Deadly Prophecy (Second Sight Spinoff)

Chapter One

Declan Brayden was not amused. Whoever thought it was okay to call him before noon on a Sunday was about to get a verbal ass whooping. His phone was buried deep inside the pockets of the crusty jeans he wore the night before. It meant he couldn't lazily lie in bed and answer the phone. The act of answering required he actually had to climb out of bed and dig through the pockets to get it. He considered ignoring the caller altogether, but whoever it was didn't give up so easily. After Declan's voicemail picked up, the caller started ringing him again.

With a huff, he got out of bed and snatched the phone out of his pants. "Of course," he muttered before answering, "Hello."

"Hey Dec, it's Kate."

"Ever hear of Caller ID, Kate? It's this nifty invention where your name appears magically on my phone screen eliminating the need to tell me who you are."

"Well, good morning to you too."

Declan groaned and rubbed his hands vigorously over his cheeks. "Sorry, late night. I solved the Marie Connors case last night and was too wired to sleep. I'm pretty sure the family isn't going to be writing me a big fat check for discovering she left her kids and husband to work as a prostitute for her new pimp boyfriend."

"Wow... I wasn't expecting that. Have you phoned the tip in yet?"

"No, her husband seems like a real standup guy. I figured I'd give him another day of blissful ignorance before I send his entire existence to hell."

Declan was met by awkward silence. Finally, Kate said softly, "Wow, that kind of steals the thunder out of the news I have."

"Why? What's up? Something happen at the wedding last night? Did you do something stupid like call out an objection to Julie marrying Gage?"

"No," she snapped. "If my best friend wants to marry beneath her, that's her prerogative. Anyway Gage and I have come to an understanding. We have a mutual dislike for each other but we're forced to tolerate one another for Julie's sake." Before Declan could reply, Kate continued on, "Stop distracting me and let me spill out my news." After a dramatic pause, Kate blurted out, "Jared proposed last night. We're engaged."

Declan sat back down on his bed. He clenched his jaw together to prevent a shocked expletive from escaping his lips. News of Jared and Kate getting engaged was the last thing he expected. The thing was he had accepted months ago that Kate would never be his and he'd been perfectly fucking fine with it. They were friends and psychic partners and it had been enough for him. It was true once in a while he would look at Kate and imagine what it would be like to have a relationship that extended beyond one-night stands and hookups at a bar. But after a solid facepalm, the sensation would pass. He understood that he had to bury those feelings if he wanted Kate in his life. He never kidded himself and acknowledged that if it came down to a choice between Jared and Declan, Jared would always be her choice.

"Are you pregnant?" Shit, he cursed to himself. Not only did he not intend for the words to slip out, he could hear the coldness in his tone.

"What? No...why would you even ask that?"

"I don't know. It just seems like you're rushing things. You literally just moved in with the guy. Why get married already? You're only twenty-two." Why wasn't he shutting the hell up? The more he talked, the deeper and more treacherous the hole he was digging. He sounded like a jealous ex-boyfriend-when it was the furthest thing from the truth. He liked Jared and considered him a friend.

"Dec..." she started. He wanted to hang up at the sound of the plea in her voice. He almost wished she'd just get pissed at him. The last thing he wanted was her pity. He didn't want her to see how much the news of her getting married was tearing him apart and making him damn the universe for making him feel something more for the one girl he couldn't ever have.

"Hey, it's your life. As long as it doesn't affect our business, you can do whatever you want."

"Dec, you're my best friend. I only called my mom and dad to tell them the news before you. Please be happy for me."

The further he got into the conversation, the more he wished he turned his phone off before bed. He kept it on in case any calls came in about the missing persons cases he worked on. Instead of an emergency call, he had to deal with Kate's emotional blackmail before he even had his coffee. But despite how twisted their relationship got over the past year, he couldn't intentionally hurt her. She was the one person in his life, he'd always put ahead of his own selfish needs.

"I'm happy for you, Kate," he said quietly and hoped he put enough contrived emotion in the statement to abate her. His manhood was taking a beating over the course of the conversation. He had to ask himself why he was even bothered by the news. Not only would there never be anything between him and Kate, she'd make a horrible wife. She was lazy, outspoken and had loads of annoying habits like holding her breath when driving by cemeteries and eating Cheese Whiz directly out of the can. Where was his standards?

Maybe she had charm in what she lacked in class, he admitted to himself. She was also loyal, funny and a natural beauty with long golden brown hair and expressive hazel eyes. But it would help his sanity if he focused on the negative.

Kate's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Dec, can you say something? All I hear is your heavy breathing over the line and it's making me feel a little dirty inside."

"I'm wondering if you talked about a date. I'm a busy guy, need a lot of notice to make sure my schedule's cleared up."

He felt pathetic, hearing the strain in his voice. She had to know how he felt. It sickened him to his core. He could have so many other women, beautiful and exotic women willing to try anything in his bed, and hear he was sounding like a pussy-whipped loser who couldn't get over the one who got away.

"Umm...not exactly. Jared bought us tickets for Hawaii in October. His version of I'm glad you weren't killed by a psycho, so let's go away and celebrate gift. Shockingly enough, Hallmark has yet to carry a card for that occasion." Her laughter was forced. "We were talking about getting married there. I'd like you to come."

Declan knew she was upset over being put on the spot, likely planning to spring the details on him later. But her psychic gift was identical to his and she understood he could slip inside her head at any time and find out the truth. The way their gift worked was they were able to sift through the memories of another person. It meant zero privacy for the target.

"Three months away? Wow, I know Jared's pushing thirty, but never expected him to make you race down the aisle."

Kate cleared her throat. "Okay," she relented after a brief pause. "It does sound a little quick, especially since we were on again and off again for the past year. But now that I'm safe and there's not this Doomsday axe hanging over my head, I want to start living. And I see Jared as my forever and there's no reason to wait."

He fought against his gag reflex. "Well, congrats to you and Jared. I'll have to figure out our caseload and let you know about coming to Hawaii." There was an absolute zero chance he was going to her wedding-even if he had to invent abduction cases to get out of it. If he went, he would do something asinine like declare his feelings.

"Great. Well, I better make the rest of my calls. We're good then?"

"We're outstanding." He swallowed hard. "I'll call you later."

"Goodbye Declan." After she disconnected, Declan wondered if she intended to make her farewell sound so loaded.