Sara Humphreys - Vampire Trouble

“Recently, huh?” Lottie jutted her thumb toward the ceiling. “Your sudden desire to uncover your past wouldn’t have anything to do with the six-foot, four-inch hunk of man upstairs, would it?”

“Some, yes.” Maya lifted one shoulder. “But it’s not just because of Shane. How can I move forward if I can’t let go of the past? It haunts me, Lottie. Not knowing where I come from haunts me.”

“Well, you do still have that glimmer thing going on. It wasn’t my eyes playin’ tricks on me. Nope.”

“Shane thinks that I might have—”

“Stop right there.” Lottie held up one hand. “Not another word. I don’t like to have any preconceived notions because it can mess with the reading.” Lottie grabbed her bag and gestured toward the door. “Come on.”

“Where?”

“The living room.” She bumped the door open with her butt, making the charms on her skirt jingle. “I like to work in there when I’m at home.”

“Work?” Maya looked at her quizzically.

“Let’s see what we can see.” Lottie drained the rest of her beer, and disappearing through the door, she shouted, “Come on, baby girl. You ain’t got much time. That sun won’t wait just ’cause you’ve got questions you want answered, and I’m tired.”

Maya steeled her courage. The possibility of learning more about her past was actually rather frightening now that she was faced with it. But hadn’t she just been asking Shane to help her?

“Jeez, Maya,” she muttered to herself. “Stop being such a baby and get out there.”

Shane. Maya tentatively reached out and touched his mind with hers. Lottie is going to try and use her gypsy magic to read my past. I—I know you’re tired but—

Before she could finish her sentence, Shane was pushing open the door to the kitchen and gesturing for her to come with him. “No time to waste. The sun will be up soon.”

Smiling and blinking back tears, Maya ran to him, wrapped her arms around his waist, and hugged him quickly before popping up on her toes and brushing his lips with hers. “Thank you.”

They walked into the living room hand in hand to find Lottie seated on the far end of the couch and tying her long hair back into a bun. She smiled and patted the empty cushion next to her before rubbing her hands together briskly as though warming them up. Shane gave Maya’s hand a reassuring squeeze before she sat down, and she shifted her body so that she and Lottie were face-to-face.

Shane stepped aside and stood on the other side of the coffee table with his hands at his sides. Maya couldn’t help but notice that he always looked ready for battle. The man was never off duty. She wondered if he’d ever actually been a little boy, or if he’d come out of the womb looking like that.

“Now,” Lottie began with a look of caution to both Maya and Shane, “like I was sayin’ before, I usually can only see the future of a person, and I’ve never tried readin’ a vampire before. So this could get us a whole lot of nothin’. Everyone understand?”

“Yes.” Maya nodded and straightened her back.

“Okay, girl.” Lottie clapped her wrinkled hands and extended them, palms facing up, toward Maya. “Give me your hands.”

Maya placed her hands in Lottie’s. The gypsy’s eyes widened with surprise, and she gripped Maya’s fingers tightly. “I’ll never get over it.” Lottie laughed.

“What?” Maya glanced at Shane for reassurance.

“I always expect your kind to be as cold as ice but you aren’t.” Lottie pursed her lips and shrugged. “A little cooler than a regular person, but you aren’t walking icicles like they say ya are in the movies.”

“That whole garlic thing is a myth too,” Maya said in a conspiratorial whisper. “I do think it smells terrible, though.”

“Me too.” Lottie winked and settled Maya’s hands over her knees. The smile faded from her lips. “I need you to sit quietly and close your eyes. Concentrate on your past or whatever you can remember. A person or a place, maybe?”

“My grandmother.” Maya’s eyes fluttered closed, and the image of her grandmother filled her mind. Long, silver hair swept up in a graceful bun framing a heart-shaped face soft with age, smiling blue eyes just like Maya’s, and the emerald necklace dangling around her neck. “I can see her smiling.”

“Good girl.” Lottie’s voice was quiet and barely above a whisper. “Keep that image in your mind and be still.”

The seconds of silence extended into minutes, Maya was beginning to think this was going to be a big waste of time. But she shut down the voice of doubt and kept her eyes closed and her mind focused.

“You have magic in you,” Lottie murmured in a barely audible voice. “Powerful magic.”

Lottie’s voice drifted over Maya, and the faded image of her grandmother grew stronger and more colorful. The emerald in the necklace glowed brightly and blurred the vision of her grandmother, giving way to a flurry of images, like a slide show of Maya’s past. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

She saw herself playing in snowy mountains, running along a beach and jumping in the waves, and sitting next to a tiny Christmas tree opening presents. A warm glow burned in Maya’s chest that could only be described as love. Pure, unadulterated, unconditional love, and it all came from her grandmother.

The sound of a woman crying wafted into her mind, and Maya saw herself standing in front of a plain pinewood casket on the same mountainside where she played as a child. She placed a single rose on the coffin before the image faded from her mind and reality came spinning back.

“Dark magic,” Lottie whispered as her soft, wrinkled hands squeezed Maya’s hands briefly before releasing them.

Maya’s eyes flicked open, and she swiped at the tears on her cheeks as she regained her bearings.

“That was totally crazy…and wonderful,” Maya said in a shaky voice. Shane looked concerned, but the expression on Lottie’s face was one of wonder. Maya glanced from Lottie to Shane and rubbed her palms on her thighs nervously before asking a question she almost didn’t want the answer to. “What is it, Lottie? What do you mean that I have dark magic in me? Is it because I’m a vampire?”

“No.” Lottie shook her head slowly and stared at Maya through wide eyes as a smile slowly cracked her face. “You, my dear girl, have gypsy magic.”

“Gypsy?” Maya’s eyebrows flew up. She wouldn’t have been more surprised if Lottie said she was part chicken. She let out a nervous laugh and looked up at Shane, who had moved in beside her. “I’m a gypsy like you?”

“Not exactly.” Lottie waved her finger and rose from the couch, wringing her hands nervously. Walking toward the large bay window, she kept her back to them. “Like I said earlier, there are different clans with varying types of magic, and most of the clans kept their magic to themselves. But not all.” Lottie turned around slowly to face them. “I’ve seen that necklace before,” she said somberly. “The one your grandmother was wearing in that vision.”

Maya opened her mouth to tell Lottie it was upstairs, but Shane shot her a look of warning. Wait, youngling.

“Where?” Maya asked, tearing her gaze from Shane and back to Lottie. “Did you know my grandmother?”

“No.” Lottie sat on the edge of the windowsill and folded her hands in her lap. “My grandfather showed me a picture once when he was spinning tales about the gypsy clans, and it was the same story his father told him. Like I said before, all of the clans had rivalries and grudges against one another, but one clan was feared above all others.”

Lottie got a faraway look in her eye, and Maya instinctively reached out and took Shane’s hand in hers. “He told us that we should stay away from that clan in particular because they would bring bad luck and a curse upon our clan.” Lottie looked at Maya with wonder. “Amazing…I thought they were all gone.”