Page 45 of The Devil You Know
“I saw what I saw. There’ve been other things I didn’t mention. I look around the RV, and I see sigils—magical symbols—marked everywhere, but I know you can’t see them. Sort of like they’re in black light paint, and only I have the way to make them glow,” Seth confided.
“And sometimes, I know things. A strange word, an incantation, a bit of lore will pop into my mind, and I know it’s true; I know it belonged to another me. But I’m nothim,” he continued.
Jesse regarded Seth thoughtfully. “Maybe that’s for the best. Maybe things didn’t turn out well for the other-you. This could be your do-over. Or…your heaven.”
Seth thought about that and shook his head slowly. “A man keeps showing up. I don’t recognize him, but I know I should. He’s important.”
“Important, how? Friend? Enemy? Lover?”
“I think…I care for him. A lot.”
“Well, that explains why you didn’t go for the guy I fixed you up with.”
Seth nodded. “Yeah. It just felt wrong.”
“Gotta respect you for not cheating on someone you don’t remember.”
Seth made a face. “Thanks…I think.”
“Seriously—what do you want to do? Mom and Dad think you need to go see a therapist.”
“It probably wouldn’t hurt—but I might fry the poor guy’s circuits.”
“Yeah, if you go talking about intersecting timelines, it’s not going to go well,” Jesse said. “How are you going to figure this out?”
“I think I need to see a psychic,” Seth said. “Someone legit. Maybe they’ll pick up something from my aura and know what to do.”
“What about your phantom boyfriend?” Jesse asked.
“I’ll figure it out. I don’t know what we are to each other here or if he’s actually real.”
Jesse sobered. “Are you going away? Does solving your mystery mean you vanish into thin air?”
Seth wanted to reassure him, tell him that he wouldn’t disappear, wouldn’t leave his family. “I want to say that I won’t, but I don’t know.”
Jesse nodded, and while he looked sad, he didn’t seem surprised. “We need to make sure you’re where you belong. Let’s find a psychic who’s the real thing.”
Seth refused to lose time with his parents or Jesse. Knowing that their chance to be together was probably limited, he didn’t want to miss a minute. For the rest of the day, he happily followed the itinerary his mother and Jesse had put together, playing tourist in downtown Richmond, walking along the river, and seeing the Iron Fronts—a row of historic buildings with elaborate facades made of metal.
They fed the squirrels in Capitol Park, went to the gardens at Maymont, and toured a mansion brought over brick-by-brick from England.
All the while, Seth couldn’t shake the sense that he had done many of the same things before with someone else. An impending sense of danger dogged him, and he couldn’t help continually glancing around, looking for threats.
His parents were too caught up in the history of the places they visited to notice, but Jesse never missed anything.
“What’s up?” Jesse asked, bumping Seth on purpose.
Seth shook his head. “I’ve been here. It was important—essential. I saved someone, and it changed everything. Maybe—the dark-haired stranger.”Evan.
Jesse clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Whatever you need to do, I’m with you.”
Peace washed over Seth, the way Jesse’s unconditional acceptance always made him feel. It smoothed off the rough edges of his anxiety and glossed over the doubts, fears, and recrimination. “Thanks.” He tried to sound off-handed, afraid of how much it meant to him. He had a feeling that Jesse already knew.
“I want to see the pump house at James River Park,” his mother said as they finished their tour at Maymont. “Before we do the museum and the botanical garden.”
Jesse groaned. “Leave it to Mom to create the vacation forced march from hell. We will see every notable location in Richmond or die trying.”
Seth laughed. “It’s not that bad. We’re together, having fun.”
