Magical Tendencies (7 page)
"Oh, my dear Celeste, you are so very sweet, kind, beautiful, trusting and just. I have always found your company to be unbelievably enjoyable." She signed as she spread her hands in front of me. "I have a story to tell you and it may or may not come as a shock." She made eye contact with me to check that I was getting what she was talking about, lifting both of her eyebrows and tilting her head down to make it obvious she was looking for an answer.
I nodded lamely as she smiled her beautifully generous smile.
"It is over one hundred and sixty years in the future. You will be the queen of everything that is seen far and wide." She waved her hand in the air and an image appeared right in front of us, rippling and wavering with reflectivity as sharp as a mirror.
I couldn't register what I was seeing. "Queen? Me?" I gulped.
"Yes, my dear Celeste. You are our monarch and a very kind and fair monarch to say the least." She was smiling at me as I snuck a glance at her before focusing on the image before me again.
I sat there and stared at the picture of myself in an all-black pants outfit complete with black peasant blouse with a band of gold across my forehead. It wasn't what I would have expected a queen to wear but it was the future, right? But it was the future… one hundred and sixty years in the future!
"One hundred and sixty years in the future, Tish? Come on! What the heck?! I mean, come on!" I shook my head. My body fought the urge to laugh again. Gosh this was getting out of hand.
"Yes, I knew this would be difficult to share with you. So I recorded this the last time that I talked to you about this. Sometimes it just gets old saying the same thing over and over and over." She shook her head as she pulled her iPhone out again, "I can't count how many times we have come in and out of this charade by events and your own request." She flipped through her pictures and found what she was looking for.
Handing the phone to me I looked down at the screen. There was an image of me sitting on a plush chair but with longer hair. I had a very sad and serious look on my face in the still image. I didn't recall that chair or that hair style at all. It was like it wasn't even me—just an interdimensional twin. My hands began to shake as my finger reached over to push the play button.
I nodded at the camera and began in a strong, authoritative tone, "My name is Celeste Ravenwood. My age is two hundred and five years and I am a Shaman. I am not a witch but I have many of the same skills that a witch could have. I am an empath, I can see glimpses of the future, I can see the past, I have strength within me that is unrivaled by even the warlocks or vampires of our kingdom. I am a force to be reckoned with." I looked at the camera. It didn't look like I had aged more than a year or two from my current age. What the heck.?! I had aged in a video I had just seen?
"Because of my strength I have many enemies. Enemies that would love to control my powers or even enemies that would love to see me dead." My video-self took a breath and released it slowly— a cleansing breath.
Hmmm
, "I am vulnerable to many. My protectors sometimes seem to be the only ones I can trust. But can I? Can I trust without making myself and the kingdom vulnerable?" I looked away off screen as if I was seeing something that concerned me. When I turned back my face was… like a mask.
"I asked Mortisha to transport me to the past. To hide me from everyone that would try to control me. To protect me from everything that could destroy our future. Of course, that can only be for a predestined amount of time. There is no hiding from our future for eternity."
"I would tell myself that I have loved and been loved—that is my one saving grace. I know what it is to truly be in love and I have been completely consumed by it, body and soul. It was my most wonderful and cherished memory." I closed my eyes on the screen and then looked back up, my eyes seemed different, almost purplish, "I would never reveal my love, because you will discover it on your own" I laughed darkly and then a secretive smile crept over my lips. Hmmm, the future me had some naughty little secrets. I liked that.
"Mortisha is showing you this video because I have obviously been found out. My discovery requires that you make a decision. Only Mortisha can tell you what decision I have made in the past—I would not know. But weigh the possibilities quickly and make a decision soon. The future of our happiness and kingdom rest in your hands. Strength and blessings to you!"
I nodded to the person recording the video grimly before the video stopped. Then there was silence.
I looked up at Tisha and shook my head slowly. What in the world have I gotten myself into? What was I running from? What had happened that would make me run away? How did I ever become queen of anything? How long had I been queen? How was I ever going to make it to be 206?! Gosh I'm old!
Tisha gauged my response and then sat herself down on the couch, staring off into space a little before she switched her eyes over to focus on me again. "You must have questions."
"Ummm," where in the world do I begin? "I get that I'm the queen of a kingdom, everything that I can see from what you say."
Tisha nodded solemnly.
"The man I saw on my porch has something to do with it?"
Tisha nodded again.
"Do I know him and if so what is he to me?" I eyed her suspiciously.
She flicked her wrist at the mercury image in the air and the face of the man appeared in the reflection. She sighed heavily before she responded, "He is your husband."
"My WHAT?!" My eyes felt like they would explode with sheer shock, "Are you kidding me?! I can't believe that you would say something as insane as that! My husband? Get serious, Tish!" I shook my head and jumped up from the couch.
This can't be real. I have got to be dreaming this—this is insane!
I stopped in the middle of the room and pinched my arm as hard as I could. "Ouch!"
"Did that convince you that you are not dreaming all of this?" Tish asked snidely from the corner of the room. She really could act like a bitch sometimes.
"What am I supposed to say? What am I supposed to
do?
" I huffed. I was beginning to feel frustrated. Great! I was frustrated which made me whiny.
"You must make a decision," Tisha commented as she scooped her phone back into her horribly cluttered purse. "Stay and face what comes or run and forget again." She shrugged like it was no big deal.
"Forget?" I scanned Tisha up and down and asked the question before I could think better of it, "How many times have I already chosen to forget, Tish?"
Tisha stood up and flicked her hair up and off her shoulder, letting it flutter down her back in a sway of golden amber. "Countless times." Her voice gave nothing away.
"How many times, Tish?" I wasn't going to let it go. I gave her my most serious look.
Tish looked at me slowly, focusing on my eyes and then nodded that she knew I was serious. "Twelve."
I thought about that for a second, letting the futile effort that I had put into avoiding my life sink into the back of my thoughts. Huh, what the heck was wrong with my life anyway? My husband was clearly H-O-T, HOT… so why was I running away from him?
"What happened that would make me run away, Tish? What was so damned awful about everything that I had to dive back under eleven more times when I found out?" I shook my head.
"I am not aware of what exactly happened to promote the escape of our queen from the throne, but you were certainly motivated when I spoke to you first of it." She looked away from me but I didn't know why.
"What's going on here, Tish? There is something going on behind the scenes here and you aren't telling me anything substantial. What is there that I don't know?" I pressed.
"I do not know. I am just your loyal servant and protector." Tish looked back at me, frustration in her voice. "It is not for me to question my queen." She held her chin up high which seemed ridiculous because it made her look so stuck-up.
There was an abrupt knocking at the door. Tish and I immediately looked each other in the eye as we snapped out of the conversation. I jumped to my feet as Tish cast her hands out in front of herself, a slight white glow emanating from her hands. I grabbed a knife from the kitchen counter as I crept towards the door, slowly feeling the wooden handle in my hand, caressing the wood as if it were an old friend.
"Who is it?" I asked, my voice strong and demanding which was completely opposite of how I felt. Thank God my voice sounded firm!
There was a pause behind the metal door. "Von, it's Von Edwards."
"Who the hell is Von Edwards?" I whispered sharply to Tisha as she lowers her hands, out of her defensive stance.
"Again, he is your husband." She refused to whisper her response back to me. She then walked to the door and opened it.
In the doorway, bathed in the porch light of my apartment's foyer, Von Edwards stood in all of his magnificence. He was the exact same person that was waiting on my porch at the townhouse. It was as if we were reliving the very same moment there near the beach.
Was he magnificent? Yes, he actually was. From the top of his short, cropped brown hair down to his worn black roper boots. He was a sight, every last inch of him and every last rippling muscle. Yes, I said it—he had some amazing muscle action going on. Where? Everywhere! He was every woman's walking dream. He was deliciously amazing.
I immediately felt a little weak in the knees as I watched him approach the entry to my apartment. His broad shoulders shifted as he took a step forward, his biceps flexed as his hands balled into fists at his sides. His richly tanned skin made him look like a dark god and I have a distinct problem with gorgeous gods.
Where did that come from?
I took a step back as he stopped in the doorway. His eyes shifted around the room, taking in every last detail. His scan paused on Tisha, giving her a nod to show her that he recognized her. A sign of respect. Well, he wasn't completely without manners. He continued to scan the room and then his eyes finally settled on me which he took as his cue to begin entering the room, slowly, cautiously. My eyebrow raised at the snail's pace he was using to approach me.
His arms were held at his side, balled into fists as his body began to suck down air in huge gasping sounds. I was afraid that the oxygen in the room may go missing with how heavily he was breathing. His chest lifted and fell with the effort to keep himself still. My gosh he was gorgeous, with his cowboy boots, jeans and black button-down shirt. His muscles were clearly defined just where the sleeves were rolled up. He looked at me with firmly set eyes, thinking thoughts that I figured were more disturbed than calm. His gorgeous hazel eyes seemingly drove holes through mine, mining for my thoughts and emotions.
"Where… have… you… beeeeen?!" He finally stood in the middle of the room, body quaking with energy.
I instantly bowed up—my mind and body didn't give me any chance to register what was going on. I was angry that the first thing he said to me in my own home was hostile. "Where have I been? Where have I been?!" My eyebrows climbed towards the ceiling while my hands instantly went to my hips.
"Um, Von, I wouldn't begin with her like that. She doesn't know anything about the past so attacking her with questions is
not
really an appropriate choice." Trisha tried to help the situation.
"I don't CARE about that. I want to know where she has been! Where did she run off to? Why has she been gone so long? Why couldn't I reach her telepathically?" He ran his hand through his gorgeous brown hair.
Oh my gosh I wished I was doing that myself. Urrgh!
I reached down and pinched myself.
Nope, not dreaming.
Huh.
Von looked over at me and his intense expression fell from his face as he took a long look at me. He took the three steps to where I was standing until there was barely a foot between us. He looked me over from head to toe. Who knows what he saw but he scrutinized my appearance before he settled on my eyes. "Your eyes," he gulped loudly, his eyes rimmed in what appeared to be confusion and fear.
"Yes, they are brown, there are two of them and… " I didn't get the chance to finish.
Von took a step backward, his eyes focused on me intently. He flicked his head over to lay his gaze on Tisha. "Mortisha, what has happened? What catastrophe has taken place that would cause this ailment. Is she ill?"
I thought about it for a second even though he was clearly not talking to me. Was I sick? I didn't feel sick. I just felt a bit perturbed that this was going on in the middle of my living room.
There was no sound and I turned my head to gaze at Tish. She was standing off by my couch, arms crossed, lips narrowed into a thin line, and eyes black as night. That was her
I'm not telling you anything
look if I ever saw it. Tish was mad at this man for some strange reason but I had no idea why. She was a good judge of character. Was he an asshole or something? Was I married to an asshole?
"She is not ill." She quipped. Her eyes narrowed into tight slits as she looked at Von closely. "Why do you come now, Von? Why do you come on your own, alone? You have sent your men in the past to find Celeste and bring her home. What has happened that would make you take this arduous journey on your own, without your men or even a guard?" She was really sticking it to him
. I knew I liked her.
Wait, men? Guard?
Von dismissed her questions with the flick of his hand. He walked past me as he gazed around the apartment, taking everything into consideration. Fingering a piece of sheet music on the counter, he lifted it to read the song title "
All Of Me
," he gazed over at me with those hazel eyes and offered a gentle smile. "How appropriate—You always loved the classics."
My heart did a little flip-flop. I did actually love the classics. Big band music was my absolute favorite to sing, but I enjoyed listening to everything. I stole a glance at Tisha to find that she was staring right at me. She nodded and I knew it was my clue.
I didn't know this man from Adam, but Tisha clearly knew him and I figured it was best to pick up where she left off. "How did you find me, Von?" I tried to make it sound like I really knew him because my mind was convinced that I didn't.
