"If it’s okay with you, I’d like to hear about your parents, El. I know they passed when you were young, but do you remember them at all? Did you know that they could see future events?" Sophia asks with honest curiosity. Hagan's wife, who's name I still don't know, sits near Sophia. She doesn't look mean like her husband, but she isn't exactly smiling when I look at her, either.
"It’s totally fine. I remember my parent's faces when I think about it really hard. I never knew they could see things in the future, or anything about Seers. They told me that someday I would have a gift of seeing things before they happen, and that it was important I never told anyone." I feel a small wave of guilt about not heeding my mother’s words. "Of course, I didn't anticipate meeting you guys. I remember my parents always looking over their shoulders and moving us around a lot. It’s like they were constantly worried, but they showed me a lot of love.
They cared so much about one another and made me laugh. They took great care of me before they were killed. They actually saved me in the end."
"How did they save you?" Gram asks this time.
I think back to the night I lost them forever. "Well, I remember my parents being more stressed than usual about something that whole day and they seemed almost scared which was strange for me because they were pretty silly with me most of the time. I don't know why, but my mother had this cupboard in her bedroom that she always told me was my safe space. She stuck me in the cupboard that night and told me to stay very quiet because I would be safe there. I believed what she told me, and I stayed until my adoptive mother found me."
Everyone is listening intently to my story, so I continue. "Mr. and Mrs. Johansen were actually neighbors of ours and the year before, not long after we had moved to the area, Mr.
Johansen had died from cancer. I had no known family members so Maggie Johansen, the wife, took me in that night. They had been foster-parents before, but Maggie was unable to have kids 46
of her own. I guess she just saw me and decided pretty quickly that she wanted me to be her kid."
I smile at the thought of the wonderful person that has always been there for me. "I call her Aunt Mags. She decided it was best to move away from that neighborhood after my adoption was finalized and soon after, I met Kassy. We went to school together."
Kassy bumps my shoulder. "And I haven't been able to get rid of her ever since. She's pretty clingy," she teases.
Everyone laughs, but I just roll my eyes at her with a smile, as usual.
Sophia sighs. "I can't believe you had to go through that at such a young age and you still turned out to be such a wonderful person who has held a beautiful friendship for all this time."
I blush at her praise. "Thanks, but I'm honestly not as held together as I seem. This whole Seer world is pretty terrifying," I confess.
Gram waves her hand at me. "Trust me, this life is scary to all of us from time to time, and we've grown up knowing what we are. You just need to have courage to push through, and know you’re doing something miraculous."
"And if you can't do that, just hope for the best and see what happens," Sophia says, making me feel better.
Gram laughs, causing her short curly hair to bounce on her head. "That's not what Cedric would say. He always said, 'when the hard times hit you, just hit them harder'. He could never turn down a chance to get stronger and better." Gram looks pointedly at me. "Gavin is a lot like him."
"Was Cedric your husband?" I ask.
She shakes her head and Camilla answers for her. "Cedric was Gavin and Alexa's dad, my husband." Her sad smile makes me feel her loss. "I actually remember him saying that in his bonding vows to me." She laughs softly and rolls her eyes. "Romantic, huh?"
I laugh along with her and everyone else. Kassy sits forward in her seat like she does when she wants information. "Alexa mentioned the bonding ceremonies and I’ve been so curious. How did you and Cedric meet? Did you know you were soul mates, or whatever it's called that Seers have?"
Camilla wiggles in her spot, getting more comfortable. "We call them Intendeds and we were barely eighteen when we met. It seems like forever ago. Every once in a while, some Seer families will get together for reunions. We know of the location of every family in the world because there are only ten of them. Here in the States, there are five families, with one in Canada. The other four families are in Europe, one in France, two in England and one family in Greece." She pauses for a moment. "Anyways, that summer Gram and her husband, Grandpa 47
Leo, brought their family to my family's farm in Colorado for a three-day gathering that my parents were throwing for the Seers in the States. I was instantly enamored by Cedric and followed him around for the whole weekend. It seemed, to me, that he liked me too, but we never touched. He always thought that whole 'being with the one that's decided for you by fate' thing was stupid, I guess. He told me that he didn't want to be tied down like that, so he kept his distance from all of the girls like a typical stubborn teenage boy. I wasn't so willing to leave him alone, though. I sat and talked with him when he was in my father’s library one night and I brought him snacks when he was training with some of the other men. He always smiled at me
