19-2
Gertie felt the disturbance almost as soon
as it happened. She felt the presence of her Mistress, just a shred but she
knew it was her. Feeling the call of her Charge, she turned from Jack’s cage
where she had been feeding him sunflower seeds and closed the cage door before
she went to see what was happening. She wanted to be there for her Mistress in
case she needed her. Before she made it even two steps out of the kitchen Chase
was already in full stride running up the stairs in two’s.
“Damn it!” Gertie cursed knowing she could
never reach them before he could because of her age and restricted motion. Even
so as she started to climb the stairs Maury stepped out of the front room and
leaned casually against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. The
smirk on his face did more than just irritate her.
“Forget it old woman. You won’t win this.” The smugness in his tone rattled her
more than anything else had. She was so used to being alone and she remembered
why now as her hatred for the guardian settled over her like a blanket. Even as
a young girl they had misjudged her. She looked at him with distaste as his
mouth curved into a harsh smile causing her to turn and return to the kitchen
instead of getting involved with whatever was happening upstairs.
Opening the cage door Gertie cooed at Jack
and tears threatened to spill over her eyes, but she kept it at bay by thinking
back to her cottage that she missed more than anything at this moment. She
swore that she would never let them see her cry.
~~
Chase reached Skye’s bedroom and for a
moment he felt wrong crossing the threshold. A brief flash of Deacon almost
caused him to miss a step until he saw the terror on Skye’s face as she fought
an invisible but all too real threat within herself. He knew his knowledge of
the past wasn’t going to help him now and he couldn’t stop to think about what
was going to happen next. He blocked everything out except for her when he
crossed the room and took hold of Skye’s arms putting himself directly into her
field of vision. Even though she was looking at him, he was well aware that she
couldn’t really see him with the turbulent thoughts going on inside of her
head. He cursed the fact that Georgia had a grip on her that he had no idea how
to break.
His first thought was to slap her again but
seeing as it was Skye he was looking at he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
Managing to gently move her over to the bed and sit her down he took a deep
breathe. Every now and then her brows would crease in confusion but he had no
way to be sure. “Skye…” he ventured softly. “Can you hear me?” when all she did
was blink he took out his cell phone and called Dominic thinking maybe he knew
something, a cold shower…something to help. He would question later why he felt
so protective over her.
He reluctantly stepped away from her and
dialed Dominic’s number. He waited for him to answer as he paced back and forth
across the room, his eyes constantly watching Skye. On his last pass in front
of the bedroom door Savannah unknowingly strode in humming to herself a tune. He
had at first ignored it thinking that she should not be near her mother at this
particular moment in time and then a vague recollection of the notes niggled in
his mind but couldn’t place from where.
Bringing him back to the moment he
remembered that he had a phone in his ear. “Chase…what’s the matter?” Dominic’s
voice filtered through the receiver.
“Hey Boss, we have a situation here…” his
words trailed off as he watched Savannah climb up the end of the bed; crawl
across the quilt and under Skye’s arm to sit in her lap.
“What’s happened? Did she come back?”
Dominic sounded calm at all times but with this all being so new he was a bit
on edge, not enough to crack his strength or his resolve but enough to be frustrated
and wary the same time held hostage by lack of knowledge.
Chase took a breath to reply while he
watched Savannah tuck herself into Skye’s side. She didn’t say anything, she
continued to hum and play with a piece of Skye’s hair that had escaped her bun
on her head. Within a few minutes Skye began to blink rapidly, trying to focus
and looked around the room. Breathing heavy as she digested the situation Chase
could sense the panic she was beginning build and moved towards her. Before he
reached her she looked down at her sweet girl unaware of seeing Savannah come
in. The last visual that Skye remembered
was seeing the girls in that backyard. Her mind cycled through what had
happened in what had ended up only being a few minutes. When she looked up and
saw Chase standing in front of her with his phone to his ear she felt the first
pangs of anxiety.
She hugged Savannah close and kissed the
top of her head hoping to ease the panic and anxiety, keeping it in check. She
didn’t want to scare her youngest daughter considering she was scaring herself.
Even as that thought was going through her she felt the weighing presence of
Chase near her and for the first time since they had dominated her home she was
glad that she wasn’t alone. Daring to look at him she whispered harshly “What
happened?” her eyes were pleading with him while every fiber of herself was
hoping and praying that Georgia hadn’t broken through or hurt Savannah.
Chase saw the additional question in her
eyes and said softly “You’re fine Skye, Savannah just came in a moment ago. I
was here the entire time” The sigh that she released was heavy but her body
relaxed all except for her arms which had her daughter pinned in her lap.
“Mommy?” The muffled sound of Savannah’s
voice trapped in the crook of her arm made her jump and she let go of the
little girl. After taking a few dramatic deep breaths Savannah got up on her
knees and hugged Skye around the neck, kissing her cheek. “I love you Mommy.”
She said before she hopped down like nothing was unusual.
Chase still had the phone in his hand and
the conversation forgotten. Dominic was trying to tell him that he was on his
way over and they would figure this all out yet Chase never heard the last words
Dominic said because he was too focused on Savannah as she strode from the
room. Just before she reached the door she stopped and turned to face her
mother. Her little smile lit up the room.
“Don’t worry mommy, she can’t hurt you
unless you’re sad.” She said and skipped from the room.
Skye
sat dumbfounded on the edge of the bed and Chase could do nothing other than
hang up the phone. He was pretty sure that Dominic was still talking but at
this point couldn’t care less as he processed what had just happened. He knew
that Dom would not approve of the abrupt cut off and yet it was the furthest
thing from his mind. Chase stood
speechless and in awe of one so small that could have an answer to something
none of them knew the answer to. He turned then to look at Skye who by now
white as a sheet.
“I am going fucking crazy…” Skye turned to
face him and her eyes were wet with tears but there was no sobbing, no wailing
just quiet tears streaming down her face. Wanting to go to her and wipe her
tears away overwhelmed him, it was completely unexpected. His training had
taught him how to put emotions aside and he did so with ease once he had a
handle on the feelings stirring inside of him. Deciding to focus on something
else he turned Savannah’s words over in his head and took the chance that she
might be on to something. The song was familiar and he held on to that.
He tapped his cell phone on his wrist,
something he did out of habit when his brain was turning. Something came to mind;
he stopped tapping and looked at her.
“If you don’t mind me asking, what were you
thinking about before you tranced out?”
Chase had a feeling he already knew and his
instincts were usually right on the button. For once he prayed that the answer
wasn’t what he thought it was because grief is the hardest thing to fight. Skye
looked up at him, her green eyes lined with silver as she fought back the
tears. Clearing her throat she said what he knew in his heart to be true.
Between
muffled breaths she managed to work her lips. “Deacon.”
As soon as the word was out of her mouth Skye
was up and pacing, now almost frantic at what Savannah had said and what had
happened. Feeling relieved that Chase was there could only calm her so much.
She had felt him and so did Georgia the minute he touched her. That was when the
Goddess slipped giving Skye moment she needed to grab hold of the surface, but
the struggle was like wading through quicksand. Suppressing the feelings that she
had was all she could do at the moment until she figured out what it all meant.
More and more Georgia’s emotions were flowing freely through her and the only
one of them without pain was curiosity and sometimes mild amusement. Georgia had been caught off-guard a second
time and Skye knew that would not so easily happen again.
“So what now?” she asked, “Georgia picked up
an image of Deacon out of my head and she almost had me!” She wrung her hands together
in front of her so hard that they hurt leaving her some reality injected into
the situation. Her fear was beating at her, nothing seemed real anymore and
everything that kept her grounded felt so far away.
Leaning up against the dresser Chase
followed her pacing with his eyes trying to find something that would help her
calm down and think straight. He was at a loss with her, wondering about the
other versions of her and how similar they were but the time periods produced
different women and reactions. Even though at her core she was the same Skye he
had seen over and over again, she had been submissive and he never really had
to get to know her, she was Deacons Charge and where Deacon was easy and
instructive Chase was an Enforcer and for the most part a silent killer.
Not husband material.
“Ok, listen,” he started off and realized that
there was no way that she was listening to him. He could sense the anxiety and
panic overriding her senses. Skye kept pacing ignoring him until he stood up
and stepped into her path. When she ran nose first into his chest she was
startled, not expecting his body to be so…firm. Georgia scoffed inside her head
and Skye realized through Georgia that his close proximity distracted her from
being afraid. For a moment when Georgia found the way Skye reacted to him
amusing in return she would calm down, especially when he was close but right
now he felt way too close to her. Too close in the bedroom she shared with his
cousin for many years.
Gently he put his hands on her shoulders
and she visibly relaxed and began to breathe normally. Without warning she
wrapped her arms around him and started to cry, as each sob rocked through her
he felt the pull towards her, protecting her and her family.
…His family now.
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