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Jeez. Of course he would want her to stay with us. One of her kind. She wasn’t used to this time. Things had changed since Aint Elma plopped her down in the past.

I had an extra bedroom, and Jake needed a safe house until the Mafusos calmed down and decided to play fair. They’d use Mortas as a pawn to keep Gian-Carlo from blowing a gasket, and in the meantime, I’d live with the mother of Caiyan’s child.

My mantra started to play.

“Jen.” Campy’s voice scratched the record.

“Sorry, what did you say?”

“I said, ye should get some rest.” Campy’s subtle brogue made my heart ache for Caiyan. “Uncle Cai will be up and aroond in no time. He’s tough.”

I hoped so, because raising a child might be his most difficult challenge to date.

I said my good-byes to Campy and headed home to face my own challenges.

Chapter 26

Islid the glass door open and met the chaos in my house head on.

Marco leaned against the living room wall, arms across his chest, listening to a lecture from Angel. She had the right to be mad. When I first met her, I guessed she had the gift. When we found the Sleigh key in Berlin that belonged to Marco’s family, it confirmed my suspicion, but it was Marco’s choice to keep it from her. I didn’t want to rock the boat.

Jake was on the phone pacing in my kitchen. He saw me and held up a finger.

I couldn’t gage his mood. I couldn’t tell if someone at base had called him and ratted me out. Was he on the phone with headquarters discovering I had returned Caiyan’s key? Time would tell.

Victory, Brodie, and Gertie sat in the den. Victory’s eyes were wide and curious, and I knew they were filling her in on all the things she’d missed in the last ten years. She’d been dropped into a fast world filled with technology even I didn’t understand.

I walked over and sat down in the chair next to her, extended my hand. “Hi, I’m Jennifer Cloud, Elma’s great-niece. We didn’t formally meet after the um…Mafuso thing.”

Her amber eyes held an intelligent sparkle, and she wore a hand stitched summer maternity dress that I assumed Mahlia had found for her. Her dark hair was piled on top of her head with a matching scarf to hold it in place. She was beautiful.

She took my hand and held it. A soft tingle fluttered up my arm like the wings of a butterfly tickling my skin.

“So, you’re the one.” She smiled at me with perfect pink lips.

“Yeah, I’m the one who opened the box and found your key.” I unlatched my hand from hers and the butterfly massage stopped.

Gertie slapped her palms together and interlocked her fingers. “Wait until you hear this!” My cousin was almost giddy.

“Hear what?”

Victory clasped hands over her large belly and gazed into my eyes. “You’re the one who ends this.”

“Ends what?” I lifted an eyebrow at her. Pretty but a little cuckoo.

“I had a vision when I was in Gettysburg. A woman with blond hair and Elma’s eyes would save me from the war and return my key. I didn’t understand the raccoon at first, but I do now.” She reached over and I realized Tonto was sitting next to her in the chair.

She scratched him behind the ears, and he looked up at her adoringly.

“I’ve seen you in many visions, and now that I have my key back, you’re as clear as ever. You end us.”

“Can you believe it?” Gertie continued before I could answer her question. “You’re the one who finds the King’s key.”

“Say what?”

Victory threw her head back and gave a throaty laugh. “You end this, the gift, this genetic monstrosity that we have.”

“Hey, I kinda like zipping over to see Gertie,” Brodie said, taking a sip from the bottle of beer he held. The amber liquid made my mouth water, and after the seer’s visions, I wished I had one, too.

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