Nana smiled at me and left.
“I’m not leaving,” Luke said softly.
Out in the hall I heard, “If he’s not leaving...”
“Just shut the door already,” I snapped. Luke closed the door on a growl in the hall, his smirk annoying me. He leaned against it, ensuring our privacy.
“I’m Bethi,” I said ignoring him.
“I’m Michelle,” Michelle said. “How did you know my name?”
Gabby remained quiet. “You’re not curious how I knew your name too?” I asked.
She glanced at Luke. “I assumed he told you.”
I shook my head. “No. It would be a nice answer though. A normal answer.” Gabby’s eyes dropped to the table. She knew what I was working up to. Good. “Are you ready for the truth? The truth about your abilities, and why we are the way we are?” Both of their eyes rounded. Michelle slowly sank into a chair. Gabby still stood. “Well, to be honest, I don’t know all the details, but I’m pretty sure I know more than you.”
“I remember,” I said meeting their eyes. “That’s my lovely ability. We’ve existed before and will exist again…and again.” The thought of having to keep enduring this made me want to cry. I settled for taking a slow calming breath. “Each life we’ve lived before, I will eventually remember. Each death. Each emotion,” I had to stop again. Maybe it was the pain of the stitches weighing on me, but everything just seemed so hopeless again.
“I can see what will happen with the stock market. Well, I used to, anyway,” Michelle admitted.
I nodded. “I know. I saw you. You were curled up in a ball,” I tipped my head back looking up at the ceiling as the memory of her pain washed over me. “It felt like your head had already exploded exposing every nerve ending within you to even more pain.” I met her shocked gaze. “I saw a man pick up your little brother by his arm and carry him into the house. The other one was just a baby.”
Gabby’s gaze flicked to Michelle. I could still see the distrust there.
“I saw you too, Gabby. All those homes. You could never let your guard down.”
Finally she sank into a chair, and I knew they believed me.
“We’re not alone. There are six of us. We need to find the others but can’t trust anyone. When we do, we die...or worse.”
Michelle looked troubled.
“You said you knew why we had our abilities?” Gabby asked.
“Kind of.”
“I see lights,” she admitted. “I just want to know why.”
“Because you’re our Hope. But also our biggest weakness. With you, they would be able to find us all.”
Her eyes widened in understanding. “Six of us,” she whispered.
I gave her a smile. “And you,” I said looking at Michelle, “are Prosperity. You always bring fortune to those around you.”
“And you know all this because you remember?” Gabby asked.
“It’s not simply remembering. I relive our past lives through dreams. Not just my past lives but all of ours. When I wake up, they stay with me—every detail. Our abilities and how we used them in those lives,” I tapped my head. “We’ve died so many times.”
“So you know what our abilities are for? Why we are like this?”
“The dreams are still coming. I’m not naive enough to believe I’ve learned everything. But I do know we exist because something was needed to keep the balance between humans, werewolves, and the dogs of death,” I answered tiredly.
“Excuse me?” Michelle glanced at Gabby as if saying “did you hear that too?”
“Urbat. A cousin to Lycan,” I explained. “They’re close, but not quite the same. They tried to wipe out the werewolves almost a thousand years ago.”
“Oh,” Michelle said looking suddenly enlightened. “I think Nana Wini told me something about that. But she didn’t mention any cousins. Just that there was a huge fight—they weren’t sure of the reason—and that it decimated their numbers.”
“Of both sides,” I said before turning to Gabby for confirmation. “Right? You can see the difference in their sparks. Are there more werewolves or Urbat?”
Gabby looked slightly stunned. “I knew it,” she murmured. “Two different kinds.” Her expression grew vacant and then troubled. “There are more Urbat. At least double.” Her worried gaze flicked to the door, and she chewed on her lip for a moment. “So what does it mean that I’m Hope?”
“So far, I just know that you’re the key to bringing all of us together. You know where the other three are.”
Her attention returned to me. “Two,” she corrected. “Charlene is one of us, too.”
“Who’s Charlene?” The name sounded familiar. “Where is she?”
“Here,” Michelle said. “She’s Emmitt’s mother.”
“Mother?” Emmitt had to be at least in his twenties. “How old is she?”
Michelle shrugged. “In her forties. I’m not exactly sure.”
“What’s her ability?” I asked.