Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 84072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“She will lose everyone she loves to true death. In every reincarnation she will lose her mother, never know her father, and never know true love with her soulmate.”
“That’s harsh,” I said under my breath as the familiarity of the princess’s situation washed over me.
“The world is harsh,” she snapped back at me. “But things always work out for the best, and one day, they will find each other again. One day it won’t be all pain and broken hearts but fulfilled dreams and prophesies.”
“And you know this how?” I wondered aloud.
She stared down at my wrists.
I quickly covered them with the gray Harvard sweatshirt I was wearing.
“Testing the fires, were you?”
“How do you know that?”
“You have questions.” She freaking read my mind. “I know a place where you can get answers.”
“Where?” I jumped to my feet.
“Orca Cove.”
“Wait, we’re in Orca Cove.”
She sighed like I was annoying her. “Use your brain Luna, at least once in your godforsaken life—Orca Cove, go to it, the cove.”
She meant the real cove.
“After work.” I nodded.
She just shrugged like it didn’t matter either way and went back to reading her book. But the story she told me stayed with me the rest of the day and when it was time to head over to Benjamin’s, I found myself veering away from his house and toward the cove.
Twenty minutes later, I was standing on the cliffs watching the water crash against the rock in majestic splendor.
Shivering, I crossed my arms and continued to watch, wishing that the answers would fall out of heaven or, at the very least, magically appear in front of me.
The story she told me felt real.
It felt like a memory.
And it terrified me to think it could be mine.
Was I crazy to assume so much? Part of me said no, especially since I now had tattoos on my wrists that glowed and a missing mom who apparently had never even arrived to begin with. Any normal person would be losing her mind. Instead, I felt oddly at peace, albeit confused. Truth be told, I had not concerned myself much with searching for my mom, and I had no idea why her disappearance wasn’t making me crazy desperate to find her. Almost like I was being compelled to just accept that my mom had vanished.
I felt like I was home.
The snowflake tattoo on my left wrist pulsed when I looked down at it. Though still silver, it seemed to come alive as an orca swam dangerously close to the cliff, spouting up air and water in greeting.
I smiled and waved, feeling dumb after the fact but realizing that I must be extremely lonely if I was trying to communicate with whales.
It swam back and sputtered a bit, then turned on its side, flapping its fin at me as if to say, “hey back.”
My jaw dropped. “Did you just—?” I gaped. “Did you just say hi?”
It circled again, joined by six others as they all danced around each other in the water, showing off like they had more than an audience of one.
“They like you,” Benjamin said from behind me.
I nearly fell into the water as I jerked around. “How’d you find me?”
His eyes heated. “I’d find you anywhere, I think.”
“Is that just a line, or are you serious?”
He hesitated and then sighed. “Maybe a bit of both.”
I looked down. “You know the Old Crone? Or Mrs. Eris?”
His smile grew. “Old and cranky one day, creepy and aloof the next? Yes. I know her.”
“She told me a story.” The wind whipped against my face. “And it just… I don’t know do you believe in déjà vu or reincarnation?”
“Déjà vu’s a proven phenomenon.” He moved to my side. “As far as reincarnation—what do you think?”
“I think I’m going crazy.” Tears filled my eyes.
He hesitated and then wrapped an arm around me, pulling me close. Immediately, I felt safe even as my body slumped, its energy suddenly gone. “We should go back to the house; it’s freezing.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” I stepped on the rock, and my foot slipped. I scrambled for him, but I had zero energy and strength as my body fell against the rock and then back into the tumultuous water, and all the while Benjamin screamed my name.
I gasped and sputtered as water filled my mouth.
My arms fought to keep me afloat, but I was exhausted, and each time I fought, I saw spots of black like I was suffocating.
And then he was down there with me, his mouth on mine, giving me air as he pulled me to the surface. Two of the orcas swam beside us, protecting us from the rocky shore.
Once we reached the rocks, I started to see double or maybe even triple. Benjamin held out his hands, something blue seemed to dance along the edge of them, and then I was warm, so warm, that I closed my eyes and fell against him.