Page 79 of Soulbound

And she needed to know if this was why the demon had singled her out and begun to invade her dreams.

Did it know her in some intimate sense? Was there a connection there between them? Was that why she was the white queen?

And if she was the white queen, then who was the black queen? Two sides to a coin.... What if the black queen bore demon blood in her veins too?

Her mother? There had to be a reason her quest for the black queen drew her back to that particular point in time.

But then of course, there was Julia Camden.

Who had no ties to her past.

It gave her a headache, and she finally set the book aside, but the questions didn't vanish, and deep in her heart she knew why.

* * *

Cleo rapped hesitantly on the door.

"Come in," Lady Eberhardt barked.

She slipped inside Lady E's parlor and closed the door. Lady E looked up from where she was meticulously placing her tarot cards. The old woman sighed and gathered her tarot cards into a pile. "Well, your arrival makes my petty divinations obsolete."

"A month or so ago, perhaps." Cleo smiled wanly.

"Nonsense." The snort that accompanied the word made Cleo's lips twitch. Lady E owned the ability to communicate entire sentences in a single lip curl or tsk. "The second you stop believing that rubbish is the second your mind disavows its stranglehold on your gifts. Belief in oneself is the most important aspect a sorcerer can learn."

"Perhaps it is belief that holds me back. I prophesized I would lose the ability of Foresight the day I saw the world again through my own eyes, and so far that has held true." She took a seat across from Lady E. "But if I believe my Visions are true, then how do I disbelieve the very first Vision I ever had?"

Lady E made a harrumphing sound, but she had no articulate answer to that. She scooped the pack of tarot cards into her hands, and held one card up, the back of it directed toward Cleo. "What card is it?"

Cleo hesitated. Reached out and held her hand up to the card. "Six of Pentacles."

"And this one?" Another card.

"The Empress." Cleo sighed. "I've been doing this since I was three."

Lady E put her cards down and leaned forward. "You, young lady, are an utter fool. I hear you've been future-walking and dream-walking. Gifts you didn't own before your blindfold was removed. Perhaps the blindfold wasn't safeguarding your Foresight abilities? Perhaps it was holding you back from exploring your other gifts?"

Cleo looked down into her lap.

"I've been speaking to Madrigal Brown. Did you know, you're already future-walking better than she can? Her outer limit is a minute in advance at her absolute best. She tells me she thinks you were predicting almost half a minute in advance in your first attempt at it. You're still the Order's Cassandra, Cleo. Nobody can take that away from you."

Tears pricked at her eyes. "I know. I just.... A part of me feels like it failed my father. All he ever prized in me were my gifts of Foresight. And he was the one who tore my blindfold from my eyes. He wanted to destroy my gifts. He hated me so much in the end, because I betrayed him."

She pressed her face into her hands. Lady E shifted to the cushion beside her, patting her shoulder. "Your father deserved his fate. He didn't respect the gift that he had, right beneath his nose."

A barrage of tears suddenly overwhelmed her. She'd known her father never loved her. It was all she'd ever longed for, and she'd tried—so hard—to make him proud of her. Cleo furiously dried her eyes. He didn't deserve her tears.

"Something else is bothering you," Lady E said, watching her hawkishly. "Spit it out. Reticence never suits anybody."

"Is there any chance we can send for tea?" She wasn't stalling, but she needed a moment to gather herself.

Lady E arched a brow, then sent down to the kitchen for tea. Considering the woman's penchant for nosiness, Cleo was almost surprised she waited until the tea actually came up before she turned that demanding look upon Cleo.

"I want your oath that what I am about to tell you doesn't go any further," Cleo said. "A blood oath."

Arching a very pointed brow, Lady E cut her finger, dripping blood into a spare teacup. "I solemnly swear on my power, and my blood, that I will not reveal the contents of this discussion to anyone... until you grant me leave to do so."

Her sorcery flared, and Lady E gasped as the oath bit through her.