The next morning, as soon as I opened my eyes, a single thought came to my mind—I missed Rayne.
This was the first time since I came to Banya that I didn’t get a goodnight kiss from him before I went to sleep. Even when I was staying at the Court of Ambassadors with my parents Rayne would always drop by if he wasn’t already with us, just to say goodnight.
Without even getting out of bed I grabbed my phone off the night stand and dialed Rayne’s number.
Rayne answered after only one ring. “Morning, sunshine,” he greeted.
“I missed you last night,” I said.
His tone was sweet. “I missed you too. Did you have a good time at the party?”
“Um…” I hesitated. “It was… interesting.”
“Good interesting? Or bad interesting?” he asked.
I laughed and said, “Both, I think. I couldn’t believe how much energy those Academy kids have. They all seem so… confident, and strong. I didn’t really feel like I fit in.”
“If it makes you feel any better,” Rayne said, “I never felt like I fit in there either.”
It was a strange feeling, not fitting in. I had never once felt that way at my school in Newport Beach.
“I just don’t know how I’m going to keep up with them,” I went on. “They’ve all been training for the Academy for years. They’re like a bunch of junior Olympians or parkour addicts or something. I feel like a tired old lady compared to them.”
“First of all,” Rayne said, “you’re not even close to being an old lady. And second, those kids may have a lot of training, but you have something more important—you have inner strength. The things I’ve seen you do… the power you have within you… it’s insurmountable. None of them can do the things you can do.”
“I know,” I agreed quietly. “But the whole thing just made me feel so… inadequate.”
“I promise, you’ll do fine,” Rayne assured me. “If I can make it through the Academy, then you definitely can. There’s no doubt in my mind.”
“Thanks,” I said. “You always know the right thing to say to make me feel better.”
“It’s what I live for,” Rayne said with a chuckle.
“So, what do you want to do today?” I asked. “Will you help me try out my locating skills again?”
“If you’re feeling up to it,” Rayne said. “I’m ready to help any way I can. I’ll be over in a bit.”
“Sounds good,” I said.
By the time I finished showering and eating breakfast, Rayne was already at my doorstep. After all this time, I still couldn’t help but grin every time I saw his beautiful face.
He gave me a big hug and kiss. “How are you feeling?” he said. “Did you sleep okay?”
I smiled. “I slept like a rock. I was completely exhausted, but I feel much better now.”
“Good to hear,” Rayne said.
“So, what did you end up doing last night?” I asked.
He took my hand and led me to the couch. “Not much. I mostly just thought about the conversation I had with Ash yesterday.”
“That’s what you were doing at the Court?” I asked. “Visiting Ash?”
“Yeah,” Rayne said. “He kind of… asked me to join his team. The Council is finally letting him help track down his father.”
I sat forward with interest. “Really? So what did you tell him? Are you going to go?”
“I just told him I would think about it. But he needs an answer pretty quick. I don’t think I’m going to do it, though. It just doesn’t feel like a good time to leave.”
Without even trying I could sense that the reason Rayne didn’t want to go was because of me. Ever since we moved to Banya, he basically had centered his total existence around me. I loved him for it, but I didn’t want to be the reason why he stopped doing the things he loved, especially his work as an agent.
“You should go,” I urged. “You have a lot of experience with Voss. Just think how good it would feel to be there when they finally find him and take him into custody.”
“Believe me,” Rayne said, “I’ve thought about that a lot. I want more than anything to see Voss behind bars.”
I squeezed his hand. “So then, you should go,” I said again.
“Are you sure?” he asked. “For all we know, I could be gone for several weeks.”
“You don’t need to worry about me,” I insisted. “I mean, I’ll miss you like crazy, don’t get me wrong, but this is Voss we’re talking about. They can use all the help they can get.”
“That’s true,” Rayne agreed. “But… I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it.”
Just thinking about all the reasons why Rayne should go, made me suddenly want to go with them.
“Maybe I should come too,” I said. “Do you think they would let me?”
“You want to come on a mission?” Rayne said. He paused. “Um… I don’t think that’s the best idea. I doubt the Council would let you go anyway. You haven’t even started classes at the Academy.”
“But if one of you got hurt,” I protested, “or your Healing Water ran out or got lost or something, I could be there to help heal someone. And it’s not like we need to worry about me getting hurt since I can just heal myself.”
I could feel Rayne’s concern and hesitation.
“Just think about it,” I went on. “If you remember, the Council let me into the Academy even though that was against the rules, so who’s to say they wouldn’t make an exception in this case as well? I bet if I talked to Orion he could pull some strings for me.”
Rayne sighed. “Well, I guess it couldn’t hurt to ask.”
I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’ll talk to Orion first thing on Monday.”
I couldn’t help but feel excited. “Just think how nice it would be,” I said, “if we could go back to Earth again.”
“You do realize that Ash is going to be there, right?” Rayne said.
I grimaced. “Oh, right. Well… I’ll just keep my distance then. It’ll be fine.”
Rayne didn’t look convinced. “Just try not to get your hopes up, okay?”
I grinned. “I’ll try, but I can’t make any promises.”
Rayne smiled and pulled his face close to mine. “You’re adorable,” he said. Then he gave me a sweet little kiss on the lips.
“So, are you ready to get started with some locating?” he asked.
My eyes brightened. “Definitely. What do you think? Who should I try first?”
“Maybe you should start with your mom again,” Rayne suggested. “If it works, then you’ll know it wasn’t just a one-time thing.”
“Good idea,” I said.
I tried to locate both my mom and my dad, and both times, it worked without a problem. It was even easier than the day before. They were together again, but it didn’t look like they were doing anything interesting. They were just walking and talking to each other someplace outside, surrounded by grass and trees.
I did still get tired after locating them, but not as bad as the day before. All I had to do was rest lying down with my eyes closed and channel the healing power inside myself. It took maybe ten minutes and then I was ready to go again.
I also tried locating Jax and Violette again, but just like the day before, I was only able to get a few flashes of their faces. I wasn’t sure what to make of it. I couldn’t understand why it worked with my parents but not with them.
Then I remembered the strange vision I had of Orion at the party the night before and decided to try locating him next. I closed my eyes and focused. Within only a second I saw Orion immediately. It came more easily than even my parents.
Not only could I see Orion, but I could see almost the entire room. He was talking to an elderly man who was lying on a hospital-type bed. It didn’t look like a hospital, though. It was a large, finely-decorated room like one you would expect to see in a mansion.
I couldn’t hear anything they were saying, but I could see exactly what they were looking at. It was a picture of me… of me and Violette at the party.
I opened my eyes and broke the connection.
“What happened?” Rayne asked. “Did it work?”
“It definitely worked,” I said. “It worked so well I could see the entire room.”
Rayne shook his head. “That’s seriously amazing. I can hardly believe it.” He paused to think. “I don’t get it, though,” he said. “Why would it work with Orion but not with Jax or Violette?”
“I have no idea,” I said, “but I could see Orion just as good as I could see you yesterday. It doesn’t make sense. Maybe it had something to do with that vision I had of him at the party last night.”
Rayne went suddenly tense. “Wait, you had a vision? Of Orion? At the party?”
My eyes shifted. “Oh, um, I guess I forgot to tell you about that. Don’t worry, though. I only passed out for a few minutes.”
His tone went rigid. “You passed out?”
“It wasn’t a big deal,” I said quickly. “I think only a few people saw me.”
Then I remembered the reporter and all her questions. I was tempted not to tell Rayne about her, but he was bound to figure it out eventually, especially with my face posted on every tabloid in the city.
“I guess there is something I should tell you,” I said. “I’m not exactly sure what all she saw, but there was a reporter at the party.”
“Did you talk to her?” Rayne said.
“Well, yes,” I began, “but I’m pretty sure I didn’t say anything important. I mean, I guess I did let something slip about her being named after a city on Earth, but I definitely didn’t mention my father or anything like that. I think she was just interested in finding out if we were a couple.”
“It was Naples Dupree, wasn’t it…” Rayne said. I could tell by his tone that even saying her name annoyed him.
“Yeah, that was her,” I said, “but I didn’t know who she was until it was too late. It didn’t help that I was with your sister either.”
Rayne shook his head. “That woman is relentless.”
“How could I make such a stupid mistake?” I said. My forehead dropped into my hands with regret.
“It’ll be okay,” Rayne assured me. “That woman has taken my picture a thousand times. Tomorrow it will be yesterday’s news.”
I looked up at him with hopeful eyes. “You really think so?”
He smiled and took my hand. “I know so. It’s not a big deal. Everything will be fine.”