“Merde. That doesn’t sound like a good idea.”
“I’m glad I took the risk. You need to not be in the cages.” I closed my eyes and pictured him. I wished I could actually see him. I’d been able to reach him over distances a few times before, if I concentrated, but with the bond silent…
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be okay as soon as we’re back together.” He was lying. I didn’t need our bond to know that. If he’d been knocked out and locked up, he was so far beyond fine it wasn’t even funny. “What’s wrong with your visions?” He asked.
Explaining that would take way too much time. “It doesn’t matter. The important thing is that Mr. Hoel is here, spouting his usual bull and plotting with the coven. This is bigger than we thought.”
Dastien let out a string of curses.
“And if you’re in that cage, then you’re not keeping an eye on the pack.”
Raphael tapped his wrist. I turned my back on him.
“I’ve used up all my time. You’ve got to figure out what’s going on in the pack. If Mr. Hoel is back, then that means there could be another revolt on the way.”
“Merde. You’re right. I’m going to do better. It’s hard, but… I have a few ideas about what he might be planning, but joining forces with the coven? There’s a piece that we’re missing, and you can’t come home until you figure it out. I think—”
“You need to get off the phone. You’re pushing it,” Raphael said.
I shot him a look. “I know,” I said to Raphael. “I’ve got to go, Dastien. It’s not safe for me to be on the phone.”
“Go. Be careful. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
“Bye, cherie.”
“Bye.” I hung up and gave Raphael the phone and he disappeared back inside Luciana’s house.
Raphael came back outside from Luciana’s house and started speed-walking back to his place. “The farther away we get from here the better.”
I tended to agree with him. I had to jog to keep up, but I didn’t mind the exercise.
Tonight had been a real awakening, and not just because of the visions. I’d been hanging around my cousins’ house, content to learn witchy things with Daniel, but there were bigger things going on. Before I thought that might be the case, but now I knew and my priorities were changing.
First on my list was figuring out what Luciana and Mr. Hoel were up to. I also needed to make more friends around here. I needed to see if I could figure out a way to get some of the coven members out from under Luciana’s thumb.
I wasn’t sure if I’d find a new leader. Rosa and Grams had both said I wouldn’t, but I wasn’t giving that up entirely. Even if I had to be some kind of touchstone, I couldn’t be in two places at once. And I really would rather be with the pack.
By the time I got back to the house, I was emotionally exhausted. How could so much be going wrong? I certainly hadn’t caused all the issues within the pack, but man, my timing sucked.
I blew out a breath and went into the dining room. The table was cleared of dishes, but everyone had returned to their seats.
“She did it,” Raphael said.
“Did what?” Daniel asked.
“She saw the future.”
I rolled my eyes. The earnest tone was grating. “I didn’t exactly see the future. I lived a few minutes of it, and then I was suddenly back in time.”
“You think time travel is more plausible?” Shane asked with a smirk.
I opened my mouth and shut it. “No,” I said with a laugh. I guessed that’s what I’d made it sound like, but the idea was funny. “Sorry. It was definitely a vision, but it was really jarring. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around what happened.”
“How did you know it was a vision?”
I went to the spare fridge, pulled out the tray of lasagna, and cut off a big piece. As it was nuking, I got myself a soda. “I didn’t. Not until it was over. But I guess I was dizzy when the vision started.”
“Dizzy?” Cosette asked.
“Yeah. It was the only indication. I touched Raphael’s arm and this dizziness came over me—like the ground became a tilt-a-whirl. When the vision ended, that feeling came back, only stronger. I swear it was like the earth moved. And then I was back to the first time I grabbed Raphael’s arm.” I shook my head as I bit into a piece of garlic bread.
Daniel leaned across the table toward me. “That’s a hell of a lot better than my mother’s visions of the future.”