Verum (The Nocte Trilogy 2)

It’s crazy, I know.

But apparently, I’m crazy now.

Sabine guides me to a velvet chair and pushes me gently into it. She glances at Dare.

“Leave us,” she tells him softly. “I’ve got her now. She’ll be fine.”

He’s hesitant and he looks at me, and I nod.

I’ll be fine.

I think.

He slips away.

Sabine rustles about and as she does, I look around. On the table next to me, tarot cards are splayed out, formed in an odd formation, as though I’d interrupted a fortune telling.

I gulp because something hangs in the air here.

Something mystical.

After a minute, Sabine shoves a cup into my hands.

“Drink. It’s lemon balm and chamomile. It’ll settle your stomach and calm you down.”

I don’t bother to ask how she knew I was upset. It must’ve been written all over my face.

I sip at the brew and after a second, she glances at me.

“Better?”

I nod. “Thank you.”

She smiles and her teeth are scary. I look away, and she roots through a cabinet. She extracts her prize and hands me a box.

“Take this at night. It’ll help you sleep.” I glance at her questioningly, and she adds, “Dare told me.”

I take the box, which is unmarked, and she nods. “Your mama used to have trouble sleeping. And she had bouts of nerves, too.”

Sabine has no way of knowing that my ‘bout of nerves’ included hallucinations and hearing voices, so I just smile and thank her.

I glance at her table again. “Are you a fortune-teller, Sabine?” It feels odd to say those words in a serious manner, but the old woman doesn’t miss a beat.

“I read the cards,” she nods. “Someday, I’ll read yours.”

I don’t know if I want to know what they’ll say.

“Have you read Dare’s?” I ask impulsively, and I don’t know why. Sabine glances at me, her black eyes knowing.

“That boy doesn’t need his fortune told. He writes his own.”

I have no idea what that means, but I nod like I do.

“You’ll be ok now,” she tells me, her expression wise and I find myself believing her. She’s got a calming nature, something that settles the air around her. I hadn’t noticed that before.

“My mother never mentioned you,” I murmur as I get to my feet. “I find that odd, since she must’ve loved you.”

Sabine looks away. “Your mother doesn’t have happy memories from here,” she says quietly. “But I know her heart.”