Lord of Destiny (The Dragon Demigods #6) - Charlene Hartnady Page 0,38

engine off. “You saw something so horrific as your first vision?”

I’m struggling to catch my breath. I’m trying hard to tamp down on my emotions. I don’t want to start blubbering. I nod.

“I’m so fucking sorry,” he says. “I can’t imagine…”

“Even though she was much older in the vision, I saw her death. I saw them…” I can’t speak for a few minutes. I look his way. “You must have experienced this? You know how it feels, don’t you?” He must think I’m crazy to be so emotional over a vision. If only it had stayed just a vision.

“I try not to touch anyone,” he says, leaning back in his seat and turning to me.

“Ever?”

He makes a face. “I try not to, but sometimes I fail. I haven’t seen the death of a friend. I’m careful. I can’t imagine…” His eyes look hazy. “I can’t read non-humans very well. It hardly ever happens. When I do, it usually isn’t clear at all.” His eyes stay on me. They look darker. His features are shrouded in shadow.

“I can read everyone, but it doesn’t always happen. Even with humans, although they are much easier. I guess it’s not something I can turn on and off. Her name was Mimi.” My voice grows soft. “The vision was a blur. Her limp bleeding body at the end was not. That part was clear. All because she hugged me. Such a simple thing.” I pull in a deep breath. “I didn’t realize what I was seeing. I didn’t fully comprehend what was happening.”

“You must have been afraid,” Stephan says. He stops there; his beautiful chocolate gaze is on me.

“I wasn’t sure what was happening when the vision hit me like a ton of bricks.” I take in a deep breath. “We were talking about my home life and how my dad was being a jerk to my mom…to me too. Mimi put her arms around me tightly to comfort me. We were so close. I threw my arms around her in return. That’s what you do when your best friend hugs you. The vision hit almost instantly. I wasn’t sure what was happening. My arms tightened around Mimi. She hugged me harder. I started crying. She thought I was getting all emotional about our conversation. We were on the cusp of becoming teenagers; there were hormones involved.” I sniff, “I soon realized what was happening when it happened again a couple of times. I really hoped that I was a demigod. It meant a lot to me back then. I talked about being the daughter of Janus all the time. My dad is a jerk. I know it sounds terrible, but I hoped and prayed he wasn’t my real father.” I suck in a breath. “I still remember seeing her broken body in my mind’s eye. I physically jerked away from her in that instant. I was confused. I made up a whole ton of excuses. It took me a while to realize that I had this ability. I saw the vision several times over the next few years but not every time Mimi and I

came into contact. After a while, I never saw it again. I warned her to stay away from horses anyway. Just to be sure.” I blink to stop the tears. “She did. All those years, she was paranoid about horses. I guess you could say that horses killed her.”

“Did she fall off a horse?” he asks, frowning heavily. “That doesn’t seem right,” he mutters to himself.

I shake my head. “A herd of centaurs ambushed us.”

“Centaurs!” Stephan growls.

I nod. A tear falls, and then another. “We stumbled into a herd of them one night. We didn’t even know they existed. We’ve since learned a lot about them. They’re disgusting creatures. I think they underestimated how powerful we were. Four demigods and three dragon shifters.”

“Three?” I can see his mind working.

“West’s brother, Raider, and Mimi. She was his girlfriend.” I sniff, trying to hold it together. I’m not sure why I’m telling him this, only that it feels good to talk about it. Our group has bottled it up. It’s not a nice thing to remember. To bring up. West loses it if I talk about that night. If any of us brings it up. “Raider and Mimi were dragon shifters as well. When we first left the weyr, we used to find empty houses to sleep in. We had a few items of clothing. No money. No idea how to live