The house was dark except for the flickering light coming from the candles in a circle around us on the floor. Daniel gripped my hand, squeezing it every so often as if to remind me that everything was okay. Deep down, I already knew that.
Deep, deep down. Like, the core of the earth deep.
Even so, we weren’t summoning demons or any scary stuff like that. All this was set up so that Alice could have an easier time harnessing her visions. When we finished, she might be able to tell me who was coming for my powers, if we were very lucky and the stars aligned and whatnot. Now, we had to wait for Alice and Henry to join us, and we could begin.
“It’s going to be okay,” Daniel said in a low voice. Not the low, growly one when he’d go all protective bear to keep us safe, nor the low one he used in the bedroom. No, this was his capable-strong-man voice. The voice he used when he wanted me to know that he was here for me, no matter what, and not even ghosts and goblins could separate us.
I loved that voice, so I smiled at him. “I know. I —” Something moved beyond the light, in the shadows by the doorway. I couldn't stop a small shriek before realizing it was Alice and my brother. Geez, why was I so jumpy tonight?
Sure, life had been crazy, culminating in Alice having a vision saying someone was coming to take my powers. I hadn’t had them all that long. It wasn’t like I’d been born with them. Even still, I sure as heck didn’t want to give them up, either. Especially not to someone who thought they could take them from me.
Henry gave me a small smile, realizing he’d scared me, but I was busy trying to get my heart to beat normally so I stared at him. His black hair, the same shade as mine, was a little longer these days. He liked his hair to look the same all the time, but the length was nice on him. It drew attention to his bright blue eyes, also the same shade as mine. When our gazes caught, for a second I wondered if my eyes were as noticeable in the candlelight as his.
Heck, I hoped so.
“Everything looks right,” Alice said, studying the circle of candles with a frown.
She didn’t want to do this. She didn’t like her visions, and so especially didn’t like trying to bring one on, but I appreciated her doing this for me. “Thank you,” I told her, and we both knew I wasn’t thanking her for her words.
Tonight, she wore a gray cardigan with the top button undone and a skirt with flowers reaching below her knee. Her auburn hair was pulled back into her typical bun, and her sneakers looked like she’d colored them herself. After a second I realized they were cartoons from her favorite TV show. As she sat across from me, she stretched out her skirt, then Henry plopped down beside her.
“We have to hold hands,” Alice said. My brother wasn’t the biggest fan of being touched. She was likely trying to stay calm by going through the steps of this process.
To my surprise, Henry took her hand before flashing another one of his small smiles. Daniel reached for his hand, and Henry flinched away.
“Sorry,” my big bear said, those green eyes of his filling with regret. He frequently worried about inadvertently doing something that might throw a wrench in their close relationship. The last thing Daniel wanted was any kind of strife with my brother.
Henry recovered quickly, letting it go, which was difficult for him. “It’s okay. I’m okay. We need to do this for Alice’s visions and to help Emma.” He reached out, and they took each other’s hands. Daniel held back this time, making it more like Henry was taking Daniel’s hand rather than vice versa.
That man was…chef’s kiss. Perfect.
Alice nodded and looked at me with more than a little fear in her gaze. “I don’t like my visions.”
I didn’t know what to say. I already knew that. I squeezed her hand and gave her the most sympathetic smile I could. Alice couldn’t have made it clearer that she hated them. A huge part of the reason that she didn’t like to be around a lot of people was that she was more likely to have visions. Another one of the many reasons she loved my brother so much was because she felt safe with him. He’d never given her a vision. We weren’t sure why. He’d told me he suspected it was because he was always very open and honest with her all the time.
“As you guys know, my mother, Maria, is a witch.” She took a deep breath like this was a script she’d rehearsed, and she wanted to get it right. “No one in our family has been particularly powerful. Mom is good with plants, like her mother before her, and her mother before her. When she married my father, they believed that I'd be more human than witch. When, as a young girl, I started having visions, they weren’t sure what to believe.”
She sucked in a deep breath and looked up for a second before continuing. “They sought out help. Everyone knows about Cyrene Whisper.”
I didn’t, but I kept my mouth shut because even as I thought the words, Alice explained who the woman was.
“She was a witch with the most powerful premonitions of all witches in Mystic Hollow until her death. Her daughter, Brielle Whisper, was known for her premonitions as well, so she taught me a few tools. Tools that help me avoid my visions. Tools to help me understand them when they come.” She looked at me with that fear in her eyes again. “And tools to force them to come, if needed. Until her murder, she was my guide. The one person in Mystic Hollow who understood how I felt.”
Geez. Were Cyrene and Brielle both dead?
Alice paused again but didn’t start again. She was struggling. I squeezed her hand, my heart aching. “If this is too much for you, you don’t have to—”
She shook her head. “I’ve done a lot to avoid my visions, but Brielle always taught me that there's a big difference between avoiding unnecessary stress from unwanted visions and using my gift when needed. Right now, my visions are needed, so the last thing I want to do is run away from them.”
Henry nodded solemnly. “She’s this brave in our video games too.”
Daniel grinned. “I believe it.” He was actually impressed. I’d seen him scream while playing a game with my brother before because trolls attacked them.
Literally, scream. Not just while playing around with Henry. The man was braver in a real fight than he was in a video game.
Alice blushed. “I’m just a level thirty-seven mage with a thirst for blood.”
Daniel looked at me, probably noting the confused look on my face, and explained. “Henry set me up with a character in the same game. I’m a level three warrior, and they’re both awesome in the games.” He sounded so awestruck that I actually laughed.
“We all start out somewhere,” Henry said in a voice so solemn and reassuring that I chuckled again. I’d never understood anyone’s interest in video games, but I loved every person in this room even more after this conversation.
“You guys ready?” Alice asked, drawing us back to our purpose this evening.
We all nodded.
“I’m going to focus on the vision, and all you three need to do is keep your thoughts on me. Think about lending me strength. Think about guiding me to my vision. Don’t let your mind stray, or I might not have the power to call the vision. Visions are for the most part uncontrollable, so I’ll need your energy to do this.” she took a loud and shaky breath. “Got it?”
“Got it,” we all said in unison.
She closed her eyes, and I did what she told us to do. I screwed my eyes shut and remembered the moment Alice told me that someone was coming for my powers. She hadn’t seen more then, but I needed to know more. I needed her to find that vision again. To figure out who or what was coming for me and my powers. Right now, I wanted to give her my strength so she could do whatever she needed.
Something pulled at me from deep within. A tingle moved down my spine, and I squeezed Alice's and Daniel’s hands harder. The tingling spread over my body, and my breathing shallowed.
Something was happening.
I must’ve been shaking so hard that the floor rattled underneath me. Unfortunately, the feeling kept growing until I realized it wasn’t just me. The whole world was shaking. My eyes flew open, and Daniel and Henry both stared at Alice with wide eyes, before turning their heads to look around at the shaking house. Pots and pans clanged together in the kitchen. A picture frame fell off a shelf. Knickknacks and books rattled on the shelves.
Was this a poorly timed earthquake or something else? Something connected to Alice’s powers?
No way this was a coincidental act of nature. Plus, there had never been a significant earthquake in Mystic Hollow before. I was betting on the latter.
Alice’s eyes flashed open, those doe eyes of hers even bigger than usual. “With those you love by your side, you can defeat what’s coming for you.” She released our hands and shook her head, looking about ten times more exhausted than she had when she got here.
When I realized she wasn’t going to say more, I couldn’t help but ask, “Anything else?” I cringed. There was a better way to say that.
Alice’s gaze met mine. “I saw an older woman with a powerful presence. I sensed in her some of the same power I sense in you. I couldn’t tell if she was a negative or positive presence. Only a deep awareness that she was coming ever closer to you.”
“No idea who she could be or why she’s coming after me?” I gulped. "Or when?"
She shrugged. “I assume she’s coming for your power, but not why she decided to do so, nor who she is.” She looked at Henry. “I’m tired.”
He nodded, jumped up, then helped her stand.
“Thank you, Alice,” I told her, trying to hide my disappointment under tones of gratitude.
They moved away from us. The light in the hall turned on, then they disappeared toward Henry’s room. I sat there for a long minute trying to make sense of what happened.
“Well, that was…” Daniel’s handsome face wrinkled, as he tried to find a nice way to say disappointing.
“Anticlimactic,” I finished for him.
He looked a little embarrassed and ran his hand through the side of his hair. The area that had more gray than auburn running through it at his temple.
I couldn’t help but smile. “It’s okay. Maybe this was all silly anyway. Maybe Alice’s vision won’t even come to pass.”
He grinned. “There’s that positive thinking.” Leaning forward, he kissed me, sweet enough that I sighed when he pulled away. How I ever ended up marrying my cheating ex when Daniel had been on my radar, I’d never know, but I was grateful I had him now.
“Let’s blow out the candles and head to bed,” I said.
He nodded, then went around and doused the candles while I turned on a couple more lights and checked the locks. We finished at the same time, then headed for my bedroom. We'd gotten down a normal nighttime routine of face washing and teeth brushing. When we finished, we snuggled into bed together. I must have been more tired than I realized because sleep came easily, even after the freaky earthquake thing.
Except my dreams were strange, to say the least. I saw an older woman from behind. She stood outside the house I'd shared with my ex. The sound of my neighbor’s car coming up the road caught my attention. I looked down at myself and realized I was in my pajamas. Oh, okay. I was reliving the moment Karma gave me her powers. Yet, something was way off. The situation felt dark and scary. Twisted in a way I didn’t understand.
I was still trying to gather myself when the ground vibrated beneath my feet. The car was almost there. Any moment it would hit the older woman, hit Karma, and so I reacted without thinking, sprinting towards her. Before I could touch her, she turned. A gasp of horror caught in my throat.
She had no face.
Nothing. It was empty, blank.
“I’m coming for my powers. They belong to me. You will give them to me or lose everything you hold dear.”
Gasping, I shot wide awake and sat straight up in bed.
Daniel mumbled beside me and set a hand on my leg. “What’s wrong?”
My heart raced, but there was no danger here. It had only been a dream. No, a nightmare. Yet when I settled down and reassured Daniel that I was fine, the woman’s words haunted me.
She wanted her powers back. Still, it was only a dream, right?
Right?
Ugh.