“You feeling better yet?”
“I’m not actually sick.” She sighed. “Just having a crappy day…well, week.”
“Since you found out about your ex-boyfriend?”
“Yeah. But I’m staying home to work on my paper.”
“Oh, well I guess this is good timing, then.”
“You done for the day?” she asked. She’d assumed he might be asked to work in her place today.
“Yeah. March only had me scheduled for a few hours, and she said she could handle it alone. I’ve been working so much this week that I’m approaching overtime, and you know how she feels about that.”
Jade nodded.
“Plus, she needs me tomorrow more, when that big shipment is supposed to arrive.”
“At least you get a bit of a break today.”
“Yep.” Graham held out the papers. “Well, here you go: my humble thoughts.”
She took the printout of her story. “Thanks, Graham.”
“Call me if you have any questions. I’ll just be chillin’ at home this afternoon.”
She cocked her head. “You want to come in? I’m making breakfast—well, lunch, I guess.”
“That sounds great.”
“Maybe you can motivate me.”
He smiled. “I’ll do my best.”
She crossed to the kitchen to check the eggs and put on a few more for him. He leaned against the counter nearby and watched her. After a moment, she looked up at him and saw his brow furrowed.
“How have you been doing? With all the…stuff.”
Jade considered feigning indifference, putting on the mask she wore everywhere else, but she didn’t have the energy today. And Graham knew her better than anybody now.
“Pretty low,” she said.
“Yeah?” His dark eyes softened, still watching her intently.
She sighed. “I’ve just had a crummy week…like I said.”
“What’s the worst part?” he asked.
She put a hand to her forehead. “It’s going to sound pathetic. I’m having a rough time getting over the breakup.”
“That’s not pathetic. It sounds pretty reasonable.”
“I honestly don’t know what it’s supposed to feel like. I’m so bad at this stuff.”
“I don’t think I’m all that great at it either. My last girlfriend broke up with me three weeks ago.”
“Really? And you’re still getting over her too?”
“Well, no. But we weren’t that close, and things were still pretty new. It sounds like what you and Logan had was quite a bit different. You guys were really serious, huh?”
She nodded and stared at the eggs. “I guess so.”
“You loved him, didn’t you?”
“Yeah.” Still do, she thought.
“Then I don’t think there’s anything weird about how you’re feeling right now.” He paused, then his voice changed a bit. “Can I ask you something? You don’t have to answer.”
“Sure.”
“From all those messages he left…I mean, it sounds like you were the one to break things off. I’m just wondering why you did. I mean, you obviously still have feelings for him.”
She sighed. “I had to.”
“Yeah?”
Jade turned to face him, resting her hip against the counter. “My emotions were affecting him.”
“Okay. But isn’t that something you could’ve figured out? I mean, we’re okay so far.” Graham gestured between the two of them.
She shook her head. “Things with Logan are more complicated. He…” She hesitated, considering how much she should tell Graham. “He has…sort of a…let’s just call it a powerful ability…and my glitch was making him go out of control.”
Graham’s eyes widened. “Whoa. Another glitch?”
Jade blinked. “What?”
“Yesterday when I took Chloe to the emergency room she told me all about hers—and that you guys aren’t the only ones. So Logan has something like that too?”
“Um, sort of. His is a bit more…intense, though. I would tell you, but…I’m not sure if it’s my place.”
Graham shrugged. “That’s fine. I don’t need the details.”
“Anyway, being around me was making things way worse for him.”
“So you broke up sacrificially.”
She studied him, not sure if he was making fun of her. “I guess so?”
He nodded. “That explains things a little more. That must make the break up even harder.”
She breathed out another sigh and took the pan off the heat. “Maybe. She scrubbed her face with her palms. But I need to suck it up and get back to my life. I haven’t even washed up today. I feel like such a bum.” She glanced down at her clothes. “And I’m still in my pajamas.”
“I wasn’t gonna say anything.” The corner of Graham’s lip quirked up.
“What am I going to do?” Jade moaned, letting her head fall back.
“Why don’t you go change if you think it’ll make you feel fresher. I can finish lunch. And maybe put on some coffee. Can’t hurt to be well-caffeinated, right?”
Jade measured him then nodded. “Okay. I think I’ll take you up on that. Thanks.”
“No problem. Got any espresso?”
“No. Just dark roast coffee.”
“I can work with that. I make a mean latte.”
She smiled. “Cabinet on the left.”
Jade took several minutes to wash her face, throw on some clean clothes, and run a brush through her hair. It wasn’t much, but it made her feel better when she came to the kitchen for lunch.
Graham feigned shock when Jade entered. “Whoa! Who is this stranger?”
She rolled her eyes and gave him a soft thump on the shoulder as she sat down to eat. Ravenous, she devoured the whole plate in minutes. Eying Graham thoughtfully, she wiped her mouth with a napkin. “So. You and Chloe. How did last night go?”
“Other than her getting wounded?”
“You know what I mean. You got some time alone.”
“We did.”
“And?”
He rolled his eyes. “Are you going to work on your paper or what?”
Jade chuckled. “Sorry. I was just curious.”
After cleaning up the dishes, she went to work on her paper while Graham pored over his journal. He only looked up to give feedback whenever she asked.
Several hours later the story was finished, with little time to spare. Jade checked her phone. “I gotta get this turned in by five.”
“You don’t have class today?” Graham asked.
“Nope. This is it and I’m done for the summer.”
“That’s great,” he said.
“Well, I’d better get going,” she said.
“I’ll tag along,” Graham said. “I’m not really in the mood to hang out in my empty apartment anyway. My mom’s working late again.”
Fifteen minutes later Jade had turned in her paper in the English building. She crossed the lawn and made her way toward where Graham waited for her on one of the benches under a tree.
She was just a few feet away from him when she spotted a couple far on the other side of the lawn. Her shoulders went tense, and she felt her eyes bugging but couldn’t stop it.
“What?” Graham saw her expression and turned to follow her gaze.
Seeing Logan here on campus shouldn’t have been surprising. But it was the woman with him that made her heart constrict painfully. Jade stood gaping as the thin, auburn-haired woman clutched his arm like it was the most natural thing in the world. This, after everything the woman had said about Logan and their history together.
“What’s she doing with him?” Jade said.
“Violet,” Graham muttered under his breath.
As if she’d heard her name, Violet’s head tilted up, and she met Graham’s eyes. The smile on her lips faded, and she turned Logan away, pulling him to her car.
“Wait—you know her?” Jade asked.
“Hold
on—that’s your ex?” Graham was as distracted by the couple as Jade had been just a moment earlier. “Dang, this is crazy.” He scratched at his dark curls with a finger. His gaze was still on the couple as they disappeared behind some trees.
“So you know her? Violet? How?” Jade asked.
Graham continued to stare at the place where they’d been. “She’s my sister.” His dull tone made it take a moment for Jade to register what he’d said.
“What?”
His eyes roamed. They locked on hers. “That’s not the weirdest part of all this.” He sighed and shook his head with what looked like awe. “I’ve seen this happen. Wait until you hear my dreams.”
Were Graham’s dreams coming true? He’d seen Violet and Logan together with his own eyes. Lowering himself onto a bench, he took a deep breath and prepared to explain everything to Jade.
“This is all going to sound crazy,” he said.
“Okay.” Jade’s brows pinched together as she sat down next to him.
“I recently started having these weird dreams. First, they’re way more vivid than normal. Second, they put me in someone else’s head…sort of.”
Jade frowned. “Like you aren’t yourself?”
“Like I’m aware of myself, but I’m sort of…in another consciousness at the same time.”
“That’s a bit strange.”
“It’s incredibly weird. The worst part is…” Graham hesitated. “I feel like such a creeper saying this, but…they’re always about my sister. Well, half-sister.”
“Violet?” Jade nodded toward the trees where Violet and Logan had just been.
Graham nodded. “It’s been happening for a few weeks now, and every time I’m, like…inside her mind. She has these weird colored strands coming from her hands, and they let her influence the people around her.”
“Like a puppet master or something?” Jade asked.
“Not exactly. It’s more subtle. More as if…she makes people like her somehow.”
Jade cocked her head, and Graham could tell she was trying to understand.
He blew out another breath. “It’s like…she enchants them to like her. Like, whenever she transfers her power to a new person, they lose their own sense of purpose and only care about her.”
“Weird dream, for sure,” Jade said.
“Yeah. It is. But the really strange part—”
“There’s more?”
Graham nodded. “I thought it was all in my head. Some soap opera where Violet is playing cat and mouse with whatever guy she’s interested in at the time. Which, as I said, creeped me out for being this lurker in her head. But now I’m finding connections.”
“What sort of connections? What did you mean about seeing this happen?”
Graham took off his glasses and rubbed his face. “It’s all so weird.”
“You saw Logan and Violet together?” Jade asked. “In a dream?”
Graham nodded. “I thought he looked familiar—remember when I saw the picture on your phone?” He thought about what Chloe might say to all this. He’d developed a glitch. But was that what this was? Or was his writer-brain kicking in—wanting to find a story in everything?
“So you can see what’s about to happen?”
Graham swallowed, not ready to admit this was more than a fluke. What could it mean that he was connected to Violet in this way? “I saw this scene, them walking arm in arm. I also saw…” He hesitated.
“What?”
“I saw where she enchanted him.”
“Enchanted him…like…she brainwashed him?”
“Basically, yes.”
“So he’s not in his right mind? He’s being manipulated? She—what? Enchanted him into dating her?”
Graham shook his head. “I don’t know how this works. That part could be a hundred percent fiction. This is the first time I’ve seen any crossover between what I dream about and real life.” Though he remembered how Violet had stared at her hand.
“But it could be real,” Jade said. “Maybe she does have some kind of enchanting ability.”
Graham didn’t want to consider it. But an inner war fought inside him. If there was a chance Jade’s ex was being manipulated, he didn’t think he could ignore it. He’d promised to be Jade’s friend, and he could tell this was important to her. He inhaled deeply. “Okay. Maybe it is possible. But there’s no reason to overreact until we know for sure. Problem is, I don’t know how to confirm either way without just flat out asking her.”
“Would she tell you?” Jade asked.
“I don’t know. I guess it depends on how far she’s gone.”
“Let’s not confront her just yet. It could make things worse. We need to know first.” Jade traced one of the smooth boards on the bench with her finger as she thought. “Maybe you can tell me everything you remember from the dreams, and we can pick them apart until we find something verifiable.”
“Well, I’ve got nothing better to do for the day,” Graham said. “Until Chloe’s fitting tonight.”
“Perfect,” Jade said.
“Can we at least get out of the heat first?” Graham asked, pulling at the collar of his shirt.
“Come on. I know a great coffee shop,” Jade said. “It’s on me.”
~
Jade and Graham had been at the coffee shop for over an hour, and Graham had run his dreams by her, one by one. She had to admit that it was a little creepy hearing about them from his end.
“So you dream about her every night?” she asked. “No, uh…normal dreams?”
“Not recently. I mean, I don’t dream every night, but I haven’t dreamed of anything that doesn’t involve Violet in some way.”
“You said she’s your sister?”
Graham nodded. “Half-sister, but we didn’t grow up together. I mean, not in the same family. We’ve been friends since birth, but we didn’t even know we were related until about five years ago.”
“Wow, okay.”
“It’s kind of a long story. I’ll tell you about it later.”
Jade nodded. “I’d like to hear it. But first, maybe we can figure out whether your dreams are real.”
Graham sipped the last of his iced latte and set his cup down. “I don’t know. Saying all this out loud makes it seem even crazier. The more I think about it all, the more I’m convinced it’s gotta be all in my head.”
“Maybe….”
“I guess I’m just used to meeting people with abilities lately. That’s why I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out Violet has some abnormal skill of her own.”
Graham tapped his cheek. “She didn’t, growing up. I’m pretty sure I would’ve known if she could control people. We wouldn’t have had any disagreements.” He gave a wry smile.
Jade thought for a minute. “You mentioned something about an accident?”
“She was hit by a car two months ago, and she was in a coma for a while. But she woke up, and they released her from the hospital several weeks back.”
Jade toyed with her earlobe, considering.
“Why?” Graham asked.
“Well, some of the abilities were triggered by accidents—specifically head injuries.” She thought of Chloe and Josh.
Graham’s eyes widened. “Yeah? Violet had a concussion. Do you think….”
“If she has a new ability, there’s a chance that’s when it started.”
“Okay. But this is all guesswork right now. We have no facts.”
“And nothing you’ve told me so far seems like anything we can verify.”
“Can you think of anything else?” she asked.
Graham nodded gravely. “There was one other dream. It’s a little disturbing, though.”
“What happened?”
“I saw her with a guy—in the dreams she used him kind of like her personal assistant. Anyway, I saw him—” Graham swallowed, and his eyes darted around.
“What?”
“He fell from an overpass and was killed.”
“W
hoa. And Violet was involved?”
He nodded. “I think maybe she pushed him—I’m not sure. I didn’t see it happen, just right before and right after. She was there, standing on the bridge above looking down on the body and she was…let’s just say she wasn’t upset about his death.”
“Wow. Okay. That’s the exact type of thing we needed.”
“But even if my dream is real, there’s a chance it hasn’t happened yet.”
“True. But we might as well try to find out. Let’s just check the news over the last few days and see if anyone’s been pushed off a bridge. That would have to make the local news.”
“Assuming it happened here.”
“She lives in town, right?” Jade asked.
He nodded.
“Well, it sounds like a good place to start, at least.”
“My laptop’s at home,” she said. “We could go back to my apartment and scan the news sites.”
“What time is it?” Graham asked.
Jade checked her phone. “Oh, dang. It’s almost seven.”
“Last-minute costume prep, right? When’s Chloe meeting us?”
“In about fifteen minutes,” Jade said. “That means we need to get back.”
Graham nodded. “It’s okay. We’ll check the headlines later.”
Jade decided to steal a bit of time between trying on costumes to search the local news for a story that might fit Graham’s dream. If she could prove his dreams foretold the future, it would give her one last thread of hope that maybe Logan hadn’t hooked up with the first woman he’d seen. She scrolled through articles on her phone while Graham tried on his outfit. He did likewise while she put on hers, but neither of them had found anything yet.
Meanwhile, Chloe was in a frenzy as she completed the finishing touches for the designs. Graham looked absolutely dashing in his perfectly tailored suit complete with bow tie, and Jade had to admit her dress was pretty fantastic.
“Chloe, your tailoring is perfect,” she said, fanning her skirt and admiring the tiny beads spiraling up the bodice. She did a twirl. “I feel like a princess.”
“That is saying something,” Chloe muttered.
Jade grinned. “I usually prefer something simpler, but I guess it’s worth getting all fancy every once in a while.”
Enchanter: The Flawed Series Book Four Page 19
