The Psychic

Chapter 7

We didn't speak for a few minutes after the Gizmo went dark. The silence wasn't heavy or awkward. It was the kind that settles when everyone is thinking, processing, holding together just enough to not break. I sank to the floor, the book open on my lap, and traced my fingers over the illustrations, the lines of terrain, the cryptic markings that now felt like a map only I could read.

Sarah flopped down beside me, stretching her arms over her head. "So... your parents still alive, Liam okay... check, check, check," she said, tapping the air in front of her like she was taking attendance. "That's good. Really good."

"Yeah," I murmured, though the ache in my chest from hearing their voices hadn't faded. "But... there's still the prince, and we have three days." I swallowed. "Three days to find him before... before everything falls apart."

Blessing slid onto the floor across from me, legs tucked under, tilting her head. "You're thinking too hard again, Ruby. You always do that. The psychic brain overload is real." She smirked, but there was a softness there, a concern I couldn't ignore. "We've got you. We'll figure it out. Together."

I smiled weakly, letting her words sink in. "I know. I just..." I paused, unsure how to put it into words without sounding ridiculous. "I keep thinking about the dreams, about the visions. They show fragments, flashes, not the whole picture. I feel him... the prince... like he's close. But I can't see everything. Not yet."

Sarah leaned forward, elbows on her knees. "Flashes or not, if anyone can piece them together, it's you. And we'll help. You don't have to do it alone."

Blessing nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we've been through worse. Remember that time in middle school when the roof nearly collapsed during math class, and you somehow convinced the janitor to let us hide in the supply closet while it rained buckets into the classroom?"

I laughed despite myself. "Oh my god, yes. And Sarah panicked like the world was ending."

"Which it almost was," Sarah said, rolling her eyes. "Literally buckets of water falling on us. And Blessing kept trying to calculate whether the closet could hold all of us without collapsing. Classic physics nerd energy."

"See?" Blessing said, pointing at me. "Even back then, you survived by using your head. You'll survive this too. And we'll survive with you. That's the deal."

I let out a shaky breath, feeling the warmth of their support, the steadiness of their presence. "Okay. Deal."

We sat like that for a while, letting the silence stretch. Not heavy, but full. I flipped through the book again, noting the sketches of the prince's kingdom, the faint energy markers I'd started to sense in my dreams. "I'm going to try to sleep," I said finally. "Maybe I'll get another vision. Something... more specific."

They didn't question it. Blessing adjusted her throw over my shoulders, and Sarah rested a hand on my knee. "Be careful," Sarah whispered. "And remember, we're right here."

I lay back, letting the cave floors cocoon me. My eyelids drifted, and soon the world shifted.

The dream came fast, more vivid than ever. I was standing on a cliff, wind whipping my hair, the prince's figure just visible in the distance. Guardians surrounded the ridge below, tall and shadowed, their eyes glowing faintly red. A path snaked through the trees to the east, narrow, risky, but the only way forward. My chest ached with the urgency of it. The thread connecting me to him pulsed, sharp and insistent.

I woke with a start, heart hammering. Sarah and Blessing were still curled on the floor, dozing lightly, but I couldn't wait. I shook them gently. "Girls. I saw it. I know where he is. We have to move."

They blinked awake, groggy but alert. "Finally," Blessing muttered. "I thought you were going to sleep through the apocalypse."

"I couldn't," I said, tugging the book into my lap. "It's all here. The path, the ridge, the guardians. We have a way to reach him... but it's going to be dangerous."

Sarah rubbed her eyes, sitting up. "Dangerous is our specialty."

Blessing grinned, slipping her arm through mine. "And we do have the world's best psychic leading the charge, so I'm not worried. Much."

I smiled, feeling a surge of determination. "Okay, then. We move at first light. Step carefully. Stay alert. And trust the thread. He's close. I can feel it."

---

I stayed crouched near a cluster of low bushes, tracing the lines of my watch with a trembling finger. The forest around us was quiet, too quiet- the wind whispered through the leaves, a soft rustling that made every nerve in my body tense. The thread pulsing beneath my skin throbbed sharply, insistent, almost frantic. Somewhere ahead, the prince waited, and I could feel it with every fiber of my being.

A soft step behind me made me freeze. "Ruby," Jace's voice was low, careful, like he didn't want to break the fragile world we were in. My stomach lurched. I hadn't noticed him slip away from the girls.

"I-yeah," I whispered, heart hammering in my ears.

He stepped closer, just close enough that I could see the faint flecks of gold in his eyes, the set of his jaw, the way his fingers twitched as if they, too, were holding back. "I needed a second... just us," he murmured. The words were private, deliberate, and the forest seemed to shrink around us.

My throat went dry. "Okay," I breathed, each word heavier than it should have been. Every nerve in my body screamed at me. The thread, the prophecy, the danger outside yet all of it seemed to fade in the space between us.

He tilted his head slightly, eyes searching mine. "You okay?"

I nodded, though my pulse betrayed me. "Yeah. Just... thinking."

There was a pause, electric and stretched, the kind where even the air feels charged. I could hear the faint crunch of leaves beneath his boots, the soft exhale of his breath, the almost imperceptible thrum of his heartbeat against the quiet forest.

He stepped closer still, deliberate, slow, his presence anchoring and terrifying all at once. "Ruby..." His fingers brushed against mine light, testing, and the heat exploded up my arm. I realized I was holding my breath, and it made the tension twist in my chest.

I looked up, meeting his gaze. There was that same mix of longing and restraint I'd been carrying in my own chest for months. "Jace..." My voice cracked. "We shouldn't-"

Before I could finish, he closed the space between us. His lips were on mine. Soft, tentative, almost questioning... and every thought I'd tried to cage, every fear, every longing, poured into that kiss. My chest ached, my legs felt like they might buckle, and the world outside this moment blurred: the book, the visions, the thread to the prince- nothing existed beyond him and me.

It wasn't neat. It wasn't perfect. It was messy, desperate, everything we'd been holding in finally spilling out. I could feel him tremble slightly, and realized I was too, my heart hammering like it could tear free from my ribcage.

We pulled back just enough to breathe, foreheads resting together. "I've wanted that," I whispered, voice thick with raw honesty.

He pressed a brief, chaste kiss to my lips again, a silent promise, before pulling back. "Me too," he murmured, strained, heavy with the weight of unsaid words. "Every single day."

We stayed like that for a long beat, letting the silence stretch. Every danger, every secret, every vision vibrating between us, reminding us why we had to be careful. My chest ached, and part of me wanted to stay here, to forget everything else.

"I... we can't," he said finally, frustration and longing twisting his features. He ran a hand through his hair, his thumb brushing the side of his face. "Not yet. The prince... the prophecy... everything depends on us staying focused. We have to survive this first."

I leaned against him for just a moment longer, savoring the heat and the safety of him. "Yeah I know," I whispered. "We'll wait. We have to. But later..." My fingers lingered on his chest, tracing the steady rise and fall of his breath. "...later, we won't wait."

He pressed a quick, fleeting kiss to my forehead, and I could feel the tension in his shoulders ease just slightly. "Later," he said, his voice soft, almost a promise.

I waited a few seconds, letting my pulse slow, letting the heat of Jace's presence linger just enough to steady me. Then I whispered, "We should catch up with the girls before they wander too far."

He gave me a small, almost shy nod. "Right." His hand brushed mine once as we moved, an unspoken tether holding us together without breaking the fragile quiet between us.

The forest seemed heavier now, as if it were aware we were moving closer to the prince. Each step brought new sounds. The snap of twigs, the flutter of wings overhead, a distant rumble that might have been thunder or something far more sinister. The thread pulsing inside me thrummed in a steady rhythm, pulling me forward, urging caution, demanding attention.

We caught up to Sarah and Blessing just as they paused at the edge of a small clearing. Blessing's brow was furrowed, the book clutched tightly in her hands. "This doesn't make sense," she muttered. "The map shows a stream, but I can't see one here. Are we... off?"

I knelt beside her, fingers brushing over the sketch of the terrain. "Not off," I said, voice low. "Look closer. The stream shifts depending on energy flows. It's... reactive. Magic, probably. The prince's energy is stronger along this path, and that's what we follow."

Sarah's eyes widened. "You can feel that?"

I nodded. "Yeah. The thread... it's like a compass. But it's fragile. If we make a mistake, the guardians will sense it."

Jace crouched beside me, his eyes scanning the tree line. "And if they sense it, we won't get another warning. We have to move carefully, silently."

I swallowed, nerves tightening. "We follow the thread. Step by step. Stay alert."

The girls fell quiet, understanding the gravity of the moment. Blessing handed me the book, and I traced the next segment of the path with trembling fingers. "Here," I whispered. "Through that thicket. It's tight, but it leads directly to the ridge. I can feel him just beyond it."

The forest seemed to press in around us as we moved, the shadows deepening, the air electric. The thread pulsed harder now, insistent, alive, a lifeline leading me forward.

Halfway through the thicket, a sharp movement caught my eye. A guardian, low in the branches above, eyes faintly glowing red. My heart jumped. I froze, fingers tightening on the book.

Jace was immediately at my side, eyes scanning, every muscle coiled. "Stay still," he whispered. "Don't breathe louder than the wind."

The guardian shifted, a shadow among shadows, sniffing the air. The thread pulsed wildly. He was close, closer than ever, and the danger screamed in my veins. I could feel my powers straining, sensing, stretching, pushing at the edge of control.

Jace's hand found mine again, grounding me. "I've got you," he murmured, voice low, steady. "Just a few more steps."

We moved carefully, inching forward. Each snap of a twig, each rustle of leaves, each pulse from the thread felt amplified, a symphony of danger and urgency. I could see flashes of him... the prince through the dense trees. A blur of light, a faint shimmer, a heartbeat in the distance.

Finally, we emerged from the thicket, the ridge stretching ahead, guardians lined along its edge. The thread pulsed fiercely now, almost unbearable. He was close enough that I could feel the warmth of his energy, his presence threading through mine like a song.

"Almost there," I breathed, barely moving my lips. "We have to be perfect from here."

Jace's gaze softened for just a moment, and I caught a flicker of something more in his eyes... worry, protectiveness, longing. "Together," he whispered.

I nodded, letting the thread guide me, letting him anchor me, letting the forest fall away as we approached the edge of the ridge. The prince waited, unseen but so close I could taste his presence. And every step forward was a step into the storm. The guardians, the prophecy, and the fate of everything we had yet to understand.