Free Designed with a Destiny by Elle Davis Page B

than any sort of battle,
especially with Brandon and Austin in charge. Alisha, Natalie, and
I merely donate our mental energy to the two and they deliver a
series of quite comical telekinetic maneuvers that has the group
racing for the helicopter with a flying stretcher smacking them in
the ass. Bernie stands by quietly watching the scene not nearly as
entertained as the rest of us.
    “After twenty-eight years, I never expected
to go out for a bunch of kids,” she murmurs, as the helicopter
disappears over the mountain ridge.
    “Does this mean we’ve been terminated from
our positions?” Alisha asks nervously, and suddenly the room falls
silent as even Brandon pauses in celebration to hear Bernie’s
response.
    “I don’t know what this means. You kids have
created the biggest quandary the U.S. Government has ever faced.
Let’s just sit back and let the President cool down, and I’ll call
him in a few days. Until then, why don’t we start with a discussion
on how you guys found Sophia and Lawrence.”
    ***
    The ability of Dr. Emerick to communicate
telepathically renders itself worthless now as we sit around the
dining room table trying to decide just how much to tell Bernie
about Cataryn, the tape, and the earthquake.
    "Honesty has a higher, faster vibrational
rate than lying," he suggests, putting the decision back on us.
Natalie's natural attorney instinct is to advise us to not disclose
anything, but in the end we spill everything except our involvement
with the earthquake. Not even Lawrence could fault us for not
wanting to get her involved in something that could be considered
an act of terrorism.
    "So Cat and her twin are Designers after
all," Bernie says, looking at Lawrence with admiration. "Ronan, you
must be thrilled," I hear her say in a voice that sounds like it's
progressively getting further away. It’s Alisha who first keys in
to the fact that I’m not a hundred percent present with the
group.
    "Ronan? Ronan?…" she waves her hand in front
of my face trying to regain my attention, which sometime during the
conversation was diverted to an island forest ablaze with fire.
Through some deep innate mechanism, Cat always has a way of
alerting me when she’s in danger, and now only a tiny percentage of
my awareness is left with the group at the dining room table.
    "Brandon!" I scream, jumping to my feet. He
appears in the dining room instantly.
    "Whoa, Ronan, dude what the hell's the
matter?" he says breathlessly, looking to the others for an
explanation.
    "I think he's having a remote travel event,"
Alisha murmurs.
    "The island. It's on fire and Cat is in
trouble. We have to go. We have to go now!" I cough reflexively as
if my own lungs are being choked with smoke, and repeatedly switch
back and forth between the burning island and the Freeman estate,
frantically searching for Cat in one and barking orders to Brandon
in the other, until I finally catch a glimpse of her brown hair
spilling across the ground, under Zane's arm. Everything from that
point on happens quickly. When she hears my voice, she begins to
cry, begging me not to leave her, and I am torn on whether to break
our mental connection in order to get to her by airplane.
    "Dude, you can physically be holding her in
your arms within the next few hours if we leave now," Brandon says
convincingly, mobilizing me into action. This time, I make up my
mind that no matter what, I wouldn't come home until I could walk
through the door with her by my side.

CHAPTER
EIGHT
CAT
    “ Cat! Cat—are you okay?” It’s the
strained voice of Ronan calling my name that causes me to lose
focus, and I instantly re-enter the state of consciousness
returning full force to the limp, lifeless body lying under Zane
Harrington.
    “ Ronan, I can hear you. Where are
you?” I respond telepathically, desperate to hear his voice
again.
    “ Thank god you’re alive. I’m at the
Freeman Estate.” The emotion in his voice matches that felt in
my heart and I begin to