Page 19 of Of Fate & Forbidden Desire

Dina fell backwards onto her arse, which at any other time would have been hilarious, especially combined with the shocked look on her face, but right now her reaction only heightened my own sense of peril.

“How have I been dreaming of someone I’ve never met?” I asked, needing someone to make all of this make sense in some way, because I was at a loss and nearing the edge of my sanity.

“I don’t know,” she answered, “what does he do in your dreams?” Dina’s voice was calm but her eyes wrinkled at the edges in concern.

“It’s always dark and I never see him, he talks a lot before…before he rips out my throat.” My voice climbed higher and higher; becoming less like my normal tone and more like a distressed pigeon by the time I finished explaining what happened in my dreams. “I recognised his slimy voice, but couldn’t place it at first and then just before we ran it hit me like a ton of bricks; he’s the man I’ve feared for so long.”

“And you’re sure it’s the same person you met tonight?” Dina asked.

“His voice has haunted me since I was twelve.” I snapped back at her.

“Ok, ok,” Dina raised her hands up in surrender and scooted closer to the bath. “Keep breathing, slow and steady,” she went on, placing one of her hands on the rim and raising her shoulders up and down for me to copy. “That’s it,” she praised, making me all warm and fuzzy as a small smile teased my lips and I eased back into the bath.

I liked her praise, it took the edge off of the raging emotions swirling inside me and helped me focus. Sinking beneath the water I laid my head on the plastic bath bottom. Allowing the water to muffle the world, I gave myself a little more time to calm down. I lay there, my feet sticking out the bottom of the bath, just staring up at the spotlights in the ceiling as they rippled and wavered with the water. I kept my head under, until my lungs burned for oxygen and my mind calmed to the point where I could think without the need to scream.

Closing my eyes I let my face breach the water and drip from my face, as hushed voices drew my attention. I was alone in the bathroom, with the door closed, its wood blocking whoever was talking in the other room. Quickly washing, I was grateful to find a thick white bathrobe hanging on the closed door. Wrapping my long hair in a smaller towel, I used the longer towel to dry my body, taking mytime until I felt ready to face what would happen next. Drawing in a long breath I held it for a count of five, before releasing it and grabbing the bathrobe. Once I was certain I looked presentable, well as presentable as you could be in a dressing gown, I stepped forward and pulled open the bathroom door.

“She’s not our problem to fix.” A woman’s voice that I’d never heard before filled the room as I stepped into it. Even without being privy to the rest of their conversation, I couldn't help but feel that the words were about myself. Running my eyes around the room I took in the petite woman with dark hair and stunning green eyes, who was currently facing off with Dina. An older woman with greying hair sat at the small desk, watching their interaction with cold calculating eyes.

“I’m not leaving her to face this alone, Tilly.” Dina shouted back, not noticing that I’d entered the room yet.

“You don’t have a choice—” The woman,Tilly, told her sternly before Dina cut her off.

“We’ve been doing nothing, but chase this damn rogue for months, Tilly. Getting no closer to finding out who he was until tonight. If he’s going to be after Charleene, then you can take whatever orders you’re about to utter and shove them up your—”

“Ok, let’s all just calm down,” I interrupted, not fully understanding what was going on but not wanting to witness another fight tonight. My words drew the older woman’s gaze my way and an uncomfortable weight began pressing down on my mind.What now?I thought, my eyes narrowing as they stared at the strange woman’s grey eyes, while part of my mind concentrated on making the sudden pressure stop.

Let me in!A voice demanded inside my head.

No!I screamed silently, imagining myself shoving the other voice from my head, as my mouth moved, “What the hell was that?” I gasped as, with a pop, the pressure disappeared.

“A test child.” The woman’s voice was neither kind nor angry, but a monotone, like she cared little about the effect her words would have. It was the same as the one that had just been in my head.

“How the heck…” I trailed off.Speaking inside people’s heads wasn’t possible. Instead I focused on her spoken words. “A test for what?” I asked, my gaze not leaving hers. Her head tilted to one side, gazing at me for a few minutes before she spoke again.

“To see if what,this one,” she gestured with a lazy wave at Tilly before continuing, “says is true.” Her cryptic words gave nothing away, and confused me even further.

“And what was that?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at the woman’s lack of interest or sense. She was evasive and frustrating, but I managed to keep my voice calm.

“That you are a Witch, with no training.” I scoffed at her words.Me, a witch?I laughed at the absurd notion as blue lightning dancing around my fingers flashed through my mind.

“I’m no Witch,” I denied, not wanting to believe I was anything other than the human I’d been up until tonight.

“You are, but you have been trained by someone. Now tell me who.” She demanded, and the pressure on my mind returned, harder this time, more like a spike being drilled into my brain.

“Leave me alone!” I screamed at the grandmotherly looking woman, while imagining a strong wind sweeping through my mind, tossing anything that shouldn’t be there away.

“See, trained.” She taunted, her head tilting again as her shrewd gaze analysed me from head to foot and back again. “If you had no training you wouldn’t be able to keep me from your thoughts, now who has trained you!”

Her demands for information kindled my anger. “No. One!” I told her, enunciating each word slowly and carefully, in case she was hard of hearing or something, because she obviously wasn’t listening to me.

“What Coven do you belong to?” she continued as though going down a list of questions.

“What’s a coven?” I stated firmly, keeping my imaginary wind swirling, if it kept that pressure from returning I’d keep it going until she left.

“Why are you here?” her questions went on, and with each one my anger was rising.

“For university.” I snapped.

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