Dylan caught me up on all of the goings on around the ranch while we worked. Geoff and Nath helped him patch up one more section of barbed wire fence and the sun was high in the sky by the time they finished.
Nath and Geoff were dripping in sweat from the heat. When we got back to the house, Elise ordered them to go straight to the showers. Jilly handed me and Dylan sandwiches, and we all sat down to lunch together.
It was strange to be back after so long. Elise poured a pitcher of lemonade and bustled around my grandmother's kitchen. I hoped she was at least getting time to work on her studies while the family was on the ranch.
I ignored another message on my wrist screen as a batch of cookies came out of the oven. There was no chance I was missing Elise's caramel and chocolate chunk cookies.
"You aren't going to get that?" Dylan sipped on a mug of coffee.
"Told you," I said. "It's not important."
Dylan shook his head and sighed. I could see his own wrist unit connecting him with the giant world. I didn't think that the halfants had reached out to him yet that I was missing, but hopefully, I would get back before that happened.
"So, how are the flying lessons going with that hotty?" Jilly asked.
Dylan spewed his coffee all over the table. Jilly grinned as Elise came to Dylan's rescue with a dish towel.
"I flew here, didn't I?" I smiled.
While flying wasn't as natural to me as fighting, I'd gotten the hang of it. Moreno was a good teacher and he said with practice I could even start learning arial swerves and dives soon.
"You didn't answer my question," Jilly said.
"Moreno is fine," I said. "He's in a little trouble right now, but that seems to be the norm."
"Oooh," Jilly grinned. "What did he do?"
I laughed. "He just ran off. He was having a bad day."
Jilly looked like she wanted to know more, but Elise gave her daughter a warning look. Jilly just sighed and turned back to her sandwich.
"A bad day," Dylan sighed. "He's full of those, Terri. That guy is real trouble. He's messed up in the head."
I didn't know why I felt the urge to defend Moreno. He had real pain in his life, and as far as I could tell, he was managing better than anyone gave him credit for. Not to mention, he was a rockstar hybrid brother and parent to his sister.
"Sure, he has Daddy issues, but he's not a monster," I said. "And he's spent a lot of time training me."
Dylan poured himself a new cup of coffee. "Tell me you aren't like crushing on the guy or something."
I bit my lip. When Moreno was close I could feel my heart racing. He was smart and he was a lot softer than anyone gave him credit for. He wanted to protect his sister and it made him stubborn. Still I liked the lengths he went to to protect his family.
"Not sure you want the answer to that, Dylan," Jilly said. "After all, she's spent an awful lot of time with him."
"Jillian Oakeley, you stay out of your sister's personal life," Elise said. "I know life on the ranch isn't the dramafest you're accustomed to from high school, but you need to have better respect for your family. Terri has enough going on."
I frowned. Usually, Elise stayed clear of talking about Jilly's fit in our family. She said she wanted to be legally adopted by my father, but that process was taking a lot longer than anyone expected. Jilly called herself an Oakeley, but she wasn't one in the eyes of the law. Just in our hearts.
"Elise," I said. "Thank you for always being here for us."
There was no way I could express how much I truly appreciated my stepmother, especially after I met the walking red flag that was my biological mother. Elise worked so hard, and she kept our little family together.
"I'm always here for you, dear," Elise patted my hand. "I know what you're facing isn't easy, and I probably won't understand all of it, but I'm here."
"I know," I said. "Even I don't understand everything happening."
Dylan sighed. "None of us do. I mean, I read Moreno's report. Ellenora went through all that trouble to kidnap you, and she practically tortured you."
"Torture?" Nath stood at the entrance of the kitchen with soaking black hair and new clothes.
Elise gave Dylan a pointed look. If I had to guess, she hadn't told my siblings about some of my more recent encounters with giants.
"Sorry, Aunt Elise," Dylan took a long sip of his coffee, but he didn't look embarrassed.
Elise turned to her son. "Dry your hair off, Nathan. We can discuss all of this later. Right now, we're having lunch."
I admired her attempt to keep everything as normal as possible. She didn't know giants. Not in the way that Granmam, my father, or even Dylan did. Still, she knew how to keep calm in a crisis.
Something buzzed, and Dylan looked at his wrist unit. His face went from unconcerned to stony. Then his gaze pointed up, and he glared at me.
"Theresa Elizabeth Oakeley," he said. "Do you have something to tell me?"
I looked at my cousin with wide eyes hoping to convery innocence. That didn't seem to help matters and Dylan pulled a knife from his pocket and unfolded the blade.
"I'm waiting," Dylan said. "Please tell me why I got a report that you're missing."
"Missing?" Elise gasped.
I blew a strand of hair out of my face. "I might have wandered off without a guard, but in my defense, Gayle ditched me."
Dylan banged his hands on the table and swore. "Why would you do this?"
"Language, Dylan," Elise said with her best mom look. "I'm sure Terri has a perfectly reasonable explanation for leaving the compound without permission."
Dylan tapped at his wrist unit as I explained how I'd made Gayle upset and then instead of sitting around the compound doing nothing, I decided to come and visit home.
Elise nodded, and when I was done, she smiled. "There's no harm done, Dylan. She is safe here with us."
Dylan looked up from his wrist. "If we were attacked, she'd be putting your family in danger. Not to mention, we'd be overwhelmed. Alana is sending us back up."
I held up my hands. "That's really not necessary. Besides, who can they even spare?"
Dylan sighed. "Vita is on her way."
That wasn't a name I recognized, and I'd met everyone who worked at Redwood. Dylan didn't look happy about it either. Whoever Vita was didn't seem to ease his mind.
"Vita Valan is coming back here?" Jilly asked.
Dylan nodded. "She was bringing in a transport today anyway. She caught a few runners from the last batch of escapees."
Elise nodded. "Is she escorting Terri back?"
I stiffened. "I'm not leaving yet."
Dylan crossed his arms. "I get it. You want to have your own life, and you've trained. Really I do get that Terri, but you can't wander off the compound. It's not safe for you."
I gritted my teeth. "Maybe I just want to see the not-so-crazy part of my family. My real family."
Elise wrapped an arm around me. "We're always your family. Terri. But your cousin is right. You aren't safe here with us."
"Maybe I just miss being normal," I pouted.
It was true. If given the option of seeing the future or going back to San Fransisco, back to my life of obscurity, hiding out in the apartment complex sounded pretty good. The constant worry of everyone around me was exhausting. "Oh honey," Elise said. "Your father and I have been talking. You could leave the giants behind. If you stay out of their realm and live on the move, it could keep you safe from all the giants who want to hurt you."
It was tempting. The giants were really cool, but I couldn't travel without danger. I knew giants could find their way out of their realm just as easily as finding me inside their own territory. I couldn't uproot my family. It wasn't an option.
Dylan frowned. "And I've already told you it won't work. She'd never be able to come back, and it wouldn't solve her visions. In fact, it would take her away from the only people equipped to help her with them."
He was right. As dangerous as it was visiting Victor, he was the only person who could teach me how to use my powers. I didn't want to get lost in my visions again, and running away from my problems wouldn't teach me the control that I needed.
"I have to stay in Jontun," I said. "At least until I can control my visions."
"What if you black out again, and they can't bring you back?" Elise asked.
I hadn't even thought of that. Still, I couldn't allow something like that to happen again. I'd trained my body. It was time to turn the same attention to my mind.
"It won't," I said.
"Can you see my future?" Geoff walked into the room and grabbed a sandwich off the table.
I looked at my little brother. He was so innocent. He didn't belong to this war. Neither did I really. Still it was my battle.
"It's best not to wonder," I said.
And yet so impossible to avoid. Geoff's question seeped into my mind like slow amber. I was glad I was sitting as the colors slowly faded me into the future.
This future was fuzzy, like a television that lagged or wasn't in focus. The light was harsh, and I winced as I heard a deeper but more familiar voice.
"The numbers are in the black this quarter, which keeps the shareholders happy," Geoff said. "Overall, the company is in stable condition after your first quarter as CEO. The only thing we need to discuss is the overdrawn account of Oakmore's former head. Looks like Uncle Chris is back to all his bad habits."
That wasn't a surprise. Even in the future Uncle Chris was still wrecking his life and ours by association. At least I could tell my father his brother wouldn't tank the entire company. I'd seen his looks of stress and anxiety over the years trying to clean up his brother's antics.
"Forward the numbers to Dylan to look over," a female voice said. "I want his approval for the ranch budget and then reach out to Terri. She'll need to take the final numbers to Nikones for approval."
"Of course," Geoff said. "You want all that done by the end of the day?"
"It's late," the female voice said. "Kaleb promised me a slice of normalcy, which I can only assume means he's thinking about a helicopter and maybe a trip through the portal. I'm taking tomorrow off, and you should too, Geoff. Spend some time with Sydney. I'm sure she'd appreciate that."
"Sydney thinks I'm hiding something," Geoff said.
The female voice laughed. "You're an Oakeley, Geoff. That's a pretty big secret."
"I can't tell her," Geoff said. "Not yet. Besides, Jilly waited until she was engaged. I know Jontun is a big thing to hide, and it covers up a lot of our family."
"Geoff, you can tell her if you want," the female voice said. "Just know the risks. Your brother found someone who already knew. Jilly didn't, so if you need advice, go to her. Or you could always ask Terri."
The vision seemed to sharpen in clarity for a moment, and I gasped as I realized that Geoff was standing next to Dylan's sister, Kira, who was even older in this vision than the last one.
Then the image shattered like glass, and I opened my eyes once again to reveal my family. Elise was clutching her hands so that her knuckles were white. Jilly looked alarmed while the boys stared at me slack-jawed.
"Your eyes were glowing," Geoff said. "Kinda freaky, sis."
"Agreed," Nath said, and then he asked the dreaded question. "So, what did you see?"
Hey Friends!! Terri is already dreading people asking about her visions. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next one is one of my favorite chapters that I've worked on in a while, so keep an eye out. Until next time!!