Saraphina slowly lowered the stone but her lavender gaze was locked on the lighthouse, at the very spot I stood. I narrowed my eyes and watched her more carefully. Surely she could not see me, there had to be something else catching her attention. I was not in Seelie nor had she spoken the spell, so the stone would not work. She lifted the stone and looked back – and shivered.
She cannot be looking at me. Yet I felt her gaze sharper than the sun’s rays.
No, not possible. I held my right hand up to check that I had not dropped my cloaking ring, but it was in place. Though, so was her gaze. No, something else is spooking her. I ran my thumb over my bottom lip and her lavender eyes narrowed on me. My pulse quickened.
Cannot be. I narrowed mine right back and cocked my head to the side.
“I. See. You,” she whispered but it came out like a growl.
I cursed and my eyes widened. She could not see me like this, that was imperative. My cloaking ring should have prevented it, yet it did not. It made no sense. I did not dare trust the magic of mine own kind at this point, but I knew of an arcana spell that was written inside The Coven’s Book of Shadows. I called upon the words from deep in my memory, then whispered them in in a rush, low enough that she could not dare to hear.
“I call upon the power of Air, Conceal me here with your magic so rare.”
She gasped. Her eyes bounced around, passing right over me like I was not there.
“Oh my God,” Savannah shouted.
I sucked in a deep breath as Savannah rushed to Saraphina’s side. But when she dropped down to the pile of stones in the sand I exhaled in a rush. For a moment, I actually feared she’d seen me too. She shouldn’t have been able to, but my confidence was rocked.
My cloaking ring had not failed me yet with Saraphina and I did not see a reason it had now. I sighed and scrubbed my face with my hands. Prince Thorne would have an explanation for this occurrence, though I dared not ask. I did not want to draw his attention until I was delivering her to his throne. No, Prince Thorne could never hear of this.
Chapter Eighteen
Saffie
“Okay, it’s gonna be an hour wait—”
“An hour?” Savannah screeched.
The girl at the counter sighed. “Sorry.”
Gigi whistled under her breath and shook her head.
Savannah cursed.
As they turned and faced me, I frowned. “We have to wait an hour to get a table?”
They both nodded.
“Damn. I was hoping my amnesia was confusing me on that one.”
Savannah threw her head back and laughed. “I love you. C’mon, let’s go play.”
“That’s rarely a good sign.” Gigi chuckled and hooked her arm around mine, dragging me toward the door with them. “She’s dangerous in these situations.”
I smiled and hugged my coat closer as we walked back outside into the tundra the night had become. “So what do we do now?”
Savannah spun in a circle and the neon lights of the restaurant sign flashed in her eyes. “I was thinking – and there’s no pressure whatsoever—”
“But she really wants you to do it—”
“That you could get a reading from a medium.”
Gigi gasped. Then looked to me. “That’s actually a great idea, Saffie.”
I glanced back and forth between them. “What is a medium? More tarot cards?”
Savannah shook her head. “Yes and no. They will use some tarot cards but that’s just a guidance tool. A medium is someone who can speak with souls at rest.”
My eyes widened. “You mean the dead?”
“Yes, the deceased.”
My stomach turned. “Why would I want to do that?”
“Because you have amnesia,” Gigi said softly as she led us away from the front door of the restaurant. “And although you may not remember yourself or anyone else, maybe there’s a spirit who does remember. Someone who could potentially shine some light on you for you.”
I opened my mouth to say no then shut it. She had a point. Talking with a dead person seemed a little unsettling, but then again I had been talking to a crab earlier in the day. At least a spirit could talk back. My two tarot readings had been positive. Creepy, but positive. And they both told me to be brave and do whatever I have to. Even Dr. Troy encouraged me to try new things. I had no idea what a medium would tell me, I just hoped I wouldn’t regret what I was about to say.
“Um…okay. Yeah, let’s do that.”
Savannah and Gigi high-fived then grabbed my arms and practically dragged me skipping away from the restaurant. It wasn’t until we were crossing the street that I was hit with a sense of deja-vu. I glanced around and then I recognized it. This was the street I ran down the night I woke up on the wharf. This was the street I thought I’d seen Riah chasing me.
But as I scanned every inch, every shadow, every corner…I didn’t see him now.
I reached up to the strip of leather tied around my neck and pulled out my hag stone, the one I’d found on the beach earlier. The one I’d seen Riah through. Savannah and Gigi were in front of me, talking about something…so I held my stone up to my eye and looked through the hole.
Nothing.
I rescanned everything around me.
No Riah.
I sighed with relief and let my stone go, dropping it to hang from its new spot on my necklace. See, he isn’t here. You must have imagined him earlier. Yes, that’s it. It was a hallucination. When I talk to Dr. Troy on Monday, I’ll tell her about it. She’ll understand. She’ll explain why this is happening. Probably something to do with my trauma.
“Saffie?”
I jumped – then realized I’d been standing still on the sidewalk, staring into the alley. I blinked and shook myself. “Yes?”
“We’re here.”
“Oh. Right. Coming.”
Together, we went inside a store called Enchantment. The first thing I noticed were all the plants hanging from the ceiling. There was a thick scent in the air but it wasn’t nearly as pungent as the candles in Landreia’s store. I glanced around the shop and saw only a couple people inside, standing in front of a wall of books. Behind them were rows of crystals of every shape and color. To my left, wrapped around the register and side wall, were glass cases filled with jewelry and even some hanging from racks that sat on top.
Someone gasped. “Savannah! Gigi!”
She spun and grinned. “Yay! You’re here!”
A tall man with unusual design carved into his facial hair wagged his eyebrows. “Honey, I’m always here. You know that. Except Mondays, because screw them.”
“Brian, we need your assistance.” Savannah grabbed my hand and dragged me over to where Brian was leaning against a wooden bookshelf. “This is my new friend Saraphina…she needs to get a reading with a medium.”
“Oh, how fun.” He looked me up and down then smiled. “You’re a cute little thing. So you have someone you’d like to reach from the beyond?”
“Not quite…” Savannah glanced back at me for a moment. “She has amnesia—”
“Oh my Gods,” Brian half screamed, half gasped. He pushed off the bookshelf and started walking backwards while waving for us to follow. “You poor soul. Come, come. Mark is available right now—”