Cursed: The Shifters of Salem by Ashlee Sinn

Author:Ashlee Sinn [Sinn, Ashlee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ashlee Sinn Books
Published: 2022-05-02T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

JT

Something had shifted. And I wasn’t talking about the owls sneaking around in the trees above us. No, something had happened to Estes. Had it been my mother and Henry?

“Are you okay?” I finally had to ask her.

“What?” Looking up at me with those beautiful eyes, her expression shifted when she refocused and let her thoughts change. “Oh, um. Yeah. I’m good.”

“Henry is an ass,” I said quickly. “And my mom isn’t much better.”

“No,” she smiled. “I mean yes, I sensed that. But that wasn’t what I was thinking about.”

“Would you want to talk about it?” We’d already reached the other side of the pond and I worried I’d run out of excuses to keep her by my side if she didn’t start talking.

“Is it hard?”

“Excuse me?”

“Keeping secrets all the time. Is it hard not to be able to talk to people about what you are?”

I knew there was a deeper meaning to what Estes was asking me, but I started with the obvious. “Sure. It’s not fun lying to people outside of our society. I mean, I’m used to it now, but I don’t enjoy it.”

Estes stopped and turned to look out over the water. When a squirrel skittered up a tree nearby, she jumped and then quickly tried to cove r it by picking up a pebble. Tossing it in her hand for several moments, she started to drift into a different place again.

“Why do you ask?”

Instead of answering, she said, “Do you think your life would be different if you didn’t have to hide who you are?”

I shrugged. “Yeah, maybe.” Stepping a little closer, I reached out and touched her shoulder. She stopped playing with the pebble when I did. “Estes, what’s going on? Did my mother say something to you?”

She smiled, but it wasn’t a real one that lit up her face. Turning, she tossed the pebble into the pond and watched the ripples dance across the surface until they disappeared for good. “I think I’m different.”

Yes, you certainly are.

“I heard that,” she said to me as she dropped her eyes.

“What?”

“Your thoughts. I can hear your thoughts.”

Oh shit.

Estes giggled.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked.

She lowered herself gracefully to the ground and I followed. “It wasn’t something I could do until Lachlan hit me last night. And I thought maybe…maybe I was just imagining or projecting people’s feelings into words. But then I met—” Her eyes widened and she clamped her lips together.

“Met who?”

“I don’t know if I can tell you.” Her eyes darted to the trees as though she was searching for something.

I hesitated, not knowing really what to say or do next. It felt like she wanted to talk to me, but we didn’t know each other very well. At the same time, she already knew more about me than most of the humans in this town.

“I don’t think I’m human,” she said in response to my inner commentary.

“Of course you are,” I said. “Trust me, I would know.”

“Have you ever met an Aes Sith before?”

“A what-shee?”

Estes smiled.

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