You’ve never been alone, sweetness. The words sounded in her mind.
Jonan was silent for a few moments, his gaze directed at the window that was blacked-out by the night sky outside. He nodded as though answering a question she hadn’t heard, and then turned his head, holding her gaze. ‘Did you see the Triad?’
Beth frowned. ‘I don’t know what that is. I saw you, at least I think it was you. I saw… my brother? And a woman who looked so like me I could almost swear we were one and the same.’
‘How do you feel now?’
Beth took a deep breath. ‘I told you I relied on my own experience. I said I hadn’t been given any evidence of the destiny you talked about. I’m going to have to revisit those assumptions now.’
Jonan let out his breath in a rush. He closed his eyes, leaning forward to duck his head between his knees. He took three deep, shuddering breaths, the muscles in his back visibly expanding and contracting. When he straightened, he was calmer. A smile spread across his face. ‘That’s wonderful news. Is there anything you want to know? I don’t want to bombard you.’
‘There’s a lot I’d like to know.’ She shrugged. ‘I saw you and I, and I saw my brother. But I don’t understand what it’s all about, or why this is happening now. That vision has left me with a horrible sense of urgency in my chest. If we could skip to the understanding part of this process, that would be great.’
Jonan seemed to slump as the tension went out of his body in a rush. He closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and then released it. He nodded, as he sat up and leaned forward. ‘It all started with three women.’ He pushed on his thighs with his arms, propelling himself upright and took a statue down from the mantelpiece. It was carved from dark wood and showed a woman sitting cross-legged, staring into a scrying bowl. Her hair fell past one of her cheeks and a garland of flowers rested on her head, stems trailing down her back. She was so intricately detailed that Beth gasped. ‘This one is the Oracle,’ Jonan said, a grin on his face. ‘She is one member of the team and brings us the superpower of insight.’
He put the statue down on the table, and then ducked into his bedroom, coming out with The Starfolk Tarot. He flicked through the cards with a speed that could only be born of familiarity and pulled one out. The picture showed a woman, her hands cupping her heavily pregnant belly. She sat in a beam of bright sunlight surrounded by the light green of new leaves and opening buds of flowers. Her face shone. ‘This card is The Mother. She is our second superhero, because she brings Nurture.’ He put the card on the table, a foot away from the statue.
Beth frowned. ‘Are you trying to say that I am one of those?’
‘No.’ Jonan grinned. ‘At least, not at the moment. There is a third woman. He took an orange from the table, picked up a knife and cut the fruit in half. Dislodging a seed with the tips of his fingers, he placed it carefully on the coffee table so that the seed, the card and the statue each stood as separate points in a triangle. ‘The third woman is the Seed. She is potential incarnate. She is the greatest, and the most likely to stray. She brings the ability to change, to develop, to move forward, but she also brings the possibility of failure.’
Beth picked up the seed and put it in the palm of one hand. It was so tiny. She closed her eyes, feeling her heart beating and the swirling of nerves in her stomach. ‘That’s not an encouraging picture.’
‘It is a hugely exciting picture.’
Beth swallowed. ‘Who are the women?’
‘Don’t you know?’ His gaze shone with violet fire as he watched her, his body tense and perfectly still.
Putting the seed back on the table, she picked up the tarot card, running a finger over the lush design. ‘I thought your mother walked out on you.’ She let the card fall from her fingers. It flittered through the air and landed face down on the table in front of the statue. ‘Can she still stand as Mother?’
‘The roles are chosen on this side of birth, as well as before. Doriel and my mother exchanged places.’
Beth raised her eyebrows. ‘So that leaves you, me and Amelia. Who is this?’ She picked up the seed. ‘I want to claim it, but I feel I might have to fight for that honour.’
Jonan’s mouth spread into a wide smile. ‘Perceptive. Amelia won’t give up her position lightly, but you were born to it as much as she was.’
‘Are you trying to tell me I was a backup?’
Jonan laughed. He stood up, took the seed from her fingers, put it on the table and took her hands in his own.
Warmth shot through her from the simple touch. She drew in a ragged breath. The feeling of rightness that swept through her was staggering. The Jonan from her vision seemed to hover around and through him. She could feel a connection that stretched back over lifetimes.
His eyes were an even deeper purple now, specks of gold glinting in the light of the fire. His grip on her hands tightened, and then eased. ‘You were never a backup to me.’
Her breath caught. She swallowed. A lifetime of feeling out of place dropped away as the unfamiliar sense of belonging engulfed her. Something she had lost began to reform. She couldn’t explain what it was, but it connected her to Jonan with a sense of rightness that took her breath away.
‘Dinner’s ready, come and get your food,’ Doriel yelled from the kitchen.
Jonan sighed and let go of her hands. ‘Come on. Let’s help bring the food out.’
Beth’s stomach growled. She laughed. ‘Gladly. I’m starving.’
The food was good and the solid, real-life texture of the pasta, tomato sauce and vegetables helped Beth feel more grounded. She heaped salad onto her plate, watching Doriel’s fluid movements. She made even the simplest motion look like a dance. She caught Beth watching and smiled. ‘Are you enjoying your dinner? Is there anything else I can get you?’
Pushing her chair back, she reached for a bottle of wine on the sideboard behind her and filled all three glasses.
‘It feels weird, talking to an Oracle about something as ordinary as pasta.’
Doriel laughed. ‘You might be surprised how fascinated I am by pasta. This world is just as absorbing as the other if you’re open to the magic in it.’
‘And what is the magic in you?’ Beth asked, ‘what do you do?’
‘Oh.’ Doriel waved her hand. ‘You don’t want to know about that. It’s the magic in Jonan you want to think about.’
Jonan rolled his eyes. His dinner was almost gone already and he popped in the last mouthful of pasta before putting his knife and fork neatly together on the plate. ‘Thanks for that, Doriel.’
‘I’m always happy to share the limelight.’ She winked, picked up his plate and walked through to the kitchen, humming as she went.
‘She’s right though.’ Beth took a sip of red wine, and then picked up a piece of bread from the basket on the table and tore off the crust. ‘You didn’t tell me where you fit in to the picture.’
Jonan pushed his chair back and stretched his legs out, crossing them at the ankles. He shrugged. ‘I’m a healer and a teacher. I work with energy in a more vibrant way than most people. I manifest things in my life because I see fewer restrictions. I can also impact energy around me, in another place, or even at another time. This can change the way people feel in that place.’