Into a Dangerous Mind (25 page)

The scent of French vanilla surrounded him.
 
“Diane…”
 
His whispered words echoed through the room and through his mind.

Every night before she came to bed, Diane took off her jewelry and placed it lovingly inside the velvet bag before burying it under her bras and panties in their chest of drawers.
 
Then she’d turn toward him and say, “If anyone breaks in, they’ll slow down when they get to my sexy lacy undies and we’ll have time to save my jewelry.”

He smiled at the memory.
 
Diane was nothing if not conscientious about her jewelry.

He stood, taking the bag with him as he crossed to the bed.
 
He sat, perched on the edge.
 
Carefully loosening the drawstring ties, he upended the bag on the bed and watched as the diamonds, pearls, rubies, and sapphires mounted on gold flowed out like an expensive waterfall.
 
Sifting through the pile, the glitter of silver caught his eye.
 
It was probably the least expensive of the pieces, but priceless in his opinion.
 
Carefully, he picked up the ring and held it up so the light fired and refracted off the facets.

A large round one-carat sapphire glinted merrily against its sterling silver setting.
 
Surrounded by a ring of diamonds, his grandmother’s aura emanated in warm rolling waves from the ring.

His grandfather had it specially made for her for their fiftieth wedding anniversary and she’d given it to Zach before she died, telling him to pass it on to the love of his life once he found her.
 
He’d asked himself numerous times why he’d never given it to Diane, but he’d always told himself the time just wasn’t right.
 
Now the time would never be right.
 
Not for he and Diane, anyway.

He sighed and held the bag up to his nose again, wallowing in Diane’s favorite scent.
 
But maybe there was still time to give himself a new chance at life and let Diane’s memory rest.

He wrestled down the instinctive fear that came with thoughts of opening his heart again.
 
But then realization hit.
 
“Who are you kidding, Zach?
 
She’s already embedded deep.”
 
Sighing, he rose and headed toward the kitchen.

The sound of the refrigerator opening and closing met him as he entered.
 
Cassidy stood in front of the bar holding two bud lights.
 
“I’m here for mind calisthenics.”
 
She twisted the tops off both beers and wispy mist rose from each bottle.

Zach couldn’t help but smile at her.
 
A wonderful combination of sarcasm and optimism, she always managed to make him laugh.
 
“Mind calisthenics, huh?”

She laughed and took a swig of beer.
 
“I was calling it mind torture, but Kathy told me to be more optimistic.”

Zach took the proffered beer and sat on a barstool across the counter from her.
 
“You’re one of the most optimistic people I’ve ever met.
 
I think you’re just scared of things you can’t control.”

Staring down at her bottle, she chased a drop of condensation down the side of the brown glass.
 
It reminded him of the same single-mindedness with which she’d chased droplets of perspiration down his bare chest when they’d made love.
 
Her words distracted him from his erotic memories.

“I’m very big on security, which I guess to me means control.”
 
She shrugged, her head cocking to the side in an irresistible gesture.
 
“That sounds pretty closed minded and frumpy, doesn’t it?”

He reached out to brush an escaped auburn tendril away from her face and tuck it gently behind her ear.
 
“Frumpy is the last thing I’d ever associate with you.
 
But I think in this case, your desire to control your destiny can help us both.”
 
Holding his breath, he forced his hand to move to his pocket where his grandmother’s ring pulsed psychic waves against his skin even through his clothes.

Her eyes crinkled at the corners and her brows knit in adorable confusion.
 
Reaching out to grab her hand, he turned it palm up and lay the ring inside, closing her fingers carefully over it.
 
He forced himself to let go, leaving the ring with Cassidy.
 
Only then did he let out the breath he’d been holding.

Cassidy jumped as the ring touched her skin.
 
Waves of warm pulsing energy emanated out from it reminding her of repeated flicks of a butterfly’s wings inside her closed palm.
 
Slowly opening her hand, she pinched the ring between her thumb and forefinger and brought it close to her face so she could study it.
 
“Where did you get this?

Zach leaned back, crossing his arms, but remained silent, watching her.

She gripped the ring in her hand, closed her eyes and concentrated on how the ring felt in her palm.

It warmed against her skin and she gasped as the smell of fresh grass filled her nostrils.
 
She opened her eyes and noted how beautiful the ring looked when the sun glinted off the facets of the sapphire.
 
She took it off her wrinkled finger and handed it to a little boy with dark, unruly hair and warm cognac-brown eyes full of wonder.

Her voice was gravely with age, but joyous as she spoke.
 
“Someday you give this to the love of your life, Zachary, and she’ll be as happy in her life as I’ve been in mine.
 
That’s how I want you to remember me.”
 
Warmth and love suffused her as the little boy threw his arms around her neck and placed a sloppy kiss on her cheek.
 
He smelled of wild cherry popsicles and bubble gum scented shampoo.
 
The combination made her smile, and tears welled in her eyes.

“I love you, Grammy.
 
But I’m never gonna have a love of my life other than you and mom.”

Hot tears streamed down her face, but not in sadness—in joy for all the gifts her long life had given her.
 
The cancer may be eating her alive, but a part of her would live on inside her wonderful grandson.

Cassidy’s face was still wet when she opened her eyes and saw Zach sitting across from her with a wistful expression in his eyes.
 
She cleared her dry throat to ensure she could speak.
 
“I saw the past, didn’t I?”

Zach nodded.
 
“That was my mother’s mother.
 
She and I were very close.
 
We lost her a year after she gave me that ring.”
 
His voice broke and he coughed in a self-conscious gesture to cover his emotions.

“It’s different for everyone.
 
But we’ve just proven you have past remote viewing along with the present you’ve already experienced.
 
It means future is also possible.”

Cassidy held the ring out to Zach, but after a slight hesitation, he reached out and curled her hand around it, holding it closed.
 
“You hold onto it for a while.
 
It works so well because Grammy wore that ring every day for twenty years.
 
Twenty years of her aura interacting with the energy of the ring embedded much of her essence inside it.”

“But…this is a family heirloom.
 
I don’t feel right about holding on to it.”

She tried once again to hand it back to Zach.

.”

Shock traveled through Cassidy and her gaze snapped up to meet Zach’s.
 
“I thought she died in a car explosion, how did the ring even survive?”
 
Her voice barely a whisper, sounded like a shout in the suddenly silent kitchen.

Tension vibrated between them in thick psychic waves.
 
Zach’s shields firmed, keeping his thoughts from her.
 
“I never gave it to her.”

More uncomfortable silence hung between them and she didn’t know how to break it.

After what seemed like an eternity, he took a swig of beer and set the bottle carefully on the counter between them.
 
“You can’t tell me you’ve never been in a relationship where you wanted it to work so badly you ignored everything telling you it wasn’t right?”

The comment hit a nerve.
 
Cassidy had been in several relationships just like he described.
 
In fact, she’d gone to meet Brian for drinks under those same circumstances.
 
“Point taken.”

“I felt so guilty after she died—almost as if I would’ve given her that last bit of myself,” he pointed toward the ring, “she’d still be alive.”
 
He pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger.
 
“The day of the funeral I put a box of our letters to each other in her casket along with mementos from her family.
 
I tried several times to put the ring inside too, but I just couldn’t make my fingers let go.”

He looked past her as if reliving his memories.
 
“Take the ring, Cassidy.
 
Hold on to it and use the ring to hone your powers.
 
Everything you can learn will help us find the Reaper and keep you safe.

said.
 
But she shoved the hurt aside and tucked the ring carefully inside her pocket, deciding to find a safe place to keep it as soon as she had the chance.
 
“How do I work on seeing the future?”

want to ask?
 
I’ve been in your mind—remember?”

Cassidy clamped down on anger at being so transparent and met his gaze.
 
“Can you teach me how to force open the Reaper’s powers?”

“Yes.
 
But I won’t.”
 
He captured her hand before she could pull away.
 
“You don’t know what you’re asking, and someday you’ll appreciate the fact I wasn’t willing to teach you.”

Another deep arrow of hurt sliced through her.
 
Didn’t he see that this would be the best way to protect her and all of Brian’s other potential victims?
 
“I don’t understand.
 
And I can’t see how I’ll ever appreciate this.”