7
Two days later I sat in my shop meditating, still trying to overcome my anger with the entire Marsh family. I had not been very successful. A knock on my door brought me out of the stillness. I frowned because my next appointment wasn't for two hours. Untangling myself from the cushion, I headed to the shop door, pushed it open, and saw a pretty blonde with bright blue eyes staring at me.
"Hello!" she chirped.
"Erm. Hi?"
"Yes. My name is Helen Reaper."
"Hello. I'm Grace."
"I know who you are! Portia told me. She sent me over here to chat with you and see if you'd be willing to help me out." I frowned. "Why would I be able to help you out?" And how exactly was she tangled up with Portia?
"Your clairvoyance," she said slowly, as if I were a dimwit.
"What about my clairvoyance?" I snapped. "I take appointments only." I was about to shut the door in her face, when she put a delicate foot in the doorway.
"I'm assuming Portia hasn't clued you in." The woman rolled her eyes. "May I just take a few minutes of your time, then you can refuse me? I need to make sure I cross all my t's."
I held open the door. "You have five minutes."
"Excellent!" she crowed. She followed me in and plopped down on the couch. "Cute place you have here. My 'shop' is outside on a concrete slab."
I raised one eyebrow.
"I'm a necromancer," she said with a grin. "The only one in Midnight Cove." She wiggled her fingers.
Creepy. "How can I help you?"
"Over the last few months, some things have gone pretty wonky in this town. I'm not allowed to go into too much detail, but suffice it to say, things are getting weird and we have to be prepared. I'm here to see if you would use your powers to tap into the town and see if it can tell you anything."
I tilted my head and stared at this weird woman. "Tap into...the town?"
She nodded with vigor. "Yes! To see if you can give us a good timeline on when we can expect things to go to hell."
I burst out laughing. "Did Lucas send you?" I rolled my eyes. "Is this his idea of payback for me texting him? What an idiot."
Helen looked confused. "Excuse me? Lucas...Marsh?"
"Yes. Lucas Marsh. Idiot extraordinaire. Ditcher of dinner dates. Wearer of hipster beards. Ruiner of romance."
"Umm. I can assure you that no, Lucas didn't send me." Helen stared at me curiously. "Though I do know him. He didn't seem that...terrible. Though now I'm very interested to know what he did to get you all prickly."
"I'm not prickly," I growled.
Helen smiled at me in response.
"Oh for heaven's sake." I really took the time to study the woman. Though her expression was mildly curious, she didn't look like a prankster. "You're serious," I said after a moment.
"Dead serious," she said and snorted at her own pun.
"I can't tap into an inanimate object," I said.
"Hmm." Helen studied me and sighed. "Do you really feel the world is an inanimate thing?"
My lips twisted to the side as my heart jerked. Guess I hadn't really thought about it. "Perhaps not, but I can't even tap into a person sometimes without fainting. What makes you think I won't harm myself?"
She spread her hands wide. "I would never ask you to endanger yourself. But I would encourage you to stretch your wings a little bit. Especially if it means helping us keep this town intact."
