The Safe House, Two Days Later
Present Day
Eliza
Eliza's phone alarm ripped through the predawn quiet at 7:00 AM, yanking her out of dreams that left her mouth tasting like old pennies and blood.
She'd been standing in some candlelit room under marble halls, watching shadows with teeth decide the fate of countries. Blood dripped from silver cups onto old maps while voices spoke languages that existed before empires. The air was thick with incense and something else. Something ancient and hungry. Next to her stood a woman wearing her face, dressed in Puritan black. The woman leaned close. Her breath smelled like dirt and rosemary.
"The Sight is both gift and curse, child," she whispered. "See what others cannot. But never forget the price of such knowledge."
Eliza woke to find her wr
