She nods. “Okay. I guess, whether I like it or not, it’s time. We had a whole year between what happened with Brielle and the mess with Millie. I hoped for the same.”
“You have to tell me what’s going on. I deserve to know, especially if it involves me.”
“I hate that you’re right.” She stands and spares a glance for the couple who just walked into her shop. “But I can’t do this here. I need to work. Let’s meet at Witches Brew later tonight after Millie closes. We’ll explain everything to you.”
“I’ll be there.”
I turn to leave but then look back at her. “It’s not true, you know. What you said.”
She quirks a brow.
“I don’t dislike you. You’re the only woman I’ve ever loved, Daphne. That hasn’t changed.”
“Excuse me?” a middle-aged man with silver hair interrupts. “Can I ask you a question about this umbrella stand?”
Daphne’s eyes don’t leave mine as she answers him. “Of course. I’ll be right with you.”
“I’ll let you work.” I wink at her and move toward the door. “I’ll see you tonight.”
I leave the shop and walk to my car. When I glance into the big front window of Reflections, I see Daphne still watching me.
“I know we’re late,” Brielle announces as she and her husband, Cash, rush into Millie’s café. Cash locks the door behind them.
I’m sitting at the coffee counter, taking them all in. Millie and Lucien move, touch, and look at each other as though they’ve been a couple for many years—certainly longer than the few months I know they’ve been together. Brielle laughs with Daphne as they chat about their days.
The three sisters couldn’t be more different—at least physically. Brielle, the eldest, has dark hair with blue eyes and a curvy figure. Millie is tall and willowy with long, blonde locks. And my Daphne has that fiery, curly red hair and a petite body that makes my mouth water.
But despite the lack of resemblance, they share an unbreakable bond—a fierce loyalty and love.
“It’s good to see you,” Brielle says and pats me on the shoulder. I glance warily at Daphne.
The last time Daph saw me with Brielle, she was livid. Felt betrayed.
And that only added fuel to the fire of her animosity toward me.
“You, too.”
“I’m glad you’re here,” Millie says to me as she wipes down the counter.
I glance at Lucien, who just grins and leans over to kiss his bride on the cheek.
“First, why don’t you tell us all why you’ve been so insistent on speaking with Daphne?” Brielle suggests. “Aside from the personal stuff you share, of course. Not that we don’t want to hear about that, but it’s probably none of our business.”
“Definitely none of your business,” Cash says, earning a glare from his wife.
“Since I don’t know Cash well, I’ll start back a ways.” I wipe my hand over my face and test my shields.
They’re strong.
“I grew up in the coven, just like Lucien.”
“You’re a witch?” Cash asks.
“Not a practicing one, no. Not for a long while, anyway. My gift was always premonitions. I was able to see things before they happened.”
“You could win the lottery with that,” Cash suggests, and I laugh.
“It doesn’t really work that way, unfortunately. It’s more visions of events before they happen. Have you ever had a sense of déjà vu? Like you think to yourself, I’ve done this before.”
“Of course.”
“We all have a little precognition in us,” Lucien says before taking a sip of coffee.
“We’re having coffee?” Daphne demands. “Give me.”
Millie gets to work filling a cup for her sister.
“Precognition is my thing.” I stand, shove my hands into my pockets, and pace the café. “Or, it was. I’ve worked hard to block that part of myself for quite a long time. I was in the Army. Let me just tell you, it sucks ass when you know in advance when your buddies are going to die in action.”
“Jesus,” Cash breathes.
“I built shields, worked a couple of spells. I even spent a whole evening on the phone with Miss Sophia, and she helped me, too. I haven’t seen anything in years.”
“Until recently,” Lucien guesses.
“Until a few months ago,” I agree. “And no matter what I do, I can’t block it. It’s fire and brimstone. Despair. Pain. It’s the scariest shit I’ve ever seen in my damn life, and trust me when I say, I’ve seen some shit.”
“Do you see the outcome?” Millie asks, sounding almost desperate.
“No. And I don’t know if what I’m seeing is what will happen or if it’s what may happen. I asked Miss Sophia about it, and she said it’s not for her to tell me. I don’t know what happened on Halloween night, not exactly. But I can tell you that I was drenched in sweat all evening, couldn’t catch my breath, and then, suddenly, it was just…gone.”
“Fascinating,” Lucien says.
“I know one thing,” I continue. “In every vision, I see Daphne. I see the six of us. And it’s damn frustrating that I don’t know why. I’ve been trying to get Daph to speak to me, but we have…history.”
The woman I love frowns down into her coffee.
“It’s escalating quickly,” Brielle murmurs.
“What is?” I demand. “What in the hell is going on?”
“A battle a millennium in the making,” Lucien informs me. “We’ve done this over many lifetimes—and we’ve always lost.”
For the next hour, the five of them fill me in on apparitions, dead girls, epic fights. A serial killer.
Past lives.
An evil father, who I already knew about. And their mother, escaping the terrors of their scary home in the bayou and healing.
“We’ve defeated him twice before,” Millie finishes. “But not for good. Not forever. We can’t cast him out without the six of us being together.”
“Why didn’t you just call me on Halloween if you knew that was the case?” I demand. “This could be done.”
“It wasn’t time,” Lucien says simply.
“So, what now?” I ask. “How do we find him and defeat him?”
“He hasn’t started manifesting himself yet,” Cash reminds us. “We can’t do anything until he makes the first move.”
My gaze whips to Daphne’s. “You didn’t tell them?”
“Tell us what?” Brielle asks, coming to attention. Daphne just watches me. “Tell us what?” Brielle demands again.
“Something happened at the reception,” Daphne says softly. “I was in the restroom, avoiding G.I. Joe over there.”
I grin and rock back on my heels. If she’s trying to avoid me, it’s because she still feels something.
I can work with that.
“When I walked out of the bathroom and came around the house to the tent where everyone was, it was still. Dead quiet. The guests were facing away from me, but they suddenly turned around to stare at me—and they were all missing their eyes.”