Series: Like Us Series by Krista Ritchie
Total pages in book: 241
Estimated words: 236417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1182(@200wpm)___ 946(@250wpm)___ 788(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 236417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1182(@200wpm)___ 946(@250wpm)___ 788(@300wpm)
“He’s likely fictional,” Eliot says. “Let me guess. Damon Salvatore.” He’s the bad boy vampire from The Vampire Dairies.
“Wrong and wrong.”
“Not fictional, great,” Tom coughs out. “Another topic for my weekly therapy session.”
Kinney and I share a secret smile, like this kind of banter is familiar. My sister and I know what it’s like to be friends with Cobalts. This might be the first we’ve truly bonded over that.
Eliot squints at his sister. “If he’s real, give me his phone number.”
Audrey blushes. “I don’t have it. Yet. He’s much older than me anyway, and it’d be wrong to pursue him—but the minute I’m eighteen, it’s game over.” At this, Audrey glides away with my sister.
Eliot shakes his head and sips some of Tom’s vodka. “I might go to jail for murder that day.”
“Leave that to Charlie,” Tom tells him. “He’ll eviscerate anyone five feet from her.”
“I’m not leaving murder up to Charlie to protect our sister. It’ll be too clean.”
“Yeah, and he won’t go to jail. Because he knows not to write his name on it.”
I muse out loud, “Audrey can’t wait to be eighteen while Winona wants to stay young forever.”
“Oh the tragedy,” Eliot mutters into another sip of vodka, which Tom steals back, just as Jane shushes everyone and says the psychic is at the door.
While Jane welcomes a short silver-haired lady, no taller than five-foot, into the penthouse, the party quiets down. She has a radiant smile on my cousin and she even cups Jane’s one hand around her two palms. It’s a benevolent, warm greeting.
“She seems fake,” Eliot whispers to us.
“Yeah, not angry enough,” Tom whispers back.
“Based off what?” I ask under my breath.
“The fortuneteller in Princesses of Philly looked mad,” Tom explains. “She’s the one that told our mom she’d likely have twins. And lookie there.” He motions his cup to Charlie and Beckett. The Cobalt twins are side by side near the kitchen entryway, watching their older sister direct the older lady farther into the living room.
She’s telling Jane to place two chairs in front of the TV. In a matter of minutes, there’s a perfect setup for public readings.
Nerves swarm my stomach, but Eliot calms me when he whispers, “It was a lucky guess. Twins run in many families. Case in point.” He nods towards Thatcher and Banks.
“Hello all,” the lady announces with a jubilant glow. “I’m Cordelia. It’s my pleasure to meet all of you tonight.”
Many of us return the sentiment. I give her a silent Vulcan salute.
“Now, I’ll be reading energies and palms. It’s most helpful if you keep the space as quiet as you can, but if you feel inclined to talk—which I hope you’d want to, since these can be quite revealing—I just ask you do so at a whisper. Thank you, now I’ll be taking a little walk around the room.”
She strolls past the coffee table and peers past most of us, not making direct eye contact. I wonder if she’s a medium too. When she reaches the cluster of bodyguards, my dog rushes up to her, and Donnelly is super quick to catch Orion at the torso.
“Sorry,” Donnelly says. “Don’t know if you’re a dog person. He’s friendly though.”
Cordelia scratches his furry head. “How could I not love this beautiful creature?”
I beam, and Eliot whispers, “We’ve lost Luna.”
“She’s suckered in,” Tom agrees.
She loves my dog. Of course that’d earn her brownie points. I’d give her the entire brownie tray for looking past Orion’s defiant nature and seeing his kind heart instead.
Cordelia smiles up at Donnelly. Okay, now she’s making super intense eye contact, and I try not to panic. Especially as Donnelly’s eyes flit briefly to me across the room, then back to her.
No one murmurs.
Not as she says, “You are why everyone is together.”
Uhhh, that’s wrong, right? Jane and Moffy are why we’re all here. Eliot mouths to me, phony. I mouth back, not nice.
He mimes stabbing his heart with a sword.
Donnelly nods a couple times and grins, “Good on me then.”
“Yes,” Cordelia smiles joyfully. “Very well done. I’ll see you again in a moment.” She crosses the room and eyes the ceiling with a big breath. “There is a great deal of love here. Some of you have had many firsts within this space.” She waves around absentmindedly while appearing deep in thought too. “You all will have lasts as well.”
Bodies shift. Whispers. Jane has an analytical expression, like she’s processing how Cordelia came to this logical conclusion.
Eliot whispers to me, “It will be my last sip of Tom’s drink.” He takes one more sip. “Regretful.”
Tom laughs under his breath.
I try to smile, but Cordelia lets out a sorrowful sigh. A bittersweet sentiment touches her pale blue eyes. “Time is so precious, isn’t it? Wherever you all may go, they will always remember you and they will call you back.” She gestures a lithe hand to my brother.