Reader Believes

Chapter 32

            Sighing with contentment as she toweled herself dry, Rika stretched up on her tip toes and slowly lowered herself. Her legs didn’t feel any worse than they usually did after one of Damek’s lessons, surprising, given how hard he’d pushed her that morning.

            She tossed her pajamas and housecoat on before leaving the bathroom, the morning air chilly enough for her to enjoy being wrapped in the fluffy purple robe. Walking into the family room, she heard the click of the front door’s lock, making her pause and turn to stare.

            The door opened and Connor slipped in, carefully closing the door behind him. Rika eyed him, the rumpled state of his shirt and jeans, ones she was fairly certain he’d been wearing yesterday, and frowned. “Where have you been?”

            Her brother started, before slowly turning to look at her, eyes on her forehead. “Morning, Riks,” he said, tossing his keys onto the front table. “You’re up awfully early.”

            “I had a morning lesson with Damek. Where were you?”

            “I-I woke up too early and went for a walk,” Connor said, moving to the side so he could slip past her.

            Rika’s nostrils flared as she picked up a hint of perfume coming off him. She turned with him, glaring. “You’re lying! You were out with some girl. And since you haven’t said anything about having a girlfriend, it means you picked up some random again!”

            He drew himself up, though his gaze still didn’t reach hers. “I did not. I went for a walk.”

            Mouth thinning, Rika focused on her brother, looking for some kind of proof, her irritation buzzing inside her skin. She wished she could force him to tell her the truth, instead of being forced to let his obvious lies slide-

            Rika gasped as images and sounds flooded her mind. A blue shirt, cut low enough that there was no doubting its wearer was female, disappearing a moment later into darkness, while the pounding bass of music, mixed in with the shouts of people trying to be heard. The view of a strange ceiling, one made of some kind of white tiles with holes in them out of which several pencils hung, accompanied by creaking noises and a soft giggle, followed by her brother’s voice whispering “Liz.” A flash of a large brown brick building, the front entrance made of glass, with at grey metal door that reminded her of her school along with the faint trill of birdsong and the rustle of leaves in the wind.

            Shaking her head to clear it, Rika groped with one hand for the wall, her knees feeling weak. Connor was there in an instant, supporting her on one side as she blinked rapidly, taking several seconds to get her feet properly under herself again. Taking a deep breath, she met his concerned eyes squarely and said, “Her name was Liz.”

            Her brother flinched. “How-Have you been spying on me?” he asked, his voice rising up with outrage.

            “Ha! So the vision was right! And don’t get mad at me, you’re the one sleeping around with complete strangers. I could care less, except if you keep getting involved with random girls when you’re drunk, one day you’re going to forget protection and catch something horrible, and then where will you be?”

            “Vision? What vision? Did that bastard or his demon show you something?”

            As if the words had summoned him, Ahisu opened the door to his room, frowning slightly at the scene in front of him. For once, Rika ignored him, more concerned with glaring at Connor. “He had nothing to do with it! It literally just happened.”

            The mage came up behind her and touched Rika’s shoulder with two fingers. When she looked at him, he asked, “What?”

            Frowning, she jerked her head in Connor’s direction. “He was trying to lie to me about where he was, and I was trying to think of a way to prove he was, when I suddenly saw and heard a bunch of stuff, including Connor’s voice, and it looks like everything I saw was true because I got the name of the girl he was with out of it, and he admitted it!”

             Her brother crossed his arms over his chest. “Calm yourself, Riks. So what if I was out with a girl last night. You’re overreacting. And I never get drunk enough that I’m going to forget protection. Now, if you’re done harassing me, I’m going to take a shower.” Without another word, Connor stalked off to the bathroom, shutting the door hard enough that it was just short of slamming.

            Rika harrumphed and turned back to Ahisu, who was studying her. “What is it?”

            “Describe what you saw.”

            Shrugging, she said, “I saw a shirt that showed way too much cleavage and I could hear music, then I saw ceiling and heard creaking and Connor’s voice, something I hope I never have to hear again, and then I saw some building and could hear birds. That’s it.”

            Ahisu said nothing for several seconds, only continued to study Rika’s face. She shifted her weight under his gaze, her eyes sliding to the ground as they so often did when he focused on her. “What was your perspective?”

            She jerked her head to stare at him for a moment, before frowning. “Perspective? I don’t know. It was, lower than normal I think. Like, I could see the girl’s chest straight on. Actually, it got closer before it disappeared into blackness.”

            He nodded slightly. “We will do testing. If you can replicate this… it will be very useful.”

            Rika smiled, happy to be able to do something, though she didn’t know how catching her brother lying was going to help, but not excited about being forced into testing again. Still, she thought as she followed Ahisu into the kitchen. At least she already knew what kind of magic she had.