“It does,” I agreed.
“Tell me then.”
“Felicity…”
“No…” she interrupted. “No excuses. You told me this morning you were afraid that Miranda would take me away from you. Well, you need to know that I’m afraid too because right now she’s taking you away from me…”
I sighed and looked past her for a moment. There was more than mere sentiment in her words. She had a valid point. Miranda was dividing in order to conquer, and I was letting her. I drew in a deep breath then brought my gaze back to meet my wife’s and unburdened myself, just as she wanted. “Ariel showed up in that vision.”
“You mean Ariel Tanner?” she asked.
I nodded.
“But you haven’t connected to her across the veil in years,” Felicity continued. “I assumed her spirit had moved on.”
“I know, me too,” I agreed. “But apparently that isn’t the case.”
“What did she say then?” Felicity pressed.
“It’s not so much what she said,” I told her. “It’s something that she showed me.”
“Something about me, I assume?”
“Yes,” I almost whispered. “She showed me you…or, what little is left after Miranda pushes you out of your own body.”
“Aye, and that’s what has you so troubled?”
“Shouldn’t it?” I asked.
“Rowan…” Felicity shook her head as she breathed my name. “You know the future is not set.”
“But I also know that the things Ariel showed to me before actually did come to pass.”
“Not true,” she contended. “They happened, yes, but not exactly as you’d seen. You changed them. Because of the one possible future Ariel showed you, you were able to change the outcome. You saved a little girl’s life if you remember.”
“I know,” I said. “And now I’m trying to save yours.”
“By stopping me from doing this,” she observed softly.
“Yes.”
She stared off to the side for a moment then shook her head and looked back into my eyes. “Aye, but what if you aren’t saving me?”
“What do you mean?”
“What if this is exactly what Miranda wants? For you to give in to your fears and keep me from finding a way to stop her.”
“I considered that. But what if it’s the other way around? What if she’s just luring you in? She’s the one who’s blocking me, Felicity. You know that.”
“Aye, I do,” she said with a nod. “But we can’t know for sure which path to take if all we do is stand here worrying over the outcome.”
“Inaction is a path unto itself,” I objected.
“A stagnant path with no future,” she replied. “I can be just as pseudo-philosophical as you.”
“I’m still not excited about the other options.”
“But we have to at least choose one.”
“I thought I had.”
“I said we,” she replied. “We have to choose it together. If we’re wrong, we can always turn back.”
“Can you?”
“We have to try.”
“That’s my point,” I objected. “When it comes to this, there is no we. There’s just you. I’m as good as blind, Felicity.”
She shook her head. “Aye, but I’m not.”
“And that’s what makes you vulnerable.”
“Which is why I need you with me. Blind or not, you can still keep me grounded.”
“Need I remind you that the one time you did this, your reaction to channeling a victim was far worse than anything that’s ever happened to me?”
She shook her head and quietly snorted. “Rowan…you only say that because you were on the outside looking in for a change. I’ve watched far worse happen to you…and cried over it more times than you know.”
“Honey…”
“Shhh…” she hushed me as she briefly touched her fingers against my lips. “We have to do this. You know it. She already knows how to find us. We can’t hide forever.”
“So this is where you draw the line in the sand?”
“Aye.”
I sighed. “But, if you’re wrong, and you can’t turn back?”
“I keep going forward.”
“And, if it’s a trap?”
She looked away for a second then back into my eyes. “Then you will find a way to come rescue me.”
She was correct. If it came to that, I would, no matter what the personal cost. Unfortunately, I couldn’t help but hear Ariel’s voice in my head saying, “She’s been waiting for you, Rowan. She’s been waiting for so very long now…”
“Sorry about all that,” I apologized.
Ben shook his head. “I’m kinda used to it by now, Row.”
“Yeah, I guess you would be, wouldn’t you?”
“You feelin’ better?” he asked.
“Not really,” I told him. “But I’ve got it under control.”
We were still outside, although Felicity and I had moved out of the center of the parking lot and joined our friend up on the sidewalk near his van. The fissure at the bottom of my stomach had been continuing to grow and like an aggressive cancer was even now spreading to the rest of my body. Emptiness welled in my chest, sending its painful hollowness radiating outward. Intellectually, I knew my wife was correct in her belief that we needed to meet the threat head on. Emotionally, however, I was a half step away from being a basket case. At the moment, I just happened to be hiding it fairly well, or so I thought.
Ben gave me a once over and grunted sarcastically, “You’ve got it under control? Yeah. Right.”
“Seriously.”
“No offense, white man, but I think I need a second opinion,” he said and then turned his attention to Felicity. “Whaddaya think, Firehair, he gonna be okay?”
“He’ll be fine then.”
“You sure about that?”
“Aye.”
“Okay, if you say so.” He shook his head and sighed before admitting, “I just dunno, man. Now I’m actually feelin’ kinda guilty about pushin’ you two into this.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I replied then glanced at Felicity. “You had help.”
“Yeah, so?” he grunted. “That somehow s’posed ta’ make me feel okay about it?”
“It doesn’t really matter, Ben. You know that eventually I would have ended up in the middle of it anyway, no matter how much I objected.”
He nodded. “Yeah, prob’ly.”
A thick pause fell between the three of us. I could tell Ben was thinking about something, so I was expecting him to start massaging his own neck at any moment.
“So…” I spoke after several heartbeats. “How bad did I screw things up with Doctor Kingston?”
Ben grunted out a relieved half chuckle. “Believe it or not, ya’ didn’t. Apparently she’s heard enough stories
