Andi
I WAS GRATEFUL Dalton pretty much lifted me into the car, because my whole body was shaking. I didn’t know if it was from the visions or the fact Kade appeared to know what was going on. I knew that guy was weird.
Dalton wove his fingers with mine as we drove. “We’re gonna figure this out.”
“I don’t think I want to figure it out.”
“Just hang in there with me, sugar, okay?”
I bit my lip and nodded, but I really had no idea what any of that meant.
“Do you trust me?” he asked.
I frowned. “Do you know what’s going on?”
“Not specifically.”
I pulled my hand away and squeaked, “But you know something generally?”
He sighed. “I might.”
We pulled into my driveway and I moved to get out, but Dalton stopped me. “Let me do a sweep.”
“Okay,” I whispered.
I was glad Dalton’s “sweep” was quick because before I completely lost my mind, he was ushering me inside the house and locking everything up behind us.
“Aspen?” Dalton asked.
“She’s at her grandparents’ this weekend,” I answered. “She’s going straight to work from there, so won’t be home until tomorrow night.”
He glanced at his phone. “Kade’s on his way over.”
“No! I don’t want to see him. Ever again.”
“Baby, he won’t hurt you.”
“So you say.”
He pulled me against him and held me close. “You’re in no danger from him.”
“You don’t know what I saw.”
“Do you want to share?”
I shook my head and Dalton didn’t press. A knock came at the door and I stiffened.
“I’ve got you, sugar.”
Dalton pulled open the door and Kade walked in. I’m not proud of my actions, but I hid behind Dalton.
“I won’t harm you, lass,” Kade assured me.
“I’ll still stand here if you don’t mind,” I said.
Kade was tall and commanding with a Jon Snow look about him. As a matter of fact, he looked about as young, if not younger. So did Samantha. She hadn’t aged a day since I last saw her, and actually looked like her aging was regressing Benjamin Button style. For some reason, this made me really uncomfortable. Even though I was surrounded by my peers, I felt like I was in a room full of people ten years my junior and it put me on edge.
“I want to explain what might be happening,” Kade said.
“What?” I rasped.
“I know this is frightening.” Kade smiled. “But you must understand that you’re extremely special.”
“Short bus special, obviously.”
Dalton chuckled. “How about we have some wine in the kitchen?”
“Yes, alcohol,” I said. “Alcohol will help.”
I led them into the kitchen and Kade sat at the island. I sat as well, but left a stool between us.
“We’re out of wine,” Dalton said.
“There’s more in the garage,” I provided.
“I’ll grab it in a bit.” Dalton stood at my back and I leaned back against him taking the comfort he offered, even though wine would have helped more presently.
“What you saw…” Kade began.
“I think you should give Andi some back story first,” Dalton said.
“I don’t want to frighten her.”
“I think we’re well past that point,” Dalton pointed out.
“Dalton’s right,” I said. “We’re well past that point, and I’d really like to know where that alcohol is.”
“Perhaps you should tell her,” Kade said.
Dalton swiveled my stool to face him and gave me a gentle smile. “What I’m going to tell you will feel unbelievable, but you know I’d never lie to you, right?”
I took a minute to ponder that. Did I believe that he’d never lie? People lied for a myriad of reasons… some harmful, some not. I believed Dalton wouldn’t lie to me to harm me, but would he lie to me to save my feelings? I wasn’t sure. However, this seemed pretty big and since he seemed concerned that he might freak me out, lying to me to save my feelings didn’t seem to apply here. “Yes, I do know that.”
He took my hands and squeezed them gently. “Kade isn’t exactly human.”
“What do you mean, ‘isn’t exactly’?”
“He’s Cauld Ane, an ancient and immortal Viking race.”
“Immortal?” I whispered.
“Well, not exactly,” Kade corrected. “We will die. It just might take a few thousand years.”
“For lack of a better word,” Dalton said, “We’ll say immortal.”
“Immortal?” I asked.
“We don’t age at the same rate as humans,” Kade confirmed.
“Cauld Ane have one true mate,” Dalton continued, drawing my focus back to him. “So, when Kade and Samantha met, he bound her.”
“He tied her up?” I rasped.
“No, lass,” Kade countered. “When we meet our mate, we are bound spiritually and physically, and since Samantha was human—”
I frowned. “Was?”
“Her body converted to Cauld Ane,” Dalton said. “She’s now one of them.” I shook my head and pushed at Dalton to let me off the stool. He didn’t budge. “Stay with me, Andi.”
“I don’t want to. And, the aforementioned alcohol is where, exactly?”
Dalton smiled and stepped into the garage returning with two bottles.
“Sugar,” Dalton continued, pouring me a glass of wine. “I need to explain this to you so that Kade can fill you in on the rest.”
“I’d like to remain ignorant, please.”
Dalton smiled. “No, you wouldn’t.”
“Blue pill, I choose the blue pill.”
“Andi. You don’t want the blue pill.”
I sighed. “No, you’re right, I don’t want the blue pill, but honestly, I don’t want the red one either.”
“You can do this, sugar.”
I took a large sip of my wine… then another, before setting it on the island. “Okay, continue.”
“Pepper is now also Cauld Ane,” Dalton said. “She’s bound to Kade’s brother, Connall.”
“So, she and Samantha are real sisters now? That’s nice,” I said, my voice flat, my mind and body rushing back into shock.
“Andi, look at me,” Dalton ordered, and I did. “You’re okay.”
“Just how many immortals are there?”
“That’s not important right now,” Dalton assured.
“So, a lot.”
“Sure,” Dalton said. “We’ll go with a lot.”
“I can take it from here,” Kade said.
I twirled my stool to face him, but didn’t let go of Dalton’s hand as I leaned back against him again.
“Let’s skip the immortal discussion,” Kade said.
“How about we skip it all?” I suggested.
“You need to understand this, Andi,” Kade pressed. “Yes, Samantha and I are somewhat immortal, and yes, we have certain abilities humans don’t.”
“All-righty, then.” I nodded toward Kade. “Count Dracula, please give my regards to Lady Dracula, tell her I love what she’s done with her teeth. I’m going to ask that you make your leave now.”
Kade chuckled.
“No, really. You’re freaking me out.”
“He’s telling the truth,” Dalton said.
“There’s no such thing as immortal people, humans, frogs.”
Before I could escape, Kade pulled out a dagger and sliced his arm. I squealed, climbing over the island to grab a towel to stop the bleeding, but by the time I turned back to Kade, his arm was fully healed, although, the evidence of blood remained.
“How did you do that?” I asked.
Kade took the towel gently out of my hand and wiped his arm, showing me the evidence of absolutely no wound. “I don’t have time to explain this to you. You need to understand as quickly as possible, as I’m afraid you could be in real danger.”
“What?”
“What’s going on, Kade?” Dalton demanded.
“I will need confirmation, but I have a strong suspicion that Andi’s an Oracle,” Kade said.
“Wha-what?” I stuttered, then gathered my thoughts. “What’s an Oracle?”
Kade paused thoughtfully, and smiled at me like a loving big brother would. For the first time, I not only felt no trace of fear in his presence, but felt protected by him as though he would lay down his life for me.
“Something very special and very rare,” he said, wistfully.
“If they’re so rare, then why do you suspect she’s an Oracle?” Dalton asked.
“Because right before we left Iceland and immigrated to Scotland, I met what was believed to be the last of their kind.”
“Really?” Dalton asked.
“Aye,” Kade confirmed. “Before we sailed, our mother took me and my brothers to the Oracle in order to gain sight, or as our people call it, öðlast sjón.”
“Gain sight? Like, fortune telling?”
Kade glared at Dalton and responded sharply in a low tone, “I assure you, gaining sight is much more than mere fortune telling. Both for the Oracle and his or her subject.”
Dalton responded in a low-hushed tone, “Well, excuse me, sire.”
I tried to stifle a laugh, but had to admit I welcomed the break in the tension. Kade seemed to as well as he took a deep breath.
“Each Oracle is different. More importantly, each of their methods for gaining sight is unique to them and only them. Mother took us to Haddi who was said to be over three-thousand years old. He appeared to be no older than his mid-sixties, although the way he moved and spoke suggested a person that was much, much older. Haddi lived in a thatched roof dwelling, dug into the side of a cliff-face, about ten miles from our home. I remember as a child I felt like we were riding forever, and I was very cold.”
“Why was Haddi so far out of town?” Dalton asked. “The whole Cauld Ane “thing” is y’all live in a weird-ass commune and the Elders are elevated to almost god-like status.”
“It’s true. And there would have been a time when Haddi and others like him would have been in every Cauld Ane village, giving all of our people access to him. However, during my father’s reign, he hunted down and killed every last one after a seer foretold my mother’s betrayal.”
“Your mom betrayed him?” I asked.
“Yes, but I’ll let Dalton fill you in on that story.”
“Okay,” I said slowly.
“How did Haddi manage to avoid your father?” Dalton asked.
“My mother, for her own gain, of course, hid Haddi away in a remote location and kept him as her private seer. Since my father’s edict, Haddi had little choice to comply, and my mother knew this.” His expression turned reflective as though he was reliving the moment as he continued, “The first thing Haddi did when we arrived, was to motion for us to sit down in front of a small fire that was beginning to die in a pit in the center of the room. Normally at this time of evening, it would be customary for a fire to be burning quite hot, as it was getting colder. However, Haddi seemed to be purposefully letting the fire die down. It was as if he had been preparing the fire for some time before we arrived.
We sat in silence while the last of the dying embers turned to ash and I was fascinated by how still Haddi was… I’d never seen anyone sit so still. Once the ashes were cool, he told a story of our ancestors and those that had the öðlast sjón before him. He spread the ashes on the floor and began sifting through them at an almost frantic pace, pausing momentarily every once and awhile, then diligently going back to his work. After a few moments of this, he stopped and looked directly at me. He took both of my hands in his, covering them in ashes. As he darkened my hands, time itself seemed to freeze, and I was bathed in a warm, golden glow. It was a feeling of peace that I’d never experienced before or since. It was as if I knew that my life had a purpose. The last time I felt that way was when I bound Samantha… until tonight.”
“What?” I squeaked.
“When our hands touched under the plate, even for that brief second, I felt that peaceful warmth and knew that we were here together for a purpose.”
“None of this makes any sense,” Dalton said. “She doesn’t have anything to do with this. She doesn’t know any of you and she’s not a part of your world. Besides, you said yourself, your father hunted down and killed all of the Oracles.”
“All but Haddi.”
“So, are you saying that Haddi’s her great, great, great times a million, grandfather?”
“I don’t know, brother. I’m just as confused as you are and like I said, I need confirmation, but all I can tell you is what I felt.”
“This is bullshit.”
“It’s okay, Dalton,” I said. “I’m okay.”
“Why don’t you tell me exactly what you saw?” Kade said.
I filled him in on the vision and Kade nodded.
“What you saw was a battle my brothers and I were engaged in.”
“How long ago was it?” I asked.
“It was in 1554.”
I chuckled uncomfortably. “What?”
“Lowlanders were trying to take our land and we were defending it.”
“Have you ever experienced visions before?” Kade asked.
“Dreams,” I admitted. “But nothing like tonight. I could see, hear, and smell everything.”
Kade nodded. “Aye.”
“But Aspen…”
“Who is she to you?”
“She’s my best friend and roommate,” I said.
Kade looked over my head. “She needs to be watched.”
“Is that something that’s going to happen to her?” I cried.
Dalton’s hands settled on my shoulders as he asked, “Is it?”
“Aye.”
I shot off my stool and grabbed my purse. “I have to warn her.”
“Baby, stop,” Dalton ordered.
“Are you high?” I snapped digging my phone out of my bag.
“What are you going to say to her?” Kade asked, his voice even and gentle.
“I’m going to tell her she’s in danger.”
“From what?” he challenged.
“From… I… ah…” I couldn’t finish.
“Andi?” Kade pressed.
“I don’t know,” I snapped.
“Take it down a notch, Majesty,” Dalton warned.
“Where’s your friend now?” Kade asked.
“She’s with her grandparents,” Dalton provided. “I have someone on her.”
I gasped. “You do? When did that happen?”
“Doom’s watching her. I texted him to update him twenty minutes ago.”
“Oh,” I said, and relaxed. “Thank you.”
Dalton held his hand out. “Come sit down.”
I took his hand and climbed back onto the stool. “Why is this happening?”
“How does that work exactly?” Dalton asked.
Kade sat up slightly. “This is why I want to take her home… or better yet, Iceland.”
“You think Kaspar will have more answers?”
“He’s older than me, so yes,” Kade said.
“Who’s Kaspar?” I was getting a little frustrated with them speaking as though I wasn’t in the room.
“Kalt Einn king,” Dalton said. “He and Kade are… what are you, Kade?”
“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “Kaspar is bound to Jesska whose brother works with Dalton.”
“Who’s that?”
“Cameron Shane,” Dalton said. “We don’t work together anymore, but he remains a buddy and a resource. He lives in Portland, Oregon.”
“There really are a lot,” I whispered.
Dalton gave me a gentle squeeze.
“Think about when you were wee,” Kade said. “Before you turned thirteen. Did you have premonitions?”
My heart raced as memories of nightmares rushed back. As far back as I could remember I’d had dreams and my mother had told me I’d have night terrors as a toddler as well. “Yes. I had dreams. I’ve always had dreams, but again, nothing like what I experienced tonight.”
“Were they ever in color?”
“Yes,” I rasped. “Before I turned thirteen.” They’d actually turned black and white on my thirteenth birthday.
“How far would you see?”
“Into the future?” I asked.
“Aye, lass.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know that I ever kept track. I remember knowing Jet was hurting girls and I dreamt that he would try to hurt me, so that’s why I set up the camera in my room.” I glanced up at Dalton. “I could never catch him doing anything else.”
“I know, sugar. It’s okay.”
“I have a difficult question to ask,” Kade said, and I nodded. “Are you a blood relative of Jet?”
I shook my head. “No. I’m adopted.”
“I didn’t know that,” Dalton admitted.
“Aspen and her family are the only ones who do. My parents insisted on the secrecy.” I focused back on Kade. “Is that significant?”
“Aye, lass. Oracles are of Viking descent.”
“Wow,” I whispered.
“Have you ever tried to find your birth parents?” Dalton asked.
I shook my head. “If I’d tried when I was a kid, I’d have been in a world of trouble. Then once I moved in with Aspen’s family, I just wanted to move on with my life.”
“I think it would be a good idea to speak with Kaspar about this. And when you visit, you’ll want to wear gloves, because you’ll probably see things anytime you touch someone.”
“I don’t see things when I touch Dalton. Actually, I’ve never seen anything after touching someone… well, before tonight,” I pointed out. “Why doesn’t that happen?”
“He’s human,” Kade said.
“Oh, that clears that up, thank you,” I retorted, sarcastically.
“Where do we go from here?” Dalton asked.
“I’m going to call Kaspar and then we’ll get Fiona on it.”
“Who’s Fiona?”
“My sister,” Kade provided. “She’s taken on the job of researching our lineage and has been working closely with the Kalt Einn to fill in some blanks.”
I had no idea what any of that meant, but I was overloaded on information for the evening, so I decided I’d wait and ask Dalton anything that might come up… once my brain was able to accept the new information of course.
“I’m going to leave you,” Kade said, and rose to his feet. “Once I have more information, we’ll sit down, lass, okay?”
I nodded.
“Stay put, sugar,” Dalton said. “I’ll walk him out.”
I nodded and picked up my wine glass again.
Dalton returned, and I shivered when he slid his hand to my neck, leaning down to kiss my nape. “You okay?”
I shook my head and took a sip of wine.
He slid onto the stool beside me and turned me to face him. “Break it down.”
“Do you really need me to do that?”
“Not for me, sugar. For you. Break it down.”
“Samantha’s now immortal… well, kind of immortal.”
“Yes.”
“What does that mean?”
“Outside of the fact she’ll live for several hundred or maybe even thousands of years, she can heal anyone related to her.”
“Ohmigod, she healed your dad!” I deduced.
“Yes.”
“No wonder he came through recovery so fast,” I said. “Asshole doctor number one seemed to think it was because of him.”
“Asshole doctor number one?”
“We’ve numbered them from bad to worse. He’s the worst, so…”
“Quit.”
I scoffed. “I can’t quit. I need the money.”
“We’ll come back to that,” he said. “Keep going.”
“Oracle.”
“Yes, Oracle.”
“I don’t know what that means in relation to me. I know nothing about Vikings or their history.”
“That’s where Fiona will come in. Or Kaspar.”
“I can’t afford to go to Scotland or Iceland, Dalton. Even if I could afford the flights, I couldn’t afford to take that much time off work.”
“Kade owns his own plane, sugar.”
“Of course he does.” I took another sip of wine then gasped. “Sugar.”
“Come again?”
I rolled my eyes. “I kept having this weird dream about sugar. I think you’re the sugar.”
He grinned. “Well, that’s an indication we’re meant to be together, don’t you think?”
“Sure, we’ll go with that,” I droned. “Since flights are apparently free, I should just quit my job and let you take care of me for the rest of my life.”
“Now, there’s an idea,” Dalton said, stroking my neck.
“So, back to reality… what happens now?”
“Now we wait until Kade gets information.” He smiled. “Until then, it’s business as usual.”
“Because I’m going to be able to focus when I’m treating patients totally freaked that I might see something I don’t want to if I touch them,” I droned, sarcasm lacing my tone.
“Do you have sick time?”
I sighed. “Yeah. I never take time off, so I probably have a couple of weeks.”
“Then take it.”
I folded my arms on the island and dropped my head onto them with a groan. I rolled my forehead and then sat up again. “I can’t leave the other nurses in the lurch.”
“Do they ever leave you in the lurch?” Dalton challenged.
“That’s not really the point.”
He sighed. “No, I don’t suppose it is.”
“I’m off tomorrow and I could call in for Tuesday.”
Dalton stroked my neck. “That’s a start.”
“I’m going to ask you something and you can’t take it the wrong way.”
“Well, that sounds ominous.”
“Will you stay? No monkey business, but I just don’t want you to go.”
He smiled. “As much as I’d like some monkey business, yeah, I’m happy to stay.”
I nodded. “Thanks, honey.”
“Why don’t you go change into something more comfortable and I’ll find something to watch.”
I nodded and headed upstairs, changing quickly and then snuggling up on the sofa with Dalton, no clue in the end which movie we were watching, mostly because I closed my eyes and drifted off as he held me.