Page 5 of The Player
I stared back at her blankly, waiting for her to elaborate.
She winced and then added, “There are dark forces around you. Very dark. A threat.” She paused, then added, “I don’t mean to scare you, Bryony, but you need to be really careful. Someone is watching you. Someone wicked.”
I held my tongue, fighting the urge to tell her that wicked people haunting my life wasn’t new for me. I knew bad people. I knew a lot of them. Growing up in Merivale, you got to know who the good and bad people were. I’d dated a few of them too, but I decided not to share that part.
“You can’t trust them. You need to stay away,” she urged, and I leaned forward again, patting her hand to try and soothe her as best I could.
“I’ll be fine,” I told her, but she just shook her head.
“I’ve never seen anything as dark as this.”
“I did tell you to steer clear of my love life,” I joked.
But Paula’s face screwed up, she was lost in another world, and from the look of it, it wasn’t a walk in the fucking park for her.
“I’m not joking, Bryony,” she chastised. “This is serious.”
“I know. I am being serious, Paula.” Guilt washed over me at the thought of upsetting her or coming across as fickle.
I took a moment to watch as she let the information filter through. My sister, Shelley, had recently gotten engaged to Colton King, one of the soldiers of Brinton Manor, and they weren’t exactly angels. I wondered if that was who she meant to stay away from, because bad news followed them around and we had been spending a lot of time with them since Shelley had joined their inner circle.
“I’m trying to work out if it’s male or female,” Paula went on. “If it’s one person or more, and I can’t tell.” The furrowed lines on her forehead deepened as she tried hard to concentrate. “Whatever it is, it’s angry. Hurt, like a wounded animal, but it doesn’t care who it lashes out at.”
She made it sound like I was being hunted by a damn werewolf. Good job I wasn’t averse to a bit of hunting myself.
“Thatreallysounds like one of my exes,” I retorted. “Animal? Lashing out? Whatever it is, I think I can handle it.”
She tutted, ignoring my interruptions and my refusal to take her warnings as seriously as she wanted me to. Thing was, I was listening to her, but I didn’t want her worrying for me. That’s why I was giving her the response that I was.
“I don’t know why, Bryony, but they have you in their sights.” She lifted her head to give me a pointed stare. The intensity in her eyes made me clamp my mouth shut, and I swallowed to try and wet my scratchy throat. She must’ve noticed and taken it as a sign of fear, because she added, “I don’t think you’ve done anything wrong. In fact, I’m almost certain you’re the innocent one here. I’m sensing this is a caught-in-the-crossfire kind of scenario. Something has happened and you’re taking the fall for it. Or at least, they want you to.”
“I’ll bear that in mind, but please, try not to worry. I’m sure it’ll all be fine,” I replied, trying to put her mind at ease.
It didn’t work.
“You need to have your wits about you,” Paula continued with grave concern. “Don’t fall for their trap. Don’t trust them.”
I wasn’t a fool, and I didn’t trust easily.
“You know me, Paula,” I stated over-confidently. “I always have my wits about me. Wits, and a switchblade if needed.”
She nodded, but she clearly hadn’t heard what I’d said. If she had, she’d scold me for joking about carrying a knife.
It wasn’t a joke, though.
I always carried a weapon.
Paula stayed quiet, busy listening to her spirit guides, and I sat there contemplating what she’d told me so far. But there was one thing I knew for certain,ifsomeone was out there watching me, then I’d say good fucking luck to them. I wouldn’t go down without a fight. If someone was out to get me, they’d have a battle on their hands. Yes, I was independent. And yes, sometimes in the past I’d trusted the wrong people. But I always stood up for myself. I would never back down or let myself be walked over.
Paula continued to warn me, but I wasn’t worried, and I told her as much. I was a firm believer in fate, and I also believed that we could navigate and change our future. Nothing was linear. At least, that’s what I thought. Life was a series of paths. I just had to make sure I chose the right one.
“I know sometimes I tell you things you don’t want to hear,” Paula explained with a weary sigh. “But you can’t let it get to you. Be mindful, but don’t be scared. Please.”
I sat back in my chair, my hands rested flat on the table as I huffed out a smile to try and reassure her. “I’m not scared, Paula. I’m a Masters. We don’t do scared. Remember?”
Paula’s head dipped as she grinned and nodded her approval. Then she peered back up at me.
“I’mscared,” she stated. “I don’t want anything to happen to you. You’re family to me, Bryony. I want to protect you. I love you.”
