Parts One through Seventeen can be located on my author’s page

The silence was thick, and over a dozen pairs of eyes were heavy on me. Does she know? Mara’s expression was stony. She stared past everyone else in The Willow and set her sights on me. Replacing her suppressed sadness was a void. There was nothing there, as though she was an empty vessel. Instead of a heartbeat, I would hear a hollow blowing.

The Healer she brought with her also looked at me, but with a curiosity that unnerved me. He tilted his head to the side and smirked at me. Stop that. I did not like it.

“Uh, sure,” I squeaked. I cleared my throat. “Sure… I um…”

“Well, your conversation can wait. That poor soul just came down those stairs on his own, and I will not have all that work done for naught.” Dasha called from behind the bar, hands on her hips. “He’s got to eat something, and I’ve got just the thing to stick to those bones and warm that cold soul of his. Come on, Nox.” She waved me over; everyone still staring at me.

“Yes, please. It would be best for you to have a full belly and a rested soul,” the Healer spoke. “It would seem we have a lot of work to do with you. Your body and mind are ravaged.” Tell me something I don’t know.

“No,” Mara said through clenched teeth, her hands balled up in fists at her sides. She turned to face the Healer. “You said that he—”

“Okay,” Dasha clasped her hands together; all eyes now focused on her. “This is not appropriate dining room conversation. Let’s talk in the back, yes?” Her signature smile still in place, but firm. The patrons in the dining room were hanging on our every word.  They waited with bated breath for what might come of this encounter. She waved us all over, opening a door behind the bar, away from the hungry eyes of the people of Haven’s End. Mara and the Healer were close behind Dasha, and I limped my way over. Staff, right, left. Staff, right, left.

It was a small room, but comfortable enough for us to fit in. It was decorated with fresh wildflowers, and a large window flooded the room with sunlight. Delicate, sheer lace curtains splashed playful shadows around the room. There was a small bed in the corner, covered with several bright plush pillows and blankets. The room smelled like a flowery meadow at sunrise. At least what I imagined one would smell like. The room itself seemed to embrace me. This was Dasha’s room.

“Mara, you know better than to come in here and start a scene like that.” Dasha scolded her. Her face morphed into a mask of genuine hurt and outrage. “Poor Nox has been through enough, and then you bring Cyrus here.” She shot him a look of contempt. It seemed they’d all forgotten I was there.

“Oh, sweet Dasha. You still bear me ill will? I thought we’d gotten past all that,” he went to caress her face, but she swatted his hand away. Angry tears welled up in her eyes.

“Don’t you touch me! You lost that chance!”

“Please, Sunshine,” Cyrus the Healer pleaded.

“Dasha, I’m sorry. But we needed a Healer. And when I saw him last night, he said that…He said that he Saw something about Warrick.”

Dasha’s face changed from anger to shock.

“Your husband?”

“Yes. I told Nox the story before I left him for the night. Then I went to see Cyrus so that I could secure his services, and that’s when he said—”

“As she walked in, I could sense that something had changed. I Saw that a missing piece in her tragic puzzle had been found.”

“You are a not a Seer, Cyrus,” Dasha said, not looking at him, huffing.

“No, I am not, but that does not mean that I cannot See. A Seer can find what is hidden. If something is asking to be Seen, anyone that knows Magic can See it.”

“What do you know about my husband?” Mara yelled at me. Her face was red, furious tears falling down her face. “Did you know him?” She sobbed.

“Mara, I—”

“Did. You. Know. Him?” She asked through clenched teeth. Her face towards the ground, hot tears splashing, soaking into the floor.

“How would he know your husband? That would imply he came from the—” Dasha started, but I stopped her.

“I met him once. Just once, for a few minutes,” I said, my voice quivering.

“In the Castle? Are you from the Castle? You could have helped him escaped, and you didn’t?” Mara ran up to me and grabbed my shirt. “Were you there when he died? Did you see him?” She yelled and shook me.

“Mara, please stop,” I begged. My skin began to prickle with a scary familiarity. An intense pressure began to build in my chest.

“Did you watch him die? Were you there when he died? Were you?” Mara bellowed, mere inches from me.

“I didn’t…I didn’t want to,” I started to say.

“Did you have something to do with his death?” she pressed. The air around me became hot and thin, and I struggled to breathe.

“Mara, stop,” I implored. Pain began to tear at my chest, and I cried in earnest. Those around you will only know pain.

“Stop, you’re hurting him!” Dasha yelled.

“He knows about Warrick!” Mara bawled. “Tell me!”

“Stop!” This time it was Cyrus who tried to stop her. “Something is wrong. Mara let him go.”

“No! He knows something!” She pushed me, and I fell into a table, knocking over a vase filled with flowers. The vase shattered, and the flowers were shredded.

“Please stop,” I wept, covered in shards of glass and dead greenery. Mara kneeled over me and grabbed my shirt collar again.

“Get off of him!” Dasha screamed and pulled Mara off of me. Mara crumbled in a corner, holding herself in a fetal position and wailed. Cyrus helped me off the floor.

“He knows something,” she howled from her soul.

The pain in my chest began to throb. I clutched my hand over my heart and did my best to control my erratic breathing. I could hear Dasha, Mara, and Cyrus, all yelling at each other. I reached my hand out to get someone to help me. I was losing control of myself, and I could feel my Magic begin to spiral.

“Help,” I called, but my voice was barely a whisper. Mara cried in the corner. Dasha reprimanded Cyrus, and he defended himself. I fell to my knees, and that got their attention.

And I cried, and my soul broke a little more.