Page 13 of Shadowed Fate

My eyes involuntarily go to the window. I don’t know what I’m expecting to see—monsters pressed up against the glass?

"But at Grimstone," Callen continues, his voice low and seductive, "you'd be protected. Trained. You could learn to harness your magic, to defend yourself."

My shoulders slump. “I—I don't know."

Callen's words linger in my mind, pulling me between temptation and fear. I breathe deeply.

"There's... there's something that happens to me," I whisper, the words clawing their way out of my throat. My fingers twist in the hem of my sweater, seeking comfort in the familiar wool.

Callen's eyes lock onto mine, a predatory glint in their pale blue depths. "Go on, darling. We're all ears."

I swallow hard, fighting the urge to run. "I've seen things. Impossible things. All my life, visions have haunted me, driving me to..." I trail off, remembering the countless nights spent hunched over my canvases, frantically painting the horrors that dance behind my eyelids.

"To what?" Lochan's gruff voice startles me. I'd almost forgotten he was there.

"To draw the birds," I finish lamely, feeling heat creep up my neck. "The people here, they... they think I'm cursed. A freak."

Callen's laugh is low and rich. "Oh, darling. You're not cursed. You're blessed."

I blink, confusion warring with a desperate hope I didn't know I harbored. "What do you mean?"

"Those visions," Callen purrs, leaning in close enough that I can feel the warmth of his breath on my cheek. "They mean you have a gift. And at Grimstone, we can teach you to use it. The reason you’ve never belonged here is because you don’t.” He rolls his eyes. “And thank the gods for that. I don’t know how you spent more than an hour in this depressing town.”

Lochan's jaw clenches, his hazel eyes flashing with impatience. "Enough," he growls, cutting through Callen's honeyed words. "We're wasting time."

I flinch at the harshness in his tone, my posture stiffening.

"You don't have a choice," Lochan states, his voice flat and unyielding. "We've been sent to deliver you to Grimstone. That's what's going to happen, whether you like it or not."

My heart hammers against my ribs. "But...I can't just disappear! I have a job, responsibilities. Fiona will worry—"

"Fiona?" Callen interjects, eyebrow raised.

"My friend," I explain, wrapping my arms around myself. "She'll notice."

A humorless chuckle escapes Lochan's lips. "That's not your concern anymore."

Panic claws at my throat. "How far is this Grimstone place anyway?"

Callen's laughter rings out. "Grimstone isn't a place you can reach by conventional means. It's magic."

I blink, my mind reeling. “But that's—"

"Impossible?" Callen finishes, his grin widening. "I thought we'd established that impossible things are rather our specialty."

I close my eyes, inhaling deeply. "Fine," I say, my voice steadier than I feel. "I'll go with you."

Lochan's eyes narrow, suspicion etched in the hard lines of his face. Our gazes lock, and for a moment, the air between us is thick.

"Don't try anything stupid," he snaps, his tone dripping with disdain. "You won't survive five minutes out there on your own now."

I bite back a retort, my fingers instinctively brushing against the pocket knife hidden in my cardigan. As Callen begins to weave his spell, the world around us shimmering like a mirage, I feel like I'm jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

But if it means finally uncovering the truth about myself, about these visions that have haunted me for so long...I'll just have to survive whatever is thrown at me next.

Chapter 8

Brigid

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