Pull My Heartstrings

Chapter 8

Rowan

"Next please," I called as a young woman left my living room. She held the door for my next customer, an old man. He looked nervous as he walked in, and with a quick glance to the detached red string on his chest, I knew his trip had been wasted.

"Your mate is dead," I said, in no mood to cater to anyone's emotions. The old man didn't react, just stared, opening his mouth like he wanted to say something. He looked vaguely familiar with his tired blue eyes and drawn mouth.

"So it's true then, Susan is dead," he said softly. "I knew when I was taken away that I would never see her again..."

"Excuse me?" I asked, my interest piqued. Unfortunately, I remembered that there was a line going down the hall of wolves seeking their mates, so I didn't have time to play psychologist. "Look, there are a lot of people waiting their turn out there and--"

"Oh I know," the old man said nonchalantly. "I waited for half an hour. Your visions take a while sometimes, you know."

I bristled but didn't say anything. He's an old man, Rowan, you shouldn't go around punching old men in the face.

"I would've thought Alpha Evans trained your ability," he said, searching my face for a reaction. And boy, he got one. My jaw dropped and my eyes widened. There was a reason he looked familiar. He was another one of Evans' trainees. After the shock, the panic set in.

"How do you know me?" I grabbed his arm. "We never talked, nobody knew each other in that cursed warehouse. How. Do. You. Know. Me?"

He tapped his head with his free arm, not struggling against my hard grip on his bony upper arm. "I'm a seer," he said as if it was obvious. "Evans used to keep me around until my visions stopped coming as often. When you're as old as me, you'll understand how your power fades with time. But, when I saw you and your mate in a vision, I knew it was important. It was the first vision I've had in five years, actually."

"Oh," I dropped his arm, shooting him an apologetic look. "So you're not under Evans' control?"

"No," he said, but muttering something beneath his breath. It was so quiet that I didn't hear it, but it didn't sound nice. 

 "Well, I hate to inform you that my mate and I aren't on the best terms," I said bitterly, facing the Chicago skyline through the window to remind myself that life in the bustling city would go on. My feelings had little to do with the matter, it seemed. 

"Ah, yes, that was part of my vision," he said with a triumphant tone. "But I saw much further into the future than that. I hate to meddle, but I think you should check up on your mate, set up a meeting."

"Why would I do that?" I asked, honestly curious as to why the old man wanted me to see Finn. He didn't want to see me; maybe it was better to just let things simmer down a bit before I begged him to forgive me.

"Well, obviously you two need contact with each other to keep up your health. But on the other hand I'm just nudging you in the right direction. If this works, you will be helping yourself and others tremendously. Just do it," he explained with an urgent tone. 

I didn't know what to make of it. My emotions were still raw after everything that had happened, did I really want to put myself through hell again hearing Finn's cold voice? As much as I loved his baritone voice it ripped my heart to pieces every time I heard the indifference in his words. 

"Please," the man urged. I sighed. He was a seer, and he seemed like a decent person. His intentions were only good, and he would know better than I about the sequence of events in the future. If a phone call was all it took to set the future in the right path, so be it.