The Opal Witch: Prophecy (Book Two)

Chapter Twenty

Kitty

Kitty bolted upright in bed and clutched her head. Against her palm, she could feel thumping in her temple caused by the endless hours of keeping her jaw clenched tight against a scream. Dropping one hand to her jaw, she moved it from side to side, working out the tension until she could open her mouth without wincing.

These Dreams were becoming more frequent now, but the power in her stones did not wane, meaning they were being sent to her. But by whom? And why?

Kicking back the covers, she slid her legs over the edge of the bed, curling her toes away from the icy floor before forcing herself to stand. The heat was off again, and she wouldn't have the funds until next week to pay the bill. Thankfully, Mississippi winters were mild enough that a few extra layers took away most of the discomfort. The whiskey in her tea remedied the rest.

Kitty settled herself at the kitchen table- a foldable card table she found by the dumpster- and tapped her chipped fingernails on its worn surface while her tea cooled. Her eyes followed the lazy trail of steam rising from the liquid, and she tried to forget the time she could have twisted the mist into anything she wanted with little more than a thought.

At last, she lifted the mug to her lips and sipped, reluctantly letting her mind drift back to the Dreams. She recalled waking after the first one, unable to breathe as fear closed her throat. Seeing Lux with Morgan was terrifying and a reminder of everything that was at stake, but within moments, nothing but the haziest awareness of the Dream remained.

Over the next few days, she went about in a daze, a fresh fear driving her every decision. Though she'd been working on a plan for years now, she was nowhere near ready to stop Lux. Her stones were at an all-time low, even with the one she "acquired" from Ashley. The reminder of that task had her reaching for the whiskey bottle.

Another Dream came, same as before- Lux and Morgan in a room together, their affection for one another clear. Yet, this time she recalled details that made little sense. Lux was dressed in strange, outdated garb, and Morgan, the ancient creature that she was, was not shy about adopting the dress of the modern world when it suited her purposes- namely seducing men and women to gain power.

The most recent before tonight's muddied the waters further. It was the first Dream Kitty could recall anything beyond images, and Lux's plea for magic and revenge didn't make sense. Determined to put together the pieces of the puzzle, Kitty drove to the Godelieve's, determined to snoop around for answers. She found despair instead.

Declan had returned, and with him, two other men who exuded a foreign power, stronger and more intoxicating than any other power she'd come into contact with. The dark, brooding one nearly eclipsed Lux in raw strength, though Kitty sensed his abilities were not as comprehensive as the High Priestess'. Whatever he could do, he would do it well. She was certain.

She went home, got roaring drunk, and passed out for almost an entire day. Everything she worked for hinged on Declan staying away. The smug little bastard Nigel had promised her that Declan would be lucky to ever leave the institute. But hadn't she learned long ago that promises were worth nothing?

The bottle clattered on the table, its heavy thunk muffled by the thin plastic lining. The amber contents sloshed about, and she considered retreating to her bedroom with the whiskey, sliding beneath covers still warm from her body, and drinking so much that no Dream or dreams would ever reach her again.

A hot tear splashed on top of her hand, jolting her back to her senses and drawing her back to the reason for her unfortunate state of wakefulness- tonight's Dream. Finally, all the confounding pieces came together to form a new picture. A truer picture. And that was the fact that the woman she'd been seeing couldn't be Lux.

Biting her lip to keep from blushing, she went over the details in the Dream. Had Kitty not witnessed the scene between Lux and the man who was most certainly not Declan, she might have taken longer coming to this conclusion. There were many awful things she believed Lux would be capable of doing one day, but cheating on Declan was not one of them.

Then there was the beheading. Once again, she felt a scream leap to her lips as the memory of Gaheris swinging a sword at Lux's neck flared in her mind. How she wished she could have woken before it happened. She would never forget watching the final bit of skin severing, letting Lux's head drop to the bed, her unseeing gray eyes pinning Kitty to the wall she stood against.

Kitty had collapsed to her knees, sobbing and reaching for the girl who had once been her dearest friend. The man in the bed screamed until his voice left him, and it felt like hours before he found the courage to move toward his lover's body, running his hand along her red curls as he cried. Shocked by the change in hair color, she crept closer, wondering if blood had altered the color so greatly, but it would have darkened it, not brightened it.

"This wasn't Lux," she had whispered, only then waking.

Grabbing her phone from the counter, she typed in the name Morgause. It was what the man had called Lux as he... She shook her head to banish the image, cursing silently as her ancient phone struggled to load the search results.

"Oh, shit," she breathed after clicking on the first link.

Why would someone send her Dreams about Morgan's sister, and why would she wear Lux's face? Her battered brain and body rebelled against intense thought, demanding rest and recovery, but Kitty pushed through the wave of exhaustion. She needed to understand what was happening.

In a few minutes, she'd made a list on her phone. Questions that remained- like what was the stone Morgause was wearing in the Dream? And names of people who might know more about Arthurian legends. She read the last entry, swallowing hard at its implications. If it was true, it could change everything she believed about Daphne's visions.

And it would mean she'd lost herself for nothing.