was over, she and Andreas could begin to smooth over the fear and anger that stood between them now. The drive from Newport to Boston seemed to take years instead of an hour. She'd hated that she and Andreas hadn't been able to talk before Rio and Dylan had arrived to bring them to the compound.
And she still weathered the knot of cold anxiety that had settled in her heart in that instant when he'd leapt out of the vehicle once they reached the city. She didn't know where he'd gone, but she'd taken some small comfort in the fact that Elise had informed her that he was with Tegan now, both of them presumably on their way back to the compound. At least he was safe. At least she would still have the opportunity to try to make things right between them. Claire turned down one of the winding white hallways and followed the pattern of black glyphs inlaid in the floor. The marks were mesmerizing, especially when she was already lost in her thoughts. She caught a faint whiff of chlorine an instant before a door swung open in front of her in the corridor. A young girl with wet blond hair came to an abrupt stop directly in her path. She had a towel wrapped around her tiny frame, the straps of a pink swimsuit tank peeking over the top of the white terry cloth. "Oh!" Claire exclaimed, startled and surprised to see the child in the compound.
"I'm sorry. I didn't see you coming out of..." Her voice trailed off as she found herself staring into a pair of wide, luminescent eyes the color of polished silver. They were the oddest color--not really a color at all, but nearly white. Smooth as glass ... hypnotic. "I was just..." Claire murmured, uncertain what she meant to say next because in that instant the girl's eyes began to change. The surface of her irises warbled, like a pond suddenly sent quaking by the drop of a pebble into the water. Her pupils began to shrink to tiny pinpoints, drawing Claire deeper into the peculiar spell of the girl's eyes. Then she saw something move within the mirrorlike depths. It was an image taking shape swiftly, coming into focus as Claire peered in total rapt fascination. It was a woman, running in darkness. Screaming, grief-stricken. It was herself. Claire watched as the vision played out like a clip from a movie. But this was no movie; it was her life. Her personal anguish. She knew it instinctively, as she watched herself tearing through a thicket of trees and bramble, desperate to reach something--or someone--yet knowing from the ache in her soul that what she sought was lost to her already. There was a blinding glow of fire ahead of her, a deep pit of rubble that roared with flames and smoke, throwing off heat so intense it seared her like she was walking into a furnace. Someone shouted for her to get back. Still, she ran toward it. She couldn't turn away from it. Even though she knew in her heart that he was gone, she couldn't turn away from him. "Andre," she murmured aloud. The door swung open again and a woman came out this time. "Oh, God... Mira," she exclaimed, and hastily turned the little girl away from Claire, burying the child's face in the generous swell of her pregnant belly. Claire came out of her daze as if she'd been slapped. "What just happened?"
The other woman was kneeling down in front of the child now, smoothing a gentle palm over her cheeks and murmuring reassuring words to her. She offered Claire an apologetic look. "Hi, I'm Tess. You must be Claire. This is Mira. We were just having a swim. Are you all right?" Claire nodded. "Her eyes..." "Yes," Tess said. "Mira is a seer. She usually wears special contact lenses to mute her talent, but she took them out because she was afraid to lose them in the pool." "Hi, Claire," Mira said, careful to keep her gaze down now. "I didn't mean to scare you." "That's okay." Claire smiled and ran her hand over the top of the girl's damp head, even though she was still very rattled by what she'd witnessed. Tess seemed to pick up on her unease. The pregnant Breedmate's aquamarine eyes were tender, compassionate. "Mira, why don't you run along now. I'll be right there to read you a story while