“I held Henry’s hand and closed my eyes. I pictured the light in my mind and before I knew what was happening, there was the light. Henry’s parents were waiting for him and he ran to them. He thanked me and the light vanished.”
“Did you ask him if he’d seen the light before?” Ten asked.
“Yup, but he said he never saw it. I don’t know if that was true or not. Sometimes spirits see the light but don’t go into it or are afraid of it.”
“From what you described about Henry’s death, it sounds like it was very traumatic. He might have been dealing with the pain and fear of dying and might not have even realized the light was there.” Ten had spoken with spirits before who’d said something similar to him. He’d had to walk the spirit through their own life to find out what was keeping them anchored to the physicalworld. It had been only then that the light appeared. If Everly could really do this, it was a game changer.
“All you did was close your eyes and picture the light?” Madam Aurora wore a stunned look. “Can we try it?” Her eyes stayed on Everly.
“Yup.” Everly sat up on her knees and turned to Tennyson. “Is it okay to try, Daddy?”
It was on the tip of Ten’s tongue to remind his daughter that she’d done it at least twice before without asking his permission, but he wasn’t going down that road with Everly. “It is. What do you need us to do?”
“Can you come stand next to me and hold my hand, Mimi?” Everly reached for Bertha. “Ready?”
Bertha nodded. She looked excited to be the Guinea pig in this experiment.
Everly closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. A few minutes passed and nothing happened.
Ten was going to give Everly all the time she needed. If they needed to stay here until everyone was hungry for dinner, then so be it. As Ten’s mind started to ramble, he noticed a change in the room. It almost felt as if the air around him had begun to vibrate. Seconds later, the white light blazed to life, illuminating the conference room.
Cope, Carson and Cole gasped, while Madam Aurora looked awestruck, as did Ronan, which meant he could see it as well.
“Holy shit,” Ten said. “I can’t believe you did it. I mean I had all the faith in the world in you, but I can’t believe it.”
“Hi, Mimi Erin!” Everly waved to Ronan’s mother, Erin O’Mara. She scrambled out of her seat and ran toward the light.
Ten gasped and got to his feet. It was absolutely stunning that Everly had been able to conjure the light, but there was no way he wanted to find out if his daughter could walk into or back out of it.
Everly stopped in front of the light and reached a hand out for Erin. Her hand passed into the light and connected with Erin. “It’s so good to see you.”
“It’s good to see you too, little miss.” Erin’s gaze landed on Ronan. “It’s good to see you too, Ro.”
“Hey, Mom.” Tears streaked down his cheeks as he waved to his mother.
Erin leaned forward and appeared to be whispering to her granddaughter.
“Okay. I promise.” Pulling her hand out of the light, Everly took a step backward and watched as the light slowly faded away. She ran to Tennyson and climbed into his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. “Mimi Erin said I need to be honest with you about my gifts and the spirits I speak to from now on.”
“I think that’s a really good idea.” Ten held his daughter close. Looking around the room. He could see the others were still in a state of shock. He imagined all of them were going to try their hand at conjuring the light. If anyone could do it, his money was on Cope.
None of that mattered at the moment. Ten was going to focus on his relationship with Everly and try to be more understanding when more of her gifts manifested themselves.
19
Ronan
The next morning, Ronan was still thinking about Everly’s new gift and the fact that none of the other psychics could do what his six year old daughter had done. Each of them, Tennyson included had tried, but all had failed.
After dinner later that night, he and Ten had sat down with Everly and talked about new rules regarding her gifts. Ronan knew damn well that Everly could use her gift to her heart’s content without either he or Ten knowing a thing, like she’d done in the past. Now that Ten had explained his concerns more fully, he hoped that Everly would be better at keeping him and Ten in the loop.
Ronan had been startled when the alarm clock had gone off when it was still dark outside. Years ago, when he was still working for the Boston Police Department he’d gotten up atthis hour every day to head into work, but now, he was out of practice. He’d gotten himself up and dressed and kissed his sleeping husband before heading out the door.
The ride into Boston had been seamless so far, with the usual amount of rush hour traffic. Fitz and Jude decided to go with Ronan and Spencer to the Tremont Street Mission. Both men had figured it would do them good to give back. Spencer sat forward in his seat taking in the Boston skyline. “When was the last time you were in Boston? You look like you’ve never seen it before.”
“It’s been a while. After Mom and Dad died in the accident, Aunt Effy Lou didn’t want to step foot in the city again. I don’t blame her, she and my mother were very close even though there was a fifteen year age difference between them. Mom was anoopsbaby. At least that’s what my aunt said.”
Ronan understood where Effy Lou was coming from. Spencer had been her last living relation and he didn’t blame her one bit for wanting to smother him in bubble wrap and keep him safe from the world.
