Exaltation (Insight #11)(7)
“Thelma Ray,” Emery pleaded, “is it the girls? Tell me they’re safe. Tell me nothing will take them away from me.”
Fate will, child. “They’re guardians.”
“Of?”
Thelma shook her head and threatened to give a smile, but it vanished as she moved her healthy body back as if a jolt of energy had struck her.
Slowly Thelma Ray opened her eyes. “I ‘spect Jamison BellaRose will be seeking you out shortly.”
It took Emery nearly a moment to remember to breathe. She knew exactly who Jamison BellaRose was. The feared, loved, and respected leader of the coven her parents were both a part of: The Dominarum. Even though they both lived in the Quarter, she hadn’t seen Jamison up close since he helped her lay her parents down. Back then he spoke kindly to her and watched over her as she grieved. He’d promised her the coven would always be her family. She assumed it was the gentle power she felt from him which made her heart skip a beat. Or it could be that then, as well as right now, the air around her hummed and she felt blissfully calm when she thought of him.
All at once, Emery felt like the plans for her life were tragically wrong. They were wrong because there was so much more in store for her. She asked for the minimum and she had an odd feeling that she had been served the maximum. She doubted it was because of one name, one man. More than likely it was because the name reminded her of her roots. Assured her that yes, this was the life she wanted for her children; the rest would work itself out some way. Without a doubt, in no way, shape, or form could she spend a decade with Duncan.
Jamison was one of the hidden secrets Emery wanted to understand and explain. He was immortal. An anomaly. Only a few in the coven had the same gift; others aged incredibly slow. Then of course, there were those, like her parents, who were all too mortal. Emery had felt cheated by that in the past, but now she had settled on the idea her parents were needed in another form somewhere else in time.
“What would Jamison BellaRose want with me?”
Thelma shifted out of her seat, clearing the cards and carefully placing crystals over them before she secured them in her cedar case.
“Them girls of yours are growing mighty fast, didn’t even have a chance for ‘em to wear half the clothes you bought for ‘em. Best not be letting ‘em go to waste.”
“What? Stop,” Emery said as she reached for her arm. “What about Jamison? What does this have to do with my question?”
Her heart was racing. She had been in love with the idea of the man for some time, but because he was immortal, dangerous in some way, she had told her heart often to ignore the pull it felt. Emery knew she was everything he wasn’t. She was sure the man had no interest in her. In fact, he’d sent her far away after her parents died, off to school. She’d only came back to the Quarter briefly since then, each time plotting the family she wanted, hoping she would find the perfect energy in the city her parents adored. In all truth, the most time she had spent there was recently, when she came home a month before the girls were due, to prepare their nursery.
Nearly every member of the coven had come by to see the girls, offer their blessings, even Saige, but Jamison hadn’t. As the coven leader it was his role to be there for the naming of the babes. Emery could only assume he didn’t acknowledge her daughters because their conception was less than conventional.
Saige had told her Jamison was under duress and when he emerged from it, she would tell him of the births. That was months ago. Emery knew immortals saw time differently. Still, it hurt her that he had not come. It confused her that Thelma Ray said he would now.
Thelma let her aged gaze meet Emery’s. “You already know the answer. He needs you and you need him.” Thelma Ray glanced in the direction of the river. “Darkness is moving toward you. Whose side do you think you need to be at?”
“What darkness?” You never said something like that to a member of the coven unless you meant it. Legend stated members of this coven could sense evil encroaching from every plane of existence.
Thelma Ray gave her classic sound, which mimicked one loud “ummhmm” accented by the gentle shake of her head. She squinted her eyes closed for a second. “Anyone in the coven have a boy recently?”
Emery looked at her like she was insane. Since her parents’ death she had lost touch with most in their circle. When she did speak to them it was for research, and they knew that, so conversation was always short.
“I’ll figure it out for ya.” Thelma Ray straightened her shoulders as if she were trying to look stronger. “Cut your ties ‘for it’s too late.”
It didn’t take Emery long to figure out why Thelma Ray was standing so tall. Duncan had emerged in the shadow of the doorway. He’d never been a fan of Thelma Ray and the feeling was mutual.
“Evening, Mr. Duncan,” she said, as she passed by him.
He held out her bag. “Best be moving on. It’s getting late,” he said to Thelma Ray.
“I believe I’ll be staying the night,” she said, as she stretched her back and moved past him.
Emery only vaguely glanced up at him. She was still concentrating on the energy she could feel around her. It was a sensation she hadn’t felt since the day she chose not to use Duncan’s seed. It was welcoming and frightening at the same time.
“I don’t like this Hoodoo business around the girls. It will confuse them, take us longer to teach them to have an open mind,” Duncan spouted.