Page 45 of Sight of Fate

Nervous, I reach for Macklin, and he tucks me into his side. “Tug on my ear, right?”

Chapter Twenty

CHARLI

The room is large and surprisingly homey with its wood floors and oak benches lining the room like pews in a church. White candles burn in ornate iron candelabras. I skip over the bookshelves stacked with books and land on the two ladies standing at the far side of the room.

One is older with dark red hair similar to Raine’s, and when she turns to face me, her crystal blue eyes confirms my guess. I shift to the other woman and blink in surprise to see she’s only a few years older than me, with curly brown hair and wide eyes. For some reason, I thought the coven leader would be older and look incredibly wise.

Macklin steps forward with me in tow. “Maureen. Clarissa. This is Charli.”

An odd sensation crawls over me as I stare into Clarissa’s violet eyes. “Hello.”

“Charli,” she says smoothly. “I hope you don’t mind, but Maureen asked me to be here.” When I lift a shoulder, her lips shift into something close to a smile but not nearly as friendly. “Why don’t you have a seat?” She motions to the table and chairs beside her.

I sit in the closest one, Macklin takes the one next to me, and I breathe a little sigh of relief when they both sit across from us.

Maureen has yet to say anything.

“Why don’t you tell us about your visit with Raine?” Clarissa prompts.

Before I can begin, Maureen leans forward. “You don’t mind if I see it for myself, do you?”

Confused, I glance at Macklin, who narrows his eyes on Maureen. “You mean like a vision?”

She scoots closer. “Sort of. If you bring up the memory, I’ll see it like I was there in the room with you.”

Alarmed, I stare at her. “But you won’t be able to see anything else, right? Only the one memory?”

She shakes her head, but Clarissa jumps in. “One memory, Maureen.” Her voice is stern, as if she’s cautioning her not to look at any others.

Maureen holds up three fingers to her chest. “As you will it, Clarissa.” She turns back to me, and I stare at her, blood roaring in my ears, as I try to hold back the panic.

“No,” Macklin states firmly, his eyes on me. “She agreed to tell you what transpired, not let you peek into her head.”

Relieved to hear him refuse, I let out a small sigh.

Frustrated, Maureen looks at Macklin. “Can’t you order her? It’s Raine we’re talking about here. My daughter but also Greystone’s designated seer.”

Macklin’s face hardens, and Clarissa jumps in. “Charli graciously offered to come and tell you in person. Let’s see what she says first.”

Maureen sniffs. “Fine.”

Relieved, I tell them about my visit with Raine. Both of them remain skeptical until I get near the end when Raine told me to get a lodestone, and Maureen gasps. “She said it will help balance me. Along with a coven.”

“She’s right,” Clarissa says softly. “It’s the way of witches.”

I ignore her comment and return to Maureen, explaining how she looked at someone who was invisible to me, and nodded. “She said she would contact me in a few days. That was a week ago. I haven’t heard from her yet.” Hopefully, she’s okay.

Maureen narrows her eyes. “I don’t understand why she would go to a stranger instead of me or another witch in the coven.”

Under her stare, I begin to fidget. “She’s the reason I’m in Greystone. She had a vision. Maybe she felt a connection between us.”

“What vision?” she asks, in a demanding tone.

Macklin shifts restlessly in his chair and, in a gruff voice, tells them, “Raine told Teague…Charli was his mate.”

Shocked, they glance from Macklin to me. “When was this?”