The fat book in my lap—a fantasy story by Brandon Sanderson about a group of kids who turn out to be special—lay unread in my lap. I couldn’t concentrate. Blame the air around me. It hummed, vibrating with electricity as if a storm approached, and yet the sky remained clear—if you ignored the visible moon creeping across.

As the time of the event neared, shadow bands began to shiver and slither across the ground, a prelude to the eclipse. Simply light and shadow making strange patterns, nothing harmful about it, and yet my flesh pimpled, my stomach wrenched, and my head felt light.

What’s happening?

Disturbed, I left my spot in the bleachers, aiming for the field, absently noticing that my sisters headed in my direction. Did they have the same gut-clenching cramps? They’d started the moment I woke and intensified as the world around me darkened.

When the moon covered the sun, creating a nimbus, my body jolted as if struck by lightning. My head went back. Pretty sure my eyes rolled back too. Everything around me stopped.

A bell chimed—a light sound—and a yellow light flashed as a voice, frightening because it filled my head, declared, It is done. The promise has been fulfilled.

What was done?

And that was when the vision hit.

A mirror showed a reflection, a woman in her thirties or so, her hair a long, wispy brown with burgundy hints.

Wait a second…

That was me! An older version, wearing an oversized light green T-shirt. In that reflection, a man appeared, half naked, his bare chest showing off some serious abs. Blond-haired, jawline unshaven, and very handsome. He saw me looking and smiled. A smile meant for a lover.

It melted my teenage heart.

Older me turned to face him, and his eyes widened, his lips parted. Blame the sword that suddenly jutted from his chest. Dream me gaped in shock at the sight of the blood.

So much blood…

I snapped out of that fugue and found myself clinging to my sisters, who looked just as traumatized. It led to me muttering, “What the fuck just happened?”

For one, we’d all gotten our periods. Poor Dina had blood rolling down her leg, at school, where, if noticed, she’d become a pariah with a horrible nickname.

We fled, headed home to shower, which was when we discovered we didn’t just get our periods. All three of us now had tattoos running up the bottom part of our spines.

And what did our mother do when she found out? Declared she’d always known we’d be special.

She wasn’t entirely wrong. Our sixteenth turned out to be the day we got our powers.

My sister, Enyo, became a warrior. Strong. Fast. Wily. She could slip into shadows and move so quietly that I nearly pissed myself a few times when she’d pop out to yell boo. My revenge? Not telling her when I knew she’d be stepping in shit.

Dina, a variation she preferred over her real name, Deino, became a witch like our mother. She could move stuff with magic, infuse potions, and do other parlor-type tricks.

Me, Frieda, short for Pemphredo—because our mother got the not-so-great idea of naming her triplets after the Graeae sisters of lore, you know the hags who shared an eyeball—I got to see the future.

Sounds cool, right?

Wrong.

I didn’t get happy visions of things to come but horrific accidents, like my neighbor’s dog getting killed or knowing our delivery guy would suffer a tragedy. Worse, I couldn’t control it. It would hit at the most random times, like when I grabbed the package of bread I’d suddenly see it going moldy because no one ate it. I hated my power most when it hit me in public and I reacted like a crazy person. Like in school, when a jock bumped into me and I screamed, not because it hurt but because he’d be in an accident that would destroy half his face. Or when I sat in a chair at school, only to bounce out of it because I mistook a vision of it breaking for reality.

The mockery at my increased weirdness had me feeling like a freak.

My mother, not an exactly warm woman to start with, did try to assuage my misery. “You’re special, Frieda. What you have is a gift.”

Didn’t feel very gift-y to me. Try more like a curse. Turned out the future wasn’t set in stone, and I got to see the possibilities, so many of them at times I wanted to scream.

Mom tried to help me rein it in. She hired people to teach me how to meditate and relax. Hard to relax when I knew Lydia, a cat-hoarding lady in her fifties, would die and get eaten by them. Her reply when I tried to warn her? “My angels would never.”

Another tried to get me to do yoga. I only did two sessions before telling my mom I couldn’t handle the depraved orgies involving more than just people the instructor had in her future.

To her credit, Mom did try to find people with my variety of power to teach me. Charlatan after charlatan applied. Only one applicant had a similar ability, but in the end, she couldn’t handle the level of my supposed gift.

As time passed, I became more and more reclusive, keeping my visions to myself unless they involved my sisters—usually Enyo, who seemed to attract trouble.

Despite my many glimpses of the future, I never forgot my first of the man I’d yet to meet. A man who would make me happy. A man who would die at my feet.

It became one of the few predictions I had that involved me, and it seemed easy to avoid. If I ever encountered him, I’d simply not get involved. My heart couldn’t be crushed if we never fell in love.

A great plan that fell apart the moment I met John.

Chapter One

How I met John…

The pounding on my apartment door didn’t last long. I knew who stood on the other side, and I had no interest in chatting. Not when I already knew what Dina planned to say.

She growled inside my head. Let me in.

Busy, was my mental reply. Did I mention us triplets could feel and hear each other? Great for doing tests in school or when a blind date when to shit. Not so great when a chance encounter in a night club led to my sister getting railed into screaming bliss.

This is important, Dina insisted.

I chose to not reply. Not that it mattered. The problem with having a witch for a sister? She could always get inside no matter how many locks I used.

With her magic, she undid my many deadbolts and stomped inside—as I’d known she would—waving her hands. “Enyo’s been kidnapped!”

“No shit.” I lounged on my couch in pajamas—of which my home-based ass owned many—and sighed. “Let’s skip the part where I act surprised. Yes, she was taken unwittingly by magic, and, no, I do not want to go on a trip with you to get her back.”

“I fucking hate it when you do that.” The beautiful Dina pursed her perfect lips and scowled.

It should be noted we looked almost identical but for the hair and makeup. Dina had a stylish cut and perfectly rouged lips and smoky eyes. Me? I’d not used a brush in days and didn’t even put moisturizer on my face.

“I’m aware you hate it. Do you know how many times I’ve seen you flipping out over it?” I rolled my eyes.

“Aren’t you worried at all about our sister?” she countered.

“Yes.” I’d already predicted that the choices Enyo made today would affect not just her future but mine as well. How could I tell? I saw nothing. Nothing but murk when I tried to peek ahead. I gave myself a headache trying to see past it. That kind of cloudiness was usually a strong indicator I’d be involved. Ugh. “If you’ll recall, I told her to say no to whatever deal she’s offered by the Warden.” Warden being the title held by a man who had to guard a dangerous place and had arranged for my sister’s kidnapping.

“And in how many future threads does she say no?”

My lips pursed. “None.” But I kept hoping I’d just not seen that branch. While rare, sometimes I could be surprised. After all, free will did exist even as some outcomes could never be changed.

Dina wagged a finger at me. “This is your fault! You should have never told her that this Warden she was going to meet would end up being her lover.”

“I’m aware I should have kept that part to myself,” I mumbled. At the time I’d blurted it out, I’d wanted to annoy Enyo. Instead, it made her determined to be contrary. If I said no, she said yes. It had been like that since we were kids.

“Did you know she’d be kidnapped? Because you neglected to mention it.”

“I wasn’t sure how she and the Warden would meet,” I admitted. My visions sometimes lacked details.

“We have to rescue her,” Dina declared.

“Pretty sure Enyo is more than capable of handling things herself.” After all, Mom had her trained as a killer. Because of Enyo, and the money she made as an assassin, we’d been able to buy a three-story building that we retrofitted into apartments for each of us, with the basement as a training area. See, part of our power—and curse—meant we couldn’t be far apart from each other without suffering ill effects. Hence why Dina freaked. We had less than three days before the weakness and vomiting started.

“Being able to handle herself is not the point. She. Was. Kidnapped!” My sister took it as a personal affront, probably because it happened via magic—her specialty—and in our basement—which should have been protected.

“She’s fine.”

“You’ve seen that?”

My lips pinched. “Not exactly. But I mean she’s going to get laid, so obviously she’s going to be okay.”

Dina glared. I knew what that look meant. She wouldn’t budge.

I heaved a mighty sigh. “Fine. We’ll go.” A reluctant agreement that twisted my innards. While I didn’t have agoraphobia, I came close. Leaving my safe place meant being bombarded by visions of the possible futures of people I didn’t give a rat’s ass about.

Decision made, a flood of visions hit. I’d chosen a fork in the “go or stay” future. It took me a second before I said, “Whatever you do, don’t book any 7 p.m. flights.”

My sister didn’t ask why. Nothing too bad. Screaming children for one airline and the alternate leaving at the same time would end up diverting because of engine troubles.

Within hours, Dina had our asses on a plane, me wearing gloves I’d knitted myself to prevent accidental touch, headphones playing ocean sounds, and my body smothered to the gills in clothing. Layers helped me to repel some of the noise I encountered.

Mom used to tell me I’d eventually get a handle on my power enough that I could shut it off at will. Almost forty and I still waited.

Almost forty and I’d avoided the blond man in the mirror, too. As well as relationships. Hard to get serious with anyone when you knew it was doomed for failure. Heck, I’d known the guy I’d lose my virginity to would never call me back, but I’d still done it just to get it over with.

It took eighteen hours to reach my sister in the tropical spot she’d been magically teleported to. Medication meant I’d slept through most of it.

We hired a taxi to take us from the airport to a town two hours away. It cost us several hundred dollars, and when the driver thought to pull over and rob us, Dina quickly disabused him of that notion by putting a magical vise around his balls and murmuring, “I wouldn’t advise doing that.”

The hotel he dropped us off at—before peeling off in a burn of rubber that made my nose wrinkle—appeared nice. Lavish. Not exactly a dark, dank prison cell.

We took the elevator to the top floor and the penthouse. A waggle of Dina’s magic fingers and we entered without making a sound. As to how we knew Enyo’s exact location? Our inner radar—aka the triplet curse—led us to the double doors to the master suite. We entered to find a man sleeping in the bed.

While Dina woke him with threats, I tuned out and tried to figure out why I felt a strange tingle. A prescient feeling that had me turning in time to see Enyo exit the bathroom. But it wasn’t her that had me holding my breath.

Someone entered the room from the living area, blond hair tousled, face still groggy from sleep. “What’s going on?”

I blinked and wavered on my feet, for there, decades after I’d first seen him, was the man from my very first vision.

And when he smiled in my direction, I knew without needing a glimpse at the future I was in trouble.

Chapter Two

Over the next few days, I did my best to avoid the man who would die at my feet if we became lovers. His name was John, a professor of arcane history and best friends with Bane, aka the Warden.

It wasn’t easy steering, though. Situations kept forcing us together. Like when a lack of Sea-Doos for all of us meant I had to ride, clinging to him like an anaconda, while we made our way to an island. A small island with a castle, where it seemed like every time I left my room, John was nearby.

My sisters informed me of his interest in speaking with me about my gift, and yet he didn’t push me. If I fled the room when he entered, he didn’t follow. At times, I was almost disappointed. After all, in my vision, we were lovers. Or had I misunderstood the situation?

Monster attacks and preparing for an eclipse that would result in my sister’s death kept me busy and focused on things other than how sunlight made his blondish hair glint. My worry over my sister’s imminent demise helped me ignore the fact he was a genuinely nice guy who quickly jumped to act and protect, his wizardly skills of the defense variety.

I’d planned to escape his presence entirely after the eclipse, only a few unexpected things transpired. One, my sister survived because Bane chose love over duty—which was crazy romantic. And two, something happened to me and my siblings when a portal opened during a rare eclipse. Whatever had bound me and my sisters on a magical level had disappeared in the lightning. Meaning for the first time in a very long time, we couldn’t hear each other’s thoughts, and we could finally be apart without becoming ill. But that paled in comparison to the burst of power that hit me, stronger than that which gave me my ability at sixteen. It pushed my gift into overdrive, the visions overwhelming enough that when we escaped the doomed island on the yacht, I found myself spinning emotionally.

I ended up on deck, sucking in fresh air, wanting to cry that even something so simple as the whisper of a storm brought the visions. My grip on the rail showed me the yacht’s fate, as if I cared how many times it would be sanded and painted. Staring at the churning wake made me aware of the turbulence that disrupted the school of fish below, who now scattered from their set path and would be eaten.

It was just too much.

When someone joined me, I didn’t look. Why bother? I knew who it was. A part of me wondered if it wouldn’t be easier to jump overboard and end my misery—and save his life.

John murmured a soft, “For someone who survived hell, you look upset.”

Upset didn’t even come close. Overwhelmed. Exhausted. Depressed. How to explain that I couldn’t handle my power? That I wished nothing more than to get rid of it. Which was when it hit me. John studied the arcane. Knew its history.

I turned to him and, expression serious, said, “Can I ask you something?”

“Anything.” His lips curved, his smile genuine and warm.

But only because he didn’t know his fate if he stuck with me. “You shouldn’t be so quick to agree. It could be dangerous.” I tried to give him warning.

“I’m not afraid.” I could see he truly meant what he said.

My lips turned down. “You should be. Never mind. Forget I asked.” I whirled from him and clung to the railing so tight my knuckles turned white.

“Now you have to tell me. What’s got you upset? Did you see something?”

“More like I can’t stop seeing.” My whispered admission.

“I’m not sure I understand.”

A bitter laugh spilled from me. “How could you, when I don’t? I thought my power was bad before, but since the portal opened…” I closed my eyes and rocked in place. “Now it’s worse than ever. Now every move I make, breath I take, the future of everything is blasting me with every possibility.”

“Is there something I can do to help?”

The moment he offered, the vision hit me hard and fast. The same one I’d seen before. The one that never seemed to change. The one where he died.

“No!” I barked. “You shouldn’t even offer. As a matter of fact, you should be running fast and far from me.”

“You saw something, and that’s why you’ve been avoiding me,” he declared.

Guess I’d made that too obvious to lie. “I did.”

“You going to tell me what you’ve seen?” He kept his voice soft, not that it stopped my trembling.

Tears clung wetly to my lashes, and I tried to hold my emotions in check as I mumbled, “You’ll die because of me.”

“That seems kind of extreme.”

“I’m not exaggerating. I saw it in my very first vision when I was sixteen.”

“Well, forewarned means we can prepare. After all, the future isn’t set in stone but is rather a series of branches. We just need to avoid the path that kills me.”

“It’s not that simple,” I insisted.

“Isn’t it? You thought your sister would die helping Bane, and that never came to pass,” he pointed out.

“A valid assumption because the paths to her death were many and only one existed where she lived. But you…” I paused before I lifted my chin and looked him in the eye. “I’ve only ever seen one future for you. And in it, you’re stabbed through the heart.”

If I thought telling John he’d end up dead would deter him from having anything to do with me, I obviously didn’t grasp how fate worked. He refused to be deterred.

“Stabbed, eh? That sounds painful but is avoidable. They do sell armor to prevent that. Maybe I’ll invest in something magical,” he mused aloud.

“You’re not wearing armor in my vision,” I stated.

“Obviously, or they wouldn’t have managed to run me through. Guess I’d better get used to having some on until we get past that particular point in time.”

A part of me wanted to blurt out that he was naked when it happened, but that would lead to questions, such as why we were naked together. Not something I wanted to answer. “This isn’t funny.”

“I assure you I am not the type to be amused by death. I am also not the type to hide away because of danger. And let’s be honest, you wouldn’t have asked me for help unless you really had to. I’m aware you don’t like me.”

I blinked at him before blurting out, “What makes you say that?”

He looked younger than his forty-some years when he shrugged with his hands shoved in his pockets. “It’s kind of obvious the way you’ve been avoiding me.”

“Because I want to prevent what I saw coming true.”

A smart man, he quickly grasped the one thing I hadn’t mentioned. “You’re with me when it happens!”

My lips twisted. “Yes.”

“Are we old and grey?”

“No, why?”

“Because I have it on good authority that I’ll live a very long life.” He tried to offer a charming smile, but when I refused to relent, he turned serious again. “Why would you assume it’s your fault?”

I opened my mouth to reply, only to slam it shut.

He went on. “Who’s to say it’s not a random act of violence? Maybe it has nothing to do with you at all. Could be my enemies coming after me.”

“Your enemies?” I couldn’t help an incredulous note. “You’re a historian.”

“Exactly. I dig into the past, something that upsets groups with certain beliefs and families with secrets to hide. Could be I stumble across something sensitive and someone tries to shut me up.”

I’ll admit that hadn’t occurred to me. The fact he died in my presence, I’d always assumed I was the cause. “Why are you so determined to help me? You said it yourself. I’ve been an aloof bitch.”

He winced. “I would never call a woman that. Everyone has a right to choose who they wish to converse with.”

“You’re being too nice. I wasn’t. I intentionally avoided you.”

“With reason.”

I scowled. “And here you are being nice again.” It annoyed me because it made me like him. I didn’t want to like him.

“It’s how I was raised, so if you have a problem with it, you’ll have to take it up with my family. In the meantime, this help you need… What happens if I say no?”

“I don’t know.” A hated admission.

“If you ask someone else, will they die too?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t see my own future often.” Not to mention, seeing as how I needed arcane help, I found myself limited in choices as to who I could enlist for aid.

“Since you asked me, and not Bane or your sisters, I’m going to assume this has to do with my historian skills. I will further deduce that you’re seeking help in understanding what happened to you when the portal opened and how to control this increase in ability. Perhaps you’d also benefit from working with someone knowledgeable in the past who might act as a guide.”

My lips clamped tight.

“Your expression seems to indicate I’m right.”

My head ducked as I whispered, “Everything is screaming at me, and I feel like I’m going mad.”

“Sounds awful.”

My lips twisted. “Welcome to my life, only it’s even worse now.”

“Bane was saying something that resembled lightning came shooting out of the portal when it opened. It must have been an arcane boost that elevated your powers.”

My nose wrinkled. “I’d have rather it took it away like it took Bane’s Warden curse.”

“Given your sisters also got leveled up, I can only assume it has something to do with those markings on your bodies that match those on the pillar holding the portal.”

A pillar that I’d touched, only to have it give a cryptic message. Lies began the treachery. Jealousy kept it captive. Love will set it free. The last part was the only one that made sense, as Bane’s love for Enyo led to him abandoning the portal, allowing it to open. What did it free though? Did I carry something evil inside me?

My shoulders rolled. “I don’t know.” A phrase I’d begun to hate even as I kept repeating it.

“And this is where I have to disappoint and tell you I’ve never managed to find anything about Bane’s curse. The secret of what was locked inside that portal, and why, has never surfaced in any of my research.”

“Is that why you are looking for a seer who can see the past?” Something Enyo had told me about John back at the castle, in one of her attempts to convince me to talk to him.

He nodded. “More specifically, I’m looking for someone who can touch an object and receive a vision of its past. It’s a rare power. According to the arcane annals, there hasn’t been anyone with that ability in the last century. At least, none recorded.”

“I didn’t even know seeing the past was a possibility. Then again, I don’t know much. I’ve only met one other true seer. She called herself Lady Clara and only got her visions in spurts. She never saw the branches like I did.” She’d accused me of lying and, when I insisted I told the truth, accused me of being a drama llama.

“Open yourself to me, child.” She’d gripped my hands in hers so tight I yelped, not only because of the discomfort but what I saw… Her in a padded room, rocking and drooling.

She’d released me and staggered, her expression wide-eyed with horror, surprise, and, within seconds, madness. Apparently, she couldn’t handle what I saw. At times, neither could I.

“Never heard of her.”

“Do you know many seers?” was my sarcastic retort.

“A few.”

I blinked. “Seriously?”

He nodded. “Some better than others. I can put you in touch with them if you’re interested.”

“That would be awesome.” For a brief second, my lips curved in a smile, only for me to realize his plot. “Stop being so helpful. I swear it’s like you’re purposely trying to make my vision come true.”

“The future isn’t set in stone,” John insisted.

“Some things are,” I muttered. “I should have never said anything.” Blame the fact I’d been bombarded with visions of paths since the portal opened. It made me weak.

“Too late to take it back now, but tell you what… Since you feel that strongly about it, then I won’t push. However, I am more than willing to aid you in finding the information you need to rein in your power.”

With that offer, he left me alone to hug myself and wish he was a rude prick. Why did he have to be so nice? Despite what John claimed, I knew Death’s method of claiming him had to do with me. I caused it somehow.

At the same time, could I handle this increased ability on my own? Until now, the Grae triplets did everything together. But not this time. Now that the magical bond that tied us together had been severed, I didn’t have to involve them, and a nagging sense of doom gripped me coldly when I thought of asking them to help. They would say yes because they loved me, but if being involved with me caused John’s death, then what if, by relying on them, I transferred that fate? I couldn’t live with myself if I killed my sisters.

Once more I lamented the fact that seeing the future wasn’t a gift or a blessing like Mom claimed, but a curse. Because it didn’t come with an instruction manual—i.e., do this and avert madness while saving everyone I cared about.

I’d yet to find an answer to my dilemma by the time we docked that night at a busy city in Mexico. Puerto Vallarta, a tourist town that never slept. Our group disembarked the yacht and booked into a hotel, a nice place that managed to accommodate our request for four bedrooms on the same floor. Privacy, at last, after having spent several days sharing a space with Dina.

I made it a point to refuse to go out for dinner and drinks with the gang. I couldn’t do people anymore. Alas, the room didn’t provide a quiet refuge. Everything I touched showed me the futures of strangers who’d pass through after me, the bed being the worse. People fucking and picking their noses and puking on the sheets.

I had my eyes shut tight, hands tucked under my armpits, but it didn’t help. My flashes were the worst I’d ever dealt with. Breathing exercises, meditation, nothing blocked the nonstop signals. I sat on a tiny patch of carpet usually hidden under a chair with the most boring future of being unused because of its spot. I rocked and hummed, trying to ignore all the possibilities screaming to be heard.

Blame my mental state for the fact I didn’t realize someone entered my room. My head only lifted at the sound of a thump followed by cursing in Spanish as the intruder bumped into the chair I’d shifted.

Before I could scream, they pounced.