Page 6

The next morning, Ronan woke up feeling like something the cat dragged and not because Ten had another nightmare. They’d hosted Aurora, Wolf, and Brooke for a sleepover. The kids had eaten too much sugar, and as a result were up half the night laughing and talking.

Not that Ronan minded. Being kept awake by giggles from the next room was much more preferable than waking up to Tennyson’s terrified screams. He’d been reluctant to have the kids sleepover in case he had another nightmare, but thankfully the night passed without incident.

Getting out of bed early, so Ten could sleep in, Ronan headed downstairs and started a pot of coffee before gathering the ingredients to make his famous pancakes. He knew everyone would be over around eight for breakfast. On the agenda for the day was to head into Boston and check out a rehearsal for the circus. He wanted to get the lay of the land and knew the kids would get a kick out of the trapeze artists and the clowns.

His personal plan was to find out the names of all the scheduled performers, so that he could run them through the Boston Police database and see if anyone had a criminal record or warrants out for their arrest. Ronan couldn’t be too careful, and not just because of Ten’s dream, but there would be thousands of people at the charity performance. Boston Police would be on duty both in and outside the arena, but Ronan wanted to do his homework ahead of time. He’d enlisted the help of old friend, and current captain of the Boston Cold Case Unit, Faulkner Hayes.

“Hi, Daddy,”

Everly said on a yawn from the kitchen door. She was dressed in jeans and a bright pink unicorn tee.

“Good morning, little miss.”

Ronan swooped his daughter into his arms and set her on the kitchen island. “I thought you’d still be sleeping. You guys were up pretty late last night.”

“There was just so much to talk about, Daddy.”

Everly giggled, when Ronan shot her a look of disbelief.

“How could there be so much to talk about?”

Ronan asked with a grin. “You and Brooke speak on FaceTime nearly every day.”

He’d bitten the bullet and had gotten Everly a phone of her own so that she and Brooke could talk without having to use his or Ten’s phone. They’d put strict rules on it, like not taking the phone to bed with her or getting on social media. So far, the phone was working out great.

“Daddy, you don’t understand what it’s like to be a girl. There’s so much going on with school and the circus, fashion, and Brooke’s boyfriend.”

Everly slapped her hands over her mouth. The six year old had obviously spilled a secret confidence.

“Wait! What?”

Ronan grabbed the nearest stool and sat down in front of Everly. “Brooke has a boyfriend? Spill the tea, girl.”

Everly giggled at Ronan’s response. “Well, I wasn’t supposed to tell you. His name is Winston. He likes to play video games and he smells like tuna fish.”

Ronan burst out laughing. “Ew!”

“Right! I don’t think I could hold hands with a boy who smelled like that.”

Everly wrinkled her nose.

“Okay, then, what kind of a boy could you smell yourself holding hands with?”

Ronan was curious to hear her answer, but make no mistake, he was going to make sure this heretofore unknown boy knew to stay away from his daughter until she was over the age of thirty. No, make that thirty-five.

“If he smelled like roses or cinnamon, I guess, but I have more important things to worry about than holding hands with a boy.”

Everly rolled her eyes, as if to emphasize her point.

Everly’s answer was music to Ronan’s ears. “I’m relieved to hear it. Important things like what?”

“Things like Dad’s dream.”

All the earlier happiness drained from Everly’s face. She looked older than her six years and more tired than a child should ever be. “Part of the reason I stayed up last night was in case Dad needed me.”

Ronan was at a loss for words. On the one hand, he loved that Everly wanted to do everything she could to keep Ten safe. On the other hand, that wasn’t a job for a six-year-old. There were so many times his daughter had used her gift over the last year to help solve cases and to make sure her family was protected. It killed Ronan to ask her to put those skills to the test again. “Did you see anything new last night?”

Everly shook her head. “Almost, sort of?”

Barking out a quick laugh, Ronan couldn’t help but think that his daughter sounded like a typical first grader, but the subject was nothing that would ever come up in the classroom. “Can you tell me what you mean?”

“It’s kind of hard to explain, but it’s like when I want to reach something in the cabinet and I’m on tiptoes and just brush a finger against a cup before my feet hurt and I have stand flat again. Does that make sense?”

“It sure does,”

Ronan agreed. “But in your example, you know you’re reaching for a cup. Did you know what was just out of reach? Could you see a little hint of it?”

“No, it was pitch black, like the time the lights went out in that snowstorm.”

“Could you hear or smell anything?”

When Ronan interviewed witnesses to a crime, he’d always ask questions about the five senses. Most people put all their stock in what they saw, but he knew that what people felt, heard, smelled, or tasted were equally as valuable.

“Not really,”

Everly said sounding worried.

Ronan studied his daughter. Everly looked tired and worn out and knew it wasn’t just from not getting a lot of sleep the night before. “What else is bothering you?”

Everly shook her head. “There’s something else I wanted to talk to you about without Dad being here.”

“Okay, shoot.”

Ronan’s stomach dipped and pitched, as if he was going down a rollercoaster drop. It wasn’t like Everly to be so serious or to want to talk to him without Tennyson.

“I’m worried about my gift.”

Ronan blew out the breath he’d been holding. Relief washed through him. He was afraid Everly was going reveal something about Ten, something he didn’t already know about. Everly’s gift being a little wonky wasn’t a matter of life and death. “Why? What’s going on with it?”

“It’s hard to explain, but it feels less strong than before. My friend, Seth, at school, has asthma and the doctor said he would probably outgrow it. What if I’m outgrowing my gift?”

Fear and worry warred in her eyes, breaking Ronan’s heart.

Ten would have been much better equipped to speak to Everly about her psychic abilities, which worried Ronan to his core. Why was she speaking to him and not Tennyson. “Has anything like this ever happened to you before?”

Ronan figured if there were other times this happened, he could help his daughter find what was triggering it now.

“No, usually my gift stays the same or gets stronger, but it’s never gotten weaker before. I’m scared that I’ll lose it all together. If that happens, I won’t be able to help my family and can’t reunite spirits with their loved ones or help cross over lost souls.”

Everly sniffled.

Ronan stood and wrapped his arms around his daughter, who’d started to cry. He had no idea how to help Everly and unfortunately, had more questions than answers. “Why don’t you want Dad to know what’s going on with your gift?”

“I’m afraid he won’t love me anymore if I don’t have my abilities.”

Everly wept, sounding helpless.

Pulling Everly’s face from his chest, Ronan wiped his daughter’s seemingly endless tears. “I want you to listen to me very carefully, okay?”

When his daughter nodded with a sniffle, Ronan continued. “There is nothing that could make either one of us love you one bit less. I promise you that. Your gift is only a small part of you.”

A sniffle from the kitchen door caught Ronan’s attention. Tennyson was standing there, swiping at the tears rolling down his cheeks. “Oh, honey.”

Everly hopped off the counter and ran to Tennyson who swept her up in his arms. Father and daughter hugged and cried together.

Ronan felt useless. There was almost nothing he could do to soothe his little girl’s worries and fears. There was less he could do for Ten, who looked more tired now, than he had last night. Wrapping his arms around his husband and daughter, he held on for dear life.

“Daddy’s right,”

Ten said. “Absolutely nothing could make me love you less. Why don’t we sit at the table and talk about what’s been happening? I’ll take notes, while Daddy starts the bacon.”

“What if I lose it forever?”

Everly asked, looking scared.

“If the worst happens, then we’ll deal with it together, but there are a lot of steps to take between now and then, okay?”

“Okay.”

Everly wiped her damp eyes and offered Ten a smile.

“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.