She didn’t know how much time had passed before she felt Margo pull away from her. Her mother’s face was wet with tears, as was Meg’s. “Now you see.”
“Yes, I see.” She pulled her closer for a hug. Margo’s image of Meg as the glowing winged warrior was superimposing onto the real world around her She hugged her back. They stood in content silence, both feeling so blessed.
“Um…am I interrupting something?” Theo’s voice called from the other side of the kitchen.
Margo and Meg stepped back from each other and smiled sheepishly as they wiped tears away from their eyes.
“No, I think we’re good. Right, Meggie?”
“Yeah, we’re good.”
Theo looked back and forth between the mother and daughter. “Okay, well, I just wanted to get more coffee…and I kinda missed you,” he grinned at Margo.
Margo rolled her eyes toward her longtime love, then looked back at her daughter and said, “Men!”
Meg grinned. “I’m just going to head out for that run, now.”
“Okay, kiddo,” Margo said casually passing Theo the creamer from the fridge.
“Oh, and mom?”
“Hum?”
“Thank you.”
“No, Meggie. Thank you.”
She nodded, nudged Maze to get up and walked out the back door, closing it securely behind her.
Once outside, she took a deep breath of the fresh air and thought back to the image her mother gave her, then compared that to the vivid nightmare Meg had back on the plane where she had clipped her own wings. Coincidence? Was my dream trying to tell me something? Absently, Meg reached over her shoulder and felt her back. She chuckled to herself when her hands just grazed over her smooth skin.
“Maybe it’s metaphorical,” she said to Maze. Maybe I’m supposed to let myself free to feel and experience my gifts and not hold myself back with doubt and fear. Maybe this is the sign I was waiting for.
The day was already warming up as she began a slow jog. Wishing she had thought to grab a bottle of water from the fridge, Meg shrugged to herself and took off down her worn path. Maze whined slightly and looked out over the brush for a moment, holding stock still and sniffing the wind.
“Do you smell something interesting, buddy?” she called over her shoulder. Not hearing the padding of his paws, she turned and jogged backward watching him, following his gaze. There, on a distant hill, stood another coyote. She blended perfectly with the world around her. Her eyes were large, intelligent and curious. Unlike Maze’s yellow, this creature’s eyes were green, her coat more dirty blonde colored where Maze was silver. Her nose quivered as she studied the breeze. She held perfectly still watching Maze’s every move.
“Hey Maze. Just ‘cause I’m have relationship troubles, doesn’t mean you have to. Go be a gentleman and introduce yourself,” Meg teased in a low voice so as not to startle the wild coyote watching them.
She watched her coyote trying to make his decision—sniffing the air himself, eyes yearning to run after her.
He snorted loudly and turned to look at Meg.
“Go on then,” she said, happy at the idea of Maze finding a friend.
Maze blinked at Meg again before turning back to the other coyote and began trotting slowly toward her. She smiled at the way she pranced happily and yipped softly as he approached.
The meta turned away and continued running up the path alone, imagining her best friend finding a little canine happiness.
Chapter 30 Much Recovered
“Want to race me?”
“You serious?”
“As a heart attack.”
“Too chicken to spar?”
“I’ll take anything you’re willing to dish out.”
“Alik hasn’t taught you everything, you know.”
“He’s taught me enough.”
“He says you’re pretty good, you know.”
“Flattery will get you everywhere.”
Meg smiled even as her legs pumped. The morning sunlight sparkled off Cole’s mischievous grin. Being so much taller than her, his strides were longer, so she had to work harder to keep up, but that didn’t bother her. She loved running with Cole. They’d taken to working out together daily over the past week. So content was she just to be with him, they didn’t even need to talk during their time together.
Realizing how close he was to death just two months ago still got her heart racing, but most of the time, Meg wouldn’t let herself think of how close he was to being lost to the darkness. Having been able to sleep a full seven hours every night, thanks to Evan’s sleeping pills, had helped her tremendously. The Williams’ induced nightmares were gone and in their place, Meg dreamed.