Mind Games - Page 222

But he’d fight to kill while she fought to live. She firmly believed that gave her the advantage.

At last, she sat back, admitted she could refine and polish and anticipate for months. But when it came down to it, it would be her mind against his.

It had always come down to that.

Time, she thought, for the next step in the process. She called a family meeting.

In her kitchen, Lucy dished up some apple cobbler.

“We haven’t had a family meeting in a while,” she said. “Let’s start off with some good news.”

“Sales were up for Mountain Magic in October. And look to be up another five percent in November.”

“That’s good news, Rem, but I’m not talking business.” Lucy scrubbed at his hair before she set down the cobbler.

“It’s not just business, though, is it?”

“It’s not. I heard Adalaide started school.”

“She did,” Thea confirmed. “Bray told me, and Nadine came by to see me. She said Jed was so shaken by Adalaide taking off like that, getting lost, he drove her in her first day himself.”

“Time something knocked some sense in his head. I was hoping you’d called the meeting to give us some happy news about you and Ty, but that’s not the look I see on your face.”

“Ty and I are fine, Grammie. More than fine.”

“Teenage dream realized.”

“Maybe.” Thea looked at Rem and didn’t mind the smirk. “And the possibility of that’s part of why I asked us to meet. I can see that possibility, and if it doesn’t fully realize, then it wasn’t meant to. But I can see it. Because I can, I can see having a life free and clear. One without Riggs clawing his fingers into my head.”

“I thought things were better there.”

“They were, now they’re not. It doesn’t last, Rem, the better doesn’t last. It never has. And maybe I have some part in that by taunting him the way I did right after he went to prison. And more than a few times after. But if I helped open the door, it’s way past time I not only shut it, but eradicate it.”

“How?”

“I’m going to Virginia, to the prison, to see him, face-to-face.”

“No, absolutely no. Are you crazy?” Rem’s chair scraped the floor as he turned it toward her. “You’ll just give him more power. For fuck’s sake, Thea, if going there through some mind meld deal started this, how much worse is this?”

Lucy reached out to pat Rem’s fisted hand. “I have to agree with Rem on this, darling. The more distance between you, the better. I’ve often wondered if the fact the prison’s only about an hour from here plays into this.”

“It didn’t stop him when I was at college, or when I’ve been in New York. He just worms his way in, and it’s getting worse. I can’t go on this way, I can’t keep living this way, just waiting until he finds another chink. Whatever connects us, I have to break it. Finish it.”

“How’s being in the same room with him going to do that?” Rem demanded. “Even if they’d let you.”

“He’s allowed four hours’ visitation a month. I only need one. If I can’t do what I’m set on doing in an hour, I can’t do it at all. I’d never be free of him, and I’ve got to be. So I will do it.”

“Do what, exactly?”

“We’ll play a game. My game. A head game.”

“This is bullshit. Grammie.”

“Thea, this isn’t something you play with. You don’t risk yourself, your mind, your gift like this.”

“If not for this, then what?” Frustrated, Thea lifted her hands, palms up. “Do I spend my life this way, waiting, fighting, hounded? I have a chance, a real chance. Ty loves me, and—”

“This isn’t about Ty,” Rem snapped.