I didn’t see what happened. I don’t know if it was just that the hungry waves sucked her in. I’d seen it in visions, sure. I had watched her gulp down water a thousand times before. I just hadn’t known how soon. Her death never had an age with it; some of them didn’t. I wasn’t paying attention. I was distracted by her twentieth attempt to dump me. There was no real way to know her death would be that day.
Besides, Jenn knew how to swim. She may have dove under the water as some sort of punishment to me or maybe even herself. I wondered what she was thinking about as she took her final breath and the sea drew her in. My only solid memory of Jenn’s death was finally turning back to the shoreline from my car and her being gone. Jenn, the girl I’d grown to love, and what she was convinced would have been our daughter, had simply vanished. And once again, it all felt like my fault. I vowed that day never to return to the pier. For me, it was back to New York; as far away as I could get from memories of both Jenn and Eric and all things California. At least Ray was there. He’d take me in. He had to...
Ray.
Life.
A new life.
Violet sees it. Things and events. People’s motivations.
Do the same with death. Embrace it.
The shift came on quick. I felt the metamorphosis take place nearly as fast as it had come on. I wondered if she could see it too. Probably not – at least not the physical part. It wasn’t like I’d ever let her touch me again. To her, without hands on, I was likely a blank slate too. It didn’t really matter. Solstice festivals, creatures, and a disappearing on demand creepy ex or not: Those things were Violet’s problems. I knew what I needed to do. It would start with appearing normal. Now, I knew how to contain my curse. I could thank my captor for it. Knowledge is power. But that was also where my appreciation for her would stop. The first chance I got, Violet would regret ever leaving her stupid solstice event to seek me out to reveal Ethel’s death. I would not be used. No. A creature, I was not – no matter what she said. I could contain it the same way she did me with her shocks. Couldn’t I?
Chapter Eight
Ethel
Stupid cat body. Sure, living on all four legs was fun. I could go and do whatever I wanted. Hell, just this morning I heard the maids talking about stealing Violet’s clothes. It wasn’t my fault their vacuum had an electric surge, shocking them out of the room. Well, that was fun.
The gag reflex in this body was awful. One teeny-tiny hair and I was hacking a furball. This was not one of my finer choices of alternate bodies. In the middle of throwing up a fur ball, Violet and James returned, slamming the door behind me. I could barely wheeze out, “Father called the Sealg Fiadhaich.”
She turned around and hit me full on with her light purple eyes. “Why did you take out the contacts?” Violet left herself vulnerable with exposed eyes; she could easily see people’s actions now. Actions that could get Violet killed.
“It doesn’t matter, why was the hunt called?” She looked behind me as James took off his purple jacket. Her eyes softened for a split-second when his back was turned, but the moment he looked at her, her face tensed up again. Interesting.
“Arun called me in a fit a little while ago. He said he thought you guys were...uh, don’t make me say it... You guys were...” I tasted throw-up a little in the back of my throat. It was bad enough I could hear them when they were dating. I didn’t need the details.
Her purple eyes rolled at my talking, and I saw the slight lift in her lips—I almost made her smile. “He tried to force himself on me. He got mad when I threatened to send him to the dry lakes.”
“I told you a long time ago, he was my favorite brother. Don’t banish him.”
Violet took a deep breath, like she was losing patience. Well, I knew damn well she never had any. “Focus, Ethel. Why was the hunt called?”
That’s right, Sealg Fiadhaich. “Because, no more brothers and sisters were created this solstice.”
“How do they know already? Winter solstice was less than two weeks ago.” She paced the floor as if she already knew the second bomb I was about to drop in her lap.
“This solstice was the first one I missed in over a thousand years. Not one single dick got hard this solstice.” I began laughing, I couldn’t help myself.
“Why did you do that? You knew we weren’t going to be there. We needed to not draw attention to ourselves, and yet you cursed them with erectile dysfunctions. Why?”
Still laughing, I somehow managed to get out, “I didn’t think it would work when we weren’t there. Glad to know my fertility can cause infertility.”
In the middle of my laughing, Violet snuck up on me. I didn’t even know she was holding me until I was looking her square in her eyes. “You know what this means, right?”
I did, but I didn’t think it would be as bad as she was thinking. Besides, she would have James by her side.
She dropped me on the floor and didn’t turn around to make sure I made it to all four paws. Bitch.
“I guess I need to figure out a way to make it up to Arun. Death Flames extend.” She slammed the door behind her.
I turned to James, who just stood there wide-eyed taking in everything we just said. But I wasn’t sure if he understood a word of it. I knew for a fact he didn’t understand his role in this because he began to walk to his suite.
Once he was a few feet from his door, I shifted to my human body. Though I don’t care about clothes or being naked, I shimmered on something in case it bothered him. “I need you to do a real reading on me.”
He stopped walking but didn’t turn around. “I can control my powers now. Why should I continue helping you?”
I placed my hand on his shoulders and jumped as if still the cat. “Because controlling your powers is only half your burden. Violet can help you in ways no one else can. She understands exactly what you are going through. Before we go back to our family, I need to know who I can trust.”
He turned around. His eyes were wide like he was scared, but his body was tense like he was ready to fight. I could sense his fight or flight instinct. This man has been through more in his life than either Violet or I predicted. I wished Violet had the ability to read him.
“Why? Both of you are holding me captive. I will figure out a way to break Death Flames on my own. I repeat, why should I help you?”
He was right. We didn’t think through how we were going to get him to help us. Abducting him was probably not one of our better ideas, but desperate measures for desperate calls—or was it calls for measures? I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. “Because helping us, helps you.”
He laughed. “I’d like to hear this. How?”
Line, sink, and hooked. I had him now. “My thing is fertility. I can find out your parentage.”
“I know exactly who my parents are.”
I crossed my arms in front of my body like a big ‘X.’ “Wrong. You know who raised you. You don’t know who your parents are. You find them, and you know exactly what to expect from your visions.”
“All I hear from both of you are lies.”
His heart rate increased just a little when I mentioned his parents. Even though his words were accusing me, he was actually listening to what I was saying. This was good, James was actually listening. “Help me stop my killer. We will find your parents, and Violet will release you from the flames.”