Page 60 of Cursed Sight
A gasp from James caused Ethan to pause, and he found a beautiful woman before him.
“Mom?” Junior asked as the form became clearer.
“I’m proud of you all!” she stated, and his stomach flipped and flopped.
Ethan had been far too young to retain memories of her image before she passed.
“I want to bring someone forth who will help you. Heed her guidance, and all will be well. I love you!” Their mother’s figure became hazy as another spirit came forth.
“I know you,” Ethan whispered as he tried to recall why he recognized the older woman.
Her knowing smirk disappeared as quickly as it had come. “We warned you multiple times of the danger that lurked.”
“I know—” Ethan dropped to his knees and grabbed his head. Every warning they had been given slammed into him like a movie reel, starting with the woman he had channeled the night he accepted his position as oracle.
He shook his head. “I stopped the tea poisoning,” he whimpered.
She laughed. “And yet she was still poisoned.”
“Hey! He tried!” Brandy snapped from her position.
A gust of wind blew from around him to his sister and trapped her into a mini tornado. “He didn’t try hard enough! You don’t have the privilege of time. There is a deeper aspect to your powers. She is your priestess and your soulmate. Will you let her die?”
Everyone hissed when a bright light filled the room. Once they could see again, Brandy stood defiantly, her hair a mess from the funnel she had been trapped in.
“Shit!” Ethan snapped. “That didn’t help at all!”
“No!” Ryan shouted. “Stay at your spots. Ethan, you have everything you need to find her. The ancestor is right. Will you trust your gift, or will you let Serena die?”
Ethan recalled Serena’s teachings and sat in the middle of their circle. Centering himself, he reached out again and sensed Serena. She was not out like before, but something else was not right either. “Trust myself,” he muttered and called on his spirit.
If Serena was his other half, they were eternally linked. Ethan focused on her body. The air on her skin was stagnant, the room smelled musty, and the floor hard and perfectly flat under her side. He willed her lids to open and exhaled with relief when they did. His head swam as he projected himself fully into her body. Her spirit was warm and stirred as it accepted him.
It took him a few tries, but he got her eyes to focus on the room around him. A dark figure neared, and when it spoke, its words garbled. After digging further into his power, Ethan froze when he made out the form.
“You’re supposed to be dead.” Serena’s voice was thick and distorted when Ethan used it.
“You’re not as powerful or as smart as you think,” Volark said, his voice a deep timbre.
Serena began to stir, pushing Ethan’s spirit out.
“Why would you, Ethan?”she asked weakly.
Her question cut off the last bit of the hold he had. He found himself back at Max’s, surrounded by the group’s confused and anxious expressions.
“Where’d you go?” Ryan asked.
“Go? He was here the whole time, napping while you forced us to stay put,” Carter said.
Ethan ignored his brother, knowing Carter and Edward were struggling to accept this part of their life. “I channeled her.”
“Awesome!” Brandy said.
Ryan cocked his head. “And did you learn anything?”
“I don’t know. It doesn’t make sense.”
“Tell us,” Ryan demanded.
