[Willow Harbor 08.0] Raven's Sight Read online

  I passed Ida’s Bakery and then slinked past The Dragon’s Hoard hoping Violet and Hubs hadn’t spotted me. Urban Grind was right next door. I peered in through the windows, gauging how long the line was. Loran had the best coffee in town, which meant it was rare when there wasn’t a crowd of people waiting to be served, but a girl could hope.

  The line was to the door.

  “Damn it,” I whispered as I spun back around, heading to work.

  I hoped Violet had a pot of coffee brewing in the office. While I knew it would be bitter due to the coffee to water ratio being off, it was still caffeine. I pulled the door open and stepped inside.

  “Hey, dollface,” Violet greeted me using one of the many pet names she tossed my way on the regular. I’d grown used to them over the years. “How’s your morning been so far?”

  She stood behind one of the glass display cases with a clipboard in hand. Her silver hair was down today. It flowed past her shoulders in loose waves. Her familiar scent of rose water lingered in the air as I neared her. She clutched her clipboard to her ample chest, pausing in her inventory and rearranging the contents of the case to stare at me.

  I puffed my cheeks out. “I’ve had better.”

  Concern filled her bright green eyes. “Nightmares again?”

  I nodded. I’d mentioned them a time or two but had never given her or Hubs any details. They were too personal. Violet understood this without me ever having to utter a word, so did Hubs. Neither of them ever pressed for specifics. It was just how they were.

  It was one of the things I appreciated most about them.

  Hubs crept into the room. He was always slow moving in the morning but without the help of his cane, he was mere snail-like. I waited for Violet to ask where it was but she didn’t. Maybe it wasn’t an argument she was willing to have with him today.

  “Mornin’,” Hubs muttered. He coughed into his hand, and I could hear fire crackling deep in his lungs. I waited for a spark to slip past his lips and burn another hole in the carpet but it didn’t.

  “Hey,” I said, flashing him a small smile.

  “You okay?” His golden eyes blazed with concern.

  Was it that transparent something was bothering me today? I needed to pull myself together.

  “She had nightmares again,” Violet insisted. There was a softness to her words that had me straightening my spine and focusing on pushing my sour mood away.

  “I’m fine. Really.” I headed toward the office. “Was there any new merchandise from last night?”

  “A box of stuff,” Violet said. From the sharpness of her tone, I could tell she didn’t like the way I’d dismissed her and Hubs’s concern. I wasn’t aiming to be rude. Not intentionally. Sympathy when it came to my nightmares—my memories—weren’t something I could stomach.

  Ever.

  “Haven’t found anything else yet though,” Hubs said.

  I heard him start coughing again. It seemed to be getting worse the last few days. Violet had told him he needed to go get checked out by a doctor but he refused. He was a stubborn old man.

  “It’s been a couple of days since anything new showed up on the shelves. I’m sure something will appear soon,” Violet insisted.

  I agreed with her. It was like a treasure hunt every morning. You never knew when or where something was going to appear. Violet and Hubs got here at the crack of dawn every morning to do inventory and search before the doors opened for that very reason.

  “How big was the box?” I asked. My sour mood was already starting to fade. I loved when random boxes of merchandise appeared on the doorstep. “Was there a note with this one?”

  “Nope.” Hubs croaked. He sounded as though he couldn’t clear his throat. “It was one of those mysterious boxes you love so much. Just showed up all on its own in the night.”

  I deposited my stuff on my desk and then made my way to the little kitchenette on the far wall of the office. I grabbed a mug from the bottom cabinet and filled it with tap water before placing it in the microwave. Inside the mini fridge, I grabbed the half a lemon from the other day I’d left behind and when the microwave beeped, I squeezed its juice into the warm water. Next, I reached for a jar of honey. After I drizzled some into the mug, I stirred it before heading to where Hubs stood, still coughing. His chest crackled and rumbled with the strain of his fire struggling to get free. Unlike me, they had both been willing to tell me what they were upfront—dragons, hence the name of their shop.

  “Here. Drink this.” I handed him the mug.

  “Thanks, darlin’,” he muttered. “This damn cough is bad today, isn’t it?”

  “You’re getting old.” Violet chuckled. She’d gone back to surveying the display cases and making room for new merchandise. “Which is why you need to listen to me when I tell you to visit a doctor.”

  “I don’t see you gettin’ any younger, sweetheart.” Hubs tossed her way. He took a swig of my concoction. “And there’s no way in hell I’m stepping foot inside that clinic. All those damn bloodsuckers runnin’ around the place.”

  “Oh, poo.” Violet snapped at him from over her shoulder. “They wouldn’t dare drink your blood—you’re too damn ornery! It would taste bad!”

  I laughed at their banter as I went back to the kitchenette to see if there was coffee. No such luck.

  “I put the box of new stuff on your desk,” Hubs called to me, ignoring whatever Violet had just said to him.

  “Thanks. I’ll start looking through it so I can price some stuff and get it out on the floor. Was there anything good that you noticed?”

  Hubs stepped into the office. “Eh, it was a hodgepodge of stuff.”

  “I’m sure there’s a thing or two good mixed in,” Violet said. “After all, things that appear like that have a reason to be here. They find themselves here somehow, same as people do.”

  It was true. Everyone who lived here knew it.

  I’d been eighteen with no clue where I was going when I happened to come through the gates. The town hadn’t been on any map I’d seen. Heck, I couldn’t even remember seeing any road signs in reference to it. Yet somehow I’d ended up here.

  I moved to my desk and eyed the box. My skin tingled with anticipation to dig in.

  “There are some pieces we might be able to get sell fast,” Violet said. “Especially if Coraleigh Finnygood comes by, per usual.”

  My nose wrinkled at the mention of the tiny woman. She wasn’t my favorite person simply because she’d insisted I tell her personal details about myself—including why I was in Willow Harbor—when I tried to book a room at her inn upon first arriving in town. When I refused to give her the information she wanted and left, I’d apparently made an enemy for life.

  Maybe enemy was too harsh of a word. It wasn’t that the woman hated me. It was that she was skeptical of me from then on. She knew I had something to hide. I was okay with that.

  In fact, I was so okay with that that I’d spent my first few nights in Willow Harbor sleeping in the back seat of my car.

  “Is it that time of the month already?” I asked.

  Mrs. Finnygood came by like clockwork the third week of every month to browse our new merchandise for things to decorate her inn with.

  “It is and you know she’ll be by. Coraleigh Finnygood hasn’t missed a third week of the month browse in ages,” Violet said. I couldn’t tell from the tone of her voice how she felt about the old gnome. It was that way with Violet most of the time though. She was a hard person to read. So was her husband.

  Maybe that was another reason why I liked them.

  “What items did you have in mind for her?” I asked. I pulled a few from the box and placed them on my desk. The box was bigger than I’d thought it would be, and it was loaded with trinkets. “I’ll see if I can get a feel for them to make sure they don’t belong to anyone else before any of the others.”

  Violet appeared in the doorway. Her silver hair glistened in the fluorescent light. “I was thinking she might li
ke the dragon claw vase, maybe the brass candlestick holders, and even the silver picture frame with the dragonflies on it. They seem like things she’d place around the inn.”

  As she listed off each item, I rooted through the box to find them.

  “Okay. I’ll start with those then.”

  Violet stepped back into the main room of the shop. “Sounds good.”

  I made myself comfortable in my desk chair and rubbed my hands together, charging my raven’s sight. My fingers tingled as I touched the dragon claw vase this time around. My stomach fluttered as the tingling spread up my arms. It amazed me sometimes how flashes from people who’d passed away could enter my mind by simply touching an object of theirs. This was the one gift from my raven I knew I could count on in addition to the ability to shift. Working here at the antique shop I’d learned to better control it.

  I moved through the items faster than I’d anticipated. A satisfied smile twisted at my lips as I pulled my laptop from my purse to boot up. Now that I knew the items seemed to belong to no one in town I could price them. Before I could log into the internet the front door to the shop opened and Mrs. Finnygood entered.

  “Hello. Good day, isn’t it?” the tiny woman said. I caught sight of her as she stepped further into the shop. She wore a black dress with candy corn printed on it. Halloween was quickly approaching. “Have you got anything new?”

  I gathered the items I’d just checked for her and took them to the front. The tiny old woman barely gave a glance my way. Knots formed in my stomach as I set the items on the display case closest to Violet. I hustled back to my desk.

  When I sat down in my chair again, my stomach rolled and I thought I might be sick.

  No coffee. No breakfast. I was doing a bang-up job of neglecting myself today. That had to be it.

  I glanced at my watch. 11:22. My lunch break wasn’t until twelve. Maybe after Mrs. Finnygood left I’d ask Violet if I could head to lunch a bit early. Hubs didn’t seem to be around. He was probably out back puffing on a cigarette since he knew Violet was busy with a customer.

  I reached into the box for another item and managed to pull out something small and silver, circular in shape. It was cool to the touch but warmed quickly in my hand.

  My raven trembled as I narrowed my eyes on it. Malice rippled off it. We both could feel it. Chills slipped along my spine. What was it? I stared at the glass face, soaking in the star-shaped markings and needle with a large N and an S engraved on opposite ends.

  It was a compass.

  Something about it called to me, but I couldn’t pinpoint what. It wasn’t showing me any visions, which meant it didn’t belong to anyone in town. Still, I couldn’t set it down if I tried. I spun it around but the needle in the center never moved. It was broken. The metal continued to warm in my hand, creeping me out.

  What was up with this thing?

  The back door to the office opened and closed. Hubs hobbled in, coughing and smelling of stale cigarettes. I shifted my attention back to the compass.

  That was when I noticed the needle was spinning rapidly.

  What the hell? Hadn’t it been broken seconds before?

  Something wasn’t right and it had everything to do with the compass. I could feel it.

  “Why don’t you go ahead and take your lunch break early? Since you seemed rushed and out of it this mornin’ I’m sure you didn’t eat,” Hubs said. He washed his hands at the tiny sink, scrubbing off the stench of cigarettes from his skin. It wouldn’t matter though, Violet would be able to tell he’d been smoking. She’d be on him again about how unhealthy and disgusting the habit was.

  I stood. “Okay. Thanks.”

  The needle to the compass still spun rapidly as I grabbed my purse and pushed my desk chair in. What was wrong with it? What would make it freak out like that? Was it something to do with me or Hubs?

  I flipped it over to see if there was anything written on the back that might give me a clue as to whom it belonged to before finding its way to The Dragon’s Hoard. There was nothing but a symbol etched into the back of it—one that had my heart skipping a beat and my lungs forgetting how to breathe.

  A black harp.

  Run, Lena! Get out of here!

  The words ripped through my mind with more force than ever before as I stared at it. Brown eyes with gold flecks surfaced, and the room seemed to spin. I gripped the edge of my desk to steady myself.

  “You okay?” Hubs asked. His words were distorted.

  Beads of sweat broke out across my skin. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

  If he could tell I was lying he didn’t say. I was glad.

  I left my desk and started through the shop to the front door. Air was what I needed. When I pushed my way through the door and out onto the sidewalk I glanced down at the compass in my hand again. The symbol stared up at me looking as sinister as the women it stood for. My throat closed up as I swayed on my feet.

  Did this mean after all these years the Sisters had found me?

  Three

  Thane

  My head spun. Dots speckled my vision because the sun was too bright. Noises rushed to my ears, causing me to flinch. This place was too loud. I blinked and glanced around. Outside. I was outside somewhere. Putting one foot in front of the other, I started down the sidewalk in front of me. I could feel eyes on me as I went. People were staring.

  Did I look as screwed up as I felt? Was I hurt?

  I rubbed my temples and avoided their stares as I kept walking.

  Where was I? What happened?

  I tripped over my own foot and happened to glance down, noticing what I was wearing for the first time. Black boots. Black jeans. Black button-up shirt. And a black leather jacket.

  What the hell? These weren’t my clothes. Where were my sneakers and jeans? My cotton t-shirt?

  What the hell was going on?

  My vision swam again. I leaned against a window beside me to catch my breath and get a hold of myself. Something was wrong.

  Why couldn’t I remember anything?

  I pressed my forehead against my arm. Was that my arm? It had to be. It was attached to me. But when had it gotten so manly and hairy looking?

  I straightened and glanced at myself in the reflection of the window. The man staring back at me resembled me, but there was no possible way he could be me. I wasn’t that old. I didn’t have a beard. My fingers came up to touch it. It was coarse and thick. I pulled and pain spread through my chin.

  Holy shit, I had a beard? What was going on here?

  Last time I’d checked I barely had peach fuzz. Now I had a full-on mountain man beard?

  Dizziness swept through me. I focused on my eyes. They were the only thing familiar—brown with flecks of yellow. However, the longer I stared into them the more different they seemed. They were older, wiser, and as I continued to stare into them suddenly I felt the same.

  My throat tightened. What happened to me?

  I struggled to find memories of aging, memories of anything, but couldn’t. All I remembered was a girl, something vaguely about magic, and evil. Then...nothing.

  I’d somehow gone from seventeen to twenty-something in an instant.

  I stepped away from the bookstore and bumped into an elderly woman walking her dog. She huffed in an overly dramatic way as though I’d done so on purpose.

  “Excuse you,” she snapped.

  I put more space between us. “Sorry, ma’am.”

  The woman huffed as though my apology meant nothing to her. I frowned. This woman was a real piece of work.

  My gaze traveled over the length of her, taking her all in. She wore a giant, ugly hat made of white wicker and black lace. There was an orange feather sticking out of the top that looked almost comical. Her dress was just as ugly. It had pumpkins with creepy smiles printed on it.

  Why was she dressed the way she was? Was it close to Halloween?

  It couldn’t be. Then again, it being so close to the spooky holiday seemed right. I wasn’t sur
e why. It was just something I could feel. Almost as though there was some sort of a significance to it.

  As I thought this, the same crippling dizziness from minutes before spiraled through me again without warning. Dark spots dotted my vision. I swayed where I stood and closed my eyes, running my hand along my face.

  “There’s something not quite right about you,” the old woman said. She squinted her beady eyes at me. “Definitely something not quite right.”

  I pulled in a deep breath. What had she just said to me?

  “I’m sorry?”

  Her dog sat down on the sidewalk and began licking himself. The woman didn’t say anything to him. Instead, she touched my forearm. Her fingers drew back in an instant as though I’d burned her. A hollow sensation slipped through my core.

  What was that about?

  “You’re here, but you’re not,” she said before tugging on her dog’s leash and walking away. Her pace was fast. Almost as though she couldn’t put enough distance between us quickly enough.

  I blinked as I stared after the strange woman. The hollow sensation inside me grew.

  What had she meant? I’m here, but I’m not. What the hell?

  As I thought about what she said I couldn’t ignore the part of me that seemed to agree with her for reasons beyond my knowledge.

  “Don’t mind her,” a guy said from behind me. I spun to face him. “That’s Mrs. Ackerman. She’s not all there herself if you ask me.” He grinned.

  He wore dark sunglasses and held a drink tray with two coffees inside. There was a bag of something with Presto! printed on it in his other hand.

  “Uh, thanks,” I muttered. His words didn’t make me feel any better. The old woman—crazy or not—had gotten to me.

  “No problem.” He maneuvered what he was holding around so he could extend a hand to shake. “I’m Mason.”

  I shook his hand. When his palm touched mine, his brow furrowed. Why was everyone doing that? I pulled my hand away and refused to look at him.