I turned the page delicately. I know you’re in a tough place now, but there isn’t anything to lessen the burden you must bear. I followed the roads of time and saw that if I told you what to do or gave you any hints in your life, it wouldn’t end well. You needed to be raised away from the coven. It’s why I had your mother keep you in California.
I paused. Whatever she’d seen, my life would’ve been a lot easier if Grams could’ve at least taught me about the coven. I wanted to shake her.
I wish I could tell you what’s going to pass, but if I do, everything will be destroyed. So, I’ll tell you that even at your darkest hour, when you’re stripped bare, I will be with you. Don’t ever lose faith.
The thing that will set you free is just above your head. Don’t be afraid to break through.
When the time comes, and you’ll know when it’s here, listen to your mate, trust in the one you doubt, and push the one who denies it.
I wish I could say more, but I can’t. My hands are tied. What I’m placing on you is a tremendous burden, and it breaks my heart to know that I can do nothing to stop what will soon happen.
Do your best to learn the coven’s ways and accept the ability you’ve always feared. Follow your gut. It won’t lie to you.
Know that there are hard times ahead, but stay strong. The worst days only make the best ones that much sweeter. This too shall pass. And happy days will be ahead.
I flipped the pages but the rest of it was blank. That was it. Something horrible was going to happen to me and all I got to help were a few extremely vague words of wisdom? Was that it?
How was this supposed to help me?
“What does it say?” Claudia said.
I shook my head. “It’s from Grams. She left me a note.”
“Can I read it?”
I chewed my lip for a second. “If I say no, will you be upset?”
“A little.”
I could handle a little. “No. It’s really personal.”
She nodded. “Okay.” She turned around and started looking in the closet again.
Maybe I should’ve just shown her, but I really didn’t want to. It felt really private, and I hoarded my privacy as much as possible these days.
Daniel cleared his throat. “So, what now?”
The only thing from Grams’ message I could really do was work on learning the coven’s ways. “So what do normal people start learning first when they join the coven?”
“Depends on their abilities. We start from there and then grow out,” Claudia said.
“So why haven’t we been working with my visions?”
“Because that’s not what my mother wanted,” Daniel said.
“So basically we should’ve been working on my sight the whole time, but your mother doesn’t want me doing that.” Luciana never failed to piss me off. I hadn’t even seen her and I wanted to rip her throat out.
He nodded once.
“Good to know.”
“It’s not that I—”
“I get it. Your mom’s the one in charge. No worries.” But it was good to know that he had a particular agenda. Or, more accurately, his mother did, and he was working for her.
We shared an awkward moment where we just stared at each other.
He cleared his throat. “The thing is,” he said slowly, “only someone with sight can teach you about it.”
“Then why isn’t your mother teaching me?”
“I don’t know.”
That meant that she really didn’t want me to rule the coven. I was here for some other reason. But what was she up to?
“All I can do is tell you what I know and hope it makes sense to you,” Daniel said.
“Right. Well, good thing I’m a really fast learner.”
“I’m not seeing anything,” Claudia popped out from the closet. “I’m sorry.”
“That’s okay. It would’ve been too easy to find a book to explain everything to me. I’ll just wing it like always.”
She smiled, and I hoped maybe she was over me not showing her what Grams had written. Claudia started to leave, but stopped. “I forgot to tell you that I have a couple of people coming over for dinner tonight. I thought it might be fun for you to get to know some more of us. I hope that’s all right.”
“Sure.” I wasn’t feeling like meeting a bunch of people, but Tia Rosa had said I needed to, so I’d do my best.
Plus, I was still holding out hope for someone to show up and be the answer to my prayers—a leader for the coven.