“Maybe you should—” Maggie started.
“No. I’m not ready to talk to him about what’s going on. He can’t know why we’re here. Not yet.” Ducking low, I crept toward the window and peeked into the shop. The front of the store looked empty. There weren’t any customers milling about, and there was no sign of either Serena or Gareth. “We’ll just sneak in and wait until he’s gone.”
Maggie shook her head at me but didn’t argue.
“I think they’re in the back or something,” I said, motioning for Ty and Maggie to join me in my crouch. I put my finger to my lips and eased the door of the shop open, careful not to jingle the bells attached to the door. I poked my head inside and, still seeing the coast was clear, waved Ty and Maggie inside. We dashed behind a tall row of bookcases.
“Does anyone else hear the Mission Impossible theme song right now? Or is it just me?” Maggie whispered, a grin spreading across her face.
“Shhh,” I said. “I don’t want them to hear us.”
We moved around the bookcases slowly, inching toward the back of the store. The muffled undertones of a heated conversation drifted toward us.
“They’re in the office,” I said, leaning around the bookshelf to listen more closely. The words floated clearly through the air, chilling the blood in my veins. “Oh my God.”
“What is it?” Maggie hissed.
“My name. I heard my name. They’re arguing about me.”
Inching farther around the bookcase, I could just make out Gareth and Serena through the open door of a small office. Serena had her hands on her hips, her face flushed, and Gareth had his arms crossed, his posture rigid.
“You don’t understand, Gareth. You have to tell her. Events are in motion, things are already happening. I’ve seen it. Haven’t you felt the pulses? She’s getting stronger.”
“Of course I have. That’s why I’m here,” Gareth said, rubbing his forehead with his fingers. “But your sight is subjective, Serena. You know that. You told me when she was twelve that she’d be killed by a bounty hunter, and that never happened. There’s no reason to think that she’s in immediate danger now. If someone were coming for her, we’d know it.” He began pacing. “We stick to the plan. Keep cloaking her as long as possible.”
“But she is in danger. I can sense it. Even with all the wards we’ve placed around her, we can’t hide her forever. You need to bring her to me. If I could just do a proper reading, I might be able—”
“No,” Gareth argued. “There’s still time. I know I need to tell her, but . . . we still have time.”
“Gareth,” Serena pleaded, “if he finds out about Lainey, who she is, what she is, he will hunt her down just like he did her mother. You know it’s true. You always said you were going to tell her, that you were going to protect her. Why can’t you see that time is now?”
“Don’t talk to me like every single thing I’ve ever done hasn’t been to protect her,” Gareth practically growled. “I swore to her mother that I would take care of her, and I’ve kept my oath. I won’t let anything happen to her now.”
Serena exhaled slowly. “I know that, Gareth. But you cannot protect her from her destiny. She deserves to know the truth—and to hear it from you.”
“She’s still so young. How can I possibly burden her with that?” Gareth’s forehead creased and the lines made him look a hundred years old.
“You tell me all the time that she’s strong. That she’s got her mother’s spirit. She can handle it.”
“She’s not ready.”
“She’s not ready? Or you’re not ready?”
“Serena, how can I look her in the face and tell her that everything she knows is . . . is a lie?” Gareth’s voice cracked.
“It will break her heart,” Serena whispered, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears. “But you must help her understand. We’re running out of time.”
“Her seventeenth birthday is still a few weeks away.”
Serena clasped her hands together in frustration. “Gareth, please. I know it’s hard, but you have to do right by her. The pulses I’ve felt? They’re unlike anything I’ve felt in a long time. She’s her mother’s daughter, and she is capable of far more than we can possibly imagine. If I’ve sensed the power, and you have sensed it, then it won’t be long before others come searching for the source.”
“You’re right,” Gareth said. “I’ll tell her.” He let out a long sigh. “When I find the right moment, I’ll tell her.”
I couldn’t move. The wheels in my head were whirling, trying to process the information I’d overheard, but it was like trying to punch through a brick wall—nothing was getting through. My stomach pitched and rolled, and I wanted to throw up. I would’ve put my head between my knees if not for Maggie yanking on my arm.
Serena and Gareth were now talking in more hushed tones, her arm looped through his as they slowly made their way toward the front of the shop. We needed to move or we’d be seen.
Following Maggie’s lead, I crawled toward another row of bookcases.
“Over there?” Ty was gesturing toward a door off a small alcove.
Maggie nodded, and it was all I could do to follow them. We crawled inside the tiny space and Ty shut the door behind us, careful not to let it slam. The smell of old books, incense, and cleaning supplies burned my nose. It must have been the supply closet.
“Lainey? Are you okay?” Maggie was whispering to me, but I’d lost all ability to speak. My brain was spinning out of control, and my heart thumped against the walls of my chest. If he finds out who she is, what she is, he will hunt her down just like they did her mother. Serena’s words reverberated in my ears. Every inch of my skin was covered in goose bumps, and a cool shiver danced up and down my spine.
“I don’t understand,” I managed to whisper. “I don’t understand.”
My entire body was shaking. Maggie wrapped her arms around me and held me tightly. Ty watched from his post at the door, his fists clenched at his sides.
“I don’t understand,” I kept whispering.
Who am I?
What am I?
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Maggie held me long enough for the shaking to subside.
“Are you okay?” she asked me when I pulled away.
“I don’t know,” I whispered. The weight of that horrible conversation between Gareth and Serena weighed down on me, but I sucked down a large gulp of air and exhaled slowly. I would not let it crush me. “But I’m going to find out.”
Neither Maggie nor Ty said anything as I pushed past them and out the door.
Who am I? What am I? Like a cadence, the words bolstered and guided my steps as I marched past the rows of bookshelves.
The wooden planks of the floor creaked as I walked into the main room of the shop. Maggie and Ty walked wordlessly behind me.
“Serena?”
Serena’s head popped out of the office. She was holding a ledger and small stack of papers. She looked at me first with confusion; then her eyes widened. “Lainey, what are you doing here?”
I ignored her question. “I heard what you said to Gareth. I heard everything.”