The flashing exit sign above the entrance caught my eye just in time to see a woman walk in. She was tall and trim with curly, bright red hair, pale skin, and a smattering of dark freckles. Her green eyes shimmered in the multi-colored light. She was stunning, and she was pissed.
She stalked into the club, roughly pushing her way through the bodies to get to the bar. As she passed the other patrons, they stopped moving and turned to stare at her. I initially thought she was going to get her ass kicked for pushing her way through the crowd. Instead of looking angry, the people she’d shoved out of the way looked serene. Their serenity seemed to make the woman even angrier.
“Another vision?” Emmitt asked pulling away from me and stopping the scene. He looked and sounded calmer.
“Yeah. There’s an angry redhead out there somewhere who I wouldn’t want to run into. I just wish I knew what I was supposed to do with this information.”
“We’ll figure it out.” His stomach grumbled loudly.
“Go shower,” I said, “and then let’s get something to eat.”
I smiled at his disgruntled expression and knew he’d rather stay in bed. But kissing Emmitt was intense, and I wasn’t ready for another round. I had been serious about losing focus. We couldn’t afford that.
He reluctantly agreed, and I enjoyed the solitude as I dressed and thought about my visions.
So far, the visions were all about women. The first one had a werewolf in it and a girl Elder Sam identified as Gabby. The second girl had to be related to werewolves as well since the man on the phone had been talking to someone named Gabby. I didn’t think it a coincidence. And, though this last vision didn’t have any sign of werewolves, without a doubt, the girl had powers. The people she’d passed seemed as if she’d put them in a trance.
Three visions of different women. In each vision, I’d felt a sense of recognition as if I should somehow know the woman. Charlene had a gift like me. And the third girl appeared gifted. Could the recognition be because we all shared that tie? If so, how many of us were out there?
Based on the vast majority of images in the white room, I wasn’t done having premonitions. I just wished I knew how to control them so I could get some better answers.
Emmitt strolled out of the bathroom damp and looking good in his jeans. My stomach summersaulted it’s version of a happy clap. His bare chest glistened in the vanity light. Muscles rippled as he walked. The need for food had me averting my eyes. I didn’t want him to catch me enjoying the view and start something again.
“Did you hear from Grey?” I asked as he pulled a shirt on.
“They got back late with the things you wanted. Everything’s in their room. They left early again to watch the house. We’ll hear from them later.”
We walked to the restaurant from the night before and had an enjoyable breakfast. We took our time, talking about ourselves and our plans for the future.
I pointed out both of us were jobless and asked if we wanted to stay that way.
“My father sent Jim and me to Montana to establish another branch of the pack,” he explained.
I watched in amusement as he forked in a large bite of syrup covered-pancakes and waited for him to continue.
“When the apartments are all finished, I’ll need to find something to do. But something from home.” He met my eyes. “I don’t want to go far.”
His answer warmed me. Then, he asked what I wanted to do.
“I want to work on my GED. Thanks to Blake, I missed out on graduating. After that, I’m not sure. I can’t think of getting a job and leaving my brothers, yet. And the thought of sending them off to school in the fall terrifies me.”
“We should consider inviting other families to come live with us. Nana Wini could homeschool.”
“Would Nana really want to do that?”
“I think so. We all want to keep those boys safe. Cubs are usually homeschooled because of their unpredictable shifting. Even though yours don’t shift, they should still be treated in the same careful manner. It would mean they’d need to be told, though. Unless you want them surprised the first time a friend pops into fur.”
“Just another thing for me to think about,” I said with a sigh.
“We’ll figure this out together.” He reached across the table and squeezed my hand.
When we finished, we walked back to our room. I felt a little restless with the waiting, and we still had more than twenty-four hours to go before the meeting. I wouldn’t have minded being trapped in a room with Emmitt after this morning’s kiss, if I intended to continue. As it was, I needed a distraction. I recalled Emmitt had thrown my swimsuit in my bag.
“Did you pack a suit, too?”
“I have something that’ll work.”
Ten minutes later, I stood at the edge of the hotel’s indoor pool, hesitantly testing the water’s temperature with a toe. Emmitt took a two-step running start to jump in and hooked an arm around me as he passed. Grinning widely, he twisted in the air so he landed first and kept my head above water. I sputtered and laughed.