Transcendence (31 page)

The windows look over the vast, rolling gardens that stretch as far as the eye can see. Early spring sunlight sparkles through the tall windows, competing with the remnants of a fire in the great fireplace. Connor’s clear green eyes shine with excitement as he holds the box out to me
.

“Another present?” I tease. “You spoil me!”

“Nothing could ever spoil you,” he says, kissing me lightly on the neck. “This is special. I had it made just for you.”

Giggling, I tear off the ribbon and open the small package. Lifting the cross out of its cotton wool nest, I smile at the pendant that is unlike any of the other jewels he’s given me in our short marriage
.

Connor grins. “See that? I had it set with the finest, brightest ruby in all of England. Your birthstone. Do you know what the pendant signifies?”

“Signifies?” I ask, looking at the unusual shape and intricate design. “No, what?”

“Eternal life,” he says. “With this, we will be together forever.”

I smile and kiss him gently on the mouth. “It’s beautiful.”

As the vision ends, I’m overcome with the feelings of loss and sadness that are beginning to seem at home in my chest. The ankh seems to vibrate with energy of its own as I examine it, like a long-lost link to who I once was. It’s heavy in my hand as I turn it over and see something written on the back. I look closer, but I already know what it says.
Ad vitam aeternam
. For eternity.

Kat pushes my door open so fast I don’t have time to react. “Sienna called and told me what happened last night, but then Mom said Griffon was just out front.”

I quickly drop the necklace back on the bed and try to cover it up with the silk pouch, but even as I’m going through the motions I know that I’m too late. Kat’s eyes are already wide with amazement.

“What in the hell?” She grabs the chain from my bed and holds it up to the light. “Seriously? This is good quality silver, and this ruby
is at least a carat.” She looks from the necklace to me and back again. “Did Griffon give this to you?”

I shrug, not having a clue where to begin.

“Why aren’t you wearing it? This thing is worth a fortune.” She unhooks the clasp. “Turn around.”

If I put it on, it will be like forgiving Griffon. Which I don’t. “Kat, I don’t—”

“Oh, for God’s sake, just turn around and let me put this on you,” she says. “Doesn’t mean you have to marry him. You don’t even have to keep it. Just enjoy it for a little while.” She drapes the pendant around my neck and fastens the chain in the back.

I feel the heaviness of the pendant settle on my chest. I usually hate necklaces, but the weight is comforting and familiar. I try not to think about the circumstances the last time I wore it.

“It looks pretty on you,” Kat says, standing back to admire her work.

“Thanks,” I say, feeling the outline with my finger. So many strange things have happened the past few weeks that it’s getting hard to keep track of them all.

“Grab your bag,” she says.

“Why?”

“We need to show this to Drew at the shop. He’ll be able to tell us more about it.”

I already know more about the pendant than I ever wanted to. More than he’ll ever be able to tell me. “No. I don’t want to go out. I just got home, and it’s been a really crappy twenty-four hours—”

“Bull,” Kat says, pulling me to my feet. “The last thing you need is to stay in here moping all day. We’ll just go to the shop for a few
minutes, then you can come right back and curl up in bed for your own pity party. If you won’t come, then let me take it.” She holds her hand out and looks at me.

I put my hand on the pendant. It took so long to get back to me that there’s no way I’m going to let it out of my sight.

Kat puts her hands on her hips. “Drew’s going out of town tomorrow, so we don’t have a lot of time.”

“I’ll go,” I say finally. “But we have to come right back.”

“Mom, we’re going out for a little while,” Kat calls as we walk down the hall.

“Not so fast,” Mom says, walking out of the kitchen. “You’ve been gone all night, Griffon’s been here looking for you.”

“I know,” I say, trying to look sorry. “We sort of had a fight.”

Kat loops her arm through mine. “Come on, Mom. You remember how it is. I just want to take Cole up to the shop to get her mind off things. She’s been through a lot this week.”

Mom signs. “Take your phone,” she says, looking at me. “I left at least five messages last night.”

“Nicole?” she says, her voice rising. “You do have your phone, don’t you?”

I feel around in my pockets, but it’s not there. “Yeah. Somewhere.” I grab my bag and look through it, but I don’t see it there either. “I had it last night,” I say, as she stares at me. “I sent you a text, remember? I must have left it at Rayne’s.”

“Nicole Ryan, if you left your phone on the bus again, we’re not replacing it.”

“I didn’t leave it on the bus,” I say. “I told you, I had it last night.”

“Well, use Kat’s phone if you’re going to be long.” She walks back into the kitchen, mumbling to herself.

The sun is peeking out from behind the fog as we walk around the corner to where Kat parked her car. The unexpected warmth is nice and I lift my face to it, feeling a tiny bit better for the first time today.

“So what’s going on with you and Griffon?” Kat asks as we approach the car. “Is it so bad?”

I hesitate. Telling Rayne what’s going on is one thing. Telling Kat is something else. “Yeah,” I say. “It actually is.”

“Listen,” she continues, unlocking the car doors. “I’m not going to tell you what to do, but maybe you should give him another chance.” She plucks a parking ticket from under the wipers, reaches across my seat, and stuffs it into the glove compartment with over a dozen others.

I fasten my seat belt and stare through the windshield. “He basically lied to me from the minute we met.”

“About what?” Kat says, starting the engine.

“It’s complicated.”

“Fine,” Kat says with a sigh. “Don’t tell me. All I know is, it seems like he really likes you. And I don’t want you to screw up a good thing.”

“I know,” I say. I have to keep pulling my mind away from how rough and sad he looked just now. I run my finger over the silver chain. This necklace is a constant reminder of how he betrayed me in both lifetimes.

“I don’t know,” Kat says, merging into traffic. “I think a necklace like that would inspire a lot of forgiveness on my part.”

After a few minutes of silence, we pull into the tiny employee lot in the back of the store. As I open the door, I tuck the pendant into my shirt, feeling more secure with it hidden from view.

We walk in through the back, past covered racks of clothes and boxes stacked to the ceiling.

Francesca smiles at us as she wraps up a purchase for a customer. As soon as the woman leaves, she walks over to us. “Katherine, so nice to see you on your day off,” Francesca says. She smiles at me. “And you brought your sister back to see us.”

They air kiss each other on both cheeks. “Is Drew around?” Kat asks. “I have something he’s going to want to see.”

“He’s in the office,” Francesca says, turning to watch another customer come in the front door. She waves her hand in our direction. “Go on up.”

We walk upstairs to a loft area, and Kat knocks on a closed door. I can hear the low mumble of someone talking on the phone.

“Hey!” Drew says, pulling the door open. He motions us in the tiny room. “I’ve got to go,” he says into the phone. “I’ll ring you back later.” He snaps the phone shut and smiles at us. It’s hard not to miss Kat’s reaction as he turns his attention to us. If she were any giddier she’d float up to the ceiling, and I wonder if this whole rushing-to-see-Drew thing is really about the pendant or just an excuse to see him again. “What can I do for you lovely ladies?”

“Listen,” Kat says, laying a finger on Drew’s forearm, a totally unnecessary gesture that I’m sure we all notice. “You need to see the pendant that Cole just got.” She bumps me with her elbow. “From a guy.”

Drew looks at me expectantly. “Oh? A guy?” He raises his eyebrows in a way that’s both amused and vaguely condescending. He’s probably a little older than Francesca—maybe twenty-two or twenty-three, and the fact that he sees me as just a kid is obvious from his tone.

I glance at Kat, hoping she’ll drop it. “It’s no big deal.”

“No, but it’s really cool,” Kat says. “I think it’s an antique, and we thought you might be able to tell us something about it. Maybe you could use it as a model for a new line. Something Egyptian and gothic.” She turns to me. “Drew’s stuff sells out almost the minute we get a new piece in.”

Drew smiles at her, acknowledging the compliment. “I’d love to see it. I’m always looking for new inspiration.”

They’re both looking at me expectantly, so I sigh and reach for the chain, wishing she’d never seen it in the first place. As I pull the ankh out of my shirt, Drew gasps, and all the blood seems to drain from his face. He reaches for it, and as his fingers brush my skin, I feel the same unmistakable vibrations I’d learned to detect with the others, a flash of overwhelming emotions.

Drew is Akhet.

I search his face, trying to find a connection, but as he regains his composure, it’s as if a heavy curtain comes down and the vibrations go from sharp and pronounced to dull and faint.

“Allison,” he murmurs. Slowly he brings his eyes up to meet mine, their clear blue color marked with pain and questions, but somehow familiar. I hold his gaze as jolts of electricity race up my spine. Drew knew Allison. There’s no question that somehow we were connected five hundred years ago.

“It’s Cole,” Kat says, looking from me to Drew, a questioning look on her face.

“I’m sorry?” Drew says, as if he’s just remembering she’s in the room.

“Her name is Cole. You called her Allison.”

Drew clears his throat. “Yes. Sorry. Cole.” He turns back to me. “This pendant. It’s … it’s fantastic,” Drew says, running his fingers lightly over the ruby. “Where did you say you got this?” His voice is no more than a whisper.

“It was a gift,” I say clearly, feeling more in control. I glance over at Kat, who’s just staring at the two of us, her eyes wide and her mouth slightly open.

“I would love to see this again,” Drew says, letting the cross drop back to my chest. “To do some sketches. Perhaps take some measurements.”

“Maybe,” I say, knowing I’m not going to just hand it over.

“That would be wonderful,” Drew says. Briefly, he lets his hand drop to my arm, and I get a quick but immediate sense of loss and longing—emotions I’m sure he’s letting me see. He seems to shudder, coming back to the present, pulling himself away from any memories he’s experiencing. His phone vibrates on the desk, and he glances at it and then back to me.

“You should get that,” Kat says, her voice cold and distant.

“Right,” he says. “I, um, probably should.”

Kat pulls me away from the office and down the hall. “What the hell was that all about?” she demands.

“What was what?” I ask as innocently as I can.

“That whole thing!” she says quietly. “The two of you were staring at each other like you were in a trance.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. He just liked the necklace,” I say, hoping that’s enough to get her to drop the subject. “Why do you care so much?”

“Look,” she says, glancing toward the office door and ignoring the question. “I know when something’s going on. Drew and Francesca are practically engaged, and if you so much as think of coming between them, you’re insane.”

“I didn’t do anything,” I say, following her down the stairs. “You were the one who dragged me all the way over here.”

“I’m not stupid,” she whispers to me. “Bye, Francesca!” she calls as we walk through the shop, her voice light and happy. Kat glares at me as Francesca waves back. I’m
so
not looking forward to the ride home.

Drew catches up with us as we head out the back door. “Thanks again for showing me the pendant,” he says. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a business card for me. “Here’s my number if you need to get hold of me. Call me anytime. That necklace is truly one of a kind. I haven’t seen one like that in a long time.” His eyes hold mine so steady that I can’t look away. “A
very
long time.”

Veronique stands at the bottom of the Pacific Coast Club steps, linking her arm through mine like we’re old friends.

“Why here?” I ask, looking up at the dimly lit windows. When I called Veronique from home, she suggested we meet here, saying it wouldn’t be very busy on a Sunday. Now I’m not sure it’s such a great idea.

“Where better to put this whole episode behind us than the place where we last saw each other? What we need is a new start.” Veronique looks at me with a smile so wide she seems almost uncharacteristically giddy. “Definitely, a new start.”

The big brick building seems more menacing now that I know what happened here. My stomach is in knots, and I tie my jacket tighter against the cold spring wind. I put my right hand into the pocket to make sure the newspaper printouts are still there and feel something crumbly at the very bottom. I haven’t worn this
jacket since Friday on the beach with Griffon. A lump forms in my throat, and I know what the pieces are before I pull out the broken sand dollar. Like everything associated with him the past few days, this has been destroyed, too.

I start up the front steps, but Veronique stops me.

“Not that way,” she says, walking quickly around the right side of the building. “We have to go in the back way. Last time, when it was someone’s home, things were different, but women have to go through the back now. Sexist bastards.”

I remember the “members only” greeting I got the last time I was there. “Are you a member?”

Veronique glances over her shoulder and laughs. “No.” She slows so that I can catch up with her. “I can’t be. Not being a man and all. But it does help to know people who are.”

We reach the back door and ring the bell. After a few tense seconds, it’s opened by a bored-looking man in a uniform. “Welcome,” he says and stands back to let us through.