Chapter 10
“We figured out how other people can see my visions,” Patrick quietly informed us as Jace passed out coffees.
It was four o’clock in the morning and none of us were able to go back to sleep.
Drake and I had woken up nearly simultaneously and then quietly extricated ourselves from the others before making our way to the living room.
Moments later the door opened Anna, Patrick, Victoria, and Kade had come into the apartment.
It shouldn’t have surprised me that Victoria had accompanied Kade, but for a brief moment it had. Then I surmised that she had known what Patrick and Kade was up to for some time now. After all, she was Patrick’s best friend and Kade’s connection.
At first, I was going to suggest that they come back later, but Drake was determined to verbally hash out everything that we had seen.
It was as if seeing his mother in action the day of the death of his father had made him even more determined to uncover all of his mothers’ misdeeds.
He wasn’t typically a man bent on vengeance but something in him had been switched.
I didn’t know if his drive was a product of his desire to bring the truth to light or his desire to bring Jemmy back, but either way I could barely recognize the man I was sitting on.
“Let me get this right,” Remy’s voice came out in a thick rumble as he attempted to wake up. “You all went back in time, but not, and witnessed the death of Drake’s dad by Tracey’s hand.”
Drake barely had the coffee brewing and was in the midst of pulling out our breakfast when the others began to trickle out of the bedroom one by one. Apparently, I had been restless enough in my sleep to awaken Jace and Troy was such a light sleeper that he had heard us exiting the room.
Jace had seen the state Drake was in and saw the others and realized something big must have happened.
He immediately woke up the rest of my guys before taking over the coffee duties, while Troy had taken over the task of pulling out the breakfast pastries Megan and Miranda purchased the night before for us.
“Yes,” Anna emphatically nodded, pouring at least a quarter cup of flavored creamer into her coffee.
If I didn’t know coffee had no effect on the tiny woman, I would think her unbridled energy stemmed from her coffee and sugar consumption. Anna was rarely without coffee and some source of sugar. It was amazing her teeth hadn’t rotted out of her mouth yet.
“I don’t get it,” Troy’s fingernails made an audible rasping sound as he ran his fingertips over the stubble on his jaw. “How were all able to go into the past and witness Damon’s… murder?”
I was momentarily mesmerized by the sight.
Troy was hot clean-shaven, but I had to admit the five o’clock shadow on his fine hewn bone structure gave him an air of danger.
It was sexy and suddenly I was imagining the stubble burn I could receive if he placed his head between my legs.
I unconsciously squirmed in Drake’s lap but immediately stopped when I noticed all of my men were looking at me with varying degrees of amusement and lust.
I blinked and frowned. I was still slightly out of it and wondered why they were all looking at me. I wondered if I had voiced my thoughts aloud or if I had missed a question directed toward me. I felt my cheeks heat the longer they stared at me.
“You’re leaking,” Jace silently informed me, attempting to hide his smile.
My eyes widened in shock as I realized I had been projecting my horniness. I hadn’t realized I had been doing it. The barriers I once erected without a conscious decision was becoming increasingly difficult. Growing tiny humans seemed to have taken effect on my ability to keep my blocks raised.
I felt my face warming in embarrassment especially when I realized the teens had picked up on it as well.
Yes, they weren’t children and their hormones and testerone were running rampant.
But no, I didn’t when them to physically feel the effects of my lasciviousness. That was yuck on so many levels.
“Umm, Jace, Blake,” Anna smirked knowingly as she eyed us over her coffee.
Kade stifled a laugh while Patrick squirmed uncomfortably. Victoria huffed although I saw her attempting to hide a smile.
I scowled, pouting as I wiggled into Drake. “Silence all of you.”
Anna blew on the hot liquid of her coffee before stating. “After Kade confided in me about Patrick’s visions, I offered to help. I placed Patrick and Kade into a dream like state, then I followed them in.”
Remy, Troy, Noah, and I spoke simultaneously.
Remy skeptically asked. “You can do that?”
“Why wouldn’t they say anything to us?”
“I’m still waking up and I feel like a lot is being thrown on us. Can you tell us what happened from the beginning?”
“Wait, what? I thought you were a dream walker.”
Lincoln leaned down, kissed me on the cheek, took a seat next to Drake and handed me decaf coffee before placing a hand on my knee.
I was going for the whole placebo effect.
I was hoping to trick my mind into believing it was real coffee.
The taste was slightly off, but it appeased my cravings for the taste enough.
“When exactly did you discover you could basically hypnotize people before walking in their dreams?”
“You have a lot going on,” Anna nonchalantly shrugged. “I figured I can help the teens out with this. I found out about my gift evolving after I made my connection, and I just so happened to overhear—”
Victoria scoffed while Kade snorted. I vaguely registered their sounds of exasperation as her words sunk in.
She said when she made her connection. I looked around the room and saw I wasn’t the only one shocked to discover Anna had a connection.
She had been there a lot lately so I would have thought we would have heard something about it long before now.
Anna rolled her eyes. “Fine. I overheard Shiloh and Victoria talking about it in the locker room and I do what I do best and inserted myself into the conversation.”
Victoria and Shiloh had reservations about each other at first. Afterall, Victoria was Micah’s best friend and was slightly overprotective of him and Shiloh was attempting to fit into his life without appearing clingy or controlling.
The first couple of days they had a few bumps, but I had noticed how they became closer, and it was good for both of them.
I was happy they all seemed to get along well despite their differences and were getting closer by the day.
Victoria was more of a tomboy and enjoyed spending time with the boys.
She never quite fit in with the other teen girls at the facility.
She didn’t like the drama the other teen girls seemed to thrive on.
Shiloh was definitely more of a girly girl, but she didn’t mind getting her hands “dirty,” and seemed to shy away from the drama as well.
They had found common ground and seemed to be growing closer.
“Can we rewind, and can you tell us how you have a connection. I never even knew you were marked and who is your connection.” Lincoln seemed to remember why we were all up so early and shot Drake an apologetic look.
“Sorry. We can talk about Anna’s new circumstances after we talk about your discovery tonight. ”
Drake took a deep breath in, and I pushed more feelings of comfort on him—I was thankful he was accepting my gift. “No, it’s fine. I’m still attempting to wrap my head around it all. I’m curious about it myself. Maybe it’ll help me find some good in this effed-up night.”
Jace took a stand behind Drake and grasped one of his shoulders.
A strange tingling feeling coursed up my arm, and I suspected that it was his gift entwining with mine.
I could feel his gift assisting me helping to soothe Drake.
Anna’s bomb was a welcomed diversion, but I had to admit my heart was still hurting for my sensitive man.
He had already gone through so much in his life, his sister was MIA, and now he discovered his mother had killed his father.
Anna gave Lincoln an exasperated look. “Why else do you think I asked you about your mark when I saw it? What other reason did I have to ask you about yours, if I didn’t have one myself?
If you remember correctly, it was me that knew Blake was your connection before you were even ready to admit it. ”
She took another sip of her coffee, before reaching forward to grab one of the pastries Troy had placed on the coffee table in the middle of the seating area.
“When is she ever this evasive?” Jaxson jokingly grumbled, handing me a chocolate croissant.
Honestly, I wasn’t hungry in the least, but I knew if I didn’t eat soon, I would probably get nauseous. I took a little nibble of the flaky, delicious croissant. It was amazing, but I didn’t think I could eat more than a few bites. My anxiety was too high.
Anna’s news was surprising and generally she was the worse secret keeper ever. She tended to overshare if anything. The fact that she had been this tight-lipped was astonishing. Any other time I would be down to learning about this new drama, but I really wanted to help Drake with his discoveries.
Anna looked up slowly chewing her danish and blinking. “What?” She asked around a mouthful.
“Your connection. Who is he?” Noah balked.
“Oh,” she smiled, clearly enjoying the suspense. “Herman. Anyways, I was shamelessly spying on Shiloh and Victoria, and I heard them talking about Patrick recognizing Drake’s mom. He said he remembered having a vision about her when he first met Drake.”