Forbidden Mate, Fated Sin

Chapter 10: The Tray Truly Fell

I reached for the light next to my bed without thinking. I was ready to hit whatever stood outside the high window.

"Wren. It is me."

Kade spoke through the glass. I put the light down fast and pushed the window open. My heart still raced.

"Are you crazy," I said soft. "You could fall."

"I did not fall." He pulled himself inside quiet for how big he is and landed on my floor. "I had to see you before the leaders call you in the morning."

"You could use the door like anyone else."

"Your parents are up. Vivian would kill me before I got past the kitchen." A tired half smile came and left quick. "This way was easier."

"Nothing tonight was easier." I sat on the edge of my bed. He stood so close. "What do you want Kade."

"I want to know you are okay." He crouched in front of me. His gray eyes checked my face. "After all that."

"I am"

"Do not say fine." Almost a laugh in his voice. "You always say fine. I know you long enough. It almost never means that."

I looked away first. "I do not know what I am Kade. Everything I thought I knew about my life changed in one night."

"I know that feeling." He reached out then stopped. His hand dropped. "Thane will push hard today. You need to be ready."

"Grier already told me why."

Kade raised a brow. "He told you about the pack in the east."

"Yes." I watched him. "Do you think the same thing could happen here."

"I think Thane is scared. Fear makes good people do bad things." His jaw got tight. "I do not agree with him. But I get why he feels stuck."

A soft knock came at my door. We both froze. Maribel spoke through the wood.

"Wren. Odette is downstairs. She says it cannot wait."

Kade moved to the window fast and quiet. He stopped with one leg out and looked back.

"Be careful today," he said. "Whatever they ask. Whatever they say. Do not let them make you feel small for something that was never weak."

Then he was gone. He dropped into the dark like it was nothing.

I found Odette in the kitchen a few minutes later. Maribel stood close with a strange look.

"You look like you did not sleep," Odette said.

"I did not."

"Good. Being tired breaks down the walls we put up without thinking." She pointed to the small table in the corner. "Sit. We have no time to go slow today."

"Grier said Blackthorn tested our border last night."

"I heard." Odette looked dark. "That is why what I will show you cannot wait."

She set a plain wood tray on the table. Three cups sat on it. Steam still rose.

"Close your eyes," she said. "Find that cold feeling you told me about. Do not fight it this time. Let it show you something."

I closed my eyes. I was not sure. My heart still raced from Kade. At first only dark and my uneven breath. Then the cold hit sharp and fast. It moved through my chest the same way it always does right before something happens.

A picture flashed behind my eyes. Maribel slips. The tray tips. Cups break on the floor. Dark liquid sprays out.

My eyes opened fast. "The tray is going to fall."

Odette did not change her face. "When."

"I do not know. Soon."

Maribel stood by the counter with a fresh pot. She frowned at us. "What are you two talking about."

"Maribel," I said. My pulse climbed. "Do not touch that tray yet."

"What tray. I am not holding anything."

She turned to put the pot down. Her sleeve caught the edge of the tray Odette put there. It tipped. Cups slid. For one frozen second I watched it happen exactly like the picture. Then Maribel caught two cups in the air.

The third broke on the floor.

Quiet filled the kitchen. Maribel stared at the mess then at me. Fear showed on her face for the first time.

"How did you know that would happen."

Before I could speak Odette grabbed my wrist hard. I gasped.

"Something is wrong," she said. Her voice turned sharp. "That vision came too fast. Too clear. You should not see something this small and this soon so early."

"What does that mean."

Odette looked far away. Like she heard something we could not.

"It means your power is not waking on its own time anymore." Her grip got tighter. "Something outside is pulling it forward. Forcing it."

A loud crash came from outside. Then a shout. I knew it was Grier. His voice was full of pure fear.