Chapter 2

2

L ilith floated through the water, drifting in the dreams of futures that could come and futures that would be. There was no fighting the magic that swelled inside her, or the oracle that now sought out her escape. She would find someone. She would touch them, and then she would live their life the way it would always end up.

There was a beauty in prophecies. The uncertainties of life were all taken away and instead, one was given the exact reality of circumstance.

She loved watching people's faces when they were told what they wanted to hear. That they would be happy if they stayed the course they were currently on. Their hard work would be rewarded, and at some point, someone else would see all their effort.

It was harder when their future was not something they wanted to hear. The fear was always what got to her first. The wide eyes and the realization that they weren't walking the path they were meant to walk. Changing the course of the future was difficult, too. It wasn't easy for anyone to alter who they were.

All the women who also worked for her master surrounded the pool. They were all trapped in their own way, but at least all the priestesses had to do was stand at the edge of the pool and make sure no one grabbed her.

She cast her gaze over their gauzy white fabric, noting how it warped in her vision. Some of them had futures too, but she wasn't allowed to touch them. Even in this state, she remembered.

There wasn't much else she couldn't do, though. And the creature inside her knew that. So she strode out of the pool, feeling the sensation of clinging fabric around her legs. She ran her hands down the flat plane of her stomach, feeling the hollows and hills of her body that moved with sinuous intent toward all the people who surrounded her pool.

So many people. So many futures. So many lives that she could live.

The white film over her eyes made it hard for her to make out any of their features, but she preferred it that way. She didn't look at a person and think that she wanted to live their life. It was harder to maintain that thought when she could see them. Lilith would look at a young, beautiful woman and want to be her, to disappear into her future, which was probably light and bright. But with the oracle taking control over her body, she was able to see only the futures.

Like the young man to her left would leave this kingdom on a journey that would bring him to every single kingdom in their land. She whirled, water splashing around her hips as she turned toward him.

Mist rose from her skin, all the power that allowed her to see his future zeroing in on the young man.

She felt the moment he inhaled the essence of her power. It was like she lived inside of him. She could feel his hopes, his dreams, the jolt of fear that made him concerned she was going to tell him something he didn't want to hear. But he didn't have to worry.

She dove into the future and walked with him through each of the kingdoms. In a single instant, she was free.

No longer was she contained by a master and the leash that he'd wrapped around her throat. Instead, she walked through sand dunes taller than the buildings of the kingdom. She saw the sun melding into bright pink while cherry blossoms fell from lush green trees. She saw a swamp kingdom that was filled with creatures she had never guessed could exist. Even a kingdom of sand that was flat as the eye could see, a desolate kingdom where those who had power lived in luxury and comfort.

"You will travel the realms," she said, her voice deeper than it usually was. "You will see all the adventures you so desperately wish. As a merchant, they will welcome you with open arms. You will have to give up all that you have now, but you will give it up willingly for the life you have always dreamt of."

The young man breathed out a sigh of relief. She could feel that emotion coiling around her, digging underneath her skin until she released another round of mist that fell into the water around her.

Dangerous, she thought even as she turned. It was so dangerous to allow her to soak in water that only amplified her powers. But this was the show, now wasn't it? Her master wanted everyone to be enthralled by her.

The mist didn't just come from her skin now. It came from the very water she stood in, and that made everything so much stronger. Now she could see everyone's future, all at the same time.

Her mind skittered through all the possibilities. A young woman in the room was going to end up dead at the hands of the man she wanted to be her husband. Lilith should tell her about the danger, warn her away from the man who only wanted violence in his life. But then there was another woman who was meant to have incredible power. She hadn't come into her magic yet, but she soon would. She had to hide from the king, as that was the only way to save her life.

A young man needed her to tell him about the growth in his stomach that a healer needed to attend to.

An older woman needed to watch her eldest child because they were going to fall into a chasm and not get out.

Death. So much death.

She saw blood rising in the water around her and there was nothing she could do to stop the swelling tide. They were screaming in the distance of her mind. Futures of a hundred people, all of them needing her help.

No, more than that.

The mist rising from the water had sunk into their skin and now she could see all of their bloodlines. She could follow that power into the rest of the kingdom now, following the many pathways and alleys that would lead into the homes of these people's families. She could see their hopes and their dreams, too. Those futures reached out, trying to pull a piece of her into themselves so they could dream of reality and not just fiction.

"Lilith," someone hissed, their voice reaching through the haze of her mind.

She wasn't alone here.

She wasn't meant to follow all of those lines, even though the oracle inside of her wished to. There were prophecies to say, and there were so many people who needed her help.

But today was not the day where she was meant to tell them about their dangerous futures. Today she was not coated in blood, drifting in a sea of it as she tried to control her own power. Maybe, though, she could taste just one of those futures. She could tell someone something important...

There was a hiss from one of the priestesses, and the sound made her flinch. They were the only ones allowed to step in if she fell out of line.

Then they would give her the drink. Once a week. They would make her drink it so she couldn't see anything at all.

Once she drank, there was nothing left but her own bleak existence. It was just her. Trapped in a traveling circus where she had been for most of her life. She was alone again. A freak in a cage that could be moved whenever they wanted her to be moved.

The tea was supposed to help keep her alive while the beast of fortunes lived inside her. It wasn't easy to brew, and neither were the flowers that created it. Her master was the only one left alive who knew how to grow them, and that meant she had to stay.

This power ate her from the inside out. Already she could feel it wriggling inside her. She'd used too much of the mist to get into people's minds, and she was shaky. Growing weaker by the second, but it was far too early for that. Only one prophecy had fallen from her lips, and the master liked her to talk to at least five people before she fell back into the water.

Leaning to the side, she reached for the nearest person and grabbed onto their wrist.

A woman, good. She was supposed to keep things as even as she could. Her eyes rolled, and the white mist saw straight into the person she clutched. Her power traveled up the woman's form, nearly swallowing her whole.

Good things only , she thought to herself. The master doesn't like it when you tell them sad things.

But there wasn't anything good in this woman's future. There was only heartache.

"You have lost your husband," she whispered, but somehow her voice still carried. Too loud. Seeing too much.

"I did," the woman replied, her hand shaking in Lilith's grip. "He was mining and there was an accident. He never came home."

She could see it. The crushing power of rocks that had landed on the bottom half of his body. He had laid there in the dark for two days, bleeding out because of the pressure of the rocks. The other miners had kept him alive by passing him food and water, but no one could get him out.

They hadn't told the woman any of this. The other miners had stayed with him, but they had told her he died instantly. They didn't want her to know the pain that he had endured, or how many times he'd asked for her.

"He haunts you," Lilith said. "He waits for you in your dreams and in the shadows of your home."

Another flinch. This time, almost like the woman was trying to jerk her arm out of Lilith's grip. "How do you know that?"

"You can't let him stay. I know you think he is still with you, and that you want him to stay there, but he is suffering. You must tell him you are sorry for not going to him while he was dying. They lied to you. The miners were there with him for two whole days. They think what they did was a mercy, but you have to let him go."

"What? I'm not letting him go. Get off of me, witch!" Now the woman was really pulling, seemingly shocked that she couldn't yank her arm away from Lilith's grip.

Lilith was little. Her form might appear delicate and small, but she was stronger than the average mortal. Especially when she used her magic like this. She couldn't let go of the woman if she'd wanted to.

"People are coming to your home," she continued, as though the woman in her grip wanted to hear more. "They will hurt his spirit. He needs to pass on quietly and with comfort, not being forced from this realm where they will rip and tear his soul into pieces. If you do not do this, you will never find him in the afterlife. There will be nothing of him left."

"Get off of me!" This time, there was a flash in front of her. A sharp-edged glint of something made to hurt, to maim. She didn't have time to react. Couldn't have, even if she wanted to.

There was more the oracle wanted to say. More about how she knew the woman didn't want her husband to leave because he crept into her bed at night. There was still pleasure. There was still a relationship, but it wasn't real.

The bitter bite of pain cut through the prophetic words falling from her tongue. It sliced across her cheekbone and through her mouth, parting her cheek and lip. Metal flooded her mouth, startling her out of the prophecy, but not for very long.

Only long enough for the woman to wrench her arm from Lilith's grip. The force of that jerk brought Lilith out of the water. She was dragged deeper into the room, away from safety, away from her water, where she was supposed to stay. The words repeated in her head, over and over, in the sound of her master's voice.

"Never leave the pool, Lilith. If you do, they will descend upon you like the beasts of the forest. They will tear into your flesh and you will never recover from it. They will cut little pieces off you to keep for themselves."

Faintly, she was aware that her priestesses had raced for the woman. The knife was wrestled out of her attacker's hand, clattering onto the marble floor in the silence of the room.

And when she pressed her icy hands against the cold floor, she could see that water and blood pooled around her. Spreading. It spread everywhere until she could only see the slick crimson covering her hands. Was she hurt that badly?

But her thoughts were fragmented. She knew the woman was being dragged away. And some part of her mind heard the words that were spat in her direction.

"She is no oracle! That is a witch! Black magic has no place in this kingdom."

Maybe it was black magic, but she was no witch. Her hands slipped in the blood while mist still rose off her skin because she wasn't done yet. There were more people who needed her, who needed to hear their futures and to understand what could go wrong.

And then she looked up.

Lying on the cushions before her, not flinching away like all the other people now were, was a man. The white mist in front of her eyes obscured much of his figure, but she could see how strong he was. Those broad shoulders were only gifted to those who were powerful. Her mist rolled over him, caressing his ankles and coiling up his legs.

She wanted to touch him. She wanted to live the life of a man so powerful that surely no one ever questioned him. No one ever threatened him, and neither had he ever been attacked at his own performance.

She reached for him with blood streaked fingers and gently gripped him. But then there was... nothing.

Nothing at all. Just an empty maw that opened its mouth and tipped her down into the darkness. Lilith could hear herself screaming. The pain that bloomed through her body rivaled the ache of her wounds. Or even worse than the need to cast down prophecies like meteors from the sky. She was in pain. She was floating in nothing and was no one at the same time.

This man's future was darkness. Not bleak, not filled with pain.

It was nothing.

He was a dead man living. The oracle in her screamed in rage, in pain, and then fear as her eyes rolled back in her head and she sank into oblivion.