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“What did I do?” Jemmy asked in confusion.
“Troy, Jaxson, and Blake should have told them, not you,” Dawn said patiently.
In so many ways, Dawn and Jemmy were alike. They were outrageous flirts. They were brash, stubborn, and outgoing. They had the same zest for life. However, Dawn was five years older than Jemmy, so she had a better filter and processed things longer before she reacted to situations. I was hoping Jemmy would learn that eventually as well.
“I had a dream,” I started once we all sat down. “Well, I guess I experienced my first jump. I think I might have seen a glimpse of Otto’s life.”
“Otto is the name we’re calling He Who Shall Have No Name until he earns one,” Jaxson quickly interjected.
Troy and I exchanged a smile before I continued. “He was hooking up with a blonde that I’m pretty sure I’ve seen in a movie or on television somewhere.”
“Back up. What?” Noah asked mid-bite.
“I had a dream, or a jump,” I explained once more after a sigh. “In my jump, I’m a man. I can hear, smell, and feel the ocean air. I also had our mark here.” I placed my hand over my heart. “I know it was him.”
“We have two security gigs in California for affluent individuals. A bunch of A-listers will be going to these parties,” Troy explained. “My hope is we can find the girl in Blake’s jump, and she can lead us to him, or he might be there, and Drake or Blake will feel a…draw to him.”
“Did you feel tired or…drained after your jump?” Noah asked as he scrutinized me once more.
“No, surprisingly enough,” I shrugged not irritated by his concern. There was a reason we were refraining from using our gifts.
“Why California?” Remy asked crossing his arms across his chest. I could tell by the way he barely touched his food that he didn’t like the direction our conversation was going.
“In my jump, the sun was rising, we determined by when we woke up and how real it felt they had to be approximately three hours behind us. We know she’s famous, so California or New York City would be the obvious choices to begin looking, but it’s cold in New York and he wanted to go surfing,” I explained.
“How can she have jumped without making a connection? If all her additional gifts lay dormant until a connection is made, how was she capable of jumping?” Kade asked in confusion.
Maybe this conversation was a little too mature for his younger ears, but he was one of the most mature fifteen-year old’s I’d ever met. I often forgot he was younger. He and Micah got up every morning of their own accord and woke up Alex and Ella to get them ready. They would then go walk down to Beth and Cora’s and grab Nadia and Patrick to walk them down to school. Patrick was a good, bright kid but he needed nudging every now and then to do what he should be doing. Kade was definitely helping in that area.
“We already know our situation. Blake’s circumstances have never been by the book. Maybe her gift wants her to find him,” Drake stated as he squeezed my thigh under the table.
“When’s the first gig and what do they entail?” Jace asked. He and Remy had helped Troy in the past at the security firm. In fact, Jace had worked one of his ex-girlfriend’s shows as a favor to Troy in the past. Troy needed him to calm some of the high-strung models and work as an extra pair of eyes.
Troy sighed. “The first job is for a young fashion designer. She has a guest list of over one hundred people. Leo and his team will do all the leg work for both events, and we’ll be there as back up during the parties. The socialite wants all the security detail to blend in. She doesn’t want us to stick out, so it’s black tie. The second party is on New Year’s Day. It’s an engagement party for an actor and a director. Again, their guest list is pretty extensive. They want us to be seen but not heard.”
“Our first New Year’s together will be in California?” Noah said with a frown.
“Yes,” Jace stated firmly. “Let Leo know we will be his back up. Should I get Dad to have the jet on standby?”
“Yeah,” Troy nodded. “My chopper doesn’t have enough room for all of us.”
“I’ll go see him after lunch,” Jace commented.
“I don’t want to see her or talk to her,” Micah stated mulishly as he crossed his arms over his chest.
Alex looked at him hesitantly. “Did Miranda really want me? She didn’t run away from me, honestly?”
We had put off telling the kids long enough about Miranda’s intended visit tomorrow night. We also needed to inform them that we would be leaving soon to hopefully find Otto. The guys and I had them all seated around the table as we had ice cream.
“That’s what she said, yes,” I stated with censorship. I was trying really hard to keep my tone neutral and free of any of my biases. “You don’t have to talk to her.” I turned to look at Micah. “But she says she has gifts for you guys, and we thought you all should have a choice to have a relationship with her or not. No pressure. No one’s forcing you to like her or even talk to her.”
“Sometimes we have to be around people we do
n’t like, or never will like, for the benefit of others,” Remy stated gruffly as he clapped Micah on the back gently. Somehow, I didn’t think he was just talking about the current situation. He had already determined he would never like Otto, and he wasn’t going to even attempt to. He also knew we needed Otto despite not wanting him around. We were all feeling the effects of not utilizing our gifts—we were only a shell of the people we once were.
I was being forced to eat my words from over a week ago. We were all missing our gifts. None of us realized how much they were an integral part of us. We didn’t have the endurance or stamina we once had while training, either. We weren’t required to train this week, but all of us still did something daily whether it was running, lifting weights, martial arts, dancing, or any other form of cardio.
“I want to meet her, even though she’s not my mom,” Ella said, her little legs swinging back and forth under the table. “She’ll have stories about my dad, right?”
