Free Spellbound: The Awakening of Aislin Collins by Margeaux Laurent Page B

tea. Calming myself, and pushing all thoughts out of
my mind, I returned to the scrying bowl.
    I stared into the water for a moment, then I
closed my eyes and asked the Holy Mother, the Goddess, to send me
guidance during my visions—that all would be explained and that I
would learn from them. I opened my eyes and stared into the water.
It was now a dark, deep blue; almost black really. It reflected my
image back at me, but I did not move and I did not waver. I
continued to stare, my skin looked ghostly white in the dark water
and then, although the coloration of my pale skin stayed, the water
distorted and swirled. I was looking at a white dress now. Abigail
was wearing all white, her red hair pulled back from her face. She
was smiling and dancing with a much older man. Although she looked
happy, his expression was taught and ridged. Her husband the
spirits told me. I looked around the room where I was standing,
watching her twirl across the floor. I was standing next to
Zachariah, who was holding my hand. I was wearing a green dress and
with my free hand, I reached up and touched my garnet necklace.
Zachariah’s face contorted with anger as his eyes fell upon the
piece of jewelry and he reached toward me and snapped it off my
neck. It fell from his grasp and the garnet stone shattered on the
floor—the image faded away.
    I went to pull away from the bowl but
another image appeared; still of Abigail. She was older now, and
surrounded by children. She lived on what appeared to be a
plantation of some kind. She looked sad and her arms were covered
in deep green and blue bruises. The love of material possessions
above all else, the spirit explained. I must have shed a tear
for Abigail because a ripple moved through the water, causing rings
to spread from the center of the bowl and move outward.
    Abigail’s image faded away and I saw myself
in Greer’s arms. We were embracing in a room covered with stone
walls and old paintings. Furs were thrown on the floor and more
covered the four-poster bed where we lay. I looked into his
beautiful hazel eyes and cried out in fear, for they had turned
completely black, and a low growl came from his throat. All is
not as it seems, my guide said.
    I gasped and fell back from the bowl. I was
shaken by what I had seen. I ran downstairs to find my mother
performing divination with sticks. I could not disturb her and even
if I could talk to her, I was not certain that revealing my vision
would be the best of ideas. She may forbid me to see Greer or she
may cast a spell to make me forget him. No, I could not share
this with her. I crept back to my room and stood near the
scrying bowl. Maybe I needed to see more; although I was not sure I
wanted to. A horrible, uninvited thought crossed through my mind. What if Greer was the one who was hunting me? What if he was
playing with me as a cat plays with a mouse before it finally
becomes bored and consumes it? I shook my head to banish the
words. I must be wrong—I had to be.
    I gulped down the rest of the tea and went
back to the basin. I was determined to understand what I had seen.
I stared into the water and asked my guide to take me back to the
same image, as I gripped the basin at its sides, terrified of what
I might discover. Watch carefully . All is not as it seems
then or now , the guide reminded me.
    The images moved slowly this time. I saw
that I was wearing the same garnet necklace. I saw Greer stroking
my dark hair with his fingertips. My head lay back as he moved in
to kiss my exposed neck. My eyes were closed and his touch was
gentle, but then something caught his attention from the corner of
the room. He was staring passed me now. I watched as my body
stiffened in his arms and he pulled me close to him, still looking
passed me, his hazel eyes darkened into total blackness. He growled
deeply at whatever was in the far corner, although I could not see
it. I had never heard a human make a noise like the one that
emanated from his very