Whisper Cape (28 page)

Addie looked at Cael, then at his mother. “No ... no. I can’t ... I can’t walk out on my life. I have to work. I can’t take off whenever I feel like it. Gerry and Maia would never understand why I wasn’t there.”

“Okay, but if you change your mind, the offer still stands. This is your home also,” Siana said.

“Thank you,” Addie said, trying—with some difficulty—to accept the idea.

They stepped into the elevator and Addie was amazed to discover the building had two more stories below. The next level down looked like a beautiful hotel hallway, with plush carpet and doors to rooms on both sides.

“Each room is a studio apartment with a full kitchen, bath, and living room/bedroom, similar to your own apartment,” Cael explained. “I believe at present there are only three people living here. One of them would be the notorious Benjamin you met upstairs. He has the ability to stretch his body to the span of twenty feet from head to toe.”

“That’s funny. He reminds me of Lurch—you know the tall character from the Addams Family. Oh, God, I’m sorry. That was rude.”

“No worries. You’re right, he does, and he'd be the first to admit it.”

They stopped in front of one of the doors and Cael knocked. The door opened and a woman appeared. Addie took a step back, in awe of her silver-haired beauty and eyes so green, they made Addie think of emeralds.

“Cael, what a wonderful surprise. How nice to see you.”

“Mary, hi, I’d like you to meet Addison MacKenna, Ristéard’s daughter. Addison this is Mary Daniels.”

“Yes, I heard you’d be visiting. So sorry for your loss,” Mary added sympathetically.

“Thanks,” Addie managed.

“Mary can change her appearance with a blink of her eyes. She can change her facial structure, the shape of her nose, her eyes, and her hair. Would you mind demonstrating for us?”

“My pleasure.”

The emerald in Mary's eyes turned a deep blue as her hair grew, cascading golden brown curls down to the floor. She touched her finger to her nose before it changed from short and straight to turned up and narrow.

“Wow, bet you save a lot of money on haircuts.”

Mary laughed. “Yes, I must confess though, when I’m not feeling well, I can’t control how I appear, so I spend those days here. I’ve just recovered from a head cold and will be leaving today to return home to Maine.”

“Well, glad we got to see you before you left,” Cael said.

“Enjoy your visit.”

Cael guided Addie down the hall toward a man just leaving his apartment. “Razzle Dazzle, my man. I’d like you to meet Addison MacKenna. Addison, this is Razvan Sakolov.” A tall handsome man with dark hair reached out and took Addie’s hand.

“It’s a pleasure. Such a tragedy about your father, my condolences,” Razvan said with a thick Russian accent as he pulled her hand to his lips.

“Raz, since you have the ability to create a virtual environment, I was hoping you’d show Addison how it works.”

“Ah, yes, well then, how’s this.” Within seconds, he had both Addie and Cael not only visualizing, but also feeling as though they were on a sailboat in the middle of the ocean.

“This is so unbelievable! It really feels authentic.” Addie clutched on to Cael as the sea breeze stung her cheeks with sprays of salt water. The next moment they were standing back in the hallway with Raz.

“Thanks, Raz.”

“Anytime. It was my pleasure.”

“We’ll see you later.” Cael nudged Addie down the hallway. “There are six separate apartments on this level and they’re available to anyone at any given time. Most everyone has his or her own house and leads relatively normal lives, but every now and then, someone needs a reprieve from the real world.”

They took the elevator down to the third level. The ground level, or as Cael called it “the cave,” housed a laboratory full of computers and medical equipment. “This is where we come when we're sick. This is also where I brought the samples I found the other day.”

A young man with fire-red hair that hung down in ringlets over his ears, stood at a counter staring at a computer. He glanced up as they entered.

“Red, I'd like you to meet Addison MacKenna. Addison, this is Red or Dr. Flynn. He can heat objects with his touch.”

“Nice to meet you, Addison. Welcome. If you ever need help or feel sick, please feel free to come see me. I helped your father many times.”

“Thanks, good to know.”

Down the hall from the medical facilities, they entered a huge room different from all the others. Addie scanned the room. It appeared to be a gymnasium. There were various types of weight machines, and several thick mats stacked against one wall. A gigantic mirror completely covered another wall, and a wooden cabinet with glass doors hung just opposite, sporting a row of swords in many shapes and sizes. Kitty-cornered to the wall with the swords was a built-in floor-to-ceiling bookshelf housing large books that looked ancient to Addie, similar to some of the books she remembered seeing in her father’s study.

“Jeez, Cael, this place is huge. This is where you trained with my father?”

“Yes. This is where I spent most of my afternoons perfecting my skills. Your father was a terrific teacher.”

“All that time, I thought he was working at the college or off on a dig.”

“I’m sorry; I hope this isn’t too difficult for you.”

“No, I’m okay. Whoa, look at that!”

A large indoor swimming pool took up the other end of the room and some splashing was coming from it.

Addie took a step toward the pool. “Wait, just a minute.” Cael stopped her, and turned them both away from the water.

Twenty seconds later, they turned and resumed walking to the pool. A young woman with long, wet, blond hair stood with a towel wrapped around her.

“Addison, this is Salacia.”

“Nice to meet you.” Salacia held out a hand to Addie.

“Nice to meet
you
,” Addie said, taking Salacia’s hand and noticing how warm it felt. “Is the pool heated?”

Cael shook his head and smiled. “No. Salacia, Addison is Ristéard’s daughter and I’ve brought her here to show her the facilities and to meet everyone.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry for your loss, Addison.”

“Thank you.”

“Salacia’s body temperature runs a little warmer than ours. It's sort of like an extra coating of heat just under the first layer of her skin, which helps keep her warm,” Cael explained. “Maybe it would be better if you showed Addison what you can do?”

Salacia nodded. “I’d be happy to. You’ll need to turn around for a moment though.” She twirled her finger in front of Cael’s face. He raised a brow in protest before spinning around and Addie turned with him, feeling a little jealous at Cael’s obvious attraction to the woman. Addie forgot about that pretty quickly when she heard a splash.

When they turned back, Addie had to cover her gaping mouth with her hand.

“Oh my, she is truly beautiful.” A large multicolored fish about five feet in length swam around in the pool.

“Salacia is an amphibious shape shifter. She can become any water-dwelling creature as well as any land creature.”

The fish changed from blue to orange and then transformed into a man-eating great white shark. Addie took a step back when the shark approached the side of the pool before changing into a dolphin. The dolphin spiraled about ten feet in the air and then came back down with a huge splash. Cael grabbed Addie and pulled her back from the pool just in time to avoid being drenched from head to toe. Her mouth, still wide open because she’d been gaping again, got a good taste of the water. It was salty.

Cael looked at Addie, amused. “It’s a saltwater pool.”

After a few minutes, Salacia wiggled her dolphin tail and bobbed her head up and down making dolphin sounds, which Cael quickly deciphered. “Okay, okay, keep your tail on, we’re turning.”

“You can turn around now,” Salacia said, tucking the end of the towel in to help secure it to her body.

“Wow. I’ve never seen anything so spectacular. You’re so beautiful.”

“Thank you. I’m in the process of having a couple of real dolphins transported here so I can do some practical research on their cognitive state. Their cerebral development is similar to humans. There are many similarities between humans and dolphins, which I find very fascinating and if I have them here … well, I’m sure I’m boring you.”

“No, not at all. I find this stuff really interesting,” Addie said.

“Well, I’d love to sit and chat with you, but it will have to be another time. I hate to cut this short, but if you’ll excuse me, I’m late. I’m meeting my husband for dinner and I really need to get ready. It was a pleasure meeting you, Addison. I hope to see you again soon.”

Salacia scurried across the floor and out the door.

“She has a husband?” Addie asked.

“Sure, why not?”

“I don’t know. I guess ... she’s so amazing.”

“Yes, she is.”

Cael took Addie's arm. “Come on, let's go. I don't think anyone else is here.”

“Cael!”

A child shouted and came running across the room. An adorable little girl with long dark hair, fashioned neatly in a braid hanging to her waist, jumped into his arms, almost knocking him over. “I’ve missed you so much.”

Chapter 28

Cael spun the girl around and nuzzled her neck. “Hey, squirt, I’ve missed you, too. How’s my favorite girl?”

“I’m great, now that you’re back. Are you going to stay for a while?” she said, eyeing Addie with a soft smile.

He set her down. “Sorry, sweet thing, I can’t.”

“Aw.” She pouted.

“Listen, there’s someone here I’d like you to meet. Breena, this is Addison.” Then he whispered close to Breena’s ear, “She’s important to me, so be nice.”

“Hello, Breena, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Addie held out her hand.

“Hello.” Breena swayed, holding her hands behind her back.

“Breena won’t shake your hand without your permission first because when she touches your skin, she can see your future.”

“Only the next twelve hours of it,” Breena corrected.

Cael smiled at Breena. “Right, but in the process, she can also transfer that vision back to you so you can see what she sees.”

“Would you like me to show you?”

“Well, okay, I suppose, but first—how old are you Breena, if you don’t mind me asking?” By the gleam in the girl’s eye when she looked at Cael, Addie noted a great amount of affection for him. Cael seemed to possess the same feeling for the girl and it made Addie wonder exactly who Breena was.

“Nine and three quarters—I’ll be ten in three more months and we're going to have a huge party." Breena spread her arms out as wide as they would go and her eyes brightened with the word “huge.” “Cael, you said you'd be there, you promised!”

“I promise! I wouldn't miss it for the world.”

She smiled and turned toward Addie. “Okay, give me your hand.” She took Addie’s hand in hers and within just a few seconds, both jerked their hands back and Breena flashed a very sheepish grin.

“What is it?” Cael asked.

“Um ...”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to ...” Breena dropped her hands behind her and looked down at the floor, one foot pointed out, swaying her body again.

“Cael, can you give me a moment to have a word with Breena ... in private?”

“Sure, but if there’s something wrong, I need to know.”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Addie assured him.

“Okay, then, I’ll just be over here.” Pointing to a weight machine, he sauntered over to it and fiddled with a few weights.

Remembering Cael’s acute hearing ability, Addie turned to him. “Do you mind?”

“Really? Oh, okay.” Taking the hint, he disappeared.

She placed her hand on Breena’s shoulder and walked her over to a couple of chairs on the other side of the room.

“I’m sorry you had to see that, Breena. What you saw ... what Cael and I were doing ...”

“It’s okay. You were in your underwear and Cael was kissing you, so I know you were going to make sex.”

“You know about sex?”

“Of course, I’m not a baby.”

“Of course not. I didn’t mean to imply you were. How
do
you know about sex, anyway?”

“My Grammy Siana told me all about it a few years ago when I saw it in someone else’s future.”

Her Grammy Siana? Was this beautiful little girl Cael’s child? Surely he would have mentioned it—wouldn’t he?

Breena sat with her hands folded in her lap, a habit Addie figured the girl had adopted to avoid touching people accidentally and seeing their future.

“He loves you, you know. But ... at the same time, he’s afraid to love you. He’s afraid of what you mean to him. He’s scared for you—and terrified of losing you. Actually, he’s a mess.”

Addie smoothed back a loose strand of hair off Breena’s face. “How do you know all that?”

“I’m empathic. It’s a new ability for me. I haven't had a chance to tell Cael yet, so he didn’t know when I hugged him, I could feel all his emotions. It’s not a very fun ability—I don’t like feeling all that stuff. At least I only have to feel it when I hug someone. If I had to go around feeling everyone’s pain and worries all the time, jeez, I would probably hide in my room all day.”

“I can see how that would be a major problem.” This young girl seemed so wise beyond her nine short years.

“I’m sorry about what happened to your dad. I really liked him.”

“Thank you, Breena, that means a lot to me.”

“And I like you, too. Will you come back soon?”

“I’d like to.”

They stood and Addie started to give the girl a hug, but Breena shook her head, stopping her. “Better not, one love-sick puppy a day is enough for me. Maybe we should keep that little secret to ourselves for a while.”

Addie cringed. “You’re a very wise young lady. Thank you for sharing with me.”

They walked out in the hall where Cael waited. Breena waved goodbye and skipped down the hall.

“Okay, so, what was that all about?” Cael asked, on their way to the elevator.

“Oh, nothing.” Addie smirked.

“Don’t give me that, Addison, tell me.”