Page 26 of Dark Witch: Entangled Fates

She watched Edgar closely, looking for any sign of recognition, any hint that he knew more than he was letting on. And sure enough, there it was—a slight tightening around his eyes, a barely perceptible stiffening of his shoulders.

"Edna, huh?" he said, his voice carefully casual. "Yeah, I know her. She's one of our special consultants."

Jasmine leaned forward, her eyes wide with feigned innocence. "Special how? What kind of probe does she use? Is it some kind of high-tech compatibility test?"

Edgar hesitated, and for a moment, Jasmine thought that he might clam up and change the subject, but then he shook his head. "Edna has a gift. She doesn't need any fancy equipment to see into people's hearts and souls. It's like a sixth sense. She can determine a person's intentions and innermost desires, and I'm not talking about desires of the flesh. I'm talking about desires of the soul."

Jasmine's breath caught in her throat, a thrill of something that might have been fear or excitement or both zinging through her veins. Was Edna a seer or a psychic?

Could it be that she was a fellow witch?

Would Edna be able to help her with the tangle of answers her divination had produced?

Jasmine had tried to connect online with other practitioners, and most had been eager to help, but their advice didn't improve her results. Some tried to give her alternative meanings, which had been somewhat helpful, but in her gut, she knew that the prince was not an idea but someone real that she had to find.

18

EDGAR

Edgar wondered where he had come up with that crap. Well, come to think of it, intentions and aspirations were desires of the soul, right?

Still, Jasmine looked much too shaken by his description of Edna's ability than was merited.

"Desires of the soul?" she whispered. "What do you mean by that?"

He remembered her talking about her acting career and how she only got to play a few minor parts in commercials.

"If you are consumed by a burning need to become a movie star, Edna will see that in your soul even if you don't tell her anything about yourself. She might not know precisely what you want, but she will know that you desire fame, acceptance, recognition, or whatever else your inner motives for wanting to be a famous actress might be."

There was disappointment in Jasmine's eyes, as she picked up her knife and fork again. "That doesn't sound as scary as a probe. I was afraid that she could read my thoughts." She cut off a piece of roast beef and put it in her mouth.

Edgar was having a hard time formulating his thoughts as he looked at her mouth and imagined all the things he wanted her to do with it.

When she was done chewing, she regarded him with a small smile. "I've never thought about what motivates me to want to be an actress, and the funny thing is that it's none of the things you mentioned. Well, that's not true. I want to be famous and make a lot of money, but that's not the main reason."

"Then what is it?"

She shrugged, forked a few green beans, and put them in her mouth, probably to give herself a few minutes to think.

"When I auditioned for the first musical production in middle school, it was because a friend of mine convinced me that I had the perfect voice for the part, and since the person who was supposed to play that part had dropped out, it was a sure thing. The thought of performing on stage terrified me, but I went to the audition anyway, not really expecting to get the part. I must have impressed the drama teacher, or maybe she was desperate because it was so late in the production, and I was in."

She smiled, her eyes assuming a distant look as she walked down memory lane. "I found a home in the theater club, a community of like-minded people. I loved the camaraderie and the grueling schedule of rehearsals, and I loved finally being good at something. I wasn't a brilliant student, but I was a good singer and actress, and people who hadn't given me a second look before were suddenly smiling at me, congratulating me on my performance, and wishing me luck. I became addicted to the rush." She sighed. "Regrettably, my amazing career didn't extend beyond high school. I got accepted to one of the most prestigious acting programs in the country, but my father didn't have the money for the insanely expensive tuition, and he said that there was no way he was taking on debt for a degree in acting."

"That's harsh, but I can understand his reasoning."

Jasmine nodded. "Yeah, so did I, but it didn't make it any less disappointing. Anyway, I went to a community college that had a drama program and continued my studies, but I was no longer the star of the show the way I was in high school." She speared a bite of roast beef with her fork. "But enough about me. Tell me about yourself and why Perfect Match Virtual Studios need a helicopter pilot."

Ed suppressed a groan. He wasn't really an employee of the company, but he had gone on enough virtual adventures to talk about it with a degree of expertise.

The only problem he had was lying to Jasmine. He didn't mind skirting the truth, but he didn't enjoy fabricating tales from thin air as he was about to do.

"Some of the virtual adventures involve piloting a helicopter, and that's where I come in. They record hours of footage of me flying the simulator, and this footage is later used by the artificial intelligence to create realistic scenarios for clients. They are developing adventures that are all about piloting a helicopter, a fighter jet plane, a commercial airliner, a submarine, etc."

Perhaps he could suggest that they actually do that, so it wouldn't be a lie.

She looked at him with awe. "That sounds like a dream job."

"It is. But I still love the real thing more." He leaned closer to her. "There is one adventure I want them to develop, which you would be perfect for."

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