With my eyes held on him I quietly open the big front door, and the moment the frosty air burns my lungs I almost consider thanking Rime’s overbearing demands of me to wear shoes.
Directly across the dusty street is the white picket fence of Myla’s house. The bedroom, the one on the right-hand side with the small window that I know is Kain’s, is completely dark. I hope he sleeps well. I hope he doesn’t overthink every terrible detail of the day like I do.
My attention drifts toward the weeping willow that’s been Agatha’s sitting spot for days. The long vine like branches sweep back and forth but beneath the spindly branches, the tree is empty. Movement catches my eye just as laughter hums through the night air. At the house just next door, only a few yards away, the house of the man who I know now is Lord Carlin’s second in charge, is Agatha. The older man takes her hand, helping her up the few steps with ease. His silver hair is long and tied back from the gray beard that lines his jaw. A smile is there. Her long fingers wrap around his big biceps for …support.
I arch a brow at her as he leads her inside. It’s well past midnight and my nearest and dearest friend is apparently going to test out her bad hip.
He closes the door softly behind her, his other palm pressing low against her back.
I look away but when the door cracks open again I look at my friend. Her head is peeking out, her body barely seen, and I can hardly see her from here, but I swear the teasing old mage just winked at me. And then the door closes once again.
Lucky bitch.
I shake my head, my arms folding tightly over my chest as a chill of cold wind bites against my hands. Slowly I sink down until I’m seated on the top step, the cold wood making it hard to find warmth in the big coat that’s wrapped around me.
That sensation of guilt and remorse and regret tumbles into me hard. It’s such an abrupt shift of emotions that I gasp against the unwanted feel of it. It doesn’t even feel like it belongs to me. It’s the strangest sensation.
“A snow’s coming.” A melodious voice sways out from the shadows.
A pretty elderly woman stops in front of me. Long silver hair gets picked up in the wind, twirling around her serene face and piercing eyes.
“That’s what I hear.” My eyes narrow on her. I’ve seen her before, but I can’t decide where. There are so many people here it’s hard to say really.
“I’m Ellise.” Her slender hand reaches out to me from beneath her long blue cloak.
“Arlow.” I nod, a small smile meeting my lips. My hand slips into her cold palm, and the moment we touch I know.
“You’re a mage.”
The sweet smile against her lips makes her look younger despite the lines that crease her cheeks and around her eyes.
“I heard I’m not the only one. It seems there’s an abundance of goddess blessed women in Valencia Village nowadays.” Her gaze shifts to the house just next door, and I suddenly wish Aggie was here with my new friend instead of getting railed by the muscular older gentleman.
I doubt she’d feel the same way.
“How long have you been here?”
I wish I would have known. Other than Agatha and my mother, I’ve never met another mage in my entire life. No one says it—my mother never did and Agatha ignores the fact very well—but we’re becoming extinct.
King Barren did that. He successfully maimed and scarred my race of people. Only a jagged line of us are left on this earth.
“I like my privacy. I’m just passing through actually. I felt your power. You’re a powerful woman, Arlow Winters. You’ll do great things one day.”
The chill in the air seems colder now, harder to clench my jaw against the chattering of my teeth.
“Thank you. I think I needed to hear that.” It’s odd how much I needed to hear that from a stranger. I don’t know why. Why is it so important to hear that I’m going to turn out all right in life?
I guess because there was a time when I knew that I wouldn’t. That all the running and all the lies would crush me someday.
That was the past, though. And that’s not my life any more.
“Validation is a monster of a beast. Do not let it devour you. For it can consume you, control you, and ruin you. Don’t seek it out. It isn’t necessary. Not for women like us. I made that mistake more than once in my past. No one will ever see you as you are. And therefore, they’ll never be able to weigh your worth. Only you can do that, Arlow.”
My brows raise high, my arms tightening around myself as my breath fans in a puff of white air in front of my face. It surprises me how much her essence reminds me of my mother.
And yet, not at all.
My mother’s words were always … passive. Quiet. Unencouraging, really.
