Everyone stood, and Emmitt led me toward the two I didn’t know.
“Mother, Father, this is Michelle.”
Emmitt’s father, a tall formidable man with a bulk of bulging muscles and a serious expression, stood beside Emmitt’s mother. I’d caught how he watched her intently while she’d spoken with Mary. The slight softening of his expression when his gaze settled on her assured me he had a soft spot.
His mother was tall and lean but not thin. She wore her hair pulled back into a ponytail. Dressed in worn jeans and a t-shirt that sported a rock band from the seventies, she fit into her surroundings. She looked beautiful and much younger than in her forties. Apparently, women aged well, here. In fact, I hadn’t noticed any old and wrinkly werewolves. Nana Wini’s hair might be white, and she might be old in years, but she didn’t have any other signs of aging.
“Call me Charlene,” Emmitt’s mother said. She gave me a warm smile that reached her dark blue eyes—Emmitt’s eyes—and offered her hand.
I returned her smile and reached for her hand. When we touched, my world tilted precariously. I really didn’t want to faint in front of Emmitt’s parents.
The room and all the people faded from my sight. I stood in a black void and knew something wasn’t right. Shouldn’t I have fallen? I reached out a hand and slowly turned in a circle. I couldn’t see, hear, or feel anything except myself. There was no floor beneath me. I appeared to be floating. I looked around, feeling panicked. Where was I?
I spotted a pinprick of brilliant, white light in the distance. It looked like a tiny star. Yet, even its brilliance didn’t explain how I could see myself in the inky abyss surrounding me.
As I watched, the pinprick of light began to expand. It rapidly grew to the size of a baseball but didn’t stop there. It bloated to the size of a volleyball within seconds. Its radiance hurt my eyes, but I didn’t turn away. Instead, I squinted, trying to see it clearly.
The light wasn’t growing but swiftly flying toward me—or me toward it. I tried to move. The result was a moment of helpless flailing since there was no floor to use to propel myself. My heart started to race painfully in my chest. Death couldn’t come this way. I wanted to see my brothers. Emmitt.
I threw my arms in front of my face and braced myself. Light flashed brightly through my scrunched eyelids. I cringed, waiting for the impact of whatever it was. When nothing happened, I tentatively lifted my head and peeked through my arms.
Everything around me had changed although I still couldn’t move, suspended in nothing. The area directly below my feet was a brightly lit white space. Around me, millions of images overlapped each other like frozen stills on a monitor. I wondered what waited behind them and blinked in shock when the one I’d been looking at jumped out of the way to expose another image behind it.
Turning my head, I focused on other images, willing them to move, and they did. They flew to the side to make room for the ones below. Most of the images were clear and crisp, but some were fuzzy or dark. All had people in them.
Before I had a chance to focus on any one image, I flew backward. The images behind me moved to create an opening in the weird, white emptiness. The whiteness clung to me, briefly stretching into the black void before letting me go, leaving me in darkness again. I watched the light shrink in size as I zoomed away from it, or maybe as it zoomed away from me. It was hard to tell.
Just as suddenly as I’d appeared in the void, I snapped back to the present. My hand stretched before me, holding empty air. Charlene had let go.
“You okay?” Emmitt asked.
I mentally shook myself and dropped my hand to my side. I wasn’t sure what had just happened.
I’d thought I’d glanced images, some violent, containing several of the people in this room. At first, the images had appeared infinite. When they moved to allow me to leave, I’d seen they weren’t. They had been stacked on top of one another, several layers deep.
Had I just seen the source of my new premonitions? Could that really be where they came from? I desperately wanted to go back and study them.
I looked at Charlene. She watched me with concern, but I noticed dark circles under her eyes that hadn’t been there a moment ago. Perhaps now wasn’t the best time to ask to shake her hand again. Whatever had happened to me, something must have happened to her, too.
All the werewolves around me were watching expectantly, waiting for me to offer an explanation for my weird behavior. If only I had one.
“Sorry, I’m a little tired.” I gave Charlene a weak smile then glanced at Emmitt’s father. He met my eyes directly and though I could see he didn’t believe me, he didn’t appear upset about it. Instead, he nodded in greeting. I could see where Emmitt got his height and coloring from.
“This is Thomas,” Charlene said, continuing with the introductions. I was glad Emmitt’s father didn’t hold out his hand. “And you already met our friends, Mary and Gregory.”
I smiled and said a quiet hello to the others.
“Nana told us some of what you’ve been through. I wanted to let you know that we will do everything we can to protect you and your brothers so you can feel safe here.” Her earnest expression lent credence to her sincerity. “We’ll let you get some sleep and see you at breakfast.” She turned her warm gaze on Emmitt and gave him a quick hug before leaving. Mary and Gregory followed the pair out.
“I’ll see you after breakfast,” Nana said, leaving as well.
Jim remained with us, closing the door behind Nana. “If it’s okay with you, I’ll stay on the couch tonight.”
He glanced at Emmitt when he said it, but I answered. “That’s fine. The boys will probably wake you up in about two hours, though.” I liked knowing he would be between us and the door while we slept.
“I can handle it.” He stretched out on the couch and closed his eyes.
Emmitt said nothing. He pulled me toward the back of the apartment, down a short hallway, and nudged open the door on the right. I peeked in.
Dim, pre-dawn light illuminated two small bumps under the covers of the full-sized bed. I stepped forward and pulled back the light quilt so I could see them clearly. They both lay on their sides, facing each other.
I bent to give them kisses and gently touched their cheeks before covering them up again. The fear that sat heavily in my stomach since seeing Frank and his friend fight Nana Wini wasn’t for me. It was for them. I hated feeling so helpless.
Crossing the room, I pulled the curtains on the window closed. It would give Jim a few more minutes of sleep.
Emmitt stepped into the room. I waited by the door while he smoothed back the hair from each boy’s head. When he finished checking on them, he motioned me into the hallway and pulled the door partially closed behind him as he left. He had werewolf hearing, but I didn’t and appreciated the consideration. With their door cracked open, I’d hear them when they woke.
We walked across the hall to another bedroom, which mirrored the boys’ room. Emmitt flipped on the switch so I could see clearly. The full-sized bed and matching dark dresser complemented the forest green walls. Sheets and a light quilt covered the bed. An extra quilt lay folded on a trunk at the foot of the bed. Our bags rested on top of the spare quilt.
Staring at the bags, I felt a blush crept into my cheeks. Did he plan to sleep with me? When he’d suggested sharing a bed last night, I thought he’d been kidding.
I could feel him standing behind me, waiting for my reaction. Too much was coming at me too fast. Thinking of him...us...right now made my head hurt.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“How about don’t hog the covers or I’ll push your furry butt to the floor,” Jim called from the living room.
Emmitt snorted behind me, and I turned to look at him.