Page 37 of The Magic of Discovery
I’d spent the morning relaxing with Maven and daydreaming about last night’s surprise encounter with Cam. When I finally came back down to Earth and realized it was already two in the afternoon, I got my ass into gear and hopped in the shower, pushing all thoughts of the guys from my mind.
Fifteen hurried minutes later, I shut the water off and grabbed my towel. Opening my eyes, I yelped and almost fell on my ass. All bright colors had been leached from my vision, leaving behind only shades of green, gray, and black.What the hell is going on?
“Sssssaige.” The whispered voice came from my bedroom, the hiss seeming to wrap around my body until I froze, my heart beating so hard I thought I might have a heart attack at any moment.I must be losing my mind.
“Indespectus,” I breathed, invoking the spell that could hide a witch from someone meaning to do them harm. I’d gotten well acquainted with the spell after dating Bryce for so long. Not hearing any more sounds, I dared a peek through the crack in the door. My vision was still fucked as I braved a look into my bedroom, sucking in a breath of surprise.
What are they doing?From what I could tell, the same two figures that I’d seen in the shop were moving around my bedroom, looking at everything they could. More whispers filled the air, but I wasn’t close enough to make out what they were saying.
“Saige, where are you, child?” Gran’s voice called out from downstairs, and the shadows shrieked and dissipated, the lingering hiss of ‘ssssoon’ causing my body to tremble as my vision returned to normal. I walked to my bed and dropped down on the mattress in a heap, taking a shuddering breath. During the short walk from the bathroom to my bed, my body had felt like it was wading through molasses, and I didn’t know if that was from the fear coursing through my system or some lingering effect of the shadow creatures.
My door creaked as it opened, and then Gran was there, concern on her face. Her hands gripped my upper arms as she asked, “What’s happened? Saige, talk to me.”
Sitting up, I threw my arms around her and pulled her to me, tears filling my eyes as the adrenaline began leaving my body. She rubbed my back, shushing me in a soothing way.
“Gran,” I croaked out, “we need to talk.”
Pulling away from me, she nodded. “Get dressed, I’ll be downstairs in the kitchen.”
She quietly left, and I quickly threw on some clothes and ran a brush through my hair, feeling guilty that I hadn’t confided in her yet about the ‘prophecy’ or those shadow things. I’d gotten so wrapped up in Cam that I’d forgotten to give her a call. Now these creatures were showing up again, and they not only knew my name, but where I lived, and from the sounds of it, they were interested in learning more.
Moving down the steps at a swift pace, I headed for the one woman who I knew would always help me, guide me, and love me, no questions asked. She was sitting at the table, a fresh pot of coffee beside our already full mugs.
“Talk to me, child. When I entered the house, I had this sick feeling in my stomach and felt unnatural energy. I need to know everything so that we can protect the house from further invasion.”
Slipping into the chair beside her, I ran my hands down my face. “Gran, I don’t even know where to begin. So many weird things have been happening, so at first, I thought it was all just a fluke. The flowers dying? It’s only the beds I tend to. Did you notice that? Yours are completely fine. Yesterday, Matilda and Roberta showed up at the shop. They were waiting for me when I got there, going on and on about a prophecy and how important it was.”
After a deep breath, I took a sip of my coffee. Gran’s face had this serious expression I hadn’t seen since my lovely mother decided to pay a visit when I was a kid. When she didn’t speak, I continued, sparing her no detail. As I shared the part about the seers’ eyes turning black and the power that had moved through me when they grasped my hands, Gran’s face began to lose its rosy coloring.Well, that’s not fucking good. Keep going, Saige. Get it all out.
With a deep breath to stall the questions running through my mind, I finished describing my change in vision, the shadow creatures, the prophecy, all of it. Still nervous, a tiny undercurrent of relief ran through me at having confided in Gran. Together, we could figure this out.
“And that was the first time you saw these beings?” Gran questioned, lifting her mug to take a sip, her face not quite so pale, though the stern expression remained.
“Yes. But just now when I finished with my shower, my vision went all weird again, and I heard one of those things whisper my name, Gran. They were creeping around my room and looking at all of my shit. What the fuck are they? Do you know?” I asked, my eyes pleading with her to say yes. Gran reached out and took my hand in her own, searching my face before she released a deep sigh and averted her gaze to the wall. Acceptance and sadness flickered in her expression, and I squeezed her hand in support.
“They’re astral projections, child. They cannot harm you while they’re in that form, thank the gods. It would appear to me that they’re on a fact finding mission for their master, this ‘king’ they spoke about,” Gran informed me, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. That had always been one of her tells. Ever since I was a little girl, she’d fiddle with her clothes when she had something big and uncomfortable to talk to me about.
“But what are they really? If they’re projections, then they must have a physical body, right? Where the hell is their physical body?”Am I going to be freaking abducted?
“They’re demons, Saige.” Gran exhaled, leaning back into her seat.
“Demons. Like, from Hell? I didn’t even think Hell was a real thing.”
“Not Hell. They’re from Besmet, the demon realm,” Gran stated, matter of factly.
“Gran, how much did you drink last night? Have you eaten breakfast?” Putting my hands on my thighs, I went to stand up, but her little hand shot out, signaling for me to stay seated.
“It’s true, child. Demons are real. They’re not talked about in the magical community because they don’t mix well with others. It was only by chance that I learned about them, and I wish I hadn’t. They are supposed to stay in their realm, while we stay in ours.”
My head is spinning.
“Why are they in my freaking bedroom then?” My voice raised to a shrill on the tail end of that question, but shit, I was starting to panic. “And how do you know about them?”
“I’m not sure why they were in your bedroom, child. But I know that we need to put protections in place, and I will get started on those right away.” She stood immediately. “We can tend to the gardens after I get these items prepared. This takes precedence,” she said with a parting worried glance before turning and walking away from me.
“Gran, wait. How do you know about them?” I called out, needing some answers.
Turning back to me, her eyes softened. A split second later, they hardened as she spat out, “Your mother.”
