The Final Omen: Second Sight Book Four (15 page)

Chapter Twenty-Six

Kate woke up the following morning feeling like she had the worst hangover of her life. She hadn’t consumed a drop of alcohol, but she’d stayed up until sunrise attempting to get into Peter Spencer’s thoughts. She’d failed. Her brain was swimming with too many other thoughts and Jared, Dan and her mom had been the only minds Kate had glimpsed during the night. Finally admitting defeat, sheer exhaustion had forced her into bed.

It was disorienting to be back in her old room, lying in her old bed. Her mom would most likely keep it a Katie shrine for years to come. The walls would stay decorated with her favorite art prints and her mom would leave the same dusty rose comforter set to cover the bed. Although Kate’s creature comforts remained in place, she felt like a different girl than the one who’d lived inside the bedroom.

It was funny how, in a few short weeks, lying next to Jared had started to feel like a real home to her. She’d missed him terribly at night, reaching out in bed as she tossed and turned. He was her tether, keeping her grounded when she could easily float away on a cloud of despair.

As she stretched and yawned, she was surprised to see it was after eleven. Her mom must have feared Kate’s life was in mortal danger; in the past she’d been dragged out of bed by nine at the latest. After getting dressed and brushing her teeth, she bounded down the steps. She was surprised to find the house quiet and abandoned.

Her mom had left a note in her usual spot on the kitchen counter. Dan had taken her out to breakfast and they’d be back soon. She didn’t want to wake Kate, but she could get started on assembling the favors once she got out of bed. In the note, Darlene also reassured Kate the alarm was set and there was a tray of freshly baked pastries in the kitchen.

After polishing off a Danish and two muffins, she laid out the supplies for the favors in the dining room. The favors were candy-filled tins personalized with Julie and Gage’s names and their wedding date. Kate made easy work of the task and loved getting lost in the monotony of filling the tins and adhering all the stickers to each one. Before long, the favors were ready and she’d restocked them in the box they’d arrived in. She looked at the time and grew annoyed that her mother had dallied over her breakfast date. Kate had wanted to spend a little quality time with her mom before going home. Although, if Kate was being completely honest with herself, she was delaying her return home. She was an atrocious liar—Jared would give her one long scrutinizing look and she’d blurt out everything. She had to stop Peter Spencer before it ruined her relationship. Her intentions were good and she only hoped Jared would see her heart was in the right place when he found out she’d withheld the truth.

She went to her purse and searched inside for her cell phone. She was surprised Declan hadn’t called her. He’d sworn to get in touch if he saw anything in his own visions that would prove helpful at finding where Peter could be keeping Michelle and Matt. Declan was also going to check on Peter’s criminal records to verify he’d indeed been released from prison. If he was out of jail, they could most likely find a current address and track him down. She was uncertain of what they would actually do when they came face to face with him, but she was more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants kind of girl. If Declan had come up empty handed, she’d have to do her own research without Jared’s assistance.

Her cell phone was nowhere to be found inside of her purse. She called the number from her mom’s line and listened closely to see if she had misplaced it somewhere inside of the house. She frowned when she heard her voicemail pick up and was still unable to locate the phone. Declan could’ve called her and she wouldn’t have any idea. After scribbling a quick note to her mom, she left the house to head back home.

As she drove towards her home, Kate began to sense something was off. Her palms felt sweaty as she steered the Toyota and she felt her heart hammer in her chest. It took a second for the sense of déjà vu to dawn on her and she realized what was bothering her. She was reliving the vision of Jared’s death. In the vision, she’d lost her phone and had suspected leaving it in Declan’s car.

She tried to stay sensible as she parked at her home. Jared’s car wasn’t in the driveway, but she wouldn’t assume the worst. He could’ve been called into work and not been able to telephone her because of her misplaced cell. He knew about her visions and wouldn’t go to an abandoned house if she’d warned him. As desperate as he was to find her attacker, he wouldn’t risk his life for revenge. At the very least, he’d acknowledge his death would leave her susceptible. If she dug deeper inside of her brain, she also realized he must understand she’d welcome death if she lost him. Her fight for survival would be diminished forever.

She looked at the door and willed herself to make it inside. She convinced herself as long as she became safely ensconced inside of the house without Dan’s arrival, it would mean her premonition was not coming to pass. She grabbed her bag out of her car and exited swiftly. It took a strenuous effort to not sprint to the door. The pressure in her lunges eased as she made it to the front door, the distance giving her a sense of security. She turned the key and disarmed the alarm code. Her body was primed to enter the door when a familiar squeal of tires stilled her. She closed her eyes and tried not to howl as she heard a car door slam behind her.

“Kate!” Dan’s voice yelled at her.

She considered not turning around for a long minute. Because the second she faced Dan, it would make the moment real and the pain would come crashing down on top of her. How could she have failed at protecting Jared? She’d been warned for months in advance and it hadn’t made a difference. Was she the target of a cosmic vendetta? Who’d be cruel enough to send a vision of Jared’s death and, regardless of her actions, he’d still be stolen away from her?

She heard footsteps behind her and Dan’s ascent onto the front porch. She could hear his heaving breathing at her back. Without making eye contact, she imagined the way his face would look—the expression of Death’s messenger.

Kate turned to face Dan but remained silent. She had nothing to say because pieces of her were withering up and dying with each passing moment. Dan’s expression confirmed her darkest fears. He’d arrived to devastate her and take away the one person who was able to draw her out of exile and rejoin the world after her psychic powers had appeared.

“Kate, thank god you’re here. I’ve been looking for you all morning. I went to your mom’s house, I tried to call you…”

Dan was dressed the same as he’d been in her vision. He was sweating through his gray t-shirt and the perspiration caused a gleam to come off the balding spots between his dark strands of hair. It was the worst kind of déjà vu. She was tempted to pinch her arm, hoping to prove she was in the midst of another vision and not the main event.

“Why are you here?” she demanded. A surge of hatred rose up inside her. He was there to rip her world apart. He wasn’t the only target of her abhorrence, but whoever serviced her powers. Her psychic abilities were unreliable and there was a trail of bodies left behind in her wake because of it.

He was surprised by her reaction, but didn’t question her tone. “I’ve been trying to call you for hours. I even went to your Mom’s house to find you, but I guess you’d already left. Kate, it’s Jared. He’s been…” Dan paused and took a second to gauge her reaction. “Shot. It happened a short while ago.”

“How did it happen?” She wondered if that was actually her voice asking the question. Her intonation was unrecognizable; she was merely saying words with no emotion behind them. The pain wasn’t present any longer, her insides felt as though they had petrified and died as soon as he repeated the words from her vision. There was something very wrong with her emotional processing if the thought of Jared being dead did nothing to her.

By the way Dan was watching her she figured he was keen to her emotional distance. However, he continued with his explanation. “He was at an abandoned house when it happened; the cops have no idea why he was there. Someone at the house must’ve been waiting for him. He was surprised and didn’t have a chance to retaliate before the shooter fired a gun from behind.”

It was her cue to fall apart, her chance to ask him if Jared had survived. But she did nothing. She stood on the porch slack jawed without meeting Dan’s eyes. She knew her reaction was far from normal and it took a second for her to understand why the scene wasn’t playing out like it had earlier. She wasn’t crumbling and demanding assurances of Jared’s survival because she didn’t believe Dan.

The kernel of doubt had been planted after rehashing the vision with Declan. Declan had put the idea into her head that Dan would’ve never been the one to tell Kate of Jared’s death. Darlene loved Dan, but Kate was Darlene’s daughter. She would’ve been the one to tell Kate, the one to catch her before she fell into an abyss of despondency.

There was also the fact Dan had been popping into Kate’s head a lot lately. Although the visions of him were benign, it didn’t explain away why her attempts at connecting with her attacker had kept leading her into the thoughts of her mom’s boyfriend. Dan wasn’t significant to Kate—he was an extra in her life who she rarely thought about.

Dan was still talking. “Your mom went to the hospital to be with him while I came to look for you. She didn’t want him alone, especially with his only family being out of state. Let me take you to him, Kate. You’ll have a chance to say goodbye.”

She didn’t respond, but instead inched her body through the doorway. She’d already disabled the alarm, but maybe if she got inside and locked the doors, she’d have enough time to call for help. She didn’t know what the best plan of action would be. Should she make a run for it or somehow stall to avoid alerting Dan of her suspicions?

“Kate, Jared’s gone. I’m so sorry I had to be the one to tell you.” He analyzed her expression and sighed. “You must be in shock. Why don’t I take you to the hospital now? You should be with your mom.”

His hand reached out for her and she jumped back before his fingers could wrap around her wrist. His expression darkened at the sudden movement and it was all the advanced warning she needed. She sprinted into the house and slammed her shoulder against the door, trying to swing it shut before Dan had a chance to get inside. His foot shot out and he sandwiched it between the door and the frame. He thrust forward and she was flung backwards as he forcefully pushed the door out of his way. Calmly, he closed and locked the door behind him.

Getting to her feet, she scurried out of the foyer and ran towards the kitchen. She came upon the butcher’s block and removed the largest knife. She spun around to face Dan and found him walking calmly towards her. The closer he came, the more cornered she felt inside of the kitchen. Finally, she couldn’t put more distance between them and her back pressed into the kitchen cabinets. She waved the knife menacingly in his direction and spat out, “Stay the fuck away from me.”

Out of his pocket, he removed a familiar knife—the weapon he’d used on her months ago. Her eyes raked over the serrated edges and she felt phantom pains as she relived the night of her attack. In her imagination, her blood was dripping from the pointed edge, cascading down the sides in an endless waterfall. She felt the urge to fall apart over the knife’s reappearance, but instead she tightened her hold on her own knife and jabbed it in his direction.

“You better stop moving or I’ll shove this knife right into your heart. I have no problem watching you bleed out like a stuck pig.” She was trying to sound tough, hoping it would buy her enough time to either get away or call for help. The closest houseline was in the extra bedroom, which would require her to run past him to reach it. She’d run in a blind panic, not thinking of the best place to escape from him. In hindsight, a mad dash to the gun safe or the phone would’ve been a better option.

He laughed, evidently amused by her threats. “Do you really want to try and have a knife fight? Last time we were alone, you ended up the loser.”

“Not exactly a fair fight now was it? You were creeping around in my house in the dark and attacked a defenseless girl about half your size. I wouldn’t exactly call that a win for you. Especially since I’m still here.”

“You won’t be walking out of here breathing this time. I’ll make sure of it.” His face had changed completely and she was shocked over how Dan had fooled them all. He’d expertly pretended to be non-threatening because his newly unveiled visage was terrifying. His eyes were filled with malice and his white knuckled grip on the knife hinted at how eager he was to use it on her. Although she’d revealed him as the culprit, she still didn’t understand his motive.

“Why? What did I ever do to you?”

He shook his head and curled his upper lip in disgust. “You never had any clue who I was, did you? I remember the first time we met, I was sure you would out me on the spot. Luckily, your selfishness has always made you blind to the things right in front of you.”

She tapped her sneaker up and down impatiently. “Are you going to make sense anytime soon? Because you’re beginning to bore me.”

“You never knew who I was because your mom told me exactly how your gift worked. I became Dan completely and left Peter behind whenever I was around you. I changed everything about me, so you’d never know I was nearby, planning the different ways I could end you.”

Kate tilted back on her heels and examined the man before her. It had been years since she’d seen Peter, but she still remembered what he looked like. As she stared at Dan, she could see the resemblance, but everything about him was different. She’d peg him as a distant relative at best. Peter had blond hair and blue eyes while Dan had black hair and brown eyes. The height was the same, but the weight was off. Could he have changed his appearance drastically enough to worm his way into her life?

“Every day I spent in jail, I thought about you—fantasizing about how long and drawn out I could make your death, to bring upon you the same pain you inflicted when you interfered with my son and me. Mattie and I would’ve been happy together, but instead you tried to have him taken away from me forever.”