fate.”
Her hand stroked my face, and I winced at the dry skin of her touch. The way that she looked at me was intimate, like she could see inside me. It was intense and not very pleasant, but she kept her eyes locked with mine. She opened my fingers and glanced at my palm, tracing the lines with one fingertip.
“You have a fierce battle ahead of you,” she said, and I suddenly felt like we were alone together, as though she’d pulled me into a trance. “Wrongs to be set right. Old grudges to put to rest. You must settle the score.”
Then she pulled back and spoke to the others. I gasped as I realized how lightheaded I felt. “Come in the back, and I’ll tell you what you need to know.”
Turning the front sign to closed, she brought us to her back room. I was expecting something turn of the century like the priest’s cottage, but instead, it was an ultra modern room decorated in black and white furniture. A big laptop was charging on a marble counter with an iPhone sitting next to it. I almost giggled.
The woman’s violet eyes looked even more intense under this bright light. She had us sit down at the table as she took the head seat. Small braids were twisted through her hair, tied off with tiny pieces of hemp twine.
She started to lay out a deck of tarot cards in front of us. “There are worlds other than ours. Worlds in which the spirits and the creatures walk,” she began. She slapped the cards on the table one by one. I knew of what she spoke, but I wanted the others to hear. “There is Dark, which is inhabited by cursed spirits and shadows. There is Limbo, where the restless dead shuffle along, caught in a pale remembrance of their lives.”
She stared at the cards, tilting her head back and forth, then slid them together and shuffled again. A thought occurred to me.
“This is probably a crazy question, but have you ever read a book called Other Worlds ?” I attempted.
Her piercing, uncomfortable gaze was directed at me again. “Yes. Only a few copies were published.”
“What book?” Hugh asked, looking lost.
“There was a book at the library, called Other Worlds . It’s how I already know all this stuff,” I explained. “But it disappeared and I never figured out what happened to it.”
“Someone from Thornhill probably took it,” Hugh said.
“Is that the name of the evil that followed you here?” the woman asked, laying out her cards again. She scowled at them. They must not have looked good.
“Yes. We’re trying to stop them from performing a ritual that might make Dark take over,” I said.
“It doesn’t surprise me that the book would find its way to a town with seals,” she said, shaking her head. “My mother wrote Other Worlds when she was young and naive. Spirit Stones and Metals was the only other book she produced, after years of difficult research. There was a third world that we didn’t know about yet, one that was always there but that she couldn’t sense. It appears as a wall in astral projection, a huge block that allows no one to look past it. As she honed her craft, she was able to discover it.”
“What is the third world?” I asked, drawn in by the spell cast by her words.
“It’s called Luminos. But no human being has been able to catch more than mere glimpses of its vast area. It’s the domain of angels and demons. But there is moral ambiguity. Every once in a while, an angel will come to earth, find a human most appealing, and take them as their mate. From what I could learn, it is very rare. It’s impossible for a human to fully see Luminos, because they would lose their mind.”
She caught my eye again. Without warning, her hand shot out and gripped mine tightly. “That is what makes your blood so powerful. You are the descendant of an angel and a human.”
“Are you kidding me?” I asked as my jaw dropped. There was no way. But her cold eyes and serious, unwavering grimace gave me my answer. My voice came out in a squeak. “You’re
Her hand stroked my face, and I winced at the dry skin of her touch. The way that she looked at me was intimate, like she could see inside me. It was intense and not very pleasant, but she kept her eyes locked with mine. She opened my fingers and glanced at my palm, tracing the lines with one fingertip.
“You have a fierce battle ahead of you,” she said, and I suddenly felt like we were alone together, as though she’d pulled me into a trance. “Wrongs to be set right. Old grudges to put to rest. You must settle the score.”
Then she pulled back and spoke to the others. I gasped as I realized how lightheaded I felt. “Come in the back, and I’ll tell you what you need to know.”
Turning the front sign to closed, she brought us to her back room. I was expecting something turn of the century like the priest’s cottage, but instead, it was an ultra modern room decorated in black and white furniture. A big laptop was charging on a marble counter with an iPhone sitting next to it. I almost giggled.
The woman’s violet eyes looked even more intense under this bright light. She had us sit down at the table as she took the head seat. Small braids were twisted through her hair, tied off with tiny pieces of hemp twine.
She started to lay out a deck of tarot cards in front of us. “There are worlds other than ours. Worlds in which the spirits and the creatures walk,” she began. She slapped the cards on the table one by one. I knew of what she spoke, but I wanted the others to hear. “There is Dark, which is inhabited by cursed spirits and shadows. There is Limbo, where the restless dead shuffle along, caught in a pale remembrance of their lives.”
She stared at the cards, tilting her head back and forth, then slid them together and shuffled again. A thought occurred to me.
“This is probably a crazy question, but have you ever read a book called Other Worlds ?” I attempted.
Her piercing, uncomfortable gaze was directed at me again. “Yes. Only a few copies were published.”
“What book?” Hugh asked, looking lost.
“There was a book at the library, called Other Worlds . It’s how I already know all this stuff,” I explained. “But it disappeared and I never figured out what happened to it.”
“Someone from Thornhill probably took it,” Hugh said.
“Is that the name of the evil that followed you here?” the woman asked, laying out her cards again. She scowled at them. They must not have looked good.
“Yes. We’re trying to stop them from performing a ritual that might make Dark take over,” I said.
“It doesn’t surprise me that the book would find its way to a town with seals,” she said, shaking her head. “My mother wrote Other Worlds when she was young and naive. Spirit Stones and Metals was the only other book she produced, after years of difficult research. There was a third world that we didn’t know about yet, one that was always there but that she couldn’t sense. It appears as a wall in astral projection, a huge block that allows no one to look past it. As she honed her craft, she was able to discover it.”
“What is the third world?” I asked, drawn in by the spell cast by her words.
“It’s called Luminos. But no human being has been able to catch more than mere glimpses of its vast area. It’s the domain of angels and demons. But there is moral ambiguity. Every once in a while, an angel will come to earth, find a human most appealing, and take them as their mate. From what I could learn, it is very rare. It’s impossible for a human to fully see Luminos, because they would lose their mind.”
She caught my eye again. Without warning, her hand shot out and gripped mine tightly. “That is what makes your blood so powerful. You are the descendant of an angel and a human.”
“Are you kidding me?” I asked as my jaw dropped. There was no way. But her cold eyes and serious, unwavering grimace gave me my answer. My voice came out in a squeak. “You’re
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