Page 47 of Beneath the Watching

He should’ve been back already; it felt like he’d been gone for weeks. He had been stressed about being called to this High Court and I feared the worst. It seemed unlikely he’d have left me behind if he could’ve made a different decision.

Self-doubt creeped in as I debated whether Lucian had been trying to say what I suspected he was. There was no way I’d be my friend’s mother, or his queen, and to suggest that I would was disgusting.

And then he’d mocked me in my own head, pushing past my boundaries to let me know I’d be laughed at should I speak up. Or was that my imagination? It could’ve all been assumption on my part, combined with the disembodied voice.

What on earth did Kiara get herself into? I hadn’t asked for any of this, and I started to wonder if it’d been the same for Kiara. Who would choose this?

“What do I do? I don’t know what to think,” I said aloud.

Keep walking.

Voices. I had voices in my head. I chuckled at the thought. This was the territory of those thought to be ill in the head. As it was, people already thought I was a little different. This was just the icing on the cake, with that extra bonus.

Realizing I had an ear to ear grin stretched across my face, I quickly corrected the expression with a sigh, attempting to look normal.

Who knew who or what was out here in these woods?

15

MABEL

The terrain surroundingme was thick with large boulders, moss, vines, and lush ferns. Tree branches wound above, knitting themselves together and letting in streams and rays of light to cast a pleasant green tint over the landscape.

The ground was softer than I was used to, having trekked multiple times through the New England woods. The paths at home were overwrought with large rocks, broken glass, and knotty roots whose single goal was to see you fall flat on your face. If I hadn’t been lost and confused, I would have enjoyed the smooth journey.

At any moment, I knew, the sun could disappear. It was disturbing, to say the least. Shelter was needed, and soon, so I wouldn’t be caught in the middle of the forest during the night.

I kept hoping the voice in my head would guide me some more, but it remained frustratingly silent. No one had come after me and I was now at a loss. I’d even asked it about what I experienced before I ran away, but it didn’t answer.

While I trudged forward, I wondered about this clairaudience thing Stefan had said I had. There was no reasonI should be psychic, if that’s what it was. How had I not noticed before?

That last thought gave me pause. From what I could remember, I hadn’t experienced this until I’d been in the tunnels with Stefan, and I was pretty sure I’d remember something like hearing voices.

My mind wandered back to the clubbing nights at the casino with Madison and the rest of my friends and how for some reason, Id started to notice things I hadn’t before. Things such as the strangely beautiful men with glowing eyes that had somehow always seemed to have been there.

Was it all related? There was also the matter of the exaggerated explosion when I’d gone back to the abandoned house and tried to destroy the bottle.

As hard as I tried, I still couldn’t pinpoint an exact moment of the change in everything.

The sound of gently trickling water caught my attention, and I veered off the path when I spotted the glistening liquid. The sky was clear of branches over the stream, allowing the sunlight to sparkle and dance across its slow-moving surface and reflect the deep royal blue of the sky.

I knelt down to scoop some water into my palm for a drink, marveling at the shiny silver minnows darting about. When I brought my hand up to my mouth, the reflection in the water shifted and a tall man stood behind me, his eyes smoky black and his dark hair pushed away from his face. I fell back on my haunches, twisting to look.

There was no one there.

Whipping my head around, I looked back into the water. The man stood there behind me; his gaze curious as he examined me. His clothing stood out, not being dressed for a trek into the woods. The style matched Stefan and his friends, with theelegant suit and coat and he was equally attractive despite a profoundly sinister aura.

This time, I swiveled around slowly but was again disappointed.

There was no way to fight a man who wasn’t there and no way to know if he would be friend or foe.

Neutral, the voice reassured me.

My heart thudded, and my pulse raced, even with the positive message.

“What do you want?” I asked.

The man blinked. It was the first movement I’d detected in him, convincing me I was really being observed and wasn’t facing an illusion. He was there, and not a vision or apparition, the mirror of the water showing the background I was familiar with. Turning again, I reached my arm out only to be met with dead air.

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