Intuition: The Premonition Series Page 8

  “What’s this?” I ask as I push away from the counter to investigate the garment rack. Dozens of designer dresses flow off of hangers like silken liquid works of art.

  “You have to pick one for tonight. There is a party at the lodge, champagne toast at midnight type thing. Not as exciting as fireworks on the pier, but it’ll have to do for now,” Buns says blandly.

  “When did you have time to shop for all of these, Buns?” I ask, running my fingers lightly over the assortment of gowns.

  Buns rolls her eyes at me then smiles. “I didn’t shop for them. This is a VIP perk. Concierge Services sent them over when I told them what I needed. You just have to pick one,” she says, watching me as I touch the dresses lightly.

  “You guys are rock stars,” I say under my breath, but when Zephyr laughs again I remind myself to stop doing that because they can hear me.

  I shuffle through the dresses, which are all very lovely, and when I look up I notice Reed watching me. “Do you have a favorite?” I ask, curious to see if he has an opinion.

  He seems surprised that I would ask his opinion. “What would I know about women’s fashion?” he asks me as he comes to stand next to me by the rack of gowns.

  “I don’t know, you’re male the last time I checked, so you probably at least know what you like when you see it. Do you see anything you like?” I ask again to see what he will do. His eyes scan over the dresses and there is one in particular that they rest on longer than the others. It’s silk and champagne in color with a strapless corset bodice and a long flowing skirt that would hug every curve I have all the way to the floor. “This one?” I ask, pulling it from the rack and holding it up for him to look at. His body stills as he scans it, and then he shrugs, as if he is indifferent to the dress. Something about his demeanor lets me know that he is far from indifferent to this particular dress.

  Smiling to myself I head toward the bedroom with it, calling over my shoulder, “Buns, will you help me try this on?”

  “Sure, sweetie,” Buns says, following me to my room. I change into the dress and I am amazed at my reflection in the mirror. Its effect is elegant and sophisticated, making me look older. The color of the dress is just a few shades darker than my skin so the color doesn’t conflict with the fiery tones in my hair. “I don’t think you have to try on any more dresses, sweetie. This is it,” Buns says. “But, don’t take my word for it. Go show Reed,” she says, smiling.

  I step out of the bedroom and into the main room where Zephyr and Reed are quietly talking about the logistics of security tonight at the lodge. They are near the fire and when I approach the couch, whatever Reed was about to tell Zephyr is clearly forgotten as he stares at me.

  “That is a pretty dress,” Zephyr says kindly when Reed is silent. Reed growls at Zephyr and my eyes widen as Zephyr cracks a huge smile. Turning toward Reed, he says, “I’m only stating the obvious.”

  “Do you like it?” I ask Reed, as he rises from the sofa slowly and begins to circle me like a predator casing its victim with cool precision. Feeling the tension and restraint in his movements as he circles me, I can’t help the small shiver that escapes me.

  “You look exquisite…and delicate,” Reed replies, while he approaches me from behind. The heat from his body radiates toward me as he breathes softly on my neck, “Too fragile for your own good,” he whispers.

  “Are you calling me flimsy?” I ask, and then bite my bottom lip as he runs his fingertip lightly over the top of my shoulder to the slope of my arm.

  “No, I’m telling you that you are in jeopardy,” he replies with tension in his voice as he lifts his hand from me.

  “This dress places me at risk, huh?” I ask in a teasing way. “Do Seraphim angels usually let you get away with talking to them like that, or are you just taking advantage of my generous nature?”

  “It is always a risk where Seraphim are concerned, but well worth the danger,” he replies.

  Buns sighs, saying, “Ugh, I can’t wait until you evolve, sweetie, the tension is killing me.” She pulls me away from Reed who looks unwilling to let me go. “We have a spa appointment at the lodge and we’re not missing it. I’ll look after Evie while you guys go and do whatever it is you do,” Buns says in a dismissive tone as she leads me back to the bedroom to change.

  Buns drives us up to the lodge for our spa appointment, and after being scrubbed, rubbed, plucked, waxed and exfoliated, I sit next to Buns in a big comfy chair and watch as the nail-tech applies a second coat of dark red paint to my toenails. I am suddenly curious about something when I watch the woman apply a coat of gold paint to Buns’s nails. “So, JT never had a chance, huh?” I ask, smiling at Buns.

  “Poor JT He’s so cute, but a little too breakable for me,” she says, smiling. I know exactly what she means. JT is too human for Buns. “Plus, Zee showed up and that was kind of it for me,” she says, while leaning her head against the plush seatback of her chair.

  “I knew you and Brownie liked him, but I didn’t know how much,” I say, remembering their rock star bedroom makeover and blushing a little.

  “What’s not to like, I mean he is a Power… ful guy,” Buns replies, looking at the woman painting her nails and trying to be cryptic. “And those blue eyes, have you ever seen eyes that blue?” she asks me. I shake my head, remembering the first time I saw Zephyr’s eyes. I had fled from the angels at the Delt house only to find myself alone with Zephyr at Reed’s house. Even then, I thought he was amazing looking… for a killer.

  “Aren’t you worried about him? I mean, if you guys are hanging out with me it could get… interesting if things start fallen apart,” I say, attempting to be discreet.

  Buns rolls her eyes at me and replies, “That is part of why I like him because he understands what you mean to me.”

  “What do I mean to you, Buns?” I ask.

  “You are my family, sweetie: you and Brownie. But, I guess we are going to have to expand it to make room for Russell, Zee and ugh, though I hate to admit it… Reed. He has grown on me. He is not as boring as I thought he was, but I really think it’s because you gave him an upgrade,” she says grudgingly.

  “Yes, we are family,” I say with my eyes filling up with tears.

  “It took me a very long time to find you guys. I’ve been alone for ages. I’m not giving you up without a fight. Just keep that in mind, you with the sad eyes,” she says in a motherly way. “Maybe when you get past some of this sorrow, you’ll be able to see that this is just the beginning, not the end.”

  “Have you ever had a family before, Buns?” I ask her in a taut voice, remembering that Charlie and Elise are not real people, but Buns’s imaginary family that she made up so that I wouldn’t suspect that she is an angel.

  “No,” she says. “I’ve always had a purpose and that seemed to be enough for me until recently. Brownie and I met at Crestwood and we just connected, like sisters I think, and then you came along and you were special,” she says with a wink because “special” is such an understatement. “It’s almost like I have a new purpose now.”

  Our toenails, having received a topcoat, are now being allowed to air dry as the attendants walk away to assist other clients. “Don’t you find that strange?” I ask, remembering what Reed had said to me in the car. “Reed said that you don’t seem to act like other Reapers.”

  “Reed is observant… it’s interesting that he picked up on something like that. Well, I’ve always felt like a fish out of water when I’m with other Reapers. Angels of my ilk are often enormously cheerful and never ready to mix it up. I sometimes wonder if I’m really meant to be an angel of death or if there’ll be another purpose for me,” she says wistfully, and then smiles at me. “Then I met Brownie and we were so much alike—always ready to set if off at a moments notice. I believe we were sent to protect you and so does Brownie. Maybe Brownie and I are meant to be your guardian angels when you need us. I don’t know because no one in Paradise is talking to us directly. We have not been called to
know what the plan is for you.”

  “How does that work, Buns? How do you transfer the souls to Heaven if you are not speaking with them directly?” I ask in curiosity.

  Buns reaches over and pats the top of my hand with her own. “I can’t tell you, but someday you’ll see,” she says with confidence.

  I remember all the souls that had been trapped with Russell and me at the 7-Eleven a couple months ago and I shiver. “I can wait,” I say in a low voice. “So you were alone for a long time before Brownie and I came along? What was your life like, Buns?”

  “Oh, it has always been an adventure. I feel like an explorer at times. I’m very young by the standards of most angels. I’ve only been here for a little over a millennium. Zee and Reed have been here so much longer than me…” she trails off, thinking.

  “How long do you think it’s been?” I ask, trying not to let on that I am wigging out over the fact that she is over a thousand years old.

  “I really don’t know. It’s funny, but time didn’t ever mean very much to me in Paradise, and then I got here and it took me a while to adjust to the concept of time. But, I’ve heard human scientists estimate that the Earth is approximately four and a half billion-years-old,” she replies. I think I stopped breathing then, as my eyes grow wide and I stare at her face.

  “Are you trippin’?” she asks, trying to hide her smile from me. I just nod because there are so many things about that vast amount of time that disturbs me. “Sweetie, science is not always an exact… well, science,” Buns says in a reassuring way. “They thought the Earth was flat for a while, too.”

  “So you’re saying they’re wrong?” I ask.

  “No, I’m saying they may not be right,” she smiles at me when I shake my head in frustration. “You could ask Reed how old he is. He might know,” Buns says with enthusiasm.

  The ridiculousness of that statement is enough to have me frowning at her as I ask, “When would anyone answer that question honestly? I mean, my neighbor’s mom still lies about her age any chance she gets and she is somewhere in her mid forties. I can’t imagine anyone willingly telling someone else that they are four billion-years-old.”

  “I doubt he is four billion-years-old, Evie. He lived in Paradise for a while before being sent here, so he must be much older than that,” Buns says pleasantly.

  “Buns, stop talking. I don’t want to know anymore,” I say briskly, trying to wave a piece of paper over my toes to make them dry faster.

  “Evie, now do you see just how special you are?” Buns asks as she watches me from the seat next to me. “Can you fathom all of the creatures who have inhabited the Earth along with man throughout time and you are the most extraordinary thing any of us has ever seen.”

  “What do you mean, Buns? What other creatures have lived alongside man?” I ask, honing in on the bit of information she let slip.

  “Let’s just say that some fairytales aren’t delusions,” she says, wiggling her toes to see if they are dry enough to slip on her sandals.

  “What?” I ask, shifting forward in my seat so that I can see her face better. “Which fairytales are true?” I ask in an urgent tone.

  “Pretty much all of them,” Buns says casually. “Don’t freak out, Evie. A lot of those creatures are extinct now and some found really remote places to hide.” She blows lightly on her toes to try to get the last bit to dry faster.

  “Name some that are extinct,” I respond, trying to figure out if she is teasing me, but I’m not getting that vibe from her.

  “Let’s see… gorgons I’m pretty sure are extinct now, but I’ve seen some pretty hideous women lately that could use a spa treatment,” she says, chuckling until she sees that I’m not laughing. “Okay, you are way too serious.”

  “Gorgons… like Medusa? Women who can look at you and turn a human to stone?” I ask for clarification.

  “Yes. But they were gone before I got here,” she shrugs.

  “What else?” I ask.

  “Well…we thought the Chupacabra were all gone, but I think maybe a few of them survived because there have been reports of them in Puerto Rico lately.

  “You mean the little vicious creatures that people think are aliens?” I ask, looking around to see if anyone was within hearing distance.

  “Yes. Not aliens, they’ve been around for a while,” she says with unconcern.

  “What’s not extinct?” I ask as goose bumps rise on my arms.

  “Well, you already met a drude,” Buns says, and when she glances at me and sees that I don’t understand her she adds, “A drude is a possessing demon from German folklore. In central Africa they are called the mbwiri. You call them ‘shadow men,’” she says. I shiver, remembering just how I had met one yesterday. “The Germans and Danish also speak of erlkings who are supposed to be malevolent elfish creatures who inhabit forests and carry off travelers to their deaths…can you say Fallen?” Buns asks. “Just imagine what someone a couple of hundred years ago would think if Alfred showed up in the forest with his wings exposed and attacked them. They would think they were being jumped by a fairy king with dragonfly wings,” she explains, and a violent ripple of fear courses through me. “La mojana, I think is a Columbian folklore about shapeshifting water demons… let’s just say, don’t drink the water down there.”

  “Shapeshifters!” I explode and watch as every head in the spa turns in my direction. Buns hands me a fashion magazine while she holds one up to block her face from the other patrons in the spa.

  Speaking in a low tone that only I can hear, she says, “Evie, I understand that this is difficult to comprehend, but is it really such a stretch if you think about it. You know that angels exist. If you look at some of the legends of several cultures, they all hold elements that point to our existence. Look closely and you’ll see similarities between cultural folklore and all manner of creatures that date back untold centuries.”

  “How can you say that I am the most extraordinary being if there are shapeshifters out there?” I ask, pretending to look at the magazine.

  “Evie. I can change my shape. You have seen me do it…the butterflies, remember?” Buns inquires and I am silent, remembering what she showed me yesterday. A blush stains my cheeks. I had witnessed her poof into a swarm of butterflies, but it hadn’t struck me as being “shapeshifting.” “Are you okay, sweetie?” Buns asks, seeing my reaction.

  “Let me try to explain something to you, Buns. Until recently, I believed that I was entirely human. As a human, I accepted that I was the most powerful being on the planet—with the remote exception of running into a bear, mountain lion, alligator, or shark—all easily avoidable in most situations. The only thing I really had to fear was another human,” I say.

  “Sweetie, you really should’ve had a healthy respect for weather, too, because that is what usually wipes out civilizations faster than even plagues, which by the way, are scarier than sharks,” Buns replies. When she sees the frown on my face she says, “What? I’m just saying that bacteria is not a human’s friend either.”

  “So now,” I continue on as if she hadn’t interrupted me, “I find out that there could be a giant out there who would want to ‘grind my bones to make his bread?’” I ask, quoting the old fable.

  Buns wrinkles her nose at that. “Not on my watch,” she says. “Plus, you are way faster than any giant. You are gonna be really hard to catch soon and almost impossible to contain. You’ll be able to fly, run, shapeshift, and the strength you’ll possess will rival the Powers. I would like to see a giant try to take you.”

  “So you are saying there are giants,” I reply, cringing.

  “Evie, relax—you worry too much,” Buns says, kicking back and sipping on the ice tea she had been given earlier.

  “Relax? Oh, I’m relaxed. I’ll just let you break the news to Russell and see how he takes it,” I reply tensely, and the thought of Russell sends a pang of longing through me that I wasn’t at all expecting. I miss him, I think. I forgot that I now have s
omeone who I can share all of this with because he is kind of in the same boat…he is the only being like me in the universe. I wonder how he’ll take the news that fairytales are real. Maybe he already figured it out. I wonder how he is taking it. Is he a prisoner to it or will he be carried through it… transcend it?

  A crushing wave of guilt that I have been able to keep at bay since we left Crestwood comes down like a heavy weight on me. I haven’t been looking out for Russell. I have let everyone else take care of him while I have wallowed in sadness. I suddenly feel very old again, but not wise. If the situation was reversed, I know in my heart that he would’ve done a better job taking care of me, than I have done for him.

  I can’t let go of him, that much is clear. I can still feel what it was like to kneel on the cold, hard tile floor in the 7-Eleven, beside his still body, watching his hands turn blue as his blood seeped out of him. I remember praying to God not to take him away from me. Russell is my family every bit as much as Uncle Jim was my family, but it’s different. Russell has always been my family in a way that Uncle Jim was not. I don’t love Uncle Jim any less than I love Russell; I just have a feeling that I have loved Russell longer…infinitely longer. He is my soul mate. No matter where he is in the world, there will be a piece of me that will always want to search for him.

  Buns pinches my arm. “Owa! What?” I demand as she grins next to me.

  “Sweetie, are you ready?” Buns asks.

  “Yeah. You didn’t have to pinch me,” I reply, rubbing my upper arm to ease the sting.

  “You were so far away I couldn’t get your attention. I promised Reed I would have you back this afternoon so he can go boarding with you before we have to change for tonight. He is probably pacing the cottage waiting for you,” she says, gathering up all of the products that she had bought. I had laughed at her when she had let the lady sell her wrinkle cream, but I think it’s her way of helping out the humans without getting in trouble for it. “What were you thinking about anyway?”