So it was a dream. Sometimes she couldn’t tell the difference with Bonnie. “Ben said that he’d dreamed about you.”
“I had to find a way to warn you. I was helpless. He wouldn’t let me near you.”
“Doane?”
“No, the other one.”
“What other one?”
“Kevin.”
Eve felt a chill stiffen every muscle. “Kevin is dead.”
“Not as long as Doane is alive. Kevin won’t let go. There’s some … connection. Just as there is with you and me.”
“Bonnie.”
“I didn’t want to scare you, but you have to know.” She shook her head as she looked at Eve. “Mama, you know there are things that do go bump in the night. Not many that are evil. Occasionally, something slips, or there’s a force that carries over. Those are usually taken care of by the natural order. But there’s something helping from your side. Very strong, very powerful.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I don’t know very much myself. I learn more every day I’m here. It made me afraid when I could see all that darkness heading toward you and couldn’t see any way to help you. I couldn’t even reach Joe. He was too close to you.”
“You might not have reached him, but you managed to make him extremely nervous, didn’t you?”
“Part of that was me, but most of it was Joe’s instincts. He’s lived with darkness for a long time. He can sense it coming.”
“Yes, he can. But neither one of us could see that Jane would be pulled into this nightmare.” She met Bonnie’s eyes. “Did you, baby?”
She shook her head. “Jane closes me out. I can’t connect with her either.”
Eve nodded slowly. Jane knew that Eve believed Bonnie came to her and had never argued or tried to dissuade her. But she had never accepted Bonnie as anything but a comforting dream that gave Eve happiness. “It’s not that she has any ill feelings toward you, baby.”
“Are you trying to keep me from getting my feelings hurt?” Bonnie was smiling again. “You love her, and that makes me love her. I understand Jane. Someday we’ll come together.” Her smile ebbed, then faded. “Though I wish it was going to be different.”
Eve stiffened. “What do you mean?”
“I’m not sure. The darkness…”
“Listen to me; nothing is going to hurt Jane,” she said fiercely. “We have to keep that from happening. She’s already been hurt because of that bastard. She’s not going to be hurt again.”
“Sometimes you can’t stop it from happening.”
Panic surged through her. “Don’t say that. If I try hard enough, I can do anything. Why do you think I’m working on Kevin’s reconstruction? I’ll stall Doane until I can either get away or Joe can find me. And I told him he had to keep Jane safe.”
“Who is going to tell Jane? Do you think she’s not going to try to find you? She loves you. I think she loves you as much as I do, Mama.”
“Then I just have to work faster, harder.”
Bonnie made a face. “Not too much faster. It’s good that I was able to get to you after that last whiff of gas, but I don’t know how dangerous an overdose would be.”
“Some stakes are worth a little risk.”
“You’re willing to risk too much,” Bonnie said soberly. “You’ve been that way since I was taken from you. I have to fight to keep you from coming to me too soon. Thank God, you have Joe and Jane as anchors.”
Beloved anchors, Eve thought, but at moments like this when Bonnie was close, and she was reminded of what she had lost, it was difficult to remember that there was a balance that must be maintained. Bonnie had been her whole life before she had lost her. She swallowed to ease her tight throat. “It’s hard sometimes, baby.”
“For me, too,” Bonnie said softly. “But we can do it, we can wait. They need you, Mama. And you need them.”
“I’m aware of all that.” She smiled with an effort. “Stop lecturing me, young lady. Just because you’ve passed into the great beyond doesn’t guarantee that you know everything.”
“I wish it did.” Bonnie shook her head. “I’m learning, but it’s not fast enough. There should be some way to get to you when I need to do it.” She repeated soberly. “It scared me.”
“Particularly since you want me to cut down on inhaling that gas. By all means, apply yourself.”
“I will, but I can’t be sure—” She suddenly stiffened. “The gas is wearing off. You’re beginning to come up through the layers. I’ll lose you soon.”