Page 133 of Dream Mates
“Oooh, can we get that meat? The kind that you put the sauce on and grill?” Brennan’s eyes lit up.
Fortunately, I spoke Brennan and knew what he was talking about. “Of course we can. Though I need to get some more spices so that I can make the sauce. We’re short on a few things anyway.”
I got the bok choy and some other vegetables to grill alongside the meat and we went to the area of the market where I bought most of our spices. We’d get the meat last.
As we browsed in my favorite spice stall, my phone buzzed.
Spencer had sent a photo of Grace on a patio eating pizza with a bunch of people. She was laughing and lookedhappy.Something I hadn’t seen much of since the Temporal Authority had taken her.
The guy she sat next to made me pause. The tall, blond guy looked eerily like her.
I showed it to Brennan as Spencer called me.
“Spence, what am I looking at?” I asked, as I started gathering what we needed spice-wise.
“Grace’s new friend that she met at the symposium. Creed Thorne. When Brennan had Grace investigated, did he get a genscan?” Spencer asked.
“Let me ask.” I turned to Brennan. “Spencer wants to know if you ever got a genscan on Grace.”
Brennan shook his head. “I thought about it. But never did.”
“Bren was going to but never did.” I put more small bags of spices into my basket. I’d pour them in our jars at home. Evan had this huge collection of antique spice jars, most of them fromhis mother. Sometimes he dragged me to antique sales to find more.
“Can you have a genscan done immediately?" Spencer asked me.
“Um, sure. Butwhy?Isn’t Grace, you know, not from around here?” I replied, lowering my voice.
He wanted a what?
“The resemblance is interesting. I found the father online, but I can’t find his designation.”
“You’re talking about the guy in the photo? Yes, the resemblance is uncanny, but isn’t that just this world’s Grace? What do you mean about the dad? Share your thoughts with the class, Spence,” I added as I put the last spice I needed from this shop in the basket.
Brennan shot me a puzzled look. I handed the basket to him so he could pay for it
“What if there are no designations on Grace’s world because they’re illegal–and have been for so long, it’s nearly forgotten?” Spencer started.
“What?” Yeah, this was above my pay grade.
Putting an arm around my waist, Brennan returned with our spices and a frown.
“Hold on. I need to get Bren on this,” I said as we left the stall.
Getting my earbuds out of my pocket, I handed one to Bren and used the other so that we could both hear and speak to Spencer.
“Now, where are you going with this? Yes, this guy looks like Grace, but what does this have to do with the guy’s dad and getting Grace a genscan?” I asked as we found a place to sit.
“My father was sent to temporal prison for his work with a smuggling ring relocating omegas,” he said softly. “He’d get them from other worlds where omegas were illegal, then use the Omega Protection Program to set them up with new lives here.It’s a longshot, but considering there is a chemistry professor here that looks enough like Grace for people to ask her about him–and this young man she met today is his son–it makes me wonder if perhaps he was one of those omegas, and she was a child that got left behind. Maybe omegas are not illegal in her world, but are forgotten?”
“Wouldn’t it be quite the coincidence for her to end up here?” Brennan said.
“Not at all,” Spencer replied. “Her being allowed to stayhas bothered me. As has something the agent told her. If her father was brought here for safety, wouldn’t it make sense to bring his omega child here? That’s assuming he’s an omega.”
That was an interesting theory. Spencer had also sent some photos of the dad. Yeah, that was also quite the resemblance. But still…
“I’ll do the genscan, but I don’t think this chemistry professor is her father. Also, just because there might be a genetic similarity doesn’t mean they’re actually related. So many things are so very similar between our worlds that it would make sense that there might be genetic ones, too. I mean, this piano piece she played for me the other day is eerily like one here. So are some movie and book premises,” Brennan said.
“True. It’s just very strange watching them.” He sighed. “I suppose it's a coincidence and not an interdimensional conspiracy.”
