look, but so far she hadn’t said a word. That worked for him. He busied himself making a large omelet for breakfast and, without asking, split it in two and delivered hers on a plate with the cutlery to go with it. “Add that to the caffeine for your stomach to have something to work with.”

“I have no caffeine,” she muttered, tugging the plate closer.

He laughed and retrieved the coffee pot. He filled both cups again then sat down across from her. She was eating like she hadn’t had a decent meal in weeks. He stopped his fork halfway to his mouth. She
hadn’t
eaten in weeks. And that would account for the wan skeletal look to her. She really did need fattening up.

They ate in silence. He wanted her to finish before he brought up Stefan and a doctor. He suspected both wouldn’t go down well.

When she was done, she pushed her plate back and tugged the coffee closer. Slouching down she sighed and closed her eyes. “Thank you, I enjoyed that.”

“You’re welcome.” He got up and retrieved the dirty dishes, rinsing then adding them to the dishwasher. “Do you need more coffee?”

No answer. He turned to find her head resting on her arms on top of the table. She was sound asleep. Again.

No wonder. She’d been through a lot and her body was on overload. Did he leave her there to sleep this off? Which could be hours yet. Or did he take her back upstairs?

Undecided he stood and watched her for a long moment.

And damn if her body parts didn’t start to flick off and on again. One minute he could see her forearms and shoulders, the next they were gone and her head appeared to be resting in mid air. Then the arms and shoulders reappeared and her head disappeared.

He jumped back. That just looked…wrong.

Thankfully her head reappeared quickly.

Shorting out, Stefan had said. Yes, that made sense. He didn’t understand it but could see that if this was electrical impulses then there was something definitely wrong. Stefan’s doctor might be the best person for her to see. He doubted she’d agree.

Just then her head reappeared and seemed to stabilize. He walked a few steps forward, thinking maybe she just needed rest, before he realized only the back of her head had reappeared.

Her face was blank.

Like a jagged line cutting off the back of her head, he could see where her face should be and the rest…was more or less, gone.

This was too much.

He reached for his phone – again.

S
he was so
tired.

Like in the old days when she’d been running forever with no end in sight. Not tiredness after a long workout knowing you’d done something good for yourself, that you’d recover and do well in an hour or two. This was long-term exhaustion that came from being in a stressful situation for way too long and knowing it didn’t matter what you did, it wasn’t going to change any time soon.

She was at the end of her rope.

Which made no sense.

She’d been sleeping for six weeks. What was the problem? Why hadn’t her system recovered? It needed to. She couldn’t keep doing this. She needed to get away. Having no strength, and all her energy going to heal her damaged system meant she couldn’t run. She was as weak as a newborn kitten.

Look at her. She’d fallen asleep at the kitchen table. Even now, lying in the same position for so long, her body hurt. Her toes ached. She’d been so hungry she’d inhaled the food and now her stomach wanted to revolt. Lord, she was a mess. Somehow though she’d landed at a place where someone appeared to not only hear her but see her – at least enough to know where she was. And he wasn’t freaked out by her fatigue and disappearing act.

Maybe that was a macho male front instead.

With her head still resting on her arms, she tried to assess the damage to her system. The shock over Simone added more stress. In the background she could hear sounds somewhere else.

Voices. A conversation.

She wanted to listen.

But the words weren’t making sense, it was like the sentences were backwards. She gave her head a shake and tried again. Now the voices stopped talking. She sat up and pushed her hair back off her face and stared bleary-eyed around her. She was alone in the kitchen. Dean’s kitchen. Reassured that she recognized the place but unnerved at the jumble of words in her head, she pushed her chair back and stood up.

Instantly the room swayed around her. Jesus. She grabbed for the edge of the table and hung on until her world stopped spinning.

What the hell was wrong with her? She stuffed the fear that something major was going on back down deep inside.

She was just tired, just needed time to rest. That was all.

Bravely she took one step. Then another. Okay, that was better. A few more and she was almost confident all was well again. The living room was through the wide doorway in front of her. She managed a couple more steps and saw the couch. She made her way over to it and collapsed down. Maybe a nap. If she could just sleep a little longer she’d be fine.

Surely…

And she closed her eyes.

And dropped back under.

*