Page 69 of Was I Ever Real

Feelingridiculousdoesn’t even begin to cover it. Mortified feels a lot closer to the truth.

I force myself to finally snap out of it. I just flayed the Governor of California, I think I can handle some half-pint witch lady. Squaring my shoulders and straightening my spine, I walk in.

This place is as hokey as I remember. No surprise there. Still, I nearly jump out of my skin when the woman appears out of what feels like thin air.

“Fucking Christ,” I mutter under my breath, eyeing her up and down with derision.

She smiles and tells me to sit.

So I stay standing.

“As you wish,” she says softly and places her clasped hands on the counter separating us.

We stare at each other for what feels like an eternity until I crack and speak. “You remember me, don’t you?”

“I do.” She observes me, her face open and inviting before continuing, “Are you ready for the answer to your question?”

“Is there one?”

“Perhaps,” she answers and I feel my patience dwindling rapidly.

“Hurry the fuck up,” I bite out, rubbing my hand over the back of my neck. “I don’t have time for this shit.”

She sighs as if dealing with a difficult child and I can’t comprehend how I’m still standing here entertaining this bullshit.

“When you die a violent death, it leaves an imprint on your soul. From one life to the next you carry that wound,” she says while placing a palm over her heart. “Birthmarks are believed to be clues left behind from another life.”

My mind goes blank. I don't know if I should laugh or storm out of here. But I can’t deny the pinch in my chest when I hear the words slip past her lips.

I clammer to find something,anythingto say. “What the hell does this have to do with me and Lenix being connected?”

She smiles, looking like she knows something I don’t. My blood boils but I manage to keep calm because, somehow, I need to hear what she’s about to say.

“You should ask the one who’s life line you have etched in the palm of your hand.”

Chapter 39

Theoceanbreezeisa small comfort against my cheek. The sweet scent of spring lingers in the air as I close my eyes, trying to enjoy this quiet moment. But it won’t last. Even this is an illusion. It’s been over a week since I told Connor everything. It felt freeing at the time but now I just feel raw. Splayed open with my insides seeping out.

I hate it.

I haven’t told Sunny yet—and it just doesn’t feel right for Connor to know and not her. Which explains why I’m avoiding her when I can. I can’t bear the reminder that our friendship is a sham. She has no idea who her friend is, and the longer I wait to tell her, the more I dig my grave even deeper.

Which is why I’m on my lunch break alone again. I made up an excuse about having to run some errands, but all I really wanted to do wasrun. I let out a slow breath and open my eyes. My gaze finds the ocean again and I allow myself this minute fracture of peace, if only for just this fleeting moment.

I’m trapped in limbo. In a liminal space where I’m knitting a web of false security around myself while the threat is still out there. Telling Connor about the commune simply quelled the smallest of aches. I know my brother won’t give up. I’m the perfect sacrifice for his mission towards Godliness.

I might have been out of the fold for thirteen years but I still remember how it felt to think you knew in the deepest parts of your soul that you had the answer. That God would protect us all, if only we complied. Thinking of Lucy still ensnared inside Sacro Nuntio, being subjugated to God knows what makes me sick. I’ve suppressed the thought of her for years, and the guilt of leaving her there is excruciating.

I watch the waves roll onto shore, biting my lip to try to quell my nerves. My phone pings in my purse on the bench beside me. Needing a better distraction than just my own brooding thoughts, I dig it out. It’s a notification from my news app. I almost dismiss it, until my eyes land on a name and a chill travels down my spine. With clammy palms, I quickly unlock the screen and pull up the article.

Holy fucking shit.

My eyes rove over the words on the screen but I can barely process them.

Governor Morrissey is dead.

Flayed and found crucified on an upside-down cross in front of thefuckingCalifornia State Capitol.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com