“Why does this keep happening to me?” My voice trembled. Every nerve in my body felt stretched to the point of breaking. I couldn’t comprehend what was going on and I struggled to hold myself together. The tears that had been building up for days now finally spilled over onto my cheeks.
“What do you mean? What’s happening to you?” He reached out to touch me but dropped his hands before he reached my side.
“These daydreams or visions or whatever,” I said, placing my palm over my eyes.
Robert placed his hand on my shoulder, deciding it was safe to touch me again and I let myself collapse into him. I placed my head against his chest and wrapped my arms around him. He wrapped one arm around me and pulled me close to him while smoothing my hair with the other, trying to coax me into relaxing.
“Visions?” he asked. Robert’s voice was low and contemplative.
I didn’t answer him but took a deep breath. His cologne barely lingered, letting me smell the sweet scent of the ocean clinging to his skin. He smelled of sweat and old wood, distinctly male and strong. It comforted me. I took a ragged breath and sighed. No matter what was happening to me, I knew I could find safety in Robert’s arms. In that moment I realized I’d already chosen my path. I couldn’t have him in my life if I didn’t believe in Magic. Knowing my path was one thing, though. Actually believing was another. But I was determined to try.
“Violet, this is important,” he said, pulling me away from him. “What exactly did you just see?”
“Umm… well,” I said and blushed. “I saw you asking me to believe you while I slept.”
He let go of me. “That was just last night.”
“So that really happened, it wasn’t just a daydream?” I asked, my eyes wide with hope.
“Have you seen things like this before?”
“Kinda.”
“What do you mean, what else have you seen?”
“It’s private,” I said frowning at him. I could feel the blood rush to my face and turn my cheeks a rosy shade of red.
“Private,” he said, indignant. “Violet, this isn’t a joke. What did you see?”
“Well, last night after you gave me the journal I saw…,” I bit my lip unsure of how to continue. What did I see exactly?
“What is it?”
“I saw myself, only it wasn’t me. I was standing in a field, you were there and I was holding a sword. My hand was covered in blood, and my eyes…” I looked up at Robert, “They were amethyst.”
“Was there anything else, any other details?”
I shook my head and looked down at the sand.
“Okay, I don’t really know what to think about that one, but we’ll deal with it,” he said confidently. “Anything else?”
I felt like I was being interrogated.
“Why does it matter?” I looked away from him.
“Will you just trust me?” Though I wasn't looking at him, I could sense in his voice that he was rolling his eyes in frustration.
I hesitated to answer. I wanted to tell him but I was afraid. I was afraid to admit what was happening to me. The vision, or whatever it was, of Robert kissing me flashed before my eyes and I instantly turned an even darker shade of red.
I sighed and looked out over the water. “I saw you,” I finally admitted.
“What about me?” he asked.
I decided against telling him about the kiss, instead I would tell him about how I saw the night he healed me.
“Well, do you remember when we met of the pier, when you first came back?” I snuck a glance in his direction.
“Yes.”
“And do you remember when you touched me, it was like suddenly I was somewhere else?”
“Yes.” He sounded apprehensive and that made me nervous.
“When you touched me I saw you… healing me. It’s like I was there all over again. I could smell the cool sticky air. I could feel your hand on me and I could feel your eyes on mine.” I cautiously looked at him, trying to read his expression. He gave me a reassuring smile. “And that’s it, nothing else?"
“Nothing that matters.” I blushed again, remembering his soft lips pressed against mine. That was either a vision or possibly just a fantasy. Whatever the case, I wasn’t willing to share the details with him.
“Everything matters,” he noted.
“Well this particular fantasy is none of your business,” I said.
“Fantasy?” There was humor in his voice and he stepped closer to me.
Shit.
“You know what I mean.” The words struggled to escape my throat. I felt the heat of his body and couldn’t help but be pulled in.
“Are you sure you don’t want to tell me?” He brushed my hair off my face. His hand lingered on my cheek before he pulled my chin up so my eyes were level with his.
“I’m sure.” The words barely left my lips and I could feel myself leaning closer to him, yearning to feel the strength of his embrace.
“Suit yourself.” He smiled and walked back to the small cropping of rocks.
I followed a few steps behind him. “Robert?” I asked tentatively, “do you know what’s going on… I mean do you know what’s happening to me?”
“I have a theory,” he said. He furrowed his brow, deep in thought.
“Care to share what that theory might be?”
“I think your Magic is starting to manifest itself. The visions, they might be your ability.”
“My ability?”
“Yes.” He ran a hand through his hair. “But it doesn’t make sense that you would only see the past,” he said under his breath.
“What if it’s not just the past?”
“What do you mean?”
“The… vision that I didn’t want to tell you.” I hesitated, “It’s not something that’s happened, at least not yet.” I bit my bottom lip in an attempt to hide my smile.
“Well, that would make sense. You’re sure you don’t want to tell me what it is then?”
“I’m sure,” I said, unable to look directly at him. “But what does this mean? What ability are you talking about?”
“I think you might be a Soothsayer.”
Chapter 12
Robert rushed me off the beach. When I asked where we were going, all he said was that there was someone we needed to talk to. He called Brett on the brisk walk home from the beach and told her to expect company. We reached my car in record time and I tossed the keys to him. Still dizzy and a little shaken from the vision, I thought it best not to get behind the wheel.
As we drove up the coast, I wondered if my ability really was manifesting itself. God, listen to me, I scoffed internally. How any of this was possible, I had no idea. And why now? If I was The Waker, why hadn’t I ever shown signs of an ability before?
“You coming?” Robert asked, opening my door. I was so deep in thought I hadn’t even realized we’d stopped.
“Where are we?” I asked, looking around a large garage.
Before he could answer, Annabel, Robert’s sister-in-law, shimmered into view right in front of us.
“What the…” I said and froze halfway out of the car. Where did she come from?
“I thought I heard someone in here,” Annabel said. Her shoes clacked on the floor as she made her way around the front of the car. “Oh, I didn’t realize you had someone with you.” She glanced in my direction and came around to my side of the car.
“You really should be more careful, Anna,” Robert noted. Disapproval radiated off of him. “What if it hadn’t been Violet with me?” He reached his hand into the car for me to grab onto but I hesitated.
“Oh please, Robert. When was the last time you ever brought someone home with you?” She rolled her eyes and snickered as she pushed him aside. “Why don’t you try to unclench and relax?”