Move…move…I imagine myself stepping out of Braeya’s body and into her father’s. I get a weird feeling in my chest, kind of like that falling sensation I get when I’m drifting off to sleep. Everything turns pitch black for a split second, and then I’m there, standing behind Braeya and her father. The shift in perspective throws me, and I’m suddenly dizzy.
Hasan puts his hand on my shoulder. I’m having a hard time standing up in the vision, and my balance is off for real too, even though I’m sitting. I’m losing my grip, and I know I’ll come back to the here and now at any second. I need to look around, I need to find something more.
I turn, feeling like I’m underwater and fighting the current at the same time. It takes a great deal of strength just to move my head. There’s a book on the table beside us, and I glance down at it. My vision is hazy, but I get a clear view of the sketch in the middle of the page.
It’s a jackal, and not just any old one. It’s Anubis.
I start to fall back and Jacques pulls his hands from mine, breaking the connection. Hasan catches me, and Gemma quickly moves candles out of the way so Hasan can scoop me up and bring me to the couch.
“Ace?” he asks softly. “Are you with us?”
“Yeah,” I say, unable to open my eyes. Being ripped away from a vision I’d put so much of my own energy into is like riding the Tilt-A-Whirl one too many times after having a few shots of tequila. “Just give me a minute,” I mumble.
“Did you see it too?” Gil asks Jacques.
“I did,” he replies. “Maybe not as clearly as Ace, but I saw bits and pieces.”
“And you’re going to say you saw just enough to break this fucking curse, right?” Thomas asks, only half joking.
“I saw enough,” Jacques starts. “Enough to know that it’s going to take an equal loss to break the curse.”
