Page 31 of Seer

She suddenly gasps loudly, alerting everyone in the room.

“I found him,” she quietly mutters, as if talking to herself. “Edward.”

* * *

“Edward.”

The sound of my voice creates a thousand echoes in the dark depth of Edward Abner’s soul. This place differs from Seer’s soul territory. It’s like an intricate web, complicated and beautiful. But where there’s a web, there’s a spider.

“Hello, beautiful.”

Edward Abner is standing a few feet away from me, a spitting image of Seer, except he wears his hair cropped short in a buzz cut.

His vivid blue eyes remind me of a glacier.Cold. Dangerous.They’re exactly the same shades as his brother’s, but lack the warmth and allure that pull people to Seer. How can any two people look exactly the same but yet so different?

Edward Abner watches me watch him. His lips pulled up in a wry smirk.

“You interrupted my dream. And it was a good one too. I was finally getting that bartender to let me stick it in her.”

“I’m sorry.”I guess?“I’m….”

“You’re Rosalinda Cromwell’s daughter,” he interrupts coolly. “You look exactly like she did when she was your age.”

“What?”

Edward shrugs. “Rosalinda was the only other person who would do this… rudely break into a person’s subconscious to withdraw information.”

I try to read his expression, but his face might as well be a whiteboard–blank.

Why is he talking about my mother like he knows her? Does he know her?

He knows she was a soul searcher, and that she looked like at my age.I shake the thought away. This is probably some nasty mind trick to throw me off my game.

“How do you know my mother?”

Edward’s smirk widens into a wintry smile that sends goosebumps crawling up my arms. “I don’t believe that’s the reason we’re here.”

He’s right, of course.

“Did you tamper with Seer–Nicholas’s sight?”

“And what if I did?”

“You need to set things right,” I say in my most authoritative voice. “Your brother will die without the sight. And right now, it’s just a matter of time.”

Edward barks out an amused laugh. “What?” he says, gazing at me in mock disbelief. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a shitty negotiator?”

I cast a subtle glance around, trying to figure out what section of his mind we are in.

It’s odd… I’m not in control here.

“Looking for memory balls?” Edward scoffs loudly. “You can’t find any.”

“But, I don’t….”

“Give my love to my baby brother,” Edward says. “Tell him I’ll see him soon.”

He reaches out and shoves me hard. I fell backward with a shriek, grappling desperately for support. He moved so fast and suddenly that I didn’t see him coming.