Nodding, I approach the pale-skinned, black-haired woman and touch her forehead, leaping into her dreams.
As I take in the dream, I do a double take.
We’re in my dream palace lobby.
How does she know what it looks like? I don’t usually take people there.
She’s standing in front of a dream version of me, who’s saying, “Fine, let’s talk here.” And the mind-boggling part is that this dream feels like a memory.
Except I never said those words to her. Unless…
Of course. This is a seer vision of a conversation we’ll have at some point in the future. Probably the very conversation I came here to have.
I dismiss the other me and change the environment to that of a desert, mainly to be contrary.
“Hey,” I say. “Were you expecting me?”
A deck of cards appears in her hands as if by magic, and she gives them a practiced shuffle. “Come on. You know where this conversation is supposed to take place.”
With a sigh, I take us back to my palace.
She grins. “You also know your next line.”
“Fine,” I say with an eye roll. “Let’s talk here.”
The cards disappear from her hands, again as if by magic. “I wanted to thank you and Pom for a job well done. Phobetor was a threat to my family’s future—everybody’s future, really—so I’m pleased he’s gone.”
Pom perches on my shoulder. “I’m confused. If you didn’t like him, why didn’t you help us?”
“Nostradamus was on it,” she says with a shrug. “When that guy has a plan, it’s better to stay out. I know this from personal experience. Besides, I couldn’t just tell you the future. If I did, it wouldn’t happen.” She examines her nails. “Also, I promised my hubby not to get myself embroiled in any shenanigans—particularly of an apocalyptic type—for at least a few centuries. He would’ve been growly if I’d lied.”
A strong headache begins to thud in my temples, so I quickly jump out of my body to cure it.
I think if I talked to seers more often, I’d lose my pucking mind.
“You’re welcome,” Pom says in the meanwhile.
I sigh again. “Was there anything else?” I ask her. “I need to wake up to check on more people.”
“Here’s a little gift,” she says. “The people you want to check on are all fine, and most of your possible futures are long and happy, especially for you and your husband.” She makes an oops face. “I meant, your boyfriend. No, wait, is it too soon even for that? Your hookup?”
Pom’s eyes widen. “Is she serious?”
I don’t answer because my headache is returning again. My mind reels. As a seer, she knows what the future brings, but she’s also a mischievous jokester, so how can I know if she’s telling the truth? Especially that bit about Valerian and me getting married? By telling me this information, she may well be starting a chain of events that leads me to do her a favor in a “few centuries,” when her “hubby” lets her get back to “shenanigans.”
“They’re waiting,” she says with a smirk. “I feel like I’ve done my part.”
With that, she wakes up.
Exchanging an exasperated glance with Pom, I return to the real world.
“I’m telling you, she was up,” my niece is saying.
I open my eyes again.
Besides Chloe, surrounding my bed are Dad, Valerian, Kojo, and Asha.
My chest feels warm and tingly.
“You’re okay, right?” Chloe asks. “Say yes.”
“Yes,” I say, smiling at her. I look around. “What about all of you?”
Valerian nods, his eyes gleaming brightly. “As soon as you won, the Overtaken became themselves once again. I had the good fortune to last until then.”
I leap off the bed and tackle-hug him. Then I hug everyone else.
Pom’s fur is the deepest, happiest purple I’ve ever seen.
Though the seer had just told me they’re fine, I had to see it with my own eyes, feel them with my own hands.
Not for a second does my worry about germs kick in with all this touching. It was like that with Mom, my only other family until now, so I guess it makes sense.
My heart expands at the thought.
I have so much family!
“How long was I out?” I ask, trying to contain my excitement.
“Almost a day.” Valerian frowns. “Got me worried.”
“I got you worried?” I exclaim. “I wasn’t the one fighting an army of the Overtaken.”
“No one has been able to do what you did,” Dad says. “We didn’t know what to expect.”
“Right,” I say. “So what happened while I was out?”
Valerian clasps my hand with both of his, his palms big and warm around my fingers. “The newly freed Overtaken helped us with the wounded and the dead. The necromancer was especially useful.”
Asha looks at our joined hands and gives me a surreptitious wink. “Afterward, we escorted them all far away from Soma and locked away their memories of it.”