In the Stars

Chapter 36

Chapter 36

No Coward Soul is Mine

Owen awoke to sounds of banging. He lifted his head from the pillow, disoriented and groggy. Searching the space, he noticed he was alone.

The banging began in earnest again. It must be the door. Maybe Charlotte locked herself out.

He sat up and wiped his hand down his face. "One second!"

After he pulled on a pair of pants, he got up from the bed and walked to the door, still in a daze.

"What's the hurry, love?" he asked, pulling it open to the drafty hallway. Seeing Violet there, a look of utter terror on her face, woke him up in a second. "What is it? Why- how are you here?"

Violet's face was ashen, the pallor so acute he was afraid she was sick. In her hands was one of her floppy rain hats. It was mangled between her fingers, a victim of her distress.

"After you called to tell us you'd gone to Aberdeen, I had a vision. It's Charlotte. Something is wrong. She's in trouble." The woman's voice was so small Owen barely heard the words.

When he registered their meaning, a slicing pain cut into his chest, sawing down the middle of his heart. He brought his hand up to his sternum, feeling his heart beat unevenly beneath his palm.

Something is wrong.

"Where is she?"

"Etoile Island. She left without you. I'm not sure why, but that's not the problem," Violet looked around the hallway with anxious eyes. "We should probably...," she indicated the open doorway.

Owen, realizing they were having a classified conversation in public, turned back to the room. "Come in."

Violet shuffled inside and stood in the middle of the room. Her eyes surveyed the interior. He saw her take note of the tousled bed, with both sides disturbed. Her eyebrows shot up for a second before coming back to their drooped position over her worried eyes. He closed and locked the door before turning back to his friend.

"We must get to her. They're with her, right now."

"Who?" He felt a need rise within him, a millisecond of dread that turned into ferocious determination. It was all encompassing and powerful, even as it made him want to falter.

Am I about to break?

He shook his head, looked into Violet's quivering gaze.

"Orion."

Fury rose like flames through his body, surging through his muscles. He felt like he could turn into a phoenix and fly to her.

"This is it, Owen. I can feel it."

He knew what she meant. She had received an unsolicited reading and it was a portent from them. The stars.

It was always the stars.

He wanted to scream. Instead, he pounded his fist into the mattress. It was unsatisfying.

He wasn't ready. He was supposed to have more time- more time with her.

"Is she okay?"