Soothsayer: Magic Is All Around Us (Soothsayer Series Book 1) (17 page)

“You said it’s meant to guide me?”

“Every word in the journal carries the essence of the author. Their souls have lingered on the pages, if you will. When you start reading, you’ll feel a pull deep inside that will help guide you in the right direction.”

“How do you know all this?” I asked, feeling overwhelmed.

“It’s all in the journal,” he explained.

My thumb held down the corner and let page by page flip by.

“Thanks, I guess.” My emotions flew all over the map and I just wanted to crawl into bed.

“I’ll let you get some sleep now.” His eyes caught mine for just a second and the heat coursing through me felt like a lightning bolt. Ugh, how could I want him right now? I’d nearly been killed, again, and one look from Robert made me what to forget all of it and jump into his arms. Maybe I did drink too much, I thought sheepishly.

“Right,” I said, shaking him off. “Night then.” I turned and headed straight for my bedroom.

I flipped on the light. The night stand and its contents were strewn across the floor. I picked up the overturned piece of furniture and as I set the journal on top of it, the room turned upside down.

A field of lush green grass appeared under my bare feet. A woman stood in the distant with her back turned to me. Cautiously I took a step toward her, unsure of where I was or what was happening. The breeze ruffled her hair, but otherwise she stood unnaturally still.

As I got closer, I noticed that she was holding a sword in her left hand and blood dripped from the fingers on her right hand.

“Violet,” someone yelled from behind me.

I turned and Robert ran past me to the woman with the sword.

Following him, I got within a few feet of her, and realized she looked familiar, she looked like me.

“Violet, are you alright?” Robert asked the woman standing before us both. “Oh God.” He hesitated and then reached a tentative hand toward her.

Her head, my head, moved like a bird inspecting a worm.

I circled around myself, so that I was standing face to face with her. Neither of them noticed me or paid me any attention as I stared at myself in horror.

It was like looking in a mirror, except for the eyes. Her eyes, my eyes, were no longer green. The iris had been turned the color of amethyst and the glistened in the sunlight.

The field faded but the image of my amethyst eyes staring back at me sent a shiver down my spine. What the hell was that? Was I actually starting to lose my mind?

I didn’t have the energy nor was I in the mindset to deal with anymore Magical phenomena tonight. I quickly changed my clothes, grabbed the comforter and a pillow off my bed and headed for the living room.

“You can have my bed if you want, but I’m not staying in there tonight,” I said as I walked straight toward the soft carpet in front of the television.

Robert frowned. “Take the couch, I can sleep on the floor,” he said. “I’ll make sure your room gets cleaned up first thing tomorrow.”

“Thank you,” I said, dropping my blanket on the couch, “for everything.” Tears stung my eyes but I pushed them back as I crawled under my comforter.

“You’re very welcome, Violet.” Robert turned off the lights and I fell asleep to the sound of his even breathing.

I stared at the ceiling when I woke up, unable to stop running through everything that had happened yesterday. The assault left me physically drained and I wasn’t doing much better emotionally. Everything Robert had told me about the Promised Ones got me thinking about Matthew and how normal he seemed. A pang of sadness touched my heart. Was nothing what it seemed anymore?

Last night had definitely been an eye-opener. I couldn’t deny what had happened but I couldn’t bring myself to think about what that meant for me and the prophecy. My life was changing and no matter how hard I fought against it, change was inevitable.
Take it one day at a time
, I chanted to myself.

I swung my legs over the side of the couch and stretched my hands over my head. Robert lay fast asleep on the floor, one hand on his chest, the other above his head. My heart gave a gentle tug at the sight of him and the memory of how intimate our conversation had been the night before. What was going on between us was something my nerves couldn’t deal with at the moment so I got up and headed to the bathroom. Ignoring the disaster that was my bedroom, I shed my cotton shorts and t-shirt and hopped in the shower. The warm water washed over me and helped pull my head out of the fog.

I needed to choose a path. Would I… could I step up and be The Waker? Or would I turn my back on everything? There was no way I could keep living in limbo, not with the very real threat of death hanging over my head.

I ran down the list of things that had come to light since meeting Robert in the bookstore. I smiled to myself, thinking about that day. It felt like ages ago. The second time I’d met him, at his brother’s wedding, he had stitched my fatal wounds back together with the touch of his palm. I decided I could accept that something beyond my realm of knowledge had saved me that night. And then there was last night to contend with. The firework show that exploded out of Robert and Lila was something I couldn't ignore. Magic or whatever you wanted to call it, was real and if I could accept that then maybe I could accept the rest of it.

Turning the water off my thoughts bounced around my head like an intense game of racquetball. Getting ready for the day, I threw on a black tank top and a floor-length white skirt I loved. I tossed my hair into a messy bun, not bothering to dry it and dabbed some concealer under my eyes to cover the whiskey induced shadows.

When I returned to the main room I found Robert sitting at the kitchen table reading a newspaper with a coffee cup in his hand. He wore a white, linen button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and dark jeans.
Damn, why did he have to be so good looking?

“What, no big breakfast this morning?” I teased in an attempt to keep the mood light.

“We can’t live like royalty every day,” Robert noted. He did a quick inventory of me but was careful to avoid eye contact. Apparently he was gauging the situation after last night too. “There’s more coffee if you’d like.” He set his paper down and got up from the table.

I fought a smile, he was always such a gentleman.

“It’s alright,” I said and stepped toward the kitchen. “I can handle making myself a cup of coffee.”

“Do you have any plans for today?” he asked from the table as I pulled a mug with the Golden Gate Bridge stamped on the front, from the cupboard and filled it to the brim.

“I was just going to head over to the studio and work on the Caltome pictures. Why?” I asked, sweetening my coffee with some raw sugar and joining him at the table.

“I thought we could do something fun today, maybe go to the beach and forget everything for a little while.”

He folded his arms across his chest and leaned back in his chair. His muscled arms made his posture look intimidating but his face was soft and friendly. He’d clearly put his walls back in place and not a trace of the vulnerability from last night showed in his features.

“Really?” The suggestion surprised me. It didn’t seem like he was the type to forget about duty and responsibility.

“After last night.” Worry flashed across his eyes. “I just thought you might like to do something that didn’t involve Magic.” A tentative smile touched the corners of his mouth.

“I’d love to,” I said, still skeptical. “Just let me get a little work done first. I can do it from here and then we can head out.”

“Perfect.” He lifted the paper back up, hiding his face behind the sports section.

I fished a granola bar from the cabinets and set to work at my command center in the living room. I called and left a message for Jessie, letting her know I wouldn’t be in today and to call me if anything came up. As promised, I put together a dropbox with all the pictures I took yesterday and sent Mrs. Deardon an email with the link. I spent a little more time editing the photos Mrs. Deardon wanted prints of and put them on a flash drive so I could print them at the studio later.

After a couple hours of editing and getting as much done as I could at home, I was ready to head out. I walked through the glass sliding door to the patio where Robert sat writing on the first page of a fresh new journal. I guess his family really liked to keep a chronicle of their lives.

“Hey… I’m umm… ready when you are,” I said, trying to catch a glimpse of what he was writing.

“Just a moment,” he said over his shoulder.

“Sure.” I walked back inside and decided to brush my teeth to get rid of my coffee breath. When I entered my room, everything had been set right. No more broken glass and everything had been put back where it belonged. It was like nothing had ever happened in here. I was thankful for that.

“Shall we?” Robert said as I came back into the living room

“Yep, all ready to go. I just need to stop by a mailbox on our way,” I said, picking up a birthday card I'd been meaning to send to my Aunt Beth.

We headed out the door and started walking toward the beach. The weather was warm but the breeze had picked up a little. A huge summer storm was in the forecast and the breeze likely brought it a little bit closer. Robert and I didn’t say much on our walk down to the ocean.

We took a short detour past a mailbox and reached the sand in twenty minutes. Kicking off our sandals as we strode across the low dunes I finally decided to break the tension. If I was going to be able to make a decision about all of this then I couldn’t just ignore him. I needed answers, I needed to know more about him and the Magical world. So much for a day without Magic, I thought.

“So are you ever going to tell me anything about you?” I asked, careful not to look up into his warm eyes.

“Me, huh?” Robert cocked his head in my direction, his mouth pulling up on one side to form a flirtatious smile.

“Yeah, I mean we always talk about me and how important I’m supposed to be but you’ve never really told me much about yourself. You want me to trust you, but I don’t know anything about you.” I blurted the words out with the sound of the waves breaking behind us. It was true, I didn’t know much about him and maybe if I did, it would help me get a better grasp on how any of this was possible.

“Just because I won’t tell you certain things about myself doesn’t mean I’m hiding something from you. What you need to know and understand is much more important than anything about me,” Robert explained.

“That’s for me to decide.” I crossed my arms, unyielding.

“No, it’s not.” The sides of his eyes tightened and I knew I was tap dancing on his patience.

“How can you say that? How can you be so sure about me?”

“Because it’s what I’ve been taught my whole life.” He placed his hand on the small of my back guiding me forward. I was sure he’d keep his distance after last night, but I was glad he didn’t.

“The knowledge of your importance has been passed down through the generations. It’s in my very blood. You will always be more important than me,” he said, trying to make me see the serious nature of all this.

“But Robert, I want to know you. The only way I’m going to be able to understand all of this is through you,” I pleaded and dug my feet into the sand, refusing to move forward until he opened up.

“If you won’t tell me for my own sake, then tell me for the sake of the prophecy,” I reasoned, then paused. “To help me believe.” I searched his face, trying to get through to him. I knew it was a cheap shot, using the prophecy to get him to tell me about himself but I didn’t know what else to do. I was at a crossroads and needed to make a decision. I was tired of living in limbo, going back and forth between what path I should follow.

He looked out over the water, watching the foamy remnants of a wave wash along the smooth edges of the shore.

“How is knowing anything about me going to help you understand?” he asked.

“Because without you, I wouldn’t even be standing here talking to you,” I answered.

He sighed and turned, reaching his hand for me to grab onto. “Come on, let’s take a walk.” He smiled as I reached my hand toward his. The ever-present warmth of his skin made my fingers tingle as he tightened his grip on my palm and towed me down the beach.

“Is this really that important to you?” Robert asked after taking a few steps.

“Yes.” I nodded with surety.

He glanced in my direction. “Alright, what would you like to know?”

I mentally flipped through the catalog of questions I had for him, searching for the one I most wanted him to answer. I took a deep breath, steadying my nerves. “Ok, how did you…” I hesitated. “I mean, how were you able to save me that night?”

“Why don’t we have a seat,” he suggested, motioning to the large rocks ahead of us.

As we walked over to the cluster of wind and sand-smoothed boulders to sit, I peeked a glance over at him. His eyebrows sat low on his forehead and he wore a nervous expression. I knew he didn’t want to tell me how he was able to heal my wounds, but it never crossed my mind that he might be just as nervous to tell me as I was to hear it.

We sat side by side on the rocks and prepared for what was to come. Neither of us said anything at first. I wasn’t sure who was more frazzled, me for finally getting the answers I desperately wanted, or him for having to divulge his secret. I fiddled with a loose string on the hem my top and he idly kicked at the small rocks in the sand.

He took a deep breath and let it out in a huff. “Okay. This isn’t going to be easy for me to explain. You’re going to have to be patient. ”

“Okay,” I said a little too quickly, giving away my nerves.

He chuckled at my uneasiness and gave me an awkward smile.

“I’ve never told this to anyone who doesn’t understand how Magic works,” Robert explained.

I nodded, waiting for him to continue.

“While I am just like you on the outside, I’m very different on the inside,” he began. “It’s how I was able to heal you that night. I can do things most people can’t even dream possible.” He sighed, looking out across the beach. My heart raced beneath my ribcage and I couldn’t help but feel apprehensive.

He looked as tense as I felt. He raised his shoulders in a defensive position and tensed every line of his body. He hunched his eyebrows low on his forehead, trying to hide the worry evident at the corners of his eyes and in the set of his full, pursed lips.

“I was born the way I am, with the ability to heal,” Robert continued. He turned his powerful gaze on me and the primal force that had been growing inside me churned. His hand moved to take mine again and he stroked the top of my knuckles with his thumb, distracting me and giving himself a chance to choose his next words.

I wondered if he had any idea the effect he had on me, if he knew that his touch awoke something powerful inside me.

“I was six the first time I was able to do it on command,” he said, interrupting my thoughts. “We were all playing in the surf down at the beach, Brett, Jake and I, when we found a wounded baby seal. He was bleeding and had puncture wounds all over, like he’d gotten caught up in someone’s propeller.”

I stared up at Robert, catching his eye. He looked thoughtful as he recalled the memory.

“Brett was in tears, begging me to try and save the poor little thing. I was terrified and just as upset as Brett. I told both of them I didn’t know how to save it, but Jake encouraged me,” he said and chuckled.

Having met Robert’s older brother and seeing him interact with his wife, Annabel, in a rough teasing manner, I had a pretty good idea of how he may have
convinced
Robert to help the seal.

“I didn’t have the slightest clue how to help the animal. The few other times I had used my… ability,” Robert said and paused, eying me uneasily, “I didn’t do anything in particular. I’d find a squirrel or bird that got attacked by a hawk or something and just hold the animal and cry for my mother to come help. By the time she made it over to me the bird was flying away, or the squirrel was jumping out of my hand and scurrying back up the tree.” He shook his head and smiled.

“What is it?” I asked.

“It’s just strange, saying it all out loud. I can’t imagine how it must sound to you.”

“Strange.” I smiled.