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Reaching out, he stroked a finger down her cheek, and wasn’t surprised when she gripped his finger in her little fist. She’d done that ever since she was born. But this time, she turned to look at him.

The fear was palpable. He looked at Aiden. Do you feel this?

Yes, she did it the first time the other day when her stuffed elephant fell to the floor. I was holding her at the time, and she let me know very clearly that she was unpleased.

Haven stroked his thumb over her little knuckles. She shouldn’t be able to influence us like this. Does Angela know?

Aiden scowled. I think she suspects, though I haven’t outright told her.

Very carefully, Haven drew his finger away, concern eating at him on an all new level. If there was a threat around them, he needed to find it. He had to keep his charges alive.

4

Zeke watched Ember for any hint that she’d realized what was going on.

He thought he was in the clear. Kind of. They still had a few things to get done. If Shannon’s surprise baby shower went off the way he wanted it to, Ember would not be in Frog Dog at all tomorrow, which would give him a chance to finalize things. The wedding was going to be held in a local event space called Black Orchid Events Center, but it was going to be catered by another company. Zeke had told her that between the little party last night, catering to the guys today and the dinner the next night, they wouldn’t have the time to cater for the final dinner. Surprisingly, she’d agreed, and he’d contracted a local steak restaurant to cater for them on Saturday night. It was pricey, but he chalked it up to part of the wedding budget.

Flowers were planned and the wedding cake was being made by a local baker. He’d struggled over flavors. Twice he went for tastings, and he finally decided to do a three tier cake. Each layer would be a different flavor. The bottom layer, the biggest, was a white lemon cake with a layer of lemon curd in the middle. The second tier was a rich, decadent chocolate with a ganache layer. And the third was a tiramisu flavored cake. That had been his favorite, and he knew Ember would love it as well. If any restaurant they went to had tiramisu on the menu, she ordered it every time. They actually had created a version of their own tiramisu, with the lady fingers soaked in a light chocolate stout. It was out of this world, if he did say so himself.

Ember was going to be shocked and amazed if he was able to pull everything off the way he wanted to. It would be up to the women to help him out. It was their responsibility to stall her as long as possible tomorrow so that he and some of the guys could finalize the set up at the venue. The consultant that came with the package, Heather, was phenomenal, and she’d assigned him two assistants to implement everything. Andy and Elle had put together several private weddings, and they each had more ideas than time, which Heather actively had to rein them in. He’d finally told them exactly what Ember liked, and to make the venue a sparkling ice kingdom. Period. It would be in the evening, so, it needed to be dreamy and magical.

When he walked into the space, though, he was worried. The chairs were set out, facing the direction he’d wanted, but nothing else was done. There were shimmery piles of ice blue fabric in one corner of the hall, and boxes of stemware were in the main aisle. Andy, the one with dark hair and glasses, was rummaging through one of the boxes. The actual wedding would take place here, but the dinner was in an adjoining room. The stemware shouldn’t even be here.

Andy looked up when he stopped beside her, and smiled, though she looked a little flustered. “I know it looks bad,” she said glancing around, “but I promise you we will pull it together. We’re actually a little ahead of schedule, but these were just delivered.”

Zeke peered into the box and frowned. “W-what happened?”

Andy shook her head. “Not sure. I emailed my contact and he’s looking for a new box.”

Inside, the box was full of broken glass. One or two pieces looked fine, but it wasn’t worth the danger of digging them out. “It l-l-looks like this was dropped from the t-t-truck.”

Andy nodded, closing the flaps on the box. “That’s what I think too. Or it wasn’t secured inside the truck.” She sighed. “We have extras, so don’t worry about it.”

She stood up, and Zeke could see the dirt and debris on her jeans. She had been working. “C-can you up-update me on what’s going on?”

She nodded and started pointing. Zeke listened, but several of the things she talked about he had no definition for, so he just let her continue. Then they moved into the dining room, and he was pleasantly surprised. Some of the decorations had gone up, and he could see what they were going for. Ember was going to freak.

Heather met him as Andy was finishing up the tour.

“The photographer is on board. The catering company will have their own servers. The deejay is confirmed. And the bar is covered. It will be open as soon as the doors open.”

“Good,” he laughed. “B-because I know I’m g-going to need a drink.”

By the time he left the hall, he was a little more at ease. In two days, he would be getting married.

Finally.

* * *

John wanted Aiden to join him at the football watch party, so Haven was left at the baby shower with Angela and baby Fallon. Knowing he would be a hindrance to their fun inside, he stayed outside to patrol the area around the sprawling ranch style house. It belonged to Joe Flynn and his wife Willow, as well as their two kids, baby Raven and dark-haired, adopted Mateo. There were several dogs in the fenced middle yard that adjoined her veterinarian office, and he looped around it all, senses wide open. There was snow on the ground, but the sun was shining, making it a tiny bit warmer than yesterday.

When Aiden had told him to dress for cold weather, he hadn’t been lying. Haven loved the cold, though. The gently falling snow presented him an opportunity rather than a bother. Finding a secluded place on the far side of the house, away from prying eyes, he practiced camouflaging himself in the snow. If the falling snow melted quickly, it wasn’t as hard. Lingering, sticky stuff would be more difficult. For an hour, he practiced with snow and trees, then he moved to the side of the house, blending into the dark gray siding. This was a solid background, and he did a little better with a variegated background.

Camouflaging this way had been one of the hardest things to learn. When he’d been up on 4th floor fighting for his sanity, he’d created apparitions to protect himself, men with guns, usually, meant to scare off attackers. Or raging fires. It had worked when he’d been a prisoner in the Guyana camp, discouraging the guards from harassing him. But Raine Walters, nurse extraordinaire, had been able to see through his apparitions. Or maybe she just knew that he wouldn’t hurt her. She’d plowed headlong into his space and made him come around. She’d made him aware enough, sane enough, that he’d picked up on Belladonna’s distress, hundreds of miles away when she’d been held captive.

All of them had changed a lot over the past year. The madness was receding as the training took over, and Haven relished being back in top form. And he relished being able to walk into a room and have no one see him. As a Ranger, that was a skill he’d never even dreamed of having.

The men that had been treated with ayahuasca had all developed different enhancements, but they were realizing that the skills very often fell into two categories. The enhancements were either built upon skills the patient already had, or they were making up for a deficit. Haven was already adept at camouflage and concealment from his time in the Army. But others, like Nathan, who had been blinded by the doctors in the camp, had developed completely new skills to accommodate the loss. Nathan still wasn’t able to see, but he’d developed an echolocation ability that was better than seeing, Haven thought. It was like Nathan could literally see around corners, and he was one of the few people Haven couldn’t hide from. Nathan spotted him on the course every time.