Out of Mind

Chapter 37

Rays of golden sunshine penetrated the Court of Angels.

The Millets, Marley and Gray Fisher and the Fortunes gathered near the fountain—all but Poppy Fortune, who had left New Orleans the night before, headed for her parents’ retreat house in California.

Ben kept Willow close to his side. “I want to get out of here,” he murmured to her.

Her immediate smile was all the response he needed.

“We’ve got one or two things to get through first,” Sykes said, smirking.

“We all know about your out-of-this-world hearing,” Willow told him. “But you do have to compete with Ben all the time, don’t you? It’s pointless because…well, it’s pointless is all.”

“Pointless,” Ben echoed, squeezing her shoulders.

The smirk on Sykes’s face didn’t waver.

“That’s enough, children,” Pascal said, but he looked pleased with himself. “This is serious. No horsing around.”

“How sure are we that Nat has those three in custody?” Gray asked.

A pause settled in. After taking time only to shower and change, most of them were exhausted, if relieved, but they knew what stretched ahead and it wasn’t pretty.

“They’re in restraints,” Pascal said finally. “Inside cells.”

“What if they morph into something else?” Gray said.

“They don’t pass through walls as far as we know,” Marley put in.

Liam and Ethan Fortune stood a little apart. They had been brought up to speed by the others, but the fresh concern over what New Orleans and its people faced was obvious. “Couldn’t they be put in tanks?” Liam said. “Where they could be watched all the time? They aren’t invincible and we’re going to know more about them.”

“They can’t help themselves,” Ben said. “They’ve set a course and it isn’t going away. They are slowly dying out. Slowly by their standards is evidently a long, long time by ours, but they aren’t ready to give up immortality.”

“Finding out the significance of those keys has to be at the top of our list,” Willow said. “Especially now we know they definitely have something to do with our missing angel.”

“If the Embran have it right,” Ben pointed out.

“I think the angel represents a real person,” Willow said, and everyone fell silent.

The stands of bamboo rustled and flipped. Winnie chomped noisily on her plastic bone—dinosaur bone as Gray called it. Mario stuck close to Willow and Ben and seemed subdued.

“It doesn’t have to represent a real person.” Marley sat down abruptly on the edge of the fountain. “Unless it’s on a tomb. There aren’t any of those around here.”

“Not that we’ve noticed,” Sykes said. “I want the connection between our story and the fate of the Embran.”

“We may not like it when we get it, but we will get it. We may have to involve people outside the families.” Pascal frowned heavily.

“We already have,” Ben reminded him. “Nat, Bucky, Blades and who knows how many more have figured out this isn’t all a concoction of the psi families. Nat told me the rumors are only getting bigger. And now we have the bunch of people Vanity and John, or Val or whoever he is, assaulted. You can’t deny the same story from nine people.”

Willow rubbed her knuckles over his back. “You should have heard Chris and Fabio. They are ready to form an army.”

“That’s not far-fetched. We’re going to need an army.” Liam Fortune narrowed his eyes and looked into the distance. “I’m hoping for one break. Let it take them a while to get organized again. The powers that be down there don’t know what’s happened up here as far as we know. The longer it takes them to send some of their monsters to find out, the better.”

“Wish they remained monsters,” Ben said. “It’s when they look like the rest of us that we’re in most danger.”

“Nat told me Vanity seems stuck in bat form now,” Willow told the rest. “And she keeps squirting some sort of fluid over herself from her back. Half of her becomes invisible but not the other half and she throws fits.”

Ben decided he’d explain the reason for that later.

The back door to the shop opened and Anthony pushed out a loaded cart. “Are you ready?” he called to Pascal.

“Absolutely. More than ready for some official business.”

“We’d better change the subject,” Marley said.

“Anthony is my confidant,” Pascal said with his nose elevated. “I trust him with anything and he understands everything. He will become very useful.”

Pascal’s trainer trundled the cart over uneven ground. “This is going to shake up the bubbly,” he remarked.

“Can we get a move on?” Ben whispered to Pascal. “I’ve got things to do.”

“Not without the necessary formalities,” Pascal told him, but he stopped himself from grinning. “After all, this is a special day, regardless of anything that may have gone before.”

Anthony poured champagne and began handing glasses around.

“None for Marley,” Willow said. She turned very red and her freckles popped out even more.

She had created a puddle of silence.

Gray sat beside Marley and kissed her until cheers went up. “You keep quiet,” he told Willow. “Miss No Talent Who Knows Everything. Seems there’s going to be a little person running around here in a few months. But we don’t want to talk about it now. This day is for Ben and Willow.”

Gray wasn’t successful in stopping the whoops, the hugs or the applause until Pascal used a fork on glass to control them all.

“Let’s hear the words,” he said when he could hear himself again. “Ben and Willow, step up and do it right. Then we can party.”

Ben took Willow’s hand and they stood in front of their family members. She wore a long, pale green linen shift and flat sandals. Her hair was still wet, and he had never seen anyone look more stunning. The stirring he felt was no surprise, nor was the current that fused their palms together and sent shocks through his body.

“I know,” Willow whispered. “We need to go.”

“Get on with it,” Pascal said, feigning resignation.

Ben’s own nod to the day was a white linen shirt Willow had said she loved. He wore it with blue jeans and sandals.

“Ben and Willow?” Pascal sounded exasperated.

“Okay, okay,” Ben said under his breath. “Willow Millet, in keeping with the instructions from your Mentor, I am the best thing that ever happened to you.”

Titters built until Pascal clanked the glass again. “That’s it,” he said. “This isn’t a joke.”

“It sure isn’t,” Ben said, feeling a smidgen of remorse for being flip. “Willow and I have loved each other for a long time. We know we are Bonded. And now we want to tell all of you that we will be together forever.”

He heard a snuffle and traced it to Marley.

“Willow, will you join me forever?”

“Yes,” she said. “I am yours and you are mine. We are Bonded.”

“And may you enjoy a long, happy life of pain,” Sykes bellowed.

Ignoring the remark, Anthony whipped the cover from a tray of hors d’oeuvres. The smells alone drew a gaggle with outstretched hands.

“Nice how they’re congratulating us,” Willow said. She stared into his eyes as if she would never look away. “But all I need is you, Ben Fortune.”

“Ditto,” he said, the color of his eyes growing darker. “Wrap your arms around me and hold on tight.”

“Why…Ben, you’re up to something.”

“You bet, love. Up, up and away.”