Page 54 of Beneath the Watching

My hand wandered to a moonstone sitting amongst other gemstones and I forgot my reluctance. I lifted the rock, turning it over in my palm.Cursed, I heard in my head. Instantly, I dropped the stone and watched it careen across the floor. Flicking my eyes up, I waited to be reprimanded.

“Here, come sit.” The woman ignored my fumble and led me to a sheet-covered table, and I took a chair. When she returned with two porcelain cups, I eyed the beverage with suspicion,my discomfort unabating. “You’re a cautious little thing, aren’t you?” she chuckled.

Returning the smile, I said, “Thank you.” I nodded toward the cup.

“I’m Colette,” she introduced herself. “I can’t believe there’s another of you. Well, yes, I can. It was foretold.”

“I’m Mabel,” I replied, staring into the tea. I’d almost expected the reflection of a black-clad man but all I saw were the gas lanterns hanging from the ceiling.

Colette lifted her cup. “Don’t speak much, do you? No, you watch.” She took a sip and then placed her cup back down.

“Unlike the last woman, you’re not scared as you should be. Oh, don’t get me wrong, you’re cautious.” Colette laughed. “But you’re not scared. You’re dead inside.”

The woman howled with laughter as anger built inside me at her words. I wasn’t dead inside, not at all. I was merely highly skilled at keeping everything at a distance, that’s all it was. I stood up. “You’re a crazy lady.”

“Sit down!” she barked at me. I didn’t move. She huffed before she continued, “Fine time to get a backbone.”

Still standing, I asked, “What do you mean?”

“Your path is different than hers. You’re a witch too, but she was lost before she was ever found, and she’ll stay lost. You’ve been found before you were lost and you’re lost now, but you’ve been found. And you’ll be found again.”

My head spun over the word salad. “What the fuck,” I muttered under my breath. “Thank you for the tea,” I said, pushing my chair back under the table.

“You haven’t touched a drop.” She gestured at my full cup. “What does the voice tell you?”

Stopping halfway across her kitchen, I turned my head. She had a gentle smile on her face until her eyes rolled back in her head. “Go back to the beginning,” she mumbled.

The beginning is unchangeable. The voice answered Colette in my head.

Colette’s eyes returned to normal. “You’re an oracle.”

“I never asked for that,” I said.

The woman got up and poured herself some more tea while I wandered back toward the table. “You haven’t asked for a thing in your whole life,” she proclaimed.

Ouch.

She ambled towards me. “You were transferred. After your parents died. Transferred. An aberration moved you to the Third Realm.

“How do you know my business?” I gripped the edge of the table, staring at the thin gold threads weaved into the fabric covering. It was a comfort to hear the reason I was in foster care nearly my entire life. Sad, but a comfort. The strange woman had given me an answer to a question that’d followed me around like a shadow.

The voice chuckled in the back of my mind.

Aberration.

“What did the voice just tell you?”

My eyes narrowed. “That’s none of your business.”

Colette’s eyes widened to the point I wouldn’t have been surprised if they popped out of her head. “They don’t want you talking. They don’t want you to interfere. Great evil is coming for you.” Her eyes squeezed shut and reopened. “Or, not.”

Her back went rigid before she relaxed, her shoulders slumping forward. She shook herself and stood up. “How about some more tea?”

The front door slid open, and I turned my head. Stefan walked in, his gait suggesting calm, but I felt the threat rolling off him in waves. Moving my hands from the table to the back of my chair, I waited to see what he would do. His eyes never found mine, laser-focused on Colette instead.

“You,” she accused. “You imposter. Fraud. Sham. Counterfeit.” The teapot she clutched trembled slightly.

“Witch,” he replied. “What nonsense are you filling people’s heads with today?” He gave her a small smile. His clothing was slightly rumpled, which was an oddity for him. I had to wonder what had happened since I last saw him. Had he been looking for me? My heart gave a little leap.

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