Divine Encounter Read online

  “You’re such an old lady,” Keona grumbled as she flipped off the TV.

  “Some of us have to do more than patrol the halls all day.” Piper kicked her sister’s retreating butt.

  “Hey.” Keona pointed at herself and puffed out her chest. “I protect the patients you help heal, okay. Besides, not everyone can make a rent-a-cop uniform look as good as I can.” She winked.

  A lack of confidence had never been Keona’s problem. She was beautiful, cocky, sharp as a tack, and lethal when she needed to be. So many times Piper admired her sister, wanting to be as incredible as Keona.

  “You okay?”

  Piper popped up her head and nodded, embarrassed that she’d trailed off into her own thoughts.

  “Yeah, just tired. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Okay. You sure you don’t want the bed?”

  Piper shook her head, it was her turn on the couch. “Not unless you need to stretch out.”

  The girls stood five-feet-nine-inches tall. The only bed was a twin, and stretching out was a joke. The sofa pulled out into a double, offering a few more inches of leg room. The girls took turns, rotating each week between the cramped bedroom and the couch.

  “Naw, I can stretch out while I patrol the halls all day tomorrow.” Keona grinned and kissed Piper’s head. “Love you, sis.”

  “Love you, too.” Piper made up her bed and crawled under the threadbare blanket. Never in her life had she been so excited to sleep. There was no guarantee that a repeat of last night’s dream was in order. It would be nice though. That guy was too cute for his own good and she’d love to stare at him more.

  A small voice in the back of her mind whispered there was something special about that dream, something more than just a fabulous figment of her imagination. The gods were a mystery. The possibilities were endless when it came to Zeus and his children, their powers and their ways. Perhaps her dream was orchestrated by the gods, perhaps her sexy dream man was a real guy out there somewhere just waiting to meet her.

  No. Men that handsome only existed in dreams.

  Instead of keeping herself awake by overthinking, Piper accepted the fact that she’d conjured up this perfect man out of her loneliness. The apartment grew colder with each passing minute, so she turned on a small space heater by the couch and snuggled in, ready for sleep.

  Smoke and clouds filled her mind, sweeping her into a deep, unnatural sleep so quickly she lost her breath. Piper gasped and woke.

  Or did she?

  Piper sat up and spread her hands out, digging her fingers into the soft lush grass of the rose gardens.

  “I knew it,” said a rich male voice that sent shivers of awareness straight to her core. “I knew you were more than just a good dream.”

  The mystery man approached, his wide smile revealing perfect white teeth and dimples. By the gods, he was radiant.

  His shiny black hair covered his face as he bent to offer a hand. “Milady.”

  “Thank you.” Piper was breathless, struck speechless by the masculine beauty of his face and the shining glint in his dark eyes. “I guess you weren’t just a fluke, huh?”

  He kept their hands linked by only the tips of their fingers. “No, beautiful, not just a fluke. I’m very real.” He glanced around and sighed. “This isn’t real; this is definitely a dream world. However, it is based on my home. These are my mother’s gardens. I know right where we are.”

  “Why…” Piper swallowed hard and tried to speak like a person who held a hint of intelligence. “Why do you think the gods have brought us here, twice?”

  “I have a theory.” He took her hand fully in his and walked her through the gardens, deeper and deeper into the mist and smoke. Each path they took led them to the same courtyard with the fountain of Zeus and the child. “It should be right here.”

  “What?”

  “The ca—” He cleared his throat. “The ca—” Twice more he tried to speak but his words were cut off. With a hint of aggravation, he laughed. “Clever, gods. Very clever.”

  Piper gave him a questioning look.

  He bit his bottom lip, which sent another bolt of desire straight between her legs. “They’ve muzzled me.”

  “Let’s see what we can and cannot say, shall we?” Piper sat on the edge of the fountain and lifted the white gown so she could dip her feet into the crystal water. “If the gods have brought us together, we should figure out why. Tell me about yourself.”

  Piper gave the adorable man her undivided attention for what felt like hours while they conversed before he rubbed the back of his neck. “I think it’s morning where I am. I feel the pull to leave.”

  “Wait!” Piper reached for him. “Will you be back?”

  He smiled and kissed the back of her hand. “Gods willing, my beautiful angel. Gods willing.”

  Piper closed her eyes, she didn’t want to see him dissolve into smoke and mist. Her grip on his hand and the water on her toes were the last things she felt before she sat up in bed.

  The couch was damp by her feet.

  “He’s real.” She hugged the blanket to her chest and held on to the hope that somewhere in this world her handsome night visitor was out there. Maybe he missed her like she missed him.

  Chicago, IL

  Months later, the day a Grande Deity died…

  KEONA YAWNED AND covered it with her coffee cup. Six in the morning was too early for this whole being awake thing. She and Piper walked down the sidewalk to the hospital, one of them ready to start the day, one of them wanting to take a freaking nap already.

  “Have I ever told you I hate morning people?” Keona grumbled. She rolled her eyes at Piper, who smiled brightly. If the girl had a tail, it would be wagging like a damn golden retriever.

  “Almost every day of our lives.”

  “Good. At least I’m consistent.”

  Once they clocked in for their shift, Piper went to the ER for a long day of excitement—or at least she would think so. Some of the things she did, yuck. When people walked in holding their severed arm from an on-the-job accident, a normal person would puke. Not Piper. Then again, her twin had never been normal.

  Keona, on the other hand, went to the security desk and got the usual rundown. Her paycheck might be for keeping an eye out for the hospital staff and their patients, but her concern was one ER nurse in particular—her sister. Against Keona’s better judgment, Piper insisted that she use her gift of seeing into the body and her healing touch to help others. They both knew this opened her up to certain risks, like humans asking too many questions about her. It didn’t stop her. So Keona dutifully patrolled the hospital as a security guard, bored out of her freaking skull all day long.

  A couple hours into her shift, a strange wave of dizziness overcame her. She leaned on the wall and bent with her hands on her knees until she could shake it off. Panic punched her in the gut and knocked the air out of her chest.

  Death.

  Instinctively, she knew Piper was in trouble. Keona jogged down to the ER while she called in to the security desk that she was on break.

  “Do you know where Piper is?” Keona asked the admissions administrator. She cupped a hand over her mouth, the emotion so strong her stomach revolted.

  “She bolted for the locker room a moment ago. You look about as pale as she did. Are you guys okay?”

  “Food poisoning, I think.” Keona took off, headed for her sister. Halfway to the locker room she staggered and braced herself against the wall. Desperation collided with helplessness and distress, hitting her like a bullet to the chest. The air rushed from her lungs and her eyes started to roll back in her head. She grabbed at her heart and looked down to make sure she didn’t have blood on her hand as she sank to her knees.

  “Keona?” Piper’s voice came from the room to her right.

  Her sister was huddled in the corner of a supply closet, hugging her knees to her chest and shaking uncontrollably. Keona crawled through the door. “Piper, what’s going on?�
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  Tears streamed down her face and she shook her head. “I don’t know. Something is wrong, horribly wrong. I was filling out a form, then I felt this anguish surge through me. I reached out for you, mentally, but I could’ve sworn you died, like I lost our connection.” She waved her hand between them.

  Keona gathered her up and hugged her close. “No, no, sis. I’m here, I’m fine. Everything is okay.”

  “No.” Piper sobbed and clawed at her chest. “It’s not okay. It hurts, god, it hurts so bad. They’re gone. They’re dying and I can’t stop them. Oh god, they’re dying.”

  “Shh.” Keona covered Piper’s mouth and held her tight, not knowing what else to do. “Someone is going to hear you, Piper. Shh.” The last thing they needed was to draw unwanted attention.

  Piper grabbed a towel from the shelves to cover her mouth and tried to contain screams so heartbreaking it brought Keona to tears. This wasn’t Piper’s pain. They had no one to lose that would make her feel this way. Could her sister be an empath? Was this some side effect of her healing gifts at play? Was she taking on the feelings of her patients, their families? If that was the case, who was dying?

  “I’m taking you home.”

  Piper nodded and didn’t fight Keona as she delivered her back to their apartment. Keona made her as comfortable as possible but still Piper cried.

  “Can you tell me what’s wrong? Who died?”

  “I don’t know. I can’t…I don’t know. It just hurts, my heart hurts, just like when we lost Daddy or when Mom…” She buried her face in her pillow and her body shook with every sobbing breath.

  “Piper, you’re going to make yourself sick.” She brought water and forced Piper to drink it. Her sister’s hands shook to the point that Keona had to hold the glass to her lips.

  “I’m s-s-sorry. I’m so sorry, Keona.”

  “Oh, sweetie, it’s okay.” She wrapped her arms around her sister. “Don’t worry about me, Piper. I’m just fine. You need to focus on the source of this emotion. Did one of your patient take a turn for the worse?” Focus was incredibly hard to find with the nausea churning in her gut, but at least she could breathe without feeling like she had a hole in her lungs.

  Piper shook her head. “It’s not at the hospital. It’s not anyone here.”

  “Do you think this has to do with your dreams?”

  “M-m-maybe. I don’t know.” Piper sniffed and took another drink, her hands slightly more steady.

  “Okay, I’m going back to the hospital to get my things and let them know that you have some sort of…stomach…junk. I want to take a look around the ER and make sure there’s no one in there who might be one of us. Lock the doors, stay here, and stay connected to me.” Keona tapped her temple.

  Piper nodded and was strong enough to lock the door behind her sister.

  Her senses were on full alert when Keona walked back through the ER. Unless they knew to shield their auras, any being with Olympian blood could be spotted by the ring of light and color that surrounded them. No one set off her internal beacons, no one made her look twice. Everyone there was very much human. No auras. Keona made up an elaborate story about how they had bad take-out and Piper was sick as a dog. The ER doctor Piper liked so much was quite concerned and didn’t hesitate to prescribe her something to help with the nausea.

  Returning home, Keona found her sister asleep on the couch, curled into the fetal position. This wasn’t one of her dreaming sleeps, her breath still shuddered and tremors made her arms and legs twitch.

  What the hell was going on? What had caused both of them to have bad reactions at the same time?

  After all that, Keona wanted a drink. They kept a bottle of rum under the sink, mainly to create an incendiary weapon if they needed to, but also for moments like this. Keona drank straight from the bottle, just enough to calm her nerves.

  What a damned trippy day. Her body ached, probably from the sudden wash of pain she’d felt from her sister. She changed out of her uniform and did some of her karate stretches to help her muscles loosen up. When the sun was directly overhead and Piper still lay curled up on the couch, Keona flopped down across the tiny bed, right on top of the covers. Time for that nap, after all.

  Piper’s temples throbbed in time with her pulse, her chest felt pinched, and her eyes were puffy and didn’t want to open all the way. Her throat was raw and her nose stuffy from crying. She felt like microwaved death and didn’t want to get up. But Keona shuffled around the kitchen, scraping pans against the stovetop, banging a spoon on the edge of the pot she stirred. The scent of tomato sauce and the steam of boiling water filled their apartment.

  Keona would want some sort of explanation for her behavior today.

  Too bad Piper didn’t have one.

  “Hey, sis, are you feeling better?” Keona offered her a sympathetic smile as she strained the noodles.

  She stretched stiff arms above her head, rolled her neck, and made her way to the table. “Did you push me in front of a bus?”

  “It’s crossed my mind, but no.” The attempted humor was appreciated.

  A nearly empty rum bottle sat on the table by Keona’s spot. Man, she must’ve been really upset. “I’m sorry about today. I don’t know what came over me.”

  “You want to talk about it?” Keona set plates of spaghetti on the table. She sat down, poured a shot and knocked it back.

  “I can’t explain it, if that’s what you want me to do. One minute I was fine, the next I was breaking in half, tearing in two.” She shook her head and shivered, twirling her fork around the noodles. She wasn’t hungry, but she forced herself to eat. “I’ve never had that happen to me before.”

  Keona huffed between bites. “No shit, I would’ve remembered.”

  Her sister’s foul mood was from more than the rum. “Are you okay?”

  Keona’s bloodshot eyes met hers. “Yeah, just dealing with the backlash, you know?”

  The twin-bond. Keona would’ve felt most of what hit her, a residual fallout of the violent emotions and pain. That was the problem with having an identical twin and being Olympian, blood did weird and unexplainable things with their gifts.

  Once dinner was finished, along with most of the rum, Keona stood and took their plates to the sink. “We need more alcohol. I’m going to run down to the store.”

  “Are you sure you can walk?”

  “I can now that my stomach is full. I’m okay. You rest.” Keona grabbed her keys and left Piper to unravel the mystery of her sudden panic earlier that day.

  What could’ve caused it? The shock and helplessness of the moment made her chest ache. When she closed her eyes to focus on the events leading up to her panic attack, she saw her father in her mind, dying in front of her. At her young age, she couldn’t have saved him. Her head understood that. Her heart didn’t.

  Piper wiped away tears and eyed the rum. Even though she’d slept all day, she was physically drained. It took all her energy to reach over and pour a shot. The warm sting of the alcohol washed down her throat and settled into her belly. She curled back into a fetal position on the couch and closed her eyes.

  The familiar haze of the dream world settled around her. Even after all these months, she welcomed it, anticipated the scene unfolding before her. Her rapidly beating heart danced in her chest when she made out the garden of roses, wisteria, and lavender. Her bare feet naturally found the stone-covered path that led to their usual meeting place. In her dreams, she always wore the white gown that fell to her ankles and flowed in a train behind her. Her shoulders were bare and the sleeves billowed to the ground. It was a lovely gown, not what she would choose in her waking state, but he liked it. His tastes were more conservative, more old-worldly. She didn’t mind; she would wear whatever he desired.

  Excitement streamed through her veins along with the rum. Would he simply talk to her tonight? Touch her as he had before? Once she’d been allowed to unbutton his shirt and touch his firm, warm chest. By the gods, she wanted to repeat
that dream every night. She’d recalled the texture of his skin on her fingertips the next morning.

  Piper’s hair flowed down her back, loose and blowing in a nonexistent wind. She meandered through the flowerbeds and found him sitting in front of their fountain under an arbor draped in purple flowers. The sound of trickling water almost concealed the sounds of his grief.

  This wasn’t right.

  He had one of the happiest personalities she’d ever known. This man, her love with no name, might only be a figment of her unconscious mind, but when they were together she never felt more real. His laughter and kindness, quick wit and easy smile were the light in her darkness. What could possibly make him cry?

  “I’m here,” she announced softly, cautiously approaching. He lifted his head and looked into the fountain. Running her fingers through his silken hair, she stood behind him, allowing his weight to rest on her. “Talk to me, my love. What troubles you?”

  His hands found hers on his shoulders. “I need you now more than I’ve ever needed anyone.” He brought one hand to his lips. “I don’t even know if you’re real and yet I’ve forced myself to go to sleep so that I can see you.” Brown, bloodshot eyes met hers as he turned around on the bench. More tears flowed down his cheeks and Piper’s heart broke for him. “Nothing makes sense in my world right now.”

  “What can I do? How can I make this better?” Piper cradled his head against her, his arms bracketed her waist. This was the most they’d ever touched and her skin tingled under his weight. “You know I would give anything to be with you, to stand beside you as you face whatever this is.”

  “Make me believe you are out there somewhere.”

  His anguish hit her in full force and brought back the pain she’d felt earlier. Finally, the panic of the day made sense. “It was you.” Piper dropped to her knees in front of him, taking his head between her hands. “I felt your pain today. You lost someone, didn’t you?” He nodded and tightened his jaw. “I felt it, I felt the death, the despair, your hopelessness. Don’t you see what that means? We’re connected in the real world. The time is drawing near. I can feel it—the pressure builds every day. We will be together outside of this world soon. Have faith that the gods’ timing is much more divine than our own. Even in my waking hours you’re all I think about. I can’t concentrate on anything else. One day they will lead me to you, and when they do, we’ll never be apart.”