Wolves' Bane (The Order of the Wolf, #3)(2)

Fiona’s hand shot out, capturing my wrist and pulling me forward so that I almost fell across the table. “No!” Her intense gaze bore into mine. “You must stay. I must do your reading.”

Startled, I tried to pull my hand back, a thick lump of fear clogging my throat, preventing me from crying out to my friend. Fiona’s grip was strong. “Please…let me go!” I pleaded.

Her eyes lost their hard glare, and she relaxed her hold on my wrist as she gently began to stroke the lines etched in my palm.

“No, my dear. Don’t be frightened. I didn’t mean to startle you. Please stay. I have much to tell you. I will make it worth your time and”—she motioned to the small jar filled with cash on the side of the table—“your money.”

“You have information for me?” Knowing I was being baited but unable to battle the thrall, I swallowed slowly and nodded. “How much?”

Fiona’s smile widened. “Only twenty dollars, my dear.”

I frowned. “But your sign said—” The grip on my wrist tightened, and Fiona’s sharp nails scraped on my palm. “Ouch, okay, okay. Twenty, fine.” With my free hand, I dug into my pocket and pulled out a crumpled twenty, then shoved it into the jar with a frustrated sigh. It’s not like I hadn’t paid hundreds of dollars already on psychic readings over the years. What’s twenty dollars more?

“Ahhh, okay.” Fiona’s grip loosened once again as she slid her eyes closed and slowly began to trace circles with the pads of her fingers over my upturned palm.

This is different. Different but also nice—tickling me, sending tendrils of pleasure up my arm almost to my neck, disarming me and somehow easing the fear and frustration.

After a few more swirls of Fiona’s fingers, I closed my eyes too, reveling in the strange intimacy of a psychic caressing my flesh. The sensation slowly began to trail up my forearm, sending both goose bumps and tingles all the way to my scalp. A soothing kind of dizziness washed over me.

I wanted to open my eyes, to see what the psychic was doing, but found that desire fleeting. My mind became unfocused, as if I was drifting into a darkened room, my body sliding onto a soft, down-filled mattress, my limbs heavy and my eyes so firmly shut I didn’t think it would be possible to open them. So why try?

“You have been living in a world of sadness.” Fiona’s voice echoed in my mind, so light it was almost a whisper as her fingers continued to dance across my skin. “You have been living without really living. You lost something, something important.”

I licked my lips, my mouth suddenly parched. “Yes,” I croaked. Sorrow clenched my heart, reminding me why I hadn’t ventured out to be with friends for so long.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. He was supposed to love me. I gave him all of myself, and he threw it away.

As if reading my thoughts, Fiona sighed deeply. “Yes, a common tale of sadness, I’m afraid. Young girls fall into this trap of heartbreak. I see it often enough.” The swirl of her fingers laced back down my arm, centering once again on my palm. “But there’s more to it than that.” She sighed again. “Do not be distressed by your past failures at love—there is only one man for you and he is coming. Oh, yes, he’s coming to claim you.”

A shot of excitement licked down my spine—this was what I craved, this was the kind of portent I so desperately wanted.

“What does he look like? How will I know he’s the one for me?”

“There will be a battle for your affection—two men who will want you more than anything. Your destinies are entwined.”

“Two men!” I gasped.

“Yes, both capable of much passion—both demanding different things from you. You must choose which is the right one for you, the one who will be the love of your life.”

“How will I know?” I frowned, a weight descending over me. What if I make the wrong choice?

When several heartbeats passed without Fiona uttering a sound, the weight turned into a strong sense of foreboding. I snapped my eyes open to see Fiona’s beautiful face pulled into a tight grimace, her eyes closed and her brow furrowed with concentration. With one hand, she held my wrist tightly. With the other, she continued her circles, using her nails to scratch along my palm.

“Ouch, that’s starting to hurt.” I tried once again to pull my hand away, but Fiona’s grip was like steel. “Fiona, let go!”

But she seemed to be caught up in some kind of trance, her body swaying, her lips moving in silent speech. My eyes grew wide and my stomach lurched. The room got darker, the lanterns grew dimmer. What the hell is going on? The chill was back, gripping me fiercely as I tugged on my arm, increasingly frantic for escape.

And then Fiona gasped, her skin flushed as she slowly opened her eyes. Her look was haunted.

I instantly ceased my struggling to stare at her.

“The hunter seeks you. Your life is in danger.” Her voice was gruff, aged, her eyes vacant as if she was lost in her own world, not really seeing me, yet staring right at me.

Her words sounded like a death sentence. I felt the blood drain from my face as I raised my free hand to cover my mouth. Dread washed over me. “What?”

“You are being hunted. Beware of the beast. He comes for you.”

Tears welled in Fiona’s eyes and rolled down her cheeks. She did nothing to stop them as she uttered her final foretelling of doom.