Eye of the Falcon (Psychic Visions #12)(49)
All leading to silence.
She started to tremble. “What was that?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
“My security system.”
She buried her face against his chest and held on tight. Finally he relaxed his grip on her and said, “I have to go check.”
She gave a broken laugh. “Check what? That they’re not dead? Did you just kill all those men?”
“What men?” He tilted her chin up and said, “I only saw one man out there. Don’t confuse this with the kidnappers.”
She frowned. “How can you tell there was just one now?”
“I can’t for sure until I look. But I only heard one man scream.”
She let out a heavy breath and nodded. “Is it safe for you to check? What if they’re waiting for you to step out the door?”
He gave her a grim smile. “I wasn’t planning on letting anyone see me.” He carefully shifted around the couch. “Stay here. I don’t want to accidentally hurt you because you pop up where you don’t belong.” He tossed her a blanket. “Bundle up and stay warm.”
She nodded. “Please come back.”
“I plan on it.” And with that he was gone.
She didn’t hear which direction he left the cabin, and she hadn’t gotten a chance to search or even explore the house fully. As she lay here, she realized she also hadn’t seen Roash. She sent out a call to him. And heard his response. She smiled. At least he was alive. What about Humbug? And damn if she didn’t get an answering flicker from Humbug too.
With her eyes closed, she sent out a search and probe, trying to see how far away Roash was. She had used a mental image of a map to show Hadrid so he would know where to search for her father’s enemies and to give a warning if he saw anyone.
She’d send him a visual image of the coast and would have him soar up and over. She had seen images as he flew. The system had worked fine. Until that one night when she’d seen what she shouldn’t have seen, and she’d had trouble getting Hadrid’s images. Maybe that night of smuggling would have ended very differently, if she hadn’t seen her mother in bed with Angus.
Something she hadn’t ever told anyone.
But she knew. And Issa understood her mother’s guilt now that Issa was an adult herself. But, dear God, the price she had paid, the price her brothers and father had paid, had been horrific.
Calming her mind, she tried to direct Roash to show her what he saw.
But it hadn’t worked with him yet.
She’d never had another connection like the one she’d had with Hadrid. Roash had never been able to show her anything. All she could do was get an impression of where Roash and Humbug might be, two dots burning in the night. But …
They weren’t far apart. In fact, she wondered if Roash wasn’t at Humbug’s side. She sent out a series of questions, more emotional responses, searching, asking for Humbug. And she realized the two birds were together. And that was one hell of a good thing. Except Humbug couldn’t fly far, and Roash’s wing was also damaged.
She’d done what she could to give both birds enough energy to fly. She hadn’t had much more to give them. In fact, she’d been using Roash’s energy to heal her wounds. With Humbug responding, she sent him pulses of loving energy. Something she’d learned to do with Hadrid. Whenever he was fatigued from a long flight, she’d send him her energy mentally. As a small child, she’d had bundles of it. He seemed to do much better when she would open up her heart and surround him with love.
It’d been so easy back then. Now, as an adult, she felt like she was arguing with her own mind, her own belief system. She tried to figure out how to help the two birds. And all the while she couldn’t stop thinking about Eagle outside, walking the perimeter, looking for intruders.
And possibly a man he might’ve killed. Or a man waiting to kill him.
While she couldn’t help Eagle, what she could do was help Roash and Humbug. She opened up her heart, surrounded Roash with love and built a stream of energy between Roash and Humbug. If she helped Roash, maybe he could help Humbug. They were hurting, but they were both still mobile and fighting. She could sense them. Could hear their calls in her mind, in her heart. She caught another faint voice in the background. She strained to hear it and realized with a shock that it was Gillian.
The tiny saw-whet owl that used to sit on her fence post. Somehow Gillian had found Issa. As had the others.
Instantly she opened her heart a little more toward them all, sending more love in that direction. If the birds were looking for her, she was desperate to let them find her. She’d lost so much. She didn’t want to lose any more. She was deep into sending out her loving energy when she suddenly realized birdcalls came at her from all directions.
Hundreds and hundreds of them.
She didn’t understand what was going on, and she couldn’t disconnect. She wouldn’t anyway. Birds in the distance between her and Roash seemed to be calling out to her. Some crying, some rejoicing. As if the connection was new for them too. Confused and startled, yet open to the concept, Issa punched down all barriers to every hidden corner in her heart. If the birds wanted to connect, she’d do everything she could to let them.
The cries came in waves of noise, each distinct yet blended into an orchestra of joy.
She couldn’t get sidetracked. She needed to help Roash and Humbug—to see what they saw. She needed Roash to send her images so she could see where he was, where Humbug was. She tried to tell Humbug to send her images, but Humbug was always sweet and silly. Not too interested in doing the work. Yet Roash had shown such promise in the beginning. Now it was as if he couldn’t hear her. Or was too tired to function.