13
You could hear a pin drop in the room. The three of us sit there, not speaking, not moving, not even breathing. This guy isn’t a fraud. He’s the real fucking deal.
“A knight, huh?” I say, putting on a fake smile. “That’s pretty damn cool. What about me?” I turn back to Henry. “Do you have any feelings about my past life? I hope I was something cool.”
“Like a sorceress or something,” Thomas says, raising his eyebrows. I do my best not to elbow him hard in the ribs.
“Yeah, that would be cool.”
Henry looks me up and down and shakes his head. “I don’t get any feelings from you. Which is odd, actually. Usually I can pick up on something.”
“Oh, that is odd. Do you, uh, know why?” I push my hair back over my shoulder.
“No. This isn’t an exact science,” Henry goes on. “So for that, I apologize.”
“There’s no need to apologize,” I assure him. “I didn’t expect to come here and talk to The Ghost Whisperer or something.”
Henry chuckles. “Good. And this is one of the reasons I don’t meet with many people. They tend to have high expectations and are disappointed. Mike vouched for you, though, so let’s get back on track.”
Thank God. We need to stop digging into Thomas’s “past life” before this guy sees something he shouldn’t. Though even if he did, what would he do? It’s not like he can turn us into the paranormal authorities.
“Is there a chance I really saw my mother?” I ask.
“As opposed to…?”
“A demon pretending to be her.”
Henry’s face turns sullen. “Yes, there is a chance. But there’s also a chance something was posing as her. I find it interesting you said you forgot things from that night and talking with your mother made you remember them. Do you mind sharing what she said?”
Only Jacques knows that I lost my memories from that night, and he thinks they were taken on purpose. “I couldn’t remember anything, and I don’t mean now looking back nearly twenty years. When the police came minutes later and questioned me, I couldn’t remember what happened before I went to bed. Everything was blank. But she knew details no one else would…unless they were there.”
I swallow hard, the realization hitting me. What if what killed her was there, watching, taking note of everything we did? And that’s who showed up after I called for my mother to come from the spirit world?
Not telling this guy the whole truth is making things hard to explain. I’m certain my parents weren’t killed by humans. And if it was humans, they had powers greater than my own.
Henry scoots to the edge of his chair and extends his hands. “Let me try something.”
I move away from Thomas, missing his warmth and security right away, and hold out my hands. Henry’s hands are cold and clammy, and I can feel him tremble just a little. Seeing into Thomas’s past must have freaked him out. The few times I’ve had visions it took me a while to recover as well.
“Think about your mom,” he tells me. “Not about the ghost you saw, but your real memories of your mother.”
“Okay.” I imagine baking cookies with my mom, finding it harder and harder to see myself there next to her. My mind jumps to the woman I spoke to in my library. The voice I heard was hers and is easier to remember.
“I’m picking up on panic,” he says. “A dark room…a basement maybe?” He lets out a deep sigh and pulls his hands from mine. “I think I’m still picking up on your friend’s past life. I’m seeing people in gowns holding a lantern. I think they’re praying.”
“That’s definitely not my mom.”
Henry’s brow furrows. “Whoever it is really wants you. She knows you.”
I flick my eyes to Thomas. A woman in a basement surrounded by people praying…Braeya maybe? I shift my weight and my purse falls off the couch and onto the floor. Thomas and Henry reach for it at the same time, and their hands touch. Henry jerks away, eyes wide.
“I…I think that’s all for tonight,” he says, breath quickening. He stands and jerks away from Thomas. Shit. He saw something when he touched his hand.
“Right.” I stand and take my purse from Thomas. “Thanks again. For everything.”
Henry nods and motions to the door. Thomas takes the lead and opens the front door. Henry practically shoves us out, and slams the door as soon as we’re on the porch.
“I think we officially freaked him the fuck out,” I mumble, pulling my keys from my purse. “And I think he freaked us out just a bit.”
