Palm of Destiny by Rebecca Segal Read Free Book Online Page A

She stepped back before dropping herself back down onto the couch and looked at him. Reaching over, she gave the cushion beside her a pat.
It’s not hard . Those words repeated themselves over and over again in his mind. They were a strange mantra that almost made sense. But did he really want to relive the vision of his own death? With a small shake of his head, he took a seat beside his very unwanted guest. With his hands pressing hard against the tops of his thighs, fingers gripping into his flesh, he just sat there in tense silence. He almost jumped right off the couch when he felt Rosalie’s hand fall over the top of his, and he quickly turned narrowed eyes on her.
“Did I do it on purpose?”
Her question somehow soothed away some of the tension. “No…”
“It was an accident then, right?”
“Yeah…yeah… it was an accident.” He looked down at her hand, which was still resting over top of his own. With a deep outward breath, he allowed himself to breathe inward slowly. Then out again, just as gradually. “It happens at Morgan’s shop,” Elijah finally admitted. “In the back…where all the antiques are.”
Rosalie pressed her lips together and nodded. She wanted to jump straight to ‘why’, but that had scared him away before. Instead, she went with, “what happened?”
“I was back there, looking…looking for something. Orange. Yes, an orange pendant. I um… Morgan had brought it in earlier that day, and I just felt… I don’t know. Close to it? So I wanted to see…you know, what it was. Maybe find out where it had come from…and stuff.” He rubbed at his thigh with his free hand—the one that Rosalie wasn’t touching. “You were in there.”
After several minutes of silence, Rosalie pressed her hand encouragingly against Elijah’s, gently rubbing the back of his hand in a soothing motion. “What happened after you saw me?”
“Well…“ His brow drew together. “You…no, I found the orange pendant. And then…I…I opened it. There was this…kind of a bright light. The same color as the pendant…orange. You came over…I guess to see what it was.” Sweat was prickling at his temples, and he gave his head a small shake.
“Elijah…it’s…“ Rosalie sighed softly. This was difficult for her. She was used to being brash and upfront. “Do you know when this will happen?”
“No…” The question drew him out of his frozen stupor.
“All right, I have a plan.” She straightened and gave him a smile. “I’ll call down to Morgan’s shop, and ask him if a pendant like that came in. Then I’ll just buy it and that will be that.”
“But…what if it’s too much? Some of the items are…” He rubbed at the back of his neck, his eyebrows lifting. “They’re just a lot, some of them.”
“Elijah, my best friend’s name is Angelique Valadia. Money isn’t going to be an issue, you should know this by now. Can I call Morgan from here?” When Elijah gave her a nod, she stood from the couch and went to his phone. As she glanced at him with an encouraging smile, she picked up the phone and dialed Morgan’s number.
    * * * *
S’mores were baking in the oven, and the smell of them permeated throughout not just the kitchen, but the whole bottom half of the house. Smiling in satisfaction, Angelique glanced at the timer. Only five minutes to go before her favorite chocolaty snack was ready. As the phone vibrated on her desk, she quickly whisked herself into the living room and snatched it. A glance told her it was Morgan. What was he calling about at this time of night?
“Morgan? Hey, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, Ang.” There was a fondness in his voice when he spoke to her. “You asked me to call you as soon as the pendant came in.”
“Oh…yes, but…it’s like eleven at night.”
“Sorry. I know you’re a bit of a night owl, though. Didn’t think you’d mind.”
“No! Mm, not at all, no! Can I come pick it up tomorrow?”
“Of course. Shop opens at