Then Jen broke out the flat iron and blow dryer while Maria started painting a thin veil of clear finish on my nails. I gave up. I laid the dress across my lap and sat on the bench at the vanity. I closed my eyes and let me make me beautiful.
~~~
Maria held my hand as we walked the long corridor. Rodney was on my other side. He was surprised when he knocked on my door to find a cackling bunch of women, instead of just one. We all walked together and my stomach growled at the spread that I saw when we reached the ball room door. I waited and didn't go in yet. Who cooked all of this?
"Do they hire someone, humans I mean, to come here and cook and things like that?"
"Nope," Rodney answered and tipped his head to indicate a group of people off to the side. "We take turns serving. Everybody has a job at least one day for the week that we're here."
"Soon is the Jacobson's kitchen day," Rachel said. "My favorite day of the reunification, if you ask me." I laughed. She kissed my cheek. "Be strong today, honey. Everything is for a reason." I nodded.
Jen gave me a sympathetic look. "I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes, that's for sure." I nodded again as she hugged me.
I whispered, "I talked to my dad last night." She stiffened. "Bish is doing some job interviews in Tennessee."
"He deserves something good. I hope it…works out for him."
I leaned back to see her face. She looked on the verge of hysteria. I realized what I'd done. I'd noticed it before. Even though they hadn't imprinted yet, their bodies knew it was inevitable. Their imprints were reaching for each other. She was in withdrawal and she didn't even know it. As much as she wanted to just pretend that she wasn't in love with my brother and could be normal, I knew that wasn't true. This thing would drive them both mad at some point. I had to find a way to stop the vision. Had to.
She seemed to understand some of my revelation because she pulled away and licked her lips nervously. She took Maria's hand and turned back to me. "Be careful today. Donald is very…cunning, like the rest of his family."
"Thanks."
"Wait here for Caleb," Rachel said before turning to go. "You're supposed to be in withdrawal, remember?"
I nodded and clung to the wall with my back. Rodney stayed, as I figured he would. I tried to imagine what my day was going to be like. I had promised myself to not be a rabbit, but a sheep. I could be meek and soft, but butt heads if I needed to. The first thing I did was open up my mind. No more cowering in the corners of my own thoughts.
I needed to know what my enemies had up their sleeve, and I needed to know what my allies thought about it all. As soon as the door of my mind swung open, Rodney's thought hit me.
Whew. You can do this. She needs you. Caleb is going to a cell today, no doubt about that, and they'll drag it out and make it painful because they're a bunch of sadistic jerks. But you have to keep her calm, keep her from blowing the place up. Caleb said she was powerful. She might hurt herself without meaning to. She might bring the mountain down on us…
"Rodney," I said softly.
"Yeah?"
"Please stop." I looked at him closely, but with a smile. The last thing I needed right now was my guard to be scared of me. "I won't bring the mountain down."
His jaw dropped, but then he looked sheepish. "Crap, I forgot about that."
"Sorry, I wasn't trying to eavesdrop. I just…I kept myself closed off yesterday and I regret it now. I have to keep my mind open, so I know what's going on. So I know what certain people have planned."
"Sorry. I wasn't trying to say you were out of control or something."
"No, it's ok. I do get out of control easily, and usually Caleb's touch is the only thing to bring me back down." I smiled. "So this should be fun, huh?"
He smiled, but stopped. "I just want you to understand something. They will play their games, they'll eat and drink and act like everything is fine. Then they'll spring it on you. Caleb will go to a cell today," he said with surety. "They obey the law to the T and even if they seem like they've forgotten it, they haven't."
"I'm prepared now. I've thought long and hard about it. I have a plan."
"Really? Does it include busting council heads? Because I could get in on that action," he grinned.
I chewed my lip. "Well my plan is to go with my gut. I guess it's not really a plan at all, but I've got to start being this Visionary and I think a good first action would be to spring my husband from jail." I shrugged.
"Husband," he said softly and chuckled under his breath. I hadn't even realized I'd used that word. I smiled. "I'm really happy for Caleb. He deserved to imprint."
"So do you," I said. He shrugged, non-committal. I peeked around the doorframe to look into the room and he stopped me with an arm. His skin hit mine, and I had the first vision I'd had since we got there.
Eight
I gasped, as it always took my breath away, and held onto him so we wouldn't fall over. All we saw were feet; bare feet. They were swaying, dancing. Several sets. I looked puzzled at it. Usually the visions were pretty clear as to what was going on, but this one was strange.
Just as I came out of the vision I felt Caleb at my back. He sighed into the back of my neck and said, "It's a wedding." He 'borrowed' my ability and had seen everything we'd seen."What?" Rodney wheezed. "What was that? A wedding…"
"Your wedding," Caleb clarified and wrapped his arms around me. "The vision she had was with you, which meant it was about you. That was your wedding, man."
Rodney's face took on an enraptured look. His mouth opened and closed several times before he finally said something. "My wedding."
I nodded. He gulped. He looked at me and spoke desperately. "Tell me it's real. The visions you have, they come true, right?"
"They have so far, unless I stop them."
"So you're saying that I'm going to imprint? Because I'd never get married without being imprinted," he said hurriedly.
"Then I'd say I guess you're going to imprint." He jerked me from Caleb into a hug and I 'oomphed' against his chest.
"Dude," Caleb complained, but laughed. "Easy with the cargo."
"Oh," Rodney said and released me gently. "I'm sorry, please forgive me. I just-"
"I get it," I said and laughed. "It's fine."
"Really?" Rodney said once more. "Like, really? I'm going to find her?"
"Really."
"Maggie, I can't tell you what I…" he tried, but had to stop. I kissed his cheek and felt a slight burn and tingle when I did; my imprint scolding me for being so brazen. "Thank you. When I find her, I'll never be able to thank you enough."
"No thanks needed. You'll be helping me plenty today anyway, I'm sure," I said, suddenly remembering the gloom of the day.
"I'll let you two have a minute," Rodney said, still dazed as he walked into the room.
Caleb turned me to him, took my face gently and kissed me. It was just a kiss. It wasn't a goodbye, I understood that. He leaned back and smiled. "Mom and Gran did good."
"You knew they were coming to primp me?"
"Dad told me." He nodded his head to behind him. Peter was there and had been there the whole time, through the vision and all, because he had a similar enraptured look on his face.
He came forward and kissed the top of my head. "My son is always right. You are amazing."
I blushed and pushed my hair behind my ear. "It's the Visionary, not me."
"It's you, not the Visionary," he corrected. "The Visionary isn't some alive re-incarnated being as the council likes to think." He held his chin between his thumb and fingers and thought, looking off into nothing. "I've always known it would be someone incredible, if it ever happened. I had always been on the fence about whether it was a fairytale or not myself. But you're real, you're humble, you're in control. The Visionary is just an add-on to you, Maggie. No matter how out of control you feel sometimes, you are in complete control. It's your decisions that will define my people from now, and the Visionary part of you is just a tool to do that."
I nodded and straightened. "I'm done being scared of this thing. I won't disappoint you."
"Not in a million years," he said and clapped Caleb's shoulder before waving his arm to the door. "Shall we?"
"Yes, but first," I turned to Caleb, "don't be mad at me later. I know what they are going to do, but I know what I have to do, too. And I'm not going down without a fight."
He smiled a devilishly sexy smirk. "This ought to be good."
"Let's hope I don't explode Donald's head," I mumbled as we made our way.
"Oh, I don't know," Peter mused. "That sounds pretty entertaining."
Caleb and I laughed as he took me to the buffet and I almost lost my step. A spread as long as my hallway at home…and it was half filled with honey buns.
"Who told them?"
"Oh, I'm sure they have their ways," he said and chuckled as he loaded up his plate. I took a deep breath and tried to be normal, not focused on anything in particular, but not shut off to anything either.
Ah! She's eating the honey buns! Yay! I hope she likes them!
What is she wearing? She's a walking fashion ad from last season!
I turned at that and quirked my eyebrow. The two women who had been watching me both turned quickly.