“Dial my…” Is he referring to the red haze? My breath catches in my throat. “You can feel that? But?—”
“I told you, I’m drawn to power, and you’re leaking it all over the place.” He shudders, brushing at his arms again. “Now that I’m sitting next to you, I’m not surprised I crashed my car into yours. You’re like a…a freaking magnet for someone like me. Someone really needs to teach you how to control yourself.”
“Oh, now the accident was my fault?” My voice rises, and as it does, the red haze deepens. The door cracks open, luring me in. “And who do you think you are, telling me I need tocontrol myself?Donovan was right. You’re a?—”
I’ve got a whole litany of expletives on the tip of my tongue, ready to hurl them at him like steel-tipped arrows. But with every word I speak, I can feel the world around me retreating as the door to that red-tinged room opens wider. Soon, whatever lies within it will prove impossible to resist.Not now, not now, not now,I chant to myself. But it does no good.
Through the fog, I feel Cooper’s hands close around mine, gripping hard. His fingers are warm and callused as they twine with my own. “Focus, Rune,” he urges. “Deep breaths, all right? Breathe with me, now. Inhale to the count of four, hold to the count of four, then out.”
I want to tell him that if deep breathing exercises could’ve made my premonitions go away, I would’ve figured that ages ago without his help, thank you very much. But the truth is, the grip of his hands on mine is grounding, an anchor. I find myself following his instructions, clinging to him as he says, his voice low, hypnotic, “Focus on the world, on what’s around you. On my touch and my voice. That’s it, Rune. You can do this.”
As I breathe with him, matching my slow inhales and exhales to his, the red haze retreats, and the pull of the room beyond the door lessens. Until at last the door shuts completely, and when I blink, I find myself on the bench, still holding Cooper’s hands.
“There,” he says, looking satisfied as he leans back. “That’s better.”
I snatch my hands from his. “How did you do that?”
“You don’t have to sound so pissed off. I did us both a favor.” He wipes his palms on his uniform pants, like I’ve got psychic cooties. “I told you I could sense power. Well, I can also direct it, sometimes. And that’s what I did, with you.”
I have so many questions. They tumble out of my mouth, one on the heels of the next, too quick to keep track of. “What exactly is a witch? Are they all like you? Can they all do what you do?” Before he can answer, my mind leaps ahead, spewing more queries. “You said I’m a seer. Do you know more people like me, who can do what I do? Do you”—I suck in air, then go for it. “Do you know who my parents are—were?”
Cooper’s expression shifts, guardedness warring with sympathy in his eyes. “That’s a lot of questions. What do you want me to answer first?”
“My parents,” I say, biting my lower lip. “Please.”
He stands, pacing the boards of the gazebo. “I’m sorry, Rune. I don’t know anything about you or where you came from. I didn’t know you existed until the moment you tackled me in the street. Quite an introduction, by the way.”
Disappointment coils deep in my stomach. “But you said you knew I was a seer.”
“Based on what I overheard you saying to Donovan, and the power I can feel rolling off you. Each type of psychic gift has a…flavor, I guess you’d say.” He licks his lips, an unconscious gesture. “You taste like a seer. I don’t know how to explain it any better than that.”
“Oh.” My voice is small, and he comes to a stop in front of me, gazing down.
“Were you adopted?”
“Something like that.” I’m not in the mood to get into my screwed-up upbringing. Whoever Cooper might be, I don’t owehim that. Except— “You weren’t, by chance, responsible for the death of a certain man in prison two nights ago?”
Cooper’s brows lower. “What are you talking about?”
“There was a man,” I say, trying to figure out how to phrase this without giving too much of my personal history away. “He…hurt me when I was younger. Me, and some others. He went to prison for it. He was supposed to get out soon, but instead he…he died. I just thought maybe—since you’re kind of like me—that you knew…” My voice trails off. “Never mind. It’s stupid. Forget I said anything.”
His eyes darken, his jaw tightens in a manner that’s reminiscent of his brother’s, and suddenly I’m looking at Cop Cooper. “It’s not stupid, Rune. I don’t know anything about what you’re telling me. But I do know one thing: I’m drawn to power, and anyone who would hurt a little girl is nothing but a weakling. So it’s no wonder I have no idea who he is.”
Looming above me, his shoulders blocking out the sun and his eyes filled with banked rage, Cooper looks…dangerous. But I’m not afraid of him. I may not be able to sense power, but I can tell that right now, he’s no threat to me. If the monster were still alive, though—well, let’s just say it looks like Cooper would be all too happy to kill him all over again.
Maybe that should frighten me, but it doesn’t. It makes me like him more. Granted, that’s not hard, given how low my opinion of him was before, but it’s something.
He shakes himself all over, like a bird trying to settle its feathers. When he speaks again, the rough edge is gone from his voice. “I wasn’t sent here for you, specifically, Rune. I’m here because of the spike in the ley lines’ energy, like I told you. But now that I can feel how powerful you are, I’m wondering if that spike has something to do with you.”
“That makes no sense. I’ve lived in Sapphire Springs all my life,” I protest. “Assuming there really are…ley lines…beneaththe town, where even are they? And why would you suddenly feel that spike now? I’ve been here all along. If it has something to do with me, wouldn’t you have felt it years ago?”
“You ask a lot of questions,” Cooper says, sounding as judgmental as Simon Cowell.
“Yeah, well, can you blame me? You’re the first person I’ve met who believes me about my premonitions. Which—whydoyou believe me, by the way?”
“Why doesn’t anyone else?” he counters.
I throw my hands up, frustrated beyond belief. “You said it yourself! I’m cursed.”
