undistinguished
Only one person at the long table was surprised to see her and Julian suddenly standing in front of them. Jessica. Her mouth dropped, and her eyes widen.
Annie clapped and jumped up and down in her seat. "Oh goody, you made it. Grammy made potato corn soup. It's my favorite."
Jess narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. "You have some explaining to do, Lucy."
The other girl giggled. "Did it work? Did you see him?"
"That's beside the point. You could have killed my ass."
"Not likely. I love your gift! Way cooler than mine."
Jess checked around the table to see if anyone else was surprised by this last bit of news and still only Jessica. She turned her accusing eyes on Adrian. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I was drawn to her, but I wasn't exactly sure why. I figured she'd let us know when she was ready."
Her face tightened. "You didn't think you should tell me she was your mate while I was trying to swallow your tongue?"
He blanched. "She can't be my mate. She's just a ch_____."
"That's getting old." Jess marched around the table and pushed Annie's hair out of the way, so she could have a look. Finding what she was looking for, she lifted an eyebrow at Adrian.
Poor man looked like he was about to be sick.
Giggling some more, Annie swatted Jess's hand away. "Stop being silly. He's not my mate. Your friend is."
Julian and Jess looked at each other but the child only giggled some more.
"Not him either. The tough looking, cute one."
"You're going to need to be more specific than that."
Instead of saying more, she raised the sleeve of her dress.
Jess nearly pissed herself. She laughed out loud. This was too priceless. Seeing Julian's confused look, she smiled. "Frick. I swear to God I have to be there when he meets her."
"If it's her and Frick then why do her and Adrian have the same tattoo?"
Damn good question.
"Maybe you should ask him how he found everyone." Grammy offered as she slurped on her soup.
"I think we should wait until the younger kids leave_____."
"No way, bucko. There's not one person at this table who doesn't know that there's something going on around here. Except for Jessica and that's because she doesn't pay attention to anybody but you. Spill it, Adrian."
"Very well but I don't have much to tell. I was on the way home when I got a feeling that I had to keep going so I did. I found Jaymes and Grammy first then we found Annie roaming around in Austin. A couple of weeks later I got that feeling again and I went and found Fritz and Rob. He was the only one left in his family and Fritz found him just in time and had been taking care of him ever since. Sean and Jessica were in a small town in north Alabama. I was drawn to you and Julian last."
"And Marty and Paula?"
"That was different. I was drawn to Paula's pain and suffering. I stumbled onto Marty. With everyone else I had to find them, I needed them as much as I knew they needed me." He looked around the table. "It's like they're a part of me."
His eyes came to rest on Jess. "The urgency was the strongest with you. It's like I have to protect you. Must take care of you, ease you. Do you have a mark on the back of your neck?"
She looked to Julian.
"No way, babe. I would know."
"Kell told me that the only mark I'd ever need is his." She looked to Jessica and Sean. "Is it one of you or both of you?"
"I have no idea what any of you are speaking about. I knew Adrian was special but the rest of this_____."
"I think it's me." Sean admitted softly. "Since the first time I saw you I knew I had to keep you safe. That was before you even kissed me. Wow, by the way. I feel honored that you were my first kiss."
"Wow, yourself. To have been your first kiss you were pretty awesome at it."
"Sean, what are you talking about? You never once told me about any of this. We talk about everything."
"Jesse, there's not much to tell. I only started feeling differently since mom and dad died. I didn't even think it amounted to much until here recently."
"Can I check the back of your neck?" Jess asked.
He smiled a little and inclined his head.
It was the exact same as Annie's and Adrian's. Same placement. Just below the hairline, a faint circle with a darker line going through the left side of the circle. "What gift do you have?"
The younger boy raised his hands and looked at them. "I'm not completely sure. I think it has something to do with the ground. The earth. I think I'm the reason the garden is doing so well. It's like all of it is a part of me now." He looked out into the forest and all the trees seemed to bow to him.
"Cool." Jess looked to Grammy.
"Not me. I'm as me as I always was."
Next, she looked to Jaymes.
The small boy pushed his glasses back up his nose. "Colors are different now and they're everywhere. Half the group here is a glowing soft pink. When two or more of the soft pinks get together it gets brighter and I can actually see and feel the power coming from them. The other half are a blue with other specs and swirls of colors. Their colors can change with their moods."
Jaymes looked at her. "You're different than all of us. Your color is like a warm glow. Yours is the easiest to read. When you're with Julian it's softer, warmer. When you're sad or hurting there's flecks of grey. If you want to hit someone or if you're playing around, then there's flecks of red."
"How do I look right now?"
His smile was adorable. "Bright. I think you're impress with me."
"Nice. What about you Fritz?"
The younger girl crossed her arms over her chest. "Why do you assume it's me?"
"Because Rob fell asleep in his potato corn soup. He always falls asleep if he sits still for too long. Anyway, I've seen how much you watch everyone. How much you care. You don't want everyone to know just how much you care. Tell me what you can do."
"Nothing as cool as what you can do. What do you think, Jaymes? Should we give her the coolest of the cool awards?"
Fritz's voice was in her head and then Jaymes' when he admitted that he thought she was pretty cool. "Can you do that with everyone?"
"Just the ones with the mark and you."
The way she said 'you' held a lot of loathing and disgust. Jess smirked. "Can I take that to mean that you don't want to smother me in love like the others do?"
"I'd definitely like to smother you. Can we go play now?"
"Feel free." When the kids jumped up, Jess took Jaymes' spot and watched as Fritz smiled at Rob and woke him up.
Rolling her eyes, Jess started eating what the kid couldn't finish off. When she looked up all the marked ones was watching her with a soft smile, the rest were frowning. "Yeah, she can talk to us in our heads." She filled in the ones who didn't know. "Julian, you want some? Robbie barely touched his."
"I could eat. What in the hell is going on, Jess?"
She took several bites before she answered. "Can't be sure." She took several more bites before she went on. "If all these gifts were because of mates then they'd all have different marks. The only other people I know of who all have the same marks are the four assholes and the royals. Maybe they're royals. The human version of a royal."
"Guess we'll figure it out when we get there."
"We can't go yet."
"I'm not going_____."
Adrian, Sean, Annie, and Jess had all answered at once.
Raising an eyebrow, Jess finished her sentence. "I'm not going anywhere until I find out about Sin." She looked at Adrian. "Why can't you go?"
"It's a feeling. I think we can't leave yet because we're incomplete. It's like there are others but they are just beyond my reach."
"Okay." Jess used her spoon to point at Annie who was shifting around in her seat. "You're not going anywhere until you tell me what the hell that shit was this morning."
"You needed to see him. It worked, didn't it? Don't you feel much better?"
She did. It was like she'd gotten her hour dose of Kellum for the day. Of course, if that was true then pure hell would be ahead of her in the next few days. "You still haven't told us what your gift is yet. How were you able to bring him to me?"
Julian stiffened. "Wait a minute, are you telling me that jackass was here?"
Jess took his hand. "Not exactly. I'll tell you all about it later. Talk, Annie."
"I didn't bring him to you, you did that. You were close to dying. You can't do that without him by your side." Annie frowned over Jess's shoulder. "Though I was told that he'd have to actually come in person."
After a moment, Annie finally looked back at Jess. "He says he had no way of knowing how it would work. He says that a mate can't die without their mate at their side. Things are not as clear as they once were, and he is unsure of many things. He doesn't even know any more, if one mate died if the other will follow. The only way to know for sure will be the death of someone, so he would just assume not know."
"Who are you talking to Annie?"
"There are many. They are everywhere now."
Jess stiffened. "By chance is one of them the man who was married to my mother?"
"He told me to never mention him. He said you wouldn't talk to me anymore if I did."
Julian's grip tightened on her hand. Adrian reached across the table for her other hand.
She knew he was probably dead but hearing it confirmed hurt more than it should have. "Anybody else? Is my.... mom here?"
"No. He said that she knew you would be okay, she knew you'd take care of Mel and Sarah, so she went to be with Danny. Once you go you can't come back."
"He's right. Don't ever talk to me about him. Understand?"
Annie nodded.
"Tell him he's not wanted here."
Annie nodded.
"One of the past kings. He won't leave until the next king has taken his place."
"Anyone else?"
"Right now?" Annie looked around. "Frick's brother is here. He's the one who told me I had a mate. At first, I didn't like him, he's such a stick in the mud, but he's grown on me. There's a medicine man here. I can't understand a word he says but he's cool. That's why I like my hill so much, sometimes he goes there, and he does some kind of dance and a chant. I wish you could see it, it's amazing. Adrian's dad was here for a little while but as soon as he knew his son was safe, he went. Paula's whole family is here. They don't say much. I think they worry that she won't make it much longer."
Annie turned around in her seat. "I'll tell her, but I don't know why she needs to know that. And yes, Mr. Kohl, I'll tell him. Dottie why don't you go play with the kids. I'll be along soon. I promise."
Sighing, Annie turned back around. "Jess, little Clover wants you to know that she thinks you're very pretty. Adrian, Mr. Kohl wants you to know that your fence in the east pasture is down. He wants you to get to it right away. There's Jimmy, Dale, and Ernie. Mrs. Nixon, Mr. Monroe, and Connie Stevens. Oh, that reminds me, Dale is the one who told me that Sin is with Von. He says you need to see to that real quick. I've asked him about it, but he doesn't know very much. He was following his cousin Mannford around because he didn't have much else to do. Then his cousin up and went missing just like Von did."
"Are you saying Sin got abducted by aliens?"
"I'm not saying it. Dale is saying it. He says a lot of them have gone missing."
Jess paled. "Did he see a red headed girl about my age with a little red headed girl?"
"He says naw. He says it's mostly been men. Only one or two girls that he's seen. He heard about me, so he came here. That's all he knows. I forgot to tell you about Adda Jean." Annie rolled her big blue eyes. "Happy now, Adda Jean, I mentioned you. No, I did not. I'm telling you I didn't do it on purpose."
Seeing the way Jess was looking at her, Annie frowned and looked around at everyone else. "See this is why I stay in the woods, so I don't have to see people looking at me like this. I'm going."
"Annie?
She turned back.
"One more question. How do you know about Liam Hemsworth?"
"I guess death is kind of my thing now. I had a magazine and when I touched his picture, I knew he was alive. It works the other way too. If they're dead, I know it."
"Thank you, Annie. For trying to help me, but if it's okay with you, I don't want to almost die anymore."
She grinned.
Jess glanced Julian's way. "I can't wait till Frick meets her."