Page 54 of Wild Ivy
As we settle back into bed, I feel their energies wrap around me like a protective cocoon. This time, sleep comes easily, carrying me into dreams of infinite possibilities and new beginnings.
***
When I wake again, sunlight is streaming through the windows and the bed is empty except for me. The sounds and smells of breakfast drift up from downstairs - bacon sizzling, coffee brewing, and multiple voices mingling in conversation.
After a quick shower—during which I discover that water now shows me glimpses of its journey from cloud to tap—I head downstairs, following the scent of food and coffee.
“There she is,” Ramsey’s familiar voice calls out. He’s sitting at the kitchen island, Josh beside him, both clutching mugs of tea. “Heard you had quite the adventure.”
“Ramsey?” I blink, surprised but happy to see my best friend. “How did you know?”
“Please,” he rolls his eyes. “You think I wouldn’t notice when the entire supernatural world’s energy shifted? Or rather, our employers did. The Syndicate’s been going crazy trying to figure out what happened.”
“Our employers…”I guess they still are. I haven’t exactly quit. Mind you, if anything, I am The Syndicate now. Hmm… interesting…
“The Resistance, too,” Josh adds, ignoring my muttering, his usually cheerful face serious. “Something big went down last night. The kind of big that makes every supernatural sensor we have go haywire.”
Torin hands me a mug of tea, for which I’m grateful. They can keep the coffee. I’m a tea girl through and through. The liquid swirls with tiny galaxies when I swirl it. I’m not entirely sure if that’s his magick or my new perception of reality. “We were just filling them in,” he explains.
“How much have you told them?” I ask, sliding onto a stool between Ramsey and Tate.
“Enough to know you’re somehow even more special than before,” Ramsey nudges me with his shoulder. “And that Life is missing.”
“We’ve literally just got off our phones. We’ve got both organisations looking for her,” Josh says.
“Oh?” I ask with a raised eyebrow. “And why are they even contemplating helping? What’s in it for them?”
Ramsey and Torin exchange a small smirk and then Ramsey clears his throat. “Torin put out a hit on her. Quite a handsome price.”
I snort into my tea just as I am taking a sip, and it shoots back out my nose, burning my nostrils as I let out a loud laugh. “Okay, that’s innovative. I’m impressed. And The Resistance?”
Josh smiles. “Whatever The Syndicate is doing, we are doing as well. It’s like keeping up with the Joneses in a weird, supernatural, shadowy organisation way.”
“Fun. So, anything?” I sniff delicately and wipe my nose on the cloth Bram hands me before taking another tentative sip of tea.
“So far, nothing. It’s like she’s completely vanished.”
“She has,” I confirm. “I’ve tried tracking her with my new abilities, but there’s no trace. It’s like she’s gone through the cycle already.”
“The cycle?” Ramsey raises an eyebrow.
I exchange looks with my guys, trying to figure out how to explain. “Death isn’t exactly final anymore. But it’s not something that affects the living—it’s just what happens after. A chance for renewal, for souls to choose their next path.”
“Reincarnation.” Josh nods sagely. “I always believed that was the case anyway.”
I shake my head, and he looks intrigued.
“You think Life has already gone through this cycle?” Ramsey prompts.
“No, I don’t believe so. It’s more like the default option because I haven’t got a fucking clue.”
Ramsey laughs. “Good to see some things never change, even when you’re a badass, whatever it is you are now.”
“Fuck you,” I growl, but shoot him a smile.
“She could be anywhere,” Bram says from where he’s sitting on the counter. “But if she’s already gone through the cycle, andI’m saying she has, she could have been reborn as anything, anyone.”
“Which makes finding her nearly impossible,” Ramsey concludes.
