Soothsayer: Magic Is All Around Us (Soothsayer Series Book 1) (9 page)

The words, magic was real, made the back of my brain tickle. I had never believed in Magic, but how else could I explain how Robert healed me.

Arthur grew into his Magic and became a fierce warrior under Merlin’s guidance. Some say, their Magic was linked and they moved as if they were an extension of one another.

Scrolling a little further, I continued reading.

Once Merlin deemed Arthur fit to rule, they returned to his home town and he pulled the sword from the stone, becoming King and ruling over all of Britain until the day he died.

I sat back in my chair as I came to the bottom of the web page. This wasn’t exactly what I had been looking for, but I had to admit, something about it felt familiar.

A rustling noise outside made me sit up and look around the living room. My heart raced as I watched for movement. I heard another noise that sounded like someone was trying to unlock the front door. What if it was him and he was back to finish the job? I went to grab my cell off the desk and realized I must have left it on the night stand.
Damn!
I jumped out of my chair, heart pounding and mind racing, and made my way as quietly as possible to the hall closet. Opened the closet door, I grabbed the baseball bat I kept as a crude alarm system.

I held my breath as I edged toward the front door. My hands were clammy as I gripped the bat, ready to strike. I waited for another sound but heard nothing. My knees locked in place as I stood frozen in my entryway, trying to listen for anything that might sound out of place. After a minute or two, I built up enough courage to take a quick look through the peephole. There was no one there. I kept one hand on the bat as I slowly unlocked the door and opened it. I peeked my head out the door - both hands back on the bat, ready to swing.

Everything seemed perfectly normal, the ocean breeze rustled the trees and a few crickets chirped from some dark corner.

“Violet, what are you doing?” Harriet asked coming out of the shadows.

My heart leapt into my throat and I jumped backwards at the sound of her voice. Harriet came into the light from my right side, looking at me as if I was crazy.

“Shit… I thought you were…” I sighed and tried to collect myself. “I thought I heard someone trying to… wait, what are you doing out this late?” I asked, confused. It wasn’t like Harriet to lurk around in the dark.

“Couldn’t sleep.” She shrugged. “Thought I'd go for a walk.” She smiled and looked up the full length of me to the Louisville Slugger I still held above my head.

“You didn’t see anything did you? Anything that looked out of place?” I asked, looking around her into the darkness, still jittery and my fingers white on the bat.

“No, not at all.” Her voice was light but I noticed she kept her distance from me.

“I could’ve sworn I heard someone,” I said under my breath. I relaxed ever so slightly and lowered the bat a few inches.

“It was probably just one of the neighbor’s cats. Why don’t you go back inside and get some sleep? It’s late.”

“You're probably right.” I lowered the bat to the ground and self-consciously rubbed the tiny scar on my stomach. “Night, Harriet.” I turned to go back into the house.

“Goodnight, dear.”

As I walked across the entryway, a cool breeze ruffled my hair. My feet froze and I looked in the direction the breeze had come from. The living room looked empty so I edged forward with my bat once more ready to swing. The palms of my hands were sweaty and my stomach felt like it had bottomed out. Something was definitely off but nothing looked out of place.

An ocean-scented breeze ruffled the drapes over my patio window, the cool air freezing me in place. I couldn’t remember opening the window but it was possible I just forgot to close it earlier. I moved cautiously toward the opening. With one hand still gripping the bat, I closed and locked it. I relaxed some, but I still had the feeling something wasn’t right.

“Pull yourself together, Violet,” I told myself.

Looking over at my computer, the King Arthur webpage was still up and I immediately felt ridiculous. Glad that no one was around to make fun of me, I turned the computer off and threw the empty pizza box away.

I’d had enough crazy for one night and my full stomach was sending me straight into a food coma. Bat cradled in my arm, I went to bed and fell asleep thinking about Arthur and his destiny to rule Britain.

The next few weeks went by without incident. I did a little more research on King Arthur but came up empty handed. If some sort of Magic was behind Robert healing me, the only way to confirm it would be to confront Robert, who had mysterious vanished.

My cuts and bruises slowly started to heal so, on the outside I looked more like myself every day. But on the inside, I had been forever altered. Nothing felt the same anymore. I didn’t know how I was supposed to slip back into my life as if the attack and Robert had never happened.

Becky, on the other hand, thought she had the answer to all my problems: a double date. She told the guys to meet us at the Mexican restaurant,
Cantina
, at eight. True to form, Becky had made us about ten minutes late. She spent so much time fussing over what I was going to wear that she barely had any time to get herself ready. As we walked up to the restaurant, Becky pointed out the guys and informed me the tall brunette was my date. We stepped onto the curb and Becky gave her date a quick kiss before turning to introduce me.

“Violet, this is Daniel,” she said, looking at her date and patting him on the chest. It reminded me of a new owner scratching her freshly adopted mutt’s belly.

“Nice to meet you,” I said, extending my hand.

“You too. Beck never shuts up about you,” Daniel said with a laugh as he shook my hand.

“And this is Ian. Ian, Violet. Violet, Ian,” Becky said, waving her hand between us with a big smile.

“It’s very nice to meet you,” I extended my hand to Ian.

His cool blue eyes crawled over me and the corners of his mouth turned upwards.

“The pleasure’s all mine,” Ian cooed. He took my hand in his and raised it to his lips.

I smiled and politely removed my hand from his grasp.
This is going to be a long night
, I thought. I’d had my share of sweet-talking, suave types of guys and learned the hard way to stay far away from them.

I had to give it to Becky, though. She told me he’d be good looking and he was. In a very obvious way but handsome nonetheless. His dark jeans and white button-up clung to him in all the right places, accentuating his fit physique. It was a warm summer evening so he’d rolled up the sleeves of his shirt just below the elbow, leaving the top few buttons undone to show off the hollow of his neck. He was tan, but the faded orange color of his skin betrayed it as a fake tan.

“Shall we?” Ian asked, holding out his arm for me to take.

I took a deep breath, grabbed his arm and we headed into the restaurant.

The
Cantina
was new in town and fairly busy. Daniel had called ahead for a table so we didn’t have to wait long before being seated. The lights were kept low to help set the mood and candles in tinted glass vases glowed in the center of each table. Mariachi music played through the audio system, bringing the restaurant to life. Beautiful portraits of Mexican dancers and landscapes decorated the walls. Ian pulled my chair out for me to sit down and then sat next to Daniel across from me.

“So, Violet. I hear you’re a photographer,” Ian said, leaning across the table with his chin barely a safe distance from the candle.

“Yes, I am,” I replied, wondering if the evening would be improved if Ian accidentally set his shirt on fire.

“What kind of pictures do you take?” He sounded genuinely interested.

“Pretty much anything.”

Becky stepped on my foot under the table and I had to bite my lip to keep myself from yelling out.

“What I mean is, I’ll take any job to help pay the bills,” I added, biting my lip to ignore my throbbing foot. “Portrait’s, school photos, weddings.” The word “weddings” brought on a hundred flashes of the night I was attacked. Robert’s intensity, Brett dressed in red, my blood-soaked clothes. I had to suppress a shudder as I remembered the feel of the blade sliding into my stomach.

“I see,” Ian said, bringing me back to the present, “but what kind of pictures do you actually enjoy taking?”

“Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy the odd jobs from time to time. It’s just, there’s something about a bare landscape, a part of the world untouched by human hands that I like to capture.”

“You should go by her studio and see some of her work,” Becky suggested, tearing her attention from Daniel for a brief moment.

I glared at her. How could she be doing this to me? She knew I didn’t even want to be here and now she was making additional plans for us.

“Your studio?” Ian asked, looking back at me.

“Yeah, I own my own studio,” I replied.

“Wow, that’s really great. I’d love to come by sometime and take a look.”

“Yeah, sounds good.” I kept my voice even, trying to be nice.

Before I could change the subject and ask what he did for a living our waiter came over to get our drink orders and drop off the complimentary chips and salsa. Both Ian and Daniel got beer and Becky and I ordered margaritas, blended for me, on the rocks for her. Plus an extra spike of tequila. I needed a strong drink and now.

“So, what is it you do for a living?” I asked while looking over the menu.

“I’m in film, mostly editing,” he said, shrugging nonchalantly.

“Film, huh? So you’re a Hollywood big shot?”

He laughed. “Not really a big shot, not yet at least. I’m still working my way up the ladder.”

“He’s being modest. This guy calls all the shots,” Daniel said, laughing and pointing his thumb in Ian’s direction.

Ian looked up at me from under his lashes, obviously a little embarrassed by his friend. He had a childlike innocence about him I hadn’t noticed before. Maybe my first impression of him wasn’t quite accurate.

“Have you worked on anything I might have heard of?” I asked, a little more interested in the conversation now.

“I mostly do indie films, but I’ve assisted on a few mainstream movies. I don’t really like to talk about it too much. In LA it’s all about what you’ve done and who you know. That’s all anyone ever talks about so I don’t really like to talk about work when I’m outside of the industry bubble.”

“Oh, well I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry. I was just curious.” My cheeks flushed and I shifted uncomfortably in my chair.

“It’s nothing to be sorry for. Besides, I want to hear more about you.” He put his hand on top of mine and looked up at me.

Pulling my hand from underneath Ian’s, I reached up to grab my margarita before it could be placed down on the table and took a much needed sip. Our orders were taken and before Ian could ask me anything else about myself I turned my attention to Daniel.

“So, Daniel what do you do for a living?” I asked.

“I have an auto body shop. Mostly I restore older cars,” he answered, scooping up some salsa and shoving the chip in his mouth.

“It’s actually a nice shop,” Becky clarified as she looked at Daniel with an admiring gaze. She really seemed to be taken with this guy. I was surprised; maybe she did have real feelings for him.

“You mean to tell me the shop is actually in good shape?” Ian asked, laughing. “The last time I was there it looked like a bomb went off.”

“Screw you, I was just getting settled in,” Daniel laughed, nudging his shoulder against Ian’s.

“So Ian, how long are you in town for? Maybe Violet can show you around while you’re here?” Becky suggested, interrupting the guys’ banter.

I almost choked on my margarita. I had to stifle a cough into my napkin and take a sip of water to wash down the tequila burning my throat.

“I’m just here for the long weekend but I’d love to see the sights. It’s been awhile since I was last in Pismo,” Ian said and tossed me a look of equal parts concern and confusion.

I kicked Becky under the table but kept a smile on my face.

“Yeah, that sounds great,” I lied. “I’ll just have to make sure I don’t have anything going on at the studio.”

“She doesn’t. She’s free all weekend,” Becky said, glancing at me out of the corner of her eye. Man was she pushing it.

I just smiled and took a cautious sip of my drink. Ian actually looked a little uncomfortable at the obvious tension between Becky and me. He seemed like a pretty decent guy and in spite of myself I felt bad for being so rude, or maybe that was just the liquor talking.

“I’d be happy to show you around,” I said as reassuringly as possible.

It seemed to work. He smiled and his eyes brightened. I was definitely going to have to give Becky a piece of my mind for doing this to me but there was nothing I could do about it at the moment.

The food arrived quickly despite the fact that the restaurant was packed tighter than a hipster in skinny jeans. Steak fajitas and warm flour tortillas were placed down in front of me. The
sizzling
of the meat on the cast iron pan and the smell of seasoned peppers had my mouth watering instantly. We all talked about work and Ian asked me about my other interests. It turned out that we had a little more in common than I would have thought. He asked about my family and I saw Becky tense out of the corner of my eye. Family was supposed to be a neutral topic, but when you didn’t have any family to talk about, it could get a little awkward.

When we finished the meal, Ian picked up the check, noting he was honoring our hospitality and not just paying because he was obligated to. We all stood up once Ian got his card back. Becky and I headed to the restroom and told the guys to meet us outside.

“So what’d ya think?” Becky asked the second we were out of earshot.

“He’s… nice,” I said, biting my lip and staring at my reflection in the mirror. Ian did seem like a nice guy but there was just something missing.

“Just nice?”

“I don’t know, there’s just something off about him.”

“Oh no you don’t, you’re not going to nit-pick this guy to death until you find something wrong with him.” She turned away from the mirror to look at me. “He’s nice, smart, successful, and sexy as hell. What more are you looking for?”

“Warmth,” I said under my breath.

“What the hell does that mean? Look Violet, he seems to be interested so just give it a shot. If it doesn’t work out then he’ll be gone in a few days.”

“Maybe you’re right,” I said, staring at the sink. She did have a point. Just because he didn’t light me up like Robert did didn’t mean I should totally blow him off. And it really wouldn’t hurt to distract myself from thinking about Robert either.

“Of course I’m right. Now get your sexy ass out there and work some magic.” Becky smacked my backside and we both laughed as we walked out of the bathroom.

“Oh and just so you know, I’m leaving with Daniel so you’ll have to get a ride from Ian,” she whispered behind me as we walked outside to meet the guys.

“Thanks for the heads up,” I said under my breath sarcastically.

“You ready to go, babe?” Daniel asked Becky.

“Always,” she said, smiling and bouncing into his arms.

“It was nice meeting you, Violet,” Daniel said.

“Night, guys,” Becky called, her voice thick with implication.

“Night,” I sighed. “So, I guess it’s just you and me then.” I smiled at Ian.

“Come on, I’ll give you a ride home,” he said, holding out his arm for me.

I looped my arm through his and we walked up the street to his car. He paused and pulled out his keys in front of a Smart Car. Looking at the car hesitantly, I worried about its safety as I hopped in reluctantly.

“So, where to?” he asked.

“Umm, just head down the street and make a right at the light.”

He started up the car and the engine was so quiet it sounded like a golf cart.

“Now that we're alone,” he said as he pulled out of the spot.
Oh crap
, I thought. “I have to ask. How does a girl like you manage to stay single?” He grinned in my direction.

“Umm, well for one thing, I’m really focused on my work and making a life for myself,” I answered.

“I know how that is. I’ve been so focused on my own career for the past few years I haven’t had much time for a personal life.” He paused and took a breath like he was going to say something else but then stopped.

“What?” I asked.

“Can I ask you something?" His arm grazed mine in the tight space.

“Sure,” I said, leaning toward the passenger window.

“Do you ever get lonely, not having anyone?”

I took a second to answer. I wasn’t sure what he was getting at but I had a gut feeling he hoped I was lonely enough to allow him to entertain me with his company.

“Sometimes, but I’m very happy with the life I’ve built for myself. I like the freedom of not having to answer to someone else,” I answered, satisfied at the truth of my words. Even after everything I’d been through I could honestly say I was pretty content with the way my life had turned out so far.

“You’re different you know,” he said.