Either way, we were going to the Visionary’s library to do some research, and then my family was leaving.
To say they were happy about any of it was a flat-out lie. They said wasting any time on the Watsons was just that, a waste, and my time was better spent elsewhere. When I informed them of the experiments they were performing on humans to give them powers, in turn to try to give themselves powers again, they said humans weren’t our concern.
For someone who used to be a human and was tortured by that same family, I was insulted greatly by their lack of compassion. I mean, they had not even an ounce of it. But to not give any concern to the fact that the Watson family was playing a game of trying to get their powers back and the council didn’t care? Something had to give.
Caleb followed with silent, stoic steps as we ascended the Visionary’s steps to her library. Ashlyn was kept the princess in the tower and the captive, all in one, in this library. I wrapped my arms around myself as I let my eyes search her scrawling on the walls. When I looked back at Caleb, he was watching me carefully. “You okay, baby?”
I nodded. “This could have been me…so easily.”
He gulped painfully. “I would have never let them do this to you.”
“I know that. But there was no one there to save her. And now, there’s no one there to save those people from the Watsons. No one but us. That has to be a reason I got the vision. Maybe…maybe they’re going to expose us to a ton of humans or something.” I ran my finger along the words on the bricks. “I don’t know the whys; I just know that we have to do this.”
He engulfed me from behind, his arms around me, his face next to mine on my shoulder. “I’m always with you, whatever you choose to do.” He leaned in. “You’re the boss, remember?” he said into my ear.
I started to relax, lean into him, when he stiffened.
“What in holy hell is that?” he whispered and let me go gently to move forward, his eyes glued to something on the wall. I saw in his mind the word “Ava” was what he was fixated on. But how was that possible?
“Caleb?” I asked, my voice quivered in the air between us.
He looked back at me and held out his hand. “Come here.” I took it and he pulled me in front of him. “Baby…look.”
There, in the midst of all that gibberish was an infinity symbol made of names. Maggie, Caleb, Kyle, Lynne, Bish, Jen, Haddock, Heather. And then in the middle of all those names was Ava's, her name practically touching another name I’d never heard and didn’t know anyone by that name—Seth.
Who’s Seth?
I looked up at Caleb over my shoulder. I don’t know. But why are our names on this wall, Caleb? Ashlyn didn’t know us. Why is our daughter’s name in the middle of these names like that?
He pulled my wrist up, running his thumb over my infinity mark on my tattoo. “I knew it had to mean something.”
“Maggie,” we heard behind us and we both turned to find Ashlyn. I gasped, unable to stop it. “Maggie,” she said again and shook her head in a way that showed her distress. “Oh, Maggie. I’m trying to warn you, but you’re not listening.”
“I’m listening,” I promised her. Now that I knew Ava had something to do with this, there wasn’t a Virtuoso member or rule or law that was going to stand in my way of getting to that Watson compound if that was what I was supposed to do. “Please, Ashlyn.”I went and stood right in front of her ethereal form. She still scratched and rubbed at her arms, just like she had in the visions I used to have of her, back when I first came to stay here as the Visionary before Caleb and I were even married. She looked up at me and then at the wall. She walked to it and pressed her ridged fingers to the middle where Ava's name was and said, "Danger. Danger, Visionary."
Caleb was freaking out, but afraid to speak—afraid to scare her away, so he let me do all the talking.
"What danger? With my daughter? With Ava?"
"You can't see it," she murmured and shook her head harder. She took her nails and slammed them to the wall, digging them deep, and scraped them across the names, Ava's name was almost completely gone. Caleb pulled me back as I gasped. Ashlyn swung around to look at us once more. "Visionary, you know what you saw, you know what has to be done. There's danger. Go, now!"
She disappeared into a wisp of smoke, but the scratch over our daughter's name remained.
"Oh, God. Ava, no," Caleb growled behind me as he took my hand and tugged me to follow him.
We ran. We didn't stop again until we were standing in the doorway of Gran's room, looking at our son and daughter as they played Scrabble with her on the floor. Caleb scooped Ava up and kissed her forehead, murmuring that it was all right. But Ava hadn't known anything was wrong in the first place.
"Daddy, you're squeezing me," she complained.
"I'm sorry, baby girl." He sighed and looked at me over her shoulder, taking my hand and pulling me to him. "Come on, guys. Get your things together. Gran, you, too. Let's get everyone packed up. We're going home."
"I thought-"
"Gran," he begged in a whisper and she knew right then that something was really wrong. "Please."
"All right. Come on, Rodney."
"No, please," I said and picked him up. I hugged him to me and tried my best not to cry. "I just need him with me, okay?"
Her mouth fell open. "Oh, my... Lord, what happened today? Somebody better start talking."
"We will, Gran," Caleb told her and put his arm around my shoulder, kissing my temple, "but first, I want to get on that plane and get my family away from here. We have important things to do."
Two hours later, everyone was on a plane and headed home. As soon as we got to Peter’s house, we sat everyone down, the whole Jacobson clan, for an emergency meeting. Caleb took the cog wheel from his pocket, placed it on the table to let them know this was official. He told them everything that was going on—the visions, Ashlyn, what we'd seen and heard and suspected about Ava being in danger and somehow, someway, that it was connected to something the Watsons were doing. They were still conducting experiments on humans and we were told, in no exact words, to do something about that. And that the council wasn’t doing anything about any of it.
It was customary for the men to do most of the missions and work in the clan, but when it came to war, all bets were off, Caleb had explained to me once. Their family hadn’t had the women fight in a battle in a very long time. Everyone was needed—all hands on deck. They were on board and out the door toward the Watson compound before Caleb could even work up a good angry sweat from his rally-the-troops speech. Gran and a few others stayed with the children, but the majority were going, with the intention of battle.
I changed into some jeans and boots upstairs before we left. Caleb came in and leaned in the doorframe. I couldn't read his mind. He was blocking me, so I assumed he was about to ask me to stay home or stay in the car even. I opened my mouth to argue, but he crossed his arms and sighed before saying firmly, "Stay with me, right by my side. You got me?"
I smiled. "You're not forbidding me to go?"
"Would it work?"
"No," I answered sadly.
He pushed away from the doorframe and came to me, kneeling down and putting my foot on his thigh to finish tying my boot. "Remember the vision you had of us fighting side by side together?" I nodded. He gulped and pulled my laces tight before kneeling up and pushing my knees apart. "So, no, I won't forbid you to go. But please, Maggie, let me protect you. Stay with me, stay connected to me, and listen to me. If I ask you to run or move, don't think. Just do it. I'm keeping you safe, not ordering you around."
I pushed my fingers through his hair, one hand and then the other, as I rubbed his head and tugged gently on his hair. He closed his eyes and leaned in, letting his arms circle my waist as he pressed his cheek to my chest.
"I know you need to keep me safe," I told him, my lips in his hair. "I want you to. We're a team. I can't do this at all if you can't be right there with me. You’re the key, remember?"
He sighed and lifted his head. His hands gripped my legs and he tugged me to the edge of the bed to be flush against him. His blue eyes were so heavy and weighed down with everything that was on his mind. I rubbed my thumb over where his dimple should be. It seemed like forever since I’d seen it and it may be an eternity before I would see it again, if this kept up.
“Hey.” He lifted my chin, a ghost of a smile there on his sad lips that he was pushing so hard, just for my benefit. “I have a lot to be happy about. They aren’t taking anything away from me today. Do you hear me?” I smiled. “Mrs. Jacobson?” he prompted.
I fingered his dimple again. “Yes, Champion. I hear you.”
He took my mouth in a painful plea to stay safe above all else. It was hungry and aching and rough, while still being my sweet Caleb that worried. He cupped my neck and dragged me against him, his lips taking mine one at a time, even as he moved his hands to press and caress my back under my shirt to soothe me, fill me with his calm and touch as much as he could before we had to do this and be on our own for this fight.
Then he stood with me in his arms and took one long last pull from my mouth before pulling back. “I could stay here all day, but—”