Chapter 9 Sky
Sky
I woke with a start, back in my bed. King jolted awake behind me, pulling me close. “What the fuck was that?” he asked harshly in my ear, panting like we’d run a marathon.
“I don’t know.” My mind swirled with the images, the poor figure huddled on the ground, and that voice. Holy God, that voice. What was that? I’d never heard anything so cruel. And we’d bailed. We’d left that poor man.
“I…wow. I think…I think we failed, Sky.”
Gulping, I rolled over and pushed into him, burying my head in his chest, unsure what to say.
Was this my fault? After Pops had disappeared with Beau from the Witch’s Brew yesterday, Chance had hopped up and said he wanted to head back home and witness the reunion.
Gran had sighed and admitted that was probably best. I’d assumed because Lee had left, she’d wanted to, too.
But Elyse, my mentor’s lips had tightened with disapproving irritation.
They’d asked us there for a reason, and she was less than thrilled that our little meeting had been disrupted.
At the time, I’d been upset that she was upset, but not much more than that.
Now, I wondered. The god or whoever it was had used Carli’s voice for a reason, but we’d abandoned ship for the brother-sister, afterlife reunion.
“Sky?” King asked, rubbing my back. “Are you okay?”
“No.” I sniffed, fighting tears. I’d been so wrapped up in this—us—and the Dream-veil that somewhere along the way I’d stopped thinking about how the things we were doing, what Chance did on his property, how Elyse had traveled around her whole life helping spirits pass on, all of it, was really about helping those souls.
And King and I had been given abilities I didn’t even know existed to render aid to people—living, breathing, walking humans—to not be tortured in their own homes. I sucked.
“All I cared about was giving Patchy a name and having picnics in our sleep since we weren’t spending the night together and watching you learn to wield a sword. What’s wrong with me?”
“Sky,” he breathed out.
“No.” I sat up, batting back the moisture in my eyes.
“And even my cousin. I’ve let him down so much.
I was so pumped to spend time with him. To be in the same room.
Be able to see each other’s faces outside of a phone or computer screen, and still I let everything else distract me.
And he’s so confused by everyone’s behavior, and I’ve snickered about that instead of really being here for him.
“And he deserves better than that, King. His relationship with his parents is even worse than the semblance of family that I have with my parents. It sucks. I’m his family.
Me.” I thumped my chest. “But I’ve let him down.
He probably feels more alone now than he did on tour.
At least there he has his assistants, and the band, and his fans.
” I sniffed through the last of my tirade.
King rolled over and onto his knees, cradling my face in his hands and tipping my head up to meet his eyes.
I saw no anger or disappointment, only compassion and affection, which helped.
Then the strained disappointment from Elyse’s every expression today superimposed itself across his handsome face, and I lost the battle of clamping down the tears.
“Sky,” he tried again.
“And Elyse hates me,” I wailed.
Snorting, he pulled me into his arms. “Baby, listen to me. First off, Elyse could never hate you.”
“But—”
“No,” he said, cutting me off. “Elyse loves you. She treats you like another son. If she’s frustrated with you at all, it’s because she wants you to be all that you can be. She wants both you and Chance to use your gifts and thrive.”
“Are you sure?” I knew my voice didn’t just sound unsure but small, but there was nothing I could do about it.
My past with my own parents—and Ego’s—had taught me that there was no room for error or growth.
If we didn’t do things right the first time, or excel or weren’t top of the class, and the list went on and on, it meant that we were failures.
He pulled back and smiled softly down at me.
“I’m positive.” Repositioning both of us to sit up, leaning against the headboard, he held my hand in his, playing with my fingers.
“And what happened tonight. That’s on both of us.
I’ve known there had to be more to this whole thing.
But I didn’t push Gran too hard for information, either. ”
“She’s your grandmother. You were still recovering from being left out of the loop for so long.”
He huffed. “That’s true. And she said there were some things we had to see for ourselves before we’d understand, and after tonight, I get it.
But now we’ve seen. Or rather, we didn’t see, that there are other things in the Dream-veil than spooky ghosts to take care of.
Tomorrow, we’ll go to her and demand more answers. ”
My mind went back to the huddled figure in the abandoned sewage drain, and a shiver ran down my spine. “I’ve never heard anyone say such cruel things, and I grew up with my dad and uncle around.”
King cleared his throat and glanced at me. “Can you…tell me about that? You haven’t spoken a lot about—”
I shook my head. “Not tonight. I’m already feeling too raw to open up those wounds.”
He leaned in, kissed my forehead and then laid his head against the top of mine. “Okay. Fair enough, but when you’re ready to talk, I’m here to listen. I want to know everything about you, sweetheart.”
Trying to change the tone of our conversation, I teased through my sniffles, “The good, the bad, and the ugly?”
“Yes.” He gripped my hand tighter. “Especially the ugly.”
He sounded so solemn, so sincere, and my already runaway feelings for this man sped toward something more, something sweeter, something more real, and it gave me hope. Hope that we’d figure this all out—together.
We arrived at Willowhope Manor before the sun announced its presence for the day. I wanted to beat Elyse here this morning. I wanted her to know how serious I was about what she’d never gotten the chance to say yesterday.
Chance and Jetty were both early risers, so unless they’d lingered in bed this morning, there was a chance they’d already be up, and there was a definite possibility that the ghosts were already up doing their thing, but I let King go in through the front door while I walked around the side of the manor with my yoga bag in one hand and a bottle of water in the other.
We’d failed that man last night, and I’d do everything in my power to be ready the next time we faced something like that again.
Leaving my mat in the bag, I stretched out on the grass by a garden bed of lavender.
I took deep breaths, relaxing my body while visualizing melting into the ground below me, boneless and open to receive whatever my mentor had for me.
I let Mother Earth cradle me in the safety of her bosom and let go.
I let go of my disappointment in myself.
Of my fear that I’d upset Elyse forever.
Of abandoning the man last night.
Of letting Ego down.
All of it.
I let it seep out of me into the ground beneath, releasing the toxicity and absorbing the comfort rising up from the earth and into me, into my soul.
Slowly, all my whirling thoughts settled, and I smelled the freshness of the dewy blades of grass beneath me, the sweet, earthy fragrance of the flowers beside me, and the gentle caress of the sun as it bade me good morning. Anchoring me to the here and now.
The sounds of quiet movement around me roused me slowly from the peaceful place I’d found.
Starting with my feet, I wiggled my toes, then rolled my ankles.
Coming up, I wiggled my fingers, then turned my wrists this way and that, allowing my body to waken slowly.
Turning my head from side to side, I finally fluttered my eyelashes open and found Gran and Elyse sitting to either side of me.
“Hello, sweetheart,” Elyse said gently. “Sorry to intrude.”
“I was waiting for you.” Using my core, I sat up and scooted back to sit cross-legged between my favorite two women in the world and reached out and clasped each one by the hand. “I wanted to—”
“No, no, dear,” Gran said softly but sternly. “You don’t owe us any apologies. You’re learning.”
It was sweet of her to say, but she’d been less than forthcoming herself, so I was more concerned with Elyse’s opinion of my latest behavior. She’d taken time out of her day for months to guide me and teach me. I felt like I’d let her down as much as myself.
Turning my head toward her, I was met with the warm, loving smile I’d always associated with her.
The one that I’d cherished every time she’d come to visit her son once we’d become best friends.
“No apologies,” she agreed. “I’m sorry I let my frustrations get away with me.
I wasn’t annoyed at you, but for you. You have such a bright future before you, Sky. So much to offer this world.”
Humbled by her words, I rested my head on her shoulder for a moment. “Thank you.”
We had a peaceful moment of silence, basking in this new day, when it hit me that Gran was here with us this morning. And so early, too. “Gran, how are you here?”
Elyse’s laugh—full of tinkling bells and sparkles—rang out. “I woke up this morning with a knowing.”
“Knowing what?”
“I’d have been perfectly fine,” Gran grumbled.
Confused, I looked back and forth between them. “What are you two talking about?”
“Rosie had planned to order an Uber to meet us out here this morning. Luckily, the Universe showed me her plan, and I called her to sit tight, and my Mr. went over and picked her up.”
“It really wasn’t that big a deal. My sight woke me up, let me know that Sky and Chance would be here this morning, ready for more, so I wanted to be here. I don’t need a babysitter.”
Elyse and I exchanged an amused glance. “Where’s Chance?”