“A boy,” Olivia said promptly. “It’s always a boy with Kindred. Well, almost always.”
“Oh, of course.” Lauren nodded. “Well I would love to bake you a whole batch of cupcakes—just let me get everything up and running again. In fact, if you want I could send some to your baby shower. Unless you’ve already had it?”
“Not yet.” Olivia smiled. “I’ve got awhile to go. I’m only just now into my second quadmester.”
“Quadmester?” Lauren said, frowning.
“You heard her right.” Kat grinned. “When you’re carrying a Kindred baby the pregnancy lasts a whole year. Can you imagine?”
“Hey, you’re the one who’s going to have twins—if you ever get around to it,” Olivia pointed out.
Kat made a face. “God, I can’t even imagine. I’ll get a big as a house.”
“You’ll be even more lovely, little Kat.” Deep kissed the top of her head.
Sophia looked wistful. “I know a year is a long time but I don’t think I’d mind so much.”
“Your time will come.” Olivia hugged her twin sister before turning back to the viewscreen. “Sorry, Lauren, we didn’t mean to leave you out. We get started talking and we can’t stop.”
“That’s okay.” Lauren smiled and then stifled a yawn. “Look, it’s really nice to meet you guys but I think I ought to get going. I’ve had a super long day and I have, uh, lots of unfinished business back at my apartment.”
“Oh, of course.” Kat winked. “I get it.” She looked at Lauren’s mom. “It was really nice to talk to you again, Mrs. Jakes.”
Lauren’s mom smiled. “Please, Kat, call me Aunt Abby like Olivia and Sophia do. I’ll never forget that you gave me hope when things looked darkest.”
“She did?” Lauren looked at her mom questioningly.
“Kat and her men are finder/seekers,” Sophia explained. “They have a way of finding missing people.”
“A very interesting way.” Olivia winked and Kat elbowed her gently in the ribs. “Ouch!” she complained, laughing. “Take it easy on the pregnant lady.”
“What Liv is trying to say is that Kat and her guys checked up on you after you and Xairn left,” Sophia explained. “And they checked again recently because we had reason to fear you were in danger.”
“I was, several times,” Lauren admitted, surprised. “But how did you know?”
“I saw you,” Nadiah said quietly.
“You saw me? How?” Lauren frowned. “Are you a finder uh, person like Kat, too?”
“Nadiah has a gift—the Sight. She had a vision about you,” Sophia explained.
“A vision?” Lauren asked, looking at the slim blonde girl. Beside her, Detective Rast coughed and shifted impatiently but she ignored him.
“I know it must sound strange, but it’s true.” Nadiah lifted her chin defiantly. “I saw you walking in a dark alleyway filled with purple shadows. You were wearing an outfit that was all blue with a long red sash and blue shoes with crimson soles.”
“Oh my God!” Lauren put a hand to her mouth. “That happened! You really saw that?”
Nadiah nodded gravely. “I did. And I felt as though you were walking into a trap.”
“I nearly did.” Lauren shivered at the memory. “If Xairn hadn’t come and saved me just in the nick of time I’d still be there—stuck in O’ah.”
“Where the purple mists never recede,” Nadiah whispered. She put a hand to her head and her eyelids fluttered. “Oh, Lauren, I felt such fear for you!”
Beside her, Detective Rast shifted again and cleared his throat. He looked like he wanted to say something but in the end he kept silent.
“Thank you,” Lauren said to Nadiah. “It was pretty awful but I’m okay, thanks to Xairn.”
“Sounds like you owe him a lot,” Olivia murmured.
“I owe him my life,” Lauren said seriously. “Several times over.”
“You may still be in danger,” Nadiah’s big blue eyes widened dramatically. “I’ve had another dream about you. At least, I think it was you.” She frowned. “Um, Lauren, do you have any giants in the town you live in? People of really large stature maybe around, um…I’m trying to work it out in your system of measurement…around twenty feet tall?”
“Twenty foot tall giants? In Sarasota?” Lauren shook her head. “Uh, no, sorry but we don’t. Was that part of the dream?”
“It was.” Nadiah looked frustrated. “You or someone who looked a lot like you was standing beside two giants who were kissing. The male had the female bent over his arm and they were frozen there, not moving. I saw you standing beside them and then suddenly you disappeared. And somehow…somehow I knew you had been taken someplace terrible.” Her voice dropped. “Someplace you might never return from.”