Page 47 of The Devil You Know
“You’re not crazy, Seth,” Jesse said in a warm tone. “Part of you knows things that haven’t been revealed, and the rest of you needs to figure what’s missing.”
“When did you get so smart?” Seth asked as Jesse slipped his phone into his pocket.
“While you were gone. Although I learned everything that mattered from my big brother.”
* * *
After breakfast the next morning,Linda and Brian headed off for the Ginter Botanical Garden while Jesse and Seth drove down to the Fan District to visit Madam Annabelle.
Seth felt nervous. Riding his Hayabusa helped. Jesse wasn’t entirely comfortable on a motorcycle, which was the only thing that kept him from opening up the throttle and flying down the highway.
He stopped at the curb beside a modest, older home. A neatly lettered sign in the front yard proclaimed,Psychic. Aura Readings, Tarot, Energy Work, Séances.
“You think Madam Annabelle is the real thing?” Seth asked skeptically as they walked toward the house.
“Guess we’ll see, huh?”
A grandmotherly woman with pale skin, light blue eyes, and a curly perm met them at the door. She wore a cardigan sweater over a T-shirt and jeans. Seth’s notion that Annabelle would be swathed in bright silks and bohemian fashion made him reconsider his expectations.
“Thank you for being on time,” Annabelle said. She looked from one brother to the other. “You did right bringing him here,” she said, looking directly at Jesse.
Annabelle turned to Seth and blanched. “Oh, you sweet boy! Come on in. We need to talk.”
As they followed her into the living room, Seth turned to Jesse. “What did you tell her?”
Jesse shook his head. “Nothing. I swear. I didn’t want to bias anything. I just said that you were under a lot of stress, and I thought this would help.”
The modern, comfortable living room didn’t resemble the cloth-draped, garish “reading room” Seth expected. Annabelle motioned for Seth and Jesse to take a seat on the couch, and she sat in a wing chair.
“I don’t know what—” Seth began.
“You don’t belong here,” Annabelle cut him off. “This isn’t your time. I don’t mean this appointment. I mean this…” She gestured to indicate everything around them. “This world. You’re not from here, but something is keeping you here. Doesn’t want to let you go. Now why would that be?”
Seth shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“What do you mean?” Jesse asked, looking like he’d gotten more than he bargained for.
Annabelle turned her attention to Jesse. “You want to believe him, but you’re worried. Good on you for sticking with him. Your parents, they aren’t so sure.”
She looked at Seth. “You have an enemy. He has hidden the truth. You’re happy here, but if you stay, you will die.” Her eyes narrowed, “It will also cost the life of someone close to you.” Annabelle’s compassionate expression almost undid Seth. “I don’t envy you.”
Jesse looked stricken as if he had already lost Seth.
“What do I do?” Seth felt heartbroken. He had missed his family with a bone-deep longing, especially Jesse. Being home with them was a dream come true. But Seth couldn’t ignore the growing sense that the handsome stranger was essential and the key to discovering the truth.
“I can’t tell you that,” Annabelle said. “You will need to decide for yourself.”
Seth thanked the psychic and paid her. As he and Jesse walked to the door, she laid a hand on his arm.
“You will know what is real and what is not when you look for the holes,” she told him. “The gaps will guide you to your true home.”
“Thank you.” Seth felt a shiver run down his spine. He managed a polite smile, although Jesse looked wrecked.
They walked outside into the cold. “Talk to me, bro,” Seth begged.
“I don’t understand,” Jesse said, clearly upset. “I thought she might tell you that there was something that happened to you when you were overseas, maybe a trauma you were blocking and didn’t realize it. But this…how can you be torn between two realities?”
Seth shook his head. “I don’t know. It sounds like something out of a movie. Did I disappear from the other life? Are they running in parallel?”
