Page 11 of Where Quiet Hearts Scream
“There’s a transit here that can bring people into your life whotransformyou. It’s about love and obsession, endings, beginnings. If you don’t like surprises, you should stay on your guard. It will pay you to look closely at the people around you—your family, colleagues, friends… lovers.”
I blush heinously at that last word, so the rest of my interpretation comes out a little rushed.
“If I had to summarize your chart, I’d say you’re not interested in your aspects out of mere curiosity. You’re interested because you have a feeling something’s about to change. You might know what it is, you might not, But either way, your chart tells me you have everything you need to find the truth, and to navigate it with the power and authority your Ascendant has bestowed on you.”
He lifts the chart and inspects it closely while I focus on returning my breathing to a semi-normal tempo. I mentioned everything I thought I should and, interestingly, none of what I explained seemed to faze him.
But there was something I left out. Andrew Stone’s birth chart isdark. It points to a past that not many people could survive, and those who do are changed forever by it. It’s the kind of chart I’d normally associate with shadowy brilliance, like that of a president…or a serial killer. I shake my head and try not to think of the latter.
Something else I don’t mention is the fact I compared it with my own birth chart. It’s the kind of thing I’d have done in high school, matching my first name with a guy’s last name to ‘try it on’ and see how it might feel to be married to them.
What I saw wasn’t a cute doodle punctuated with a curly love heart in pink ink. What I saw was chaos. If I were ever to be in a relationship with Andrew—a girl can dream, right?—we’d either be inseparable at a soul level or the death of each other. Either his darkness will snuff out my light, or my light will eclipse his shadows.
Or, perhaps least likely, our natures combined could strengthen our individual power, making usunstoppable.
That last thought whips away my breath and I sip my latte to cover up my nerves.
I have to remind myself that he’s a hotel guest anyway. It is delusional to imagine I could ever be more to Andrew than a chubby little hotel host with an underdeveloped crush and an overblown obsession with the solar system.
His cell phone rings, making me jump. He answers with one word.
“Federico.”
That name rings a bell. I wrack my brain trying to remember where I’ve heard it before—why it’s so familiar—when he snaps his cell shut, folds the sheet of paper and slides it into his jacket.
He sips his water, eyeing me carefully over the rim of my glass, then sets it down and licks his lips.
“Thank you, Sera,” he says, and those three words in this moment mean more than he’ll ever know. Not only is he grateful for what I’ve done but he respects it—he appreciates it. He hasn’t just dismissed it as a bunch of fluff like most people do.
I stand up and smooth my hands down my uniform. “You’re welcome,” I say in a high pitched voice. I glance at the clock on the wall. “I’m sorry, I need to go. I have to try on a bridesmaid dress for my sister’s wedding. She’s about to FaceTime me so she can see it.”
His lips curve into a lazy smile that I have to forcefully drag my eyes away from.
“Anyway, take it away, have a look over it and let me know if you have any questions.”
He nods slowly and I turn to walk away, his gaze heating and swelling my curves with every unsteady step.
Andrew
I wait until she’s left the restaurant before I let my shoulders relax. Then they drop a little too heavily, like a weight has been lifted.
I recognize the symbols, the lines, the aspects. It all still rings so true—my character and her analysis of it.
You want to be first in everything—the best.
That’s true.
You often are.
That’s also true.
She suggested I might watch from the shadows and carefully plan my moves. She has little comprehension of just how true that is.
Some might even say, ‘feared.’”
I’d probably switch out “some” for “most,” but who’s keeping score?
She suggested I “attract danger.” Baby, Iamdanger.
