Page 4 of The Gathering
He switched hands. “You’re her sister,” he barely murmured, a light recognition.
She paused and nodded then began her task. This one had Seer tense as he watched every detail.
Maggie’s fingers trembled as they ghosted just above his skin as if seeking a point of contact. The moment their skin touched, her breath caught. Her lips parted like she wanted to say something but didn’t know how.
She turned his hand over, tracing the veins beneath, her touch featherlight yet deliberate. Her thumbs pressed the centerof his palm like she was feeling for a pulse. A sharp inhale and then she dropped it, wide eyes on his.
She regarded his other hand. “May I have your right?” she whispered.
Sinrik’s jaw flexed. His stare was heavy, unreadable. But after a long pause, he switched hands, watching her closely.
Their skin met a second time and her breathing shallowed. She moved slower, maybe careful, maybe reverent. She pressed her fingertips along the length of his fingers, then over his wrist, like she was searching for something buried. A flicker of confusion crossed her face. Then something like recognition. She yanked back, her whole body shuddering as she stared at him.
Sinrik’s eyes darkened. “What did you see?”
Maggie spun and ran straight for the paper. Grabbing the whole stack, she dropped to the floor with them and began drawing. Fast.
Her pen scraped loudly and her entire body shifted with the movement.
One page.
Another.
Another.
No hesitation, no looking up, no thinking. Just translating while the room remained deathly still.
Seer’s gaze flicked to Bishop who had subtly shifted forward, clearly interested in likely what she’d seen in Sinrik who now sat with an impenetrable expression.
Beth looked too, face gripped in a mix of worry and curiosity at what secrets were unfolding.
Seer felt it. This was it. Something was happening. They all knew it but none of them knew what yet.
Page after page filled the floor.
Fifteen.
Sixteen.
Seventeen—
A single drop of red hit the page.
Maggie barely reacted, wiping at her nose absently, smearing blood as Spook hurried to her.
“That’s enough—” He grabbed her shoulders, steadying her as she tried to keep going. “Maggie, you’re done.”
She suddenly surrendered then gave a weak nod, dropping the pen.
Twenty pages.
The answers were there.
Now they only had to read them.
At the head of the room, Nidev called the only one who had done it before. “Zodak.”
Seer saw the shift in his friend before he even moved. He knew the storm that churned behind those black ocular gates, the way his mind dissected before his body followed.
