Page 16 of Sight Unseen

I watched them back and forth, seeming like they were having a conversation that I didn't understand. “Astra says hello. Now empty your mind. Take your thoughts and separate them from what is yours and what could be another’s.”

Following suit, I closed my eyes and started digging through my mind. It was unusually void of any thoughts. Like a ghost town. I reached deep trying to recall what the voices in my head sounded like.

Were they mine the whole time?

Maybe I did have an alternate personality. After a good twenty minutes of silence, I peeked one eye open. Eros looked peaceful. His white hair gently swaying in the wind. This wasn’t working, I told him there was no way I had a familiar.

Dropping my shoulders and huffing out a sigh, blue-violet eyes snapped open to meet mine. “I don’t think it's working. Normally, my brain won’t shut up, and now nothing. It’s empty.”

A smirk tugged at his lips. “Well, it will never work if you give up so soon.” Gently pressing his fingers to my lids and closed my eyes. “Try again. Meditation is supposed to take time; Rome wasn’t built in a day. Don’t sell yourself short.”

With a newfound confidence, I returned to my search.

Hours passed as I searched my mind. Thinking back to every time I heard the voice, I decided there was no way it could be my own. It just seemed to know things I couldn’t. See things to warn me right before they happen. Thinking back to the club, there was no way I would've known my drink was spiked. I set it down and stupidly turned my back on it. I know, rookie move in a club; I should have known better.

That’s when I heard that inner part of myself telling me not to drink it; turning around I caught the last of the bubbles before they fizzed out, seeing guilt all over the guy's face that was retreating his hand. I just knew he had dropped something in it, but there were no animals in the club.

How was it that a familiar was able to warn me?

A snapping twig jerked my head to the right beside the boulders. “Eros!” I whisper-shouted at the man, who slowly opened his eyes, unaware of the threat behind him. My heart was pumping so hard at the presence of the beautifully terrifying beast.

Fear caused my joints to lock up, not allowing me to remove my eyes from the huge ass wolf now standing behind us. It was exquisite, fur so black it had a blue glow, a row of deadly-looking sharp white teeth, and eyes so yellow it put the color of the sun to shame. Radiant was an understatement when it came to this wolf.

Sensing my fear, Eros turned to look at what caught my attention. A chuckle left his lips, making me look at him wide-eyed.

What in the hell is this fool laughing about?

We are about to get eaten by a wolf, correction wolves. Three more descended from the woods behind the boulders, walking into view.

Heads down low, baring their teeth, although no sound left them. One was a bright sandy brown with flakes of blond across its pelt. The other was a deep reddish brown, and the smallest of the bunch looked like a mirror image of the black one.

“What the fuck do you find amusing about being slaughtered by wolves? Do you see the same thing I do? Those are fucking wolves! They are not huskies here to play. They're going to eat us and leave the birds to pick at our remains.”

How was he so calm? And Astra was preening her feathers; was she not going to defend us? Is she just going to leave us to die?

My eyes went wide with a silent plea to Eros as I watched in horror as he got up and started approaching the wolves. “What on earth are you doing? I don’t know if you know much about wolves, but they are all over in Tennessee. They are wild animals, you crazy fool! Not domestic dogs you can just walk up and pet. You're going to get yourself killed, and I will have to explain to Apollo how you died if I make it out alive. I can only imagine the displeasure in his voice knowing a wolf took you out instead of a demon.”

Looking back at me, a smile lit his face, showing off his dimples. This insane man was about to get himself killed while I watched, frozen in place from the terror filling my body.

Reaching out, he ran his hand down the back of the beautiful creature's body. What the fuck is happening right now?

How is he not dead already?

This is madness; there’s no way you could touch a wolf back home and live to tell the tale. They were vicious animals.

“Diana, meet Orpheus, Apollos familiar, the darkness of night.” His voice is steady, unlike my own, which was plastered with fear. Did he just say Apollo’s familiar? Holy shit, as if things couldn’t get crazier, Apollo was linked to this alluring beast. My jaw hit the floor, as I was once again shocked to silence.

What did I tell you about leaving your mouth hanging open? One of these days you will listen to me when you swallow a fly girl.

What the fuck. Did she just talk to me?

Pursing my lips I glanced at the wolf, getting lost in its yellow eyes. No, that was impossible. A familiar couldn't bond with multiple people, could it? “Umm, Eros. Is there any record of a familiar bonding with two people? I swear she just talked to me.” Growling filled my mind as I stared wide-eyed at Eros. I’m pretty sure she was now grumbling at me.

“No, that's impossible. A familiar can only ever bond with one person. When their person dies, inevitably, so do they. While we can live on without them, they cannot handle the heartbreak of losing us. It hurts like hell, like losing a piece of your soul, but the pain of their loss will pass.” He continued stroking the wolf as the reddish-brown one came up to his other side for attention.

What the fuck?

They were like dogs. Not acting like wolves at all. Getting up on shaking legs, I took a step towards Eros. This was so surreal!

---