Book of Life by Abra Ebner Read Free Book Online

shifted in her chair. “On another note, Jane needs you. I can tell you the old prophecy involved her killing Avery, something that would have come at a mental cost to Jane, but a cost we were willing to take.” She eyed Srixon again. “At least most of us.”
    I heard Srixon squirm beside me.
    “In the new prophecy, her role comes and goes depending on your success in bringing Jane back. I warn again, do not focus on this task alone. The task to get to Avery back is far greater. Besides, I see a lot of grey area when it comes to retrieving Jane from the Ever After. It’s never been done with great success. She may never be the same Jane you knew before. I’ve seen souls banned from the Ever After for cheating death in this way. The risks are extensive and the task delicate. Her punishment as a Seoul is nothing compared to the punishment she could face.” Gen picked up her cards and shuffled them again. “She is a stubborn soul as well, this makes seeing her choices harder for me. I can never know exactly what she’ll do. Quite the firecracker, I must say.” She gave me a wink.
    I did not respond.
    “Do this, and we’ll see how the prophecy changes.” She dealt the cards between her and her brother. June happily collected his cards and fanned them in his hands. Her attention on me had gone and they began to play.
    “Ace,” her brother barked.
    Gen shook her head. “Go fish.”
     
    JANE:
     
    Eliza and I had walked quite a ways down the river. She urged me to leave the bank, but I was afraid that if I did, I’d miss Max if he were to appear in the In-between. Eliza had tried to convince me that leaving the water’s edge was alright, that I wouldn’t miss anything, but how did she know?
    She popped the head off a tall flower as she walked past, spinning it between her fingers. “I’m a seer, but also a bit of a prophet. Just like the prophets of Winter Wood.” She reminded. “Not all seers are prophets, but only seers can be prophets. Part of my struggle in my last life was escaping the Black Angels. I was a very rare breed as a prophet, and as such, they wanted me for their side. They hunted me like game. My entire family was murdered one by one until I had nowhere to go. Anyone close to me, even for a moment, died. I was a curse.” She dropped the flower to the ground unceremoniously. “Finally, I just couldn’t deal with it anymore. I took my own life.”
    I stopped walking, not able to picture how such a young girl could ever feel so lost, so tormented that she would take her own life. Girls her age were supposed to worry about simple things, not be chased down like game.
    “How could you kill yourself?” I gaped. “How did you do it?” I immediately regretted the question but it ran off my tongue so fast I couldn’t have stopped it if I tried.
    Eliza plucked another flower as we stood there, spinning it in her hand like the previous. “I poisoned myself. It was a painful way to go but all I had at the time. If I were to do it again—”
    “Don’t do it again.” I shuddered. For whatever reason, it reminded me of Emily and how I used to fear the direction she was headed in.
    I focused on Eliza’s spinning flower, wondering how Emily was doing without me. Despite the fact that we’d never really gotten along, in my mind I was still her guardian. I felt confident that I could protect her as long as I was there, but now I wasn’t. I had to take refuge in the fact that Wes would never let anything happen to her, but trusting Wes was another challenge altogether. Emily was so new to her moral lifestyle that I feared a relapse. I found myself tense and irritated with the subject. I tried to change it. “So, as a prophet, can you still see what’s going on in the living world?”
    She shook her head. “No. Only this world, and only things as they appear to me. Like you, for example. I can see an ever-changing array of future outcomes for you as your mind continues to think. It’s