Free What the Heart Knows by Shyla Colt Page B

her head and moved back to her sweeping motion. Eventually she picked one, repeating the process until there were five runes laid out in a horizontal line. She flipped the first stone over.  
    “This negative force is one you’ve come into contact with before, ” Madeline said.
    She turned the next stone.
    “It waits for the time you ’ r e most vulnerable to strike.” She repeated the process , revealing new information with each turned piece.
    “There will be a struggle, a battle for control. I can’t see the outcome yet, but I believe you can prevail if you stick together. The first thing you must do is rid yourselves of the secrets that remain between you in order to present a united front.” 
    His stomach twisted into a knot as her words hit home. He had to tell her the truth about Hannah’s death.
    “Do not underestimate this evil.”
    Her words trailed off as Madeline glanced around the room. A strange tension had begun to fill the room and the temperature dropped.
    “Oliver,” Juni said. “I want to stop now.”
    “What?” he asked , c ertain he must’ve heard her wrong. This whole thing had been her idea, and now she wanted to leave just as Madeline was getting to the heart of their reading. It wasn’t like her.
    “Juni — ”
    “The entity is here now!” Madeline said.
    Oliver jumped as the pictures on the wall shook and the overhead lights began to flicker.
    “Oli!”
    “I’m here , Juniper.” He wrapped an arm around her waist as he pulled her close to his side.
      She stood from her chair and hurried to the glass cabinet on the opposite side of the room.  She opened the door and pulled out what appeared to be a bundle of dried herbs. Madeline struck a match and lit the bundle as she began to chant. She fanned the smoke that rolled out from the end of the bundle as she moved around the room. 
    “You’re not welcome in this place, this is my sanctuary, and I demand you be gone!” 
    The smell of flowers filled the air , and Oliver tensed as he waited to see what else the entity had in store for them. It would explain the Murphy’s Law theory he’d come up with lately, as everything in the universe seemed to line up against him taking steps to move forward with his life. When he thought of how depressed he’d been after Hannah left, it was easy to imagine something nasty and malevolent attaching itself. Shame filled him; he’d brought this trouble to Juni’s door. He came to her as half a man, prone to mood swings, slow to trust, and rusty at being happy. Perhaps he should let her go. The thought of losing her combined with the charged atmosphere made him feel like he was suffocating. All movement in the room settled as swiftly as it had begun and he waited to take his cue from Madeline.
    “You must prepare yourselves . I fear this is merely the beginning.”
    He turned to look at Juniper, and felt his heart melt at the dazed expression she wore. She deserved so much better than this, than him.  Oliver leaned down to whisper into her ear.
    “Are you okay?” he asked.
    “I–I think so . I t ’ s just a lot to take in. I can’t imagine why anything would take an interest in me.”  She shook her head and he kissed her forehead.
    “Can you tell us anything more?” he asked.
    “There’s a connection between Juniper and this entity you must uncover,” Madeline said. “It’s clever, cunning and powerful enough to block me from seeing anything more.”  She crossed the room once more to gather fresh bundles of herbs.
          “This is sage. Any time you sense you are not alone you can burn these to help cleanse the space. Move from room to room reclaiming your home as your own, and demand any negative forces leave.”
          They both nodded as he accepted her gifts.
          “ When you learn more, come back and I will help you further. There’s a purity in your love that most never experience, and it’s worth fighting for. Remember this when the