Once Bitten (Shadow Guild: The Rebel 1)
Page 19
“You seem really on edge. And confused.” She gestured around the bar. “By this place.”
“I mean…duh? Everyone here is wearing a Hollywood-level costume at ten in the morning.”
“There’s a cosplay conference nearby.”
“Really?” Relief flashed through me. Now it all made sense. I liked it when things made sense.
“No.” She laughed. “Of course not.” Then she leaned forward, her eyes searching my face. “But I like you. You’ve got a good vibe. That’s why I want to know what’s up with you.”
“W
hat’s up is that I’m looking for a murderer.”
“And you’ve also walked into one of the few shadow world pubs in town and seem to think everyone is cosplaying.”
Shit. I was clearly floundering here. “Um…”
“You don’t know what the shadow world is.” Her eyes widened. “You don’t know that magic is real.” The last words were said in a hushed tone.
“Should I?”
“You found your way into this bar, so . . . yes.”
“Oh, crap.” My hands curled into fists.
“This pub is a shadow world. In between the magical realm and the human one. What’s your gift?”
I gave her a blank look.
“Your magical gift. Surely you’ve got one. I can feel your signature, even though you should be keeping it on the down-low around here.”
“Signature?”
“All Magica—that’s magic people, by the way—have a signature that’s uniquely their own. It corresponds to any of the five senses. Strong Magica have all five signatures. And you…” She hesitated a moment, her gaze flickering as she inhaled. “Have all five.”
She looked impressed. Also a little wary.
There was a loud buzzing sound in my head. I didn’t want to believe this. It was crazy. But… “When I touch things or people, I sometimes have visions.”
“Oh, clairvoyance. Nice. You must be powerful.”
“I have no idea.”
“Oh, honey, you are. I can feel it.” She frowned. “But you’ve been living your whole life in the human world?”
“Uh…yeah. What other world is there?”
She gestured around us.
“There are bars everywhere,” I said.
“It’s more than a bar, but I’ll ignore that grievous slight to my honor.”
A million questions raced through my mind, almost all of them having to do with this place and the world and me. So many questions I felt like they could tear my mind apart.
No.
I focused on the one thing that needed to be done to keep me alive. It was a terrible thing to learn how to do when you were a kid, but it was the reason I was still here and the reason I was going to solve this damned murder and clear my name.