“Did I ever tell you about the time I lost my gift?” Ten asked, with a rueful smile. He set Everly in her usual seat at the table and sat across from her.
“You lost your gift?” Everly’s eyes widened. “What happened?”
Ronan would never forget those tense weeks at the beginning of their relationship when Tennyson had somehow locked his gift away and couldn’t find the key to set it free.
“I had a hard time teaming up with your father when we first met.” Ten grinned at Ronan.
“Was it because Daddy was a dumbass?” Everly asked, sounding innocent.
Ten laughed, as his eyes shifted to Ronan. “Not really. I knew your father was skeptical of what I could do. He was results-oriented and just wanted to solve cases, so that families could get the justice they deserved. That part I understood completely. What I had a hard time with was how awful people were to each other. I wasn’t sure I could keep putting myself in a position to deal with the damage left behind by horrible people.”
“I understand,” Everly said, breaking Ronan’s heart.
He’d had years to get used to seeing bloody crime scenes and dealing with criminals who’d just as soon stab him in the gut than tell him the truth. When Ronan became a member of the Boston Police Department, he’d been in his early twenties. A grown-ass man with the maturity to deal with the things he saw and was forced to do in the line of duty. His six-year-old daughter had none of those protections and at the time, neither did Tennyson. He had chosen his profession, his husband and daughter had no say in it.
“I’d gone up to Maine for a few days to clear my head,” Ten began. “There were spirits everywhere who wanted me to help them. I got angry and told them to leave me alone. Then, I wished I’d never had my gift in the first place. After my tantrum was over, I took a nap. When I woke up, my gift was gone.”
Everly’s eyes were so wide, Ronan was afraid they’d fall out of her head. “How did you get your abilities back?”
“With a little help from Madam Aurora. She was able to show me how unlock my gift and how to turn it on and off at will.
“You taught me how to do that when I was three.”
“That’s right,” Ten agreed. “I didn’t ever want you to get to the place I was and have your gift overwhelm you. I hate to ask, but did you do this to yourself?”
Everly shook her head, sending her strawberry blonde hair flying. “I would never do that, Dad. I promise.” She held up her pinkie finger to swear.
Ten wrapped his finger around his daughter’s. He was about to ask another question when he heard footsteps on the stairs. “We’ll have to talk more about this later, okay? I promise we’re going to do everything we can to get to the bottom of this.”
“Okay, Dad.” Everly hopped off her chair and hurried into the living room. Squeals of excitement followed shortly after.
“Have you ever heard of this happening before?” Ronan asked. “Kids losing abilities or having them dull down over time?”
Ten shook his head. “I’ll reach out to Aurora and see if she has any experience with this. For now, all we can do is monitor the situation.”
Nodding, Ronan started adding strips of bacon to the frying pan. He’d injured himself the previous Halloween and very briefly had Ten’s gifts. In that time, he’d spent countless hours speaking with his mother and getting to understand how his newfound abilities affected his mood and actions. When he lost those powers, Ronan had been devastated. He’d known what life was like without being able to speak with the dead, but Everly didn’t. She’d been gifted since she was an infant. Ronan had easily assimilated back into his old life, but knew his daughter wouldn’t find the transition as seamless.
Listening to his daughter’s laugh, Ronan vowed to do everything in his power to make sure Everly didn’t lose her gifts.
6
Tennyson
The ride into Boston was thankfully uneventful. With it being Saturday, there wasn’t the kind of traffic that plagued the city during the work week. Ten sat in his seat and watched the scenery pass him by, while worrying about Everly’s problem. He’d reached out via text to Madam Aurora, who’d written back to say she hadn’t had any experience with children losing abilities, but said she’d look into it and get back to him. He’d also asked her to look into his recurring nightmare. All he could do now was wait and try to enjoy the day in the city with his family and friends.
Fitzgibbon had booked a large capacity van to take the entire crowd to the Boston Garden to check out preparations for the charity circus, which meant no one had to drive or navigate. The kids sat in the back watching movies and laughing together, while the adults did their own thing. Ronan, Jude and Fitz were whispering about a case they’d been working on. Kaye and Jace were each reading a book on their phones, while Cope and Barb chatted about how picky Delta was now that she was on solid foods.
Movement at the front of the van caught Ten’s attention. River had gotten up from the seat next to his wife and was heading toward Ten, which brought his first real smile of the morning. Like Everly and Brooke, Ten and River spoke on FaceTime several times a week and texted each other every day. Even though they spoke all the time, neither brother ever ran out of things to say.
“How are things this morning?” River asked, with a knowing look on his face.
“I didn’t have my nightmare last night, but I didn’t get a lot of sleep either. The kids were up late laughing together.” Ten didn’t want to use the kids as an excuse for his lack of sleep. Truth be told, Ten was more than okay with being awake during the night. If he wasn’t sleeping he couldn’t dream.
“We’re moving the sleepover to Kaye’s house tonight. That will leave you free to get some sleep.”
“Here’s hoping.” Cope had already volunteered to take Ezra for the night, so he and Lizbet could have their own little sleepover, which meant Ten could sleep in his own bed and not worry about waking the kids up if he had another nightmare.
“Have you tried taking something to sleep? Like Ambien or one of those over the counter sleep aids?”
